NATURAL CHEF DIPLOMA

After the second lockdown I decided to take my passion for cooking delicious healthy food a little further and enrolled on a Natural Chef Diploma at the College of Naturopathic Medicine. The course consisted of 520 hours of life–changing education including the 100 hours internship in an external kitchen.

We were taught to prepare delicious gourmet meals that focus on nutritional value. Whole, organic, fresh, and minimally-processed foods are procured in season. As no single dietary regime is appropriate for everyone, we were taught how individualised foods can enhance health.

The diploma was a three-part course covering everything needed to know in order to become a successful Natural Chef. The first part included fundamentals such as food safety and sanitation, pantry essentials, kitchen techniques such as knife skills and kitchen equipment, various, ways of cooking ie steaming, grilling, baking and techniques such as fermenting, sprouting and juicing. We were taught various types of diets to include vegan, vegetarian, raw, cooked, paleo etc. We learnt about taste, flavour, preparation and presentation. We were also taught how to write recipes, how to calculate when cooking for large amounts, looked at the best sources of ingredients and the energetics of foods.

The second part of the course comprised of creating stocks, broths, sauces and stews. Working with various vegetables, grains, pastas, nuts, seeds, fruit. Using various herbs and spices to enhance flavours as well as using and discussing ‘superfoods’ to enhance flavour and to give that extra ‘health kick’.

The third part of the course involved therapeutic menu planning and writing and creating specific recipes in order to support various health systems. We also created a five course immune boosting menu for twenty people which was a great success.

As well as seeing clients for nutritional consultations i now offer bespoke menus for yoga and well being retreats and am absolutely loving creating beautiful delicious recipes and menus.

NUTRITION UNDER SECOND LOCKDOWN

Well ordinarily I should be on my Indian annual visit at this time. Unfortunately this year it is not going to happen. However, although it may be difficult we need to make the most of this time to catch up on things that we never seem to have time for as we rarely get this much time to spend at home. This is also a good time to reflect on life and our own lives and to contemplate on which direction we want to go in.

Instead of making lots of delicious salads as in the previous lockdown I have now been concentrating on making soups, curries, casseroles and more warming foods. One of my favourite soups that I made was fennel and pea. This was extremely simple to make, sweating down shallots and fennel to begin with before adding the stock, simmer for around 20 minutes before adding the peas and a handful of fresh mint or basil in the last few minutes. Blend with a hand blender - simple, warming, satisfying and delicious.

Although this isn’t my favourite way of holding nutritional consultations, I am now seeing clients primarily on-line. The benefits of this seem to be that I now have a much wider geographical area to work from. I now consult with clients from lots of areas in the UK whereas previously I mainly saw clients that are comparatively local.

Unlike the first lockdown the weather isn’t good enough to hang out and work in our gardens, hence in order to get out into the open and get some exercise I have been doing lots of walking which is what many others seem to be doing at the moment. I don’t think I have ever walked so much in my life, which has been great. I am also continuing with my yoga classes albeit online and trying to stay as healthy as possible.

NUTRITION UNDER LOCKDOWN

It has been more than three months now since the beginning of ‘lockdown’ in which time we’ve all had to come to terms with social distancing and isolation. Working remotely from home is becoming somewhat the new normal and may continue.

Some of us have had the bad luck to actually get the virus, which isn’t a pleasant experience to go through. However, many of us have taken this very unusual time to learn a new skill such as a new language, learning to play an instrument or improving on baking skills amongst others.

In a way this has been a good time for me to have a lock down (if ever there was one) as I’ve had to move house. This is a considerable consuming task and would have been much more difficult if I’d been travelling around London working and seeing clients. I have now been holding nutritional consultations remotely via Skype, Facetime or Zoom in the comfort of my new home.

As well as having this time to move I have also managed to have time to hone in on my culinary skills. I have loved experimenting with wholesome, nourishing foods, foods that are nutritious, good for the soul and that make us feel happy, and energised. One of my most favourite creations and most popular was my polenta, leek and sweetcorn cake topped with a whipped feta cheese and yoghurt topping served with a lovely summer salad. This was an absolute winner.

