Japanese Diet Pudding

Do you know what this is?
Check out my new Savvy Tokyo article on “Japanese Diet Pudding” HERE. 

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.

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.

 

5 Minute 5 Ingredient Vegan Mushroom Soba Pasta

If you, like me, like pasta, you should be eating soba! What is soba? Soba are Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour. What’s the big deal about them? They’re low cal! Basically, half the calories of white pasta. A cup of cooked soba contains 113 calories whereas white spaghetti contains 220 per cup and wholewheat spaghetti 174.

113 < 220
113 < 174

You get it right?

For all you non-Japan dwellers, you should be able to find soba in the health or Asian section of your local supermarket. For Cantabrians, Piko, Liberty Market and New World.

Tonight I made this and WOW it was good. If I can say so myself.. which I can because this is my blog mwahaha. Anyways… I know a lot of people don’t like shiitake mushrooms so if you’re one of them you can use regular mushrooms or another vegetable all together (corn, broccoli or chickpeas are my recommendations).

1/2 packet of soba (or more or less whatever)
1/2 onion, diced small
1 punnet of shiitake mushrooms, chopped medium
1/2 can of whole peeled Italian tomatoes
spices (I’m cheating, I combined all the spices to make the recipe “5 ingredients” hehe but in my defense, it’s just a pinch of salt, red chilli and black pepper.)

Cook soba as per packet instructions, usually about a mere TWO minutes in boiling water – another reason why it’s so much better than pasta! It’s fasta! Get it? lol

Fry onion on medium heat with a little oil in a pan (1 minute)

Add mushrooms, stir (another min)

Add everything else, tomatoes, spices and cooked soba, stir.

Serve when all hot and steamy.

Oh mama mia! Oishi desu yo!

Step By Step Vegan Curry Cashew Cabbage

Cabbage is like tahini, once you’ve used it for hummus, it sits in your fridge forever. Seriously though, how many of you have had to let a half, or a quarter head of cabbage rot after you’ve made your coleslaw or whatever? Living in the countryside has been difficult but it’s also had its perks. For one, I am constantly gifted vegetables. And not just any vegetables but ones grown with much love and care. Any-who, what to do with all these cabbage heads? Pinterest! Where I got the idea for this simple curry cashew cabbage thingamajig that I slightly adapted (since that one used butter and much ginger). Enjoy!

STEP ONE: gather your ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/2 smallish cabbage head
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
STEP TWO: melt coconut oil in a pan (med heat), add cashews and cumin and stir until both are fragrant and golden.

STEP THREE: add cabbage, add turmeric, stir. 

STEP FOUR: tis not really a step but just keep stirring for a further 5 or so minutes then nomnomnom away!

 

Vegan turnip, carrot and bean soup

This was simply an “I need to use up these vegetables” moment that just happened to work. It’s so easy it’s not even a recipe and I’m no chef, I just chopped some veggies and put them in a pot with water and some spice then hovered impatiently over it then burnt my tongue badly from it.

1 onion, chopped small

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

3 or so cups water

2 cups small white turnips, chopped

1 cup wild carrots, chopped (regular carrots are OK, too!)
1/2 cup green peas

1 can of all natural mixed beans

Fresh coriander
Salt and pepper

Saute onions with oil in a medium pot on medium heat until translucent.

Add tomato paste and saute for a further minute.

Add everything else (spices, vegetables, water) and simmer at medium-low heat for 20ish minutes. Since the beans are pre-cooked the whole thing shouldn’t take that long to cook and come together.

Pour into bowls and serve with fresh coriander and salt and pepper, to taste.

HASHTAGsurvivingajapanesewinter.

Persian-inspired spinach loaf

Housebound and food-obsessed. Can’t stop baking! Don’t worry I’m not eating everything (seriously) but instead sharing with my wonderful neighbours, friends and colleagues. Yes, I’m sooo lovely.

This savoury loaf is super easy to prepare and tastes/reminds me of a childhood and typical Persian dip: mast o seer (literally: yoghurt and garlic). It’s deliciously fragrant of yoghurt, garlic, turmeric and cumin. Mmmmm I feel I’m back at home with my mama when I’m having it.

3 free range eggs
1/2 cup of yoghurt (you can use dairy-free if you wish)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large grated carrot
1 clove of garlic (mashed)
200grams spinach (roughly chopped)
1 1/2 cups of wholemeal flour (or any GF variety will do)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt and black pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp of cumin

topping:
1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds

Start mixing ingredients together, one by one, in above order.

Pour into a greased or lined loaf tin

Top with pumpkin seeds and a sprinkle of black pepper then bake for 45-50 min at 180C.

Enjoy warm 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven.

If “muffin girl” didn’t have fat connotations, you could call me it.

I’m so proud of my toaster oven! I can’t believe how good my baking’s turning out (yes that was me totes complimenting myself). Last week I baked my famous blueberry and walnut muffins (and by famous I mean my mother likes them), pictured above, recipe here and tonight, I baked these sweet potato, walnut and fig beauties, recipe there(below):

3 free range eggs
1/4 cup oil (i used organic extra virgin coconut)
1 small mashed banana (for binding purposes only)
3/4 cup of cooked mashed sweet potato
2 tbsp pure maple syrup or pure honaaay
1 1/2 cups flour (I used wholemeal but any GF alternative will do)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 or 5 dried soft figs (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix the eggs, oil, banana, sweet potato and maple syrup together

Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt

Gently fold in figs and walnuts

Divide batter evenly in a greased muffin tray

Bake at 180C for about 23 minutes

Let cool before nom nom

Healthy okara banana cake

Okara or soy pulp is the left over stuff after pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy milk and/or tofu. It is generally white or yellowish in colour and is frequently used in Chinese, Korean and Japanese cooking. The supermarket in my village gives it away for free! Woo lucky me! Tonight, I made a super healthy banana loaf with it. Here’s the recipe:

2 free range eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
1 cup of okara
2 cups of flour (I used wholemeal but any GF alternative like rice flour will work)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of crushed walnuts

Preheat oven to 180

Mix all ingredients together

Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for about 30-40 min or until the fork comes out clean

Das it.

the most amazing healthy chocolate cake recipe eva

Roses really smell like… nah just kidding they were divine!

I know you’re here for the freakin’ cake recipe so don’t worry I’m not gonna share some sob story about my weight-loss/health journey, or my husband or my babies (sorry not sorry) before I give it to you. Nor will I make you scroll through 10 pictures of the same cake from different angles.

1 cup ground almonds/almond meal
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup cacao powder
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
3 free-range-eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla essence

Mix errthang together and bake for 25-30 min at 180C

Frosting:
1 avocado
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup cacao powder (or a little more)
4 tbsp honey (or a little less)

Throw frosting ingredients in a food processor or blender until combined. Spread on COOLED cake and OH MY GOD CAKE.

REFRIGERATE