I Only Exercise So I Can Eat More

God, I love weekends. Especially when they’re not winter! Yesterday was 25 degrees celsius so I biked 20km for local oranges and organic French bread. Oh and I ate a baked sweet potato on the way. These by the way, are amazing. Their season is almost over but in the winter, you’d find them sold everywhere. I don’t know the exact oven they’re cooked in  but whatever it is, it cooks the shit out of them and leaves them all soft and squishy and some places sell it (hot baked sweet potato) with ice-cream! Yum yum oishii.

PS the flying fish are for “Boy’s Day” whatever that means and the last picture is a Persian breakfast. You can read all about that HERE.

All hail the baked BRIE

Ever since I can remember, I have loved throwing dinner parties. The act of cooking for and serving others fills me not only with too much good food (accidently eating everything and all) but also, joy – so.much.joy!

Tonight’s dinner was really special. First, Minako and I visited Gergely at his organic farm where we were generously gifted with carrots, radishes, parsley, lettuce, lemongrass, garlic, kale and edible flowers (all organic). Next, we took a hot bath (onsen) to wind down/make us hungry. Then, we got down to business.

Minako prepared the salad while I heated the purple sweet potato (SO purple!) and coconut soup I’d made earlier and assembled a cheese platter. The platter itself is pretty self-explanatory but the baked brie, the baked brie needs highlighting.

Baked brie, using store-bought pastry is so easy you can hardly call it a recipe. Hence why I used Huffington Post’s How to Make Baked Brie Without a Recipe, “recipe” for this baby. Huffing ton suggests you slice the brie horizntally and fill it with your choice of filling (jam, chutney etc) but as per my good friend Olivier the French baker’s instructions, I left mine as is. Instead, 20 minutes into baking, I topped it with honey, chopped walnuts and fresh thyme.

The result? OISHI!

For dessert, we had my sugar-free crumble with sugar-full ice-cream. Let’s call it balancing.

Onaka Ippai! (I’m full)

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

hot sweet potato delivery

Yestrday was pretty exciting. Around midday I heard a foreign chant right outside my house which strangely, sounded similar to the call of prayer I’d become so accustomed to whilst living in Israel. What it turned out to be though couldnt be more different. It was a call for hot sweet potato instead! Cooked fresh in the little oven in the back of this dude’s truck. 4 for 1000yen or about 10 dollars. How very exciting and random! Japan never ceases to amaze. So I made a colourful salad. If your food looks like crap it’s bound to taste like it too so make the effort to prepare beautiful meals in order to eat mindfully and thus reduce over eating.

1/2 lettuce head
1 cup cooked pumpkin, diced.
1 cup cooked sweet potato, diced
1/4 cup raw walnut pieces
4 asparagus, cooked, chopped
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
some parsley, torn
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
black pepper (to taste)

Mix all ingreidents in a bowl – das it!

*vegan, gluten and sugar-free.

sweet potato brownie bites – the perfect little treat to curb your sweet tooth

Gluten-free
Refined sugar-free
Dairy-free
Vegan
and no baking required!

1 large sweet potato (I used the orange variety)
6 medijool dates (pitted)
4 tbsp raw cacao powder
3 heaped tsp raw honey or pure maple syrup
1 cup ground nuts of choice (I used almond)

You’re going to laugh at this but this morning I Googled ‘how to cook a potato in the microwave’ and applied the instructions to my kumara (what us NZers call sweet potatoes). My sister glanced at the computer screen while I was googling and fell into a giggling frenzy exclaiming: “ha ha ha said the girl with the food blog”. To which I replied: “I have no shame bitch” Minus the bitch, I just thought that part – sorry sis if you’re reading this, which you most probably are… as it seems these days, my only followers/likes on Facebook are my sister and my mum! Nevertheless, my “developing” (an optimistic word/view to make myself feel better) culinary skills have produced these epic brownie balls/truffles/bites whatever you like to call them, deliciousness.

As per Google’s instructions (sorry Einstein next time I shall use my own brain – whatever that means in this day and age?):

Scrub the potato, and prick several time with the tines of a fork. Place on a plate.

Cook on full power in the microwave for 5 minutes then turn over, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

Scoop out the insides of the sweet potato and place in the food processor alongside the remaining ingredients

Whizz for a few minutes or until mixture starts to come together like a dough.

Using your hands, roll into balls.

To finish, coat in raw cacao powder.

Refrigerate before consumption or nom nom straightaway if you just can’t wait.

nacho-style stuffed sweet potatoes (vegan)

Tonight’s dinner was super easy, delicious and healthy!

The following recipe makes enough for two people (4 halves in total).

2 whole sweet potato (which we in NZ call Kumara – I used the orange variety but all are yum)
1 can of organic chilli beans
pinch of paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper – or a little more if you like things HOT
pinch of garlic salt
pinch of cumin

salsa:
1 ripe avocado
1 tomato
(cucumber, red onion and/or spring onion is also good with this)

Preheat oven to 200C

Wash and dry sweet potatoes.

Stab sweet potatoes all over with a fork then bake in oven on a tin foil lined oven tray for 45-60min or until soft.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking, dice and mix the salsa ingredient together and set aside – I allow you to do as you please for the remaining 40 or so minutes.

Once the potatoes are done, using a sharp knife, gently cut each sweet potato in half.

Next, use a spoon to scoop out most of the sweet potato flesh from each half into a small bowl, leaving just enough flesh intact with the skin for the potato half to keep its shape.

Slightly heat chilli beans in the microwave or in a small pot on low heat then gently mix beans and spices with the removed sweet potato flesh.

Scoop mixture back into potato halves then top with avocado salsa to finish.

Alternatively, you can top filled sweet potatoes with mozzarella or vegan mozzarella and return to hot oven for the cheese to melt before topping with salsa! Mmmmm “satisfied” does not adequately describe how freakin’ content my stomach/taste-buds feel right now – oh Mama! Who, speaking of, also highly approved of this dish!