Leek and Polenta cake

Another One of my most favourite summer salads has been a kind of Tabbouleh made with either bulgur wheat, buckwheat or quinoa, I’ve made this lots of times. Add lots of finely chopped tomatoes, lots of coriander, a handful of toasted pine nuts, some tahini, sea salt, lemon juice and olive oil and ‘hey presto’ a delicious light, fresh and healthy salad.

Tabbouleh salad - nutrients include lots of vitamin C from the tomatoes and coriander helping to strengthen our immune system, good protein and oils from the pine nuts helping to sustain energy levels as well as having a beneficial effect on our cardiovascular health, and finally lots of fibre from the bulgur wheat helping to maintain a healthy digestive tract.

As well as honing in on my culinary skills I have also been ‘honing’ in on my gardening skills. When I moved into my flat my garden was a bit of a mess, so the lock down has enabled me to have some time to brighten it up with colourful flowers and plants. I have also been able to start a herb garden growing sage, parsley, mint, rosemary, lemon balm, tarragon and tomatoes).

Oregano, sage, lemon balm, mint, parsley - all of these can be added to recipes for flavouring or just drunk as teas with numerous health benefits including hormonal balance from the sage, easing digestion from the mint and lemon balm, supporting the immune system from the oregano and parsley amongst other health benefits

Wonderful rosemary - has a calming effect when drunk as tea - has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties

Tomato Plant - tomatoes have numerous health benefits - high in vitamin C and antioxidants as well as containing lycopene which has anti-carcinogenic properties

My Annual Indian Visit

This year on my annual Indian visit I had a yearning to spend some time in the jungle. I wanted to completely escape as much as possible from normal civilisation and be somewhere where I was in complete nature and where there were few people and no wifi. My lovely yoga teacher Orsi was organising a small retreat so I decided to go along. I was so happy that I went. We set off from the beach in Goa and drove around an hour and a half inland to where the Mangal Hill Jungle was. There were supposedly lots of wild creatures inhabiting including leopards, snakes and bison. We stayed in an authentic Indian guest house which was surrounded by its own organic farm. The food was absolutely delicious, with authentic traditional Indian cuisine taken from the farm. On arrival we were offered pakoras with atlaom a herb which is commonly used to combat colds and flu when juiced. These tasted yummy and were unlike anything i’d tasted before. The lunches and dinners were a combination of various Indian dishes including lots of spices, chutneys and pickles to compliment. The meals were planned using Ayurvedic guidelines. An Ayurvedic diet enables one to boost their health, prevent or manage disease and maintain wellness.

After our first sleep we decided to go for a walk to the waterfalls through the jungle. It was a long trek, around two hours. Our guide explained all the plants and trees and their medicinal purposes on the way. I was super excited to see a stevia plant, our ‘healthy’ sugar. The trek was worth it though as when we reached the waterfall we dove in to cool off. it was beautiful and very much appreciated as we were getting extremely hot by this time.

Stevia Plant

On our return we were greeted by Bibi, the lovely lady that cooked all our food with the most delicious soup I think I’ve ever had it was beetroot with mung beans and coconut. The ingredients may seem a bit weird but it really worked and extremely healthy too with protein from the mung beans, good fats from the coconut and lots of vitamins and fibre from the beetroot. I will definitely be useing this recipe. We were extremely exhausted from the walk hence Orsi my yoga teacher went easy on our evening class with lots of relaxation breathing as opposed to a full on vinyasa flow.

All in all the retreat was a great success. After dinners we just sat around the log fire and chatted until bed time which was a real treat and kind of therapeutic. There was generally no electricity in the evening so bed meant sleep. The jungle was great I was able to ‘recharge’ my batteries as well as learning about the Ayurvedic ideology of cooking and improving my yoga. I was also happy that I didn’t come across any leopards or snakes - Om Shanti.

Brian May's Diableries book launch halloween party

I was asked to make the canapés for Brian May’s Diableries (the name of his book) book launch party. I was happy to do this although I was a little worried as I’d never made halloween canapes before and hoped that all would be ok. I spent a few days thinking about what I was going to do and experimenting. On the night it seemed that everything went extremely well, and it was a fun evening and everyone was happy with the canapés.

