A Kindly Tongue Is The Lodestone Of The Hearts Of Men.

…It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding… ~Bahá’u’lláh
Ham, cheese, and slaw buns with steamed corn, corn chips, and cookies for a picnic at beautiful Ashley Gorge – can’t believe I’d never been here before. So so beautiful. Definitely taking oosh. 
“When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.” ~’Abdu’l-Bahá


Some of the tutors, participants, and wannabe chefs.


The day I made nachos, I got a lot of moans and groans on first glance from the boys for it being vegetarian. However, once they’d tasted it, they kept coming back for more (yay!).Really super weird handling raw chicken but I think I did good. Oven curry (is that a thing? Or am I just super clever?) with chicken drumsticks (duh), carrot, kumara, and red potato.



Beautiful NZ.

The Best Ice-cream in Christchurch!

Mandy’s baby: roasted plum (from their garden) and cinnamon oat crumble. 
Belgium milk chocolate and marshmallow.

Dark chocolate and sea-salt sorbet. Vegan and delishasssss!

Coconut and black sesame seed. It’s vegan everybody! And my new favorite. Life is so sweet.

I was so good you guys! Just look at these teeny tiny scoops. Plus, I think me eating the ice-cream is great advertisement, don’t you think? Here we have three vegan coconut-cream based ice-creams: coconut, blueberry and vanilla, coconut and dark chocolate, and coconut and black sesame seed. Send help!

Dinner at the Dazzis

As promised, Daddy Dazzi’s famous lasagna then Daddy Dazzi’s famous risotto. Washed down with Mama Dazzi’s humble desserts, mocked aplenty by Daddy Dazzi for their simplicity (hehe). Hashtagmarriage. Hashtagdelicious. Hashtagfoodbaby.

Is it an oxymoron if I vow to start my diet in America?

What even is vegan? Just kidding. Just wanted to express how incredibly flavoursome this was. Wish you could have tasted it, mama! And daddy and Deli and Andy, too.

Fruit salad and macarons.
Four cheese risotto (very Italian). Curried vegetables (not Italian as the Dazzis specifically pointed out, still V delicious).
Sorry mama, I’m gonna give your secret away. This is basically a store-bought fall spiced cake, sliced then towered with fresh raspberries, raspberry jam and yoghurt! Could have fooled me!

Comfort Food

I wanted to write a post dedicated to my auntie Pouneh and all of her delicious homemade food.

“There is no spectacle on earth more appealing than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves.” (Thomas Wolfe)

Persian barberry and saffron rice with tomato vegetable chicken. Top left is potato tahdig.
The beautiful family at Lake Geneva.

Organic salad with avocado and feta, couscous, grilled fish and green beans.

Persian loobia polo minus the beef, spiced with turmeric and cinnamon. Green salad and potato tahdig.

But first…
Mediterranean-style baked fish.

This is sabzi polo, Persian herbed rice. It is always served with fish. And again, the potato tahdig. 
Is it rice? Or is it cake? It’s a rice-cake!
And for dessert, individual chocolate letters for all of us from Harald’s business trip. H for Haifa.

N for Nura.
A for…

In Food Heaven

Can you see this lady’s glasses?
Traditional Galician food: boiled octopus seasoned with salt, spicy paprika and olive oil. So so good!

Yesterday we enjoyed a delicious home-cooked lunch by Jose’s mother. This ham leg casually sitting in her kitchen is entirely for her!

Potato salad with tuna, egg, olives, tomato and green beans.

The white asparagus were delicious!

Homemade pickled capsicum. This was my favorite dish! Amazing with bread.
For dessert, fresh cheese with honey and walnuts. Seriously, I can’t even!

The preparations for melon gazpacho. Ingredients include: melon, green tomatoes, cucumber, water, olive oil, some white bread, salt and pepper.

This bakery bakes ham and bread in the same giant oven.

A traditional sweet bread:

These kids are always asking for bread!

Spain has turned me from a wannabe vegan to a full-blown carnivore. I’m afraid there’s no going back.
The most amazing roast vegetable salad. Never tasted anything similar. YUM. 
Tuna and capsicum empanada. I asked Jose why the dough is so orange and he explained that the juice from cooking the capsicum and onion filling is added to the empanada dough mixture. Also, that each area of Galicia has their own style of Empanada. This specific one is from here.  
For dessert, the sweet bread from earlier and a diabetes inducing ice-cream sandwich cake made from Nutella, margarine and melted chocolate. 