Pumpkin pies

Devilled eggs - filled with avocado, wasabi, stuffed olives with pimientos

Quinoa and feta cheese cakes with sun-dried tomatoes and seaweed

Three days in Conkwell

A few weeks ago I went with two of my sisters to spend three days and nights looking after another of my sister’s house whilst she was away on holiday. The house is in a little hamlet outside Bath named Conkwell and is surrounded with fields and woods. We all three sisters were taking it in turns to cook. Some really good healthy food was had. I made a Mezze cake which was absolutely delicious. I took the idea for the recipe from a BOSH cookery book and kind of put my own stance on it.

Mezze cake - idea taken from a Bosh cookery book

Ingredients include:

Char grilled courgettes

Char grilled aubergines

Sun-dried tomatoes

Olive tapenade

A tub of humus or make your own

A tub of baba ganoush

Artichoke hearts

Tin of chickpeas

Harissa paste

Red onion

White rice

Flat Bread

Method:

Use a spring form cake tin and place a flat bread at the bottom as the base for the cake. You can then layer up for example a layer of humus then a layer of aubergine and courgettes then sun-dried tomatoes with some tapenade in the gaps. After around four layers spoon around four cups of precooked basmati rice on top then continue to layer up. After the layering is finished blend together a tin of chickpeas, two tablespoons of harissa paste, a chopped red onion, two teaspoons of ground cumin, two teaspoons of ground coriander, some fresh coriander and parsley leaves, two tablespoons of plain flour, one tablespoon of olive oil and some salt.

Spoon this falafel mix on the top then put in a pre-heated oven 180 degrees for twenty to twenty five minutes. I chose to chop up some cherry tomatoes and cover the top after fifteen minutes, then return to the oven.

My sisters were very happy with me as this was truly a sumptuous recipe.

Pop Up Restaurant

In the past year I have become more and more interested in cooking and creating healthy delicious snacks/meals. I really enjoy preparing lots of small dishes so people can have taster sessions. I recently held a pop up event on a Sunday in a local bar (The Shop) inspired by small healthy innovative tapas dishes.

Sweet mash potato cakes with goats cheese and caramelised leeks

Pan fried roasted fennel with heritage tomatoes, chilli and tarragon

The event was a great success and I cooked for over eighty happy people. This has inspired me to continue to create delicious healthy recipes and to hold similar events in the future. For more information click here

Annual Indian visit 'Swaswara' meaning 'song of your soul'

Since my son became old enough to leave alone I spend my annual holidays in India in order to escape the winter cold. I generally hang out in Goa but always take a holiday from Goa and go somewhere else.

This year I decided to treat myself to an Ayurvedic, yoga and well being break of which the retreat was named Swa Swara, which was located above the infamous Om beach in Gokarna which is in the state of Karnatika.

Wow this place was amazing. With Ayurvedic massages and various yoga classes including yoga nidra (the most relaxing yoga in the world), there was little apart from the rhythm of the rolling waves and the meditative hum of a birdsong to disturb inner explorations. Swa Swara actually interprets as your inner voice and is absolutely true to its names sake. Crafted in colours of the earth, and in harmony with the land this Ayurvedic retreat was designed for holistic and transformational experiences, a space where the wisdom of Ayurveda and yoga embrace you to rejuvenate the mind and body.

I can honestly say that the food that was served here was probably the most delicious I’ve ever had in my life. Head chef Joy advocates preferring to cook food that is grown in harmony with nature, ripened naturally on healthy soil and cooked with an air of mindfulness. The produce which is locally sourced consists of seasonal tropical fruits, vegetables and freshly caught fish which are complemented with juices and herbal teas. Swa Swara has many healing plants and herbs growing on is property which are implemented into the recipes that are prepared, ensuring that the food is not only the the most delicious in the world but also extremely therapeutic.