Beautiful People Do Not Just Happen

Do you remember THIS? When I introduced my favorite illustrator whose work I randomly (and luckily) came across at a small bookstore in Osaka station last year? Well, I added him on Facebook, declared my love to him and begged him to meet me in Tokyo the other day. Mitsuie-san is an incredibly humble (as well as talented) artist. He couldn’t believe how much I loved him. We spent the evening discussing his work, life and inspirations. As well as taking an hour train to meet Minako and I, he gifted me a big bunch of postcards featuring all of my favourite pieces of his which I have shared on my blog and social media since I have known him. God willing, we will be collaborating in the near future so watch this space! To check out more of his work, click HERE.
When this precious little girl and I met two months ago, we both felt an instant connection. Aoi is so sweet it hurts. And though we couldn’t communicate more than a few words, we spent the entire day making origami (paper art) and playing on the hammock together.
Last week, she and her mother visited me in Osaka. I was so blessed to see her radiant face again. It’s true, children are the light of the world!
I made a big batch of fresh granola for Minako and I’s Tokyo trip because I didn’t want to be eating out for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. After our one night stay at a hotel which came free with our shinkansen (bullet train) ticket (thanks to Mina’s amazing organisation skills) we took the remainder to her parents’ place – our accommodation for the next two nights and days. Mina’s mom tried (my) muesli for the very first time in her life and happened to love it. So on my last day, this happened: a big bowl of delicious. After, she (Mina’s sweet mother) wouldn’t stop thanking me for it. She said she thinks she is going to lose a lot of weight (hehe).

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Cauliflower Rice Sushi

21st century health-freaks are coming up with a whole lot of crazy things and I love it. A while back I made cauliflower base pizza (recipe here), of course it didn’t taste like bread bread but it was still yum and nice to try something different. Last week I made cauliflower rice sushi. They definitely still taste like sushi – I guess because of the combination of pickled ginger, soy sauce and seaweed. I really recommend you try it, it’s such a healthy alternative to white rice sushi. Basically, you make regular sushi but you just use cauliflower rice instead. This is a really basic #norecipe for that:

1 medium cauliflower
1 tbsp rice vinegar

First remove the cauliflower’s stem and leaves then using a knife, chop into small pieces.

Place chopped cauliflower in a food processor or blender (I used a blender, it was not easy but it was not impossible either) and blitz until crumbed.

Place crumbed cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with kitchen wrap and microwave for 6 minutes at 500W.

Once cooked, add the rice vinegar, mix with a spoon and let cool slightly before beginning to sushi.

My tips: use a spoon or your hands to press cooked cauliflower in order to remove some of its moisture. Also, try to roll your sushi as tight as possible (without breaking it).

Hope that makes sense?

Feel free to ask questions!

Happy scoffing/experimenting.

My Favorite Healthy Sweet

Raw, vegan, gluten-free and refined-sugar free orange chocolate truffles. Have you tried them yet? Recipe HERE.

Stewed Prunes: More Than Just A Constipation Cure

I made stewed prunes – really easy and not just a constipation cure but also super tasty. And no, I did not just tell my 3000+ (yeah I’m bragging) followers I’m constipated though I don’t know how you can not be in Japan, consuming all that white rice, noodles and “bread” everyday. Thankfully, I don’t follow that diet.

1 bag of prunes
1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
water

Place prunes, lemon half and maple syrup in a small pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

It’s done when you want it to be or when the water has thickened into a syrup – though it will continue to thicken once refrigerated.

Serve with granola and/or yogurt.

D-lish!

PS I don’t know if I should be proud or embarrassed of my momma’s pop-culture savviness (see below).

Six Delicious and Filling Healthy Lunch Ideas

Hands up if you’ve started your diet or life-style change with a healthy breakfast and a plain salad lunch only to break it with a hangry binge come dinner? Right, happens to the best of us. Growing up, I always had a big lunch. That’s how Iranian’s do it. Kebabs or stews on rice for lunch and something light, a salad or a small sandwich for dinner. There’s no better feeling than sleeping on a light stomach and by night-time, your lunch will be burnt off and digested. This also goes for sweets or dessert. If you must have them, have them during the day. Here are 6 of my favourite delicious and filling healthy lunch ideas:

1. Brown Rice Onigiri

Fried brown rice balls. With salad. So easy. Brown a little onion with a little oil in a frying pan, add 1 cup of carrot/corn/peas mixture, fry little longer. Crack a free-range egg or two in it, mix in. Add two cups cooked brown rice. In a small jar, mix 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter, crushed ginger, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over. Cook until hot and steamy. Shape into balls using a plastic wrap. Serve with a nutty salad.

2. Frittata

Frittata is super filling and great for left-overs. Be creative with your vegetable, herb, cheese and nut combinations. Serve with salad. Recipe HERE.

3. Wholewheat Couscous Salad


Like frittata, couscous salads can have absolutely anything in them. Get creative with a colourful mixture of raw vegetables, nuts and seeds. Use wholewheat variety. Delicious! Recipe here, here and here. Boiled egg, optional. Truffle/bliss ball recipes here, here and here.

4. Grilled Fish, Tofu and Salad

This ones for those who eat fish. A big piece, pan-fried served with raw tofu on a simple green salad. Will keep you full forever. Okay, that may be an exaggeration but you get my drift.

5. Brown Rice Salad 

Basically a deconstructed brown rice onigiri. A delicious mix of raw and roasted vegetables, dried fruit, nuts and herbs. Recipe HERE.

6. Healthier Potato Salad

Mayonnaise free, potato salad. Dressed with avocado and yoghurt. Healthy fats and probiotics for the win. Enjoyed with a side of raw snap peas and cherry tomatoes. Recipe HERE.