Swa Swara chef Joy

Following Swa Swara I then went back to Palolum in Goa where I practised my favourite yoga that of Parinama which I had been attending for over three years. Oshi and Magna are two of the best teachers that I’ve had, with every class being a welcoming challenge. I was also spoilt for choice here with more delicious healthy food. The Little World pancakes and fruit salads being amazingly colourful, nutritious and tasty and my favourite place for breakfast.

After a few weeks back in Goa my good friend Lucy came to visit me and we decided to go to Pondicherry which until 1954 was under French rule. Some people were still actually speaking French and English with French accents. Restaurants conjured up a variety of dishes embraced with a hint of French cuisine. Lots of street food, with one of my personal favourite dishes that I’d eaten being that of a Pani poori which is a common Indian street snack consisting of a round hollow filled with a mixture of chat massala, potato, onion or chickpeas, absolutely wonderful and costing of around fifteen rupees a helping which equates to about fifteen pence.

Of course I don’t want to leave out the deliciousness and health benefits of the common coconut. There are literally millions of them here. I tried to drink and eat at least one a day, I have to say these coconuts are my favourite food in the whole world and you can only get them to taste this good in India. Health benefits for coconuts include anti-oxidant properties, may help benefit type 2 diabetes, helps to support heart health, my reduce blood pressure and a delicious source of hydration. Costing around thirty rupees to drink and eat this fruit, in my opinion this is the most cost effective food there is.

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Lovely coconut lady and me

Back to Goa and my friend Lucy has been offered a two night stay at a five star amazing retreat hotel in the hills of north Goa with a plus one in return for a written article promoting them on a London blogging site, and hey I got lucky I was the person invited. This place or retreat was also fantastic with everything laid on. My friend was also offered cocktail and dinner at the infamous award winning Pan Asian restaurant Spice Traders at the W hotel in Vagator. After checking our particular likes and intolerances the chef produced a selection of dishes all served with fantastic presentation. Course after course of mouth watering healthy foods kept arriving including finely sliced bell peppers with horseradish and herbs, terrines of salmon with sweet pomegranate, Japanese Enoki mushrooms infused with truffle oil, medallions of succulent sea-bass topped with pickled chillies, stir-fried tender asparagus with crunchy water chestnuts and cashews.

All in all this years annual trip to India was pretty amazing with all the yoga, foods and nourishments being a huge contributing factor. I came home feeling truly invigorated, healthy and with a strong urge to recreate some of these dishes that I had the fortune to have experienced myself. Watch This Space.

Marrakesh

I recently took a short break in Marrakesh as myself and couple of friends of mine wanted to go rug shopping and the souks in Marrakesh are renowned for selling beautiful relatively cheap (or much cheaper than the UK) rugs, hand made by the villagers in the Atlas mountains not too far away.

I was amazed at all the wonderful colors in the souks and market especially with all the herbs and spices displayed in beautiful array.

The herbs and spices included cumin, cardamon, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric amongst others.  The many health benefits they contain include anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidants protecting the immune system, blood sugar regulation, prevention of nausea anti-carcinogenic, promoting heart health, digestive aids as well as others.

We were also shown the health benefits of eucalyptus crystals of which I hadn't seen before.  The seller insisted that inhaling these crystals were the best way to clear sinuses and cure a cold, he demonstrated by adding a shard of crystal to a mug of hot water, the result was fantastic, as one of my friends had had a niggling cough and a blocked nose for a few days and after inhaling this eucalytus infused water was completely cured.  It was amazing.

All in all my short break in Marrakesh was a successful one.  We all managed to buy a rug and I discovered a new favorite soup which is called Moroccan harira - which although there are variations, is a blend of lentils, chickpeas and tomatoes also including wonderful herbs such as coriander, parsley, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and pepper making this an extremely healthy meal.

Visiting Hythe - A Seaside Town in Kent

I was visiting my good friend Kim at the weekend in Hythe in Kent.  She had recently decided that she'd had enough of the big city (London) and wanted to live a quieter, calmer lifestyle, so she upped and left and moved to Hythe.

Hythe is an extremely pretty, hilly seaside town with lots of vintage, antique and second hand shops as well as lovely, quaint quirky little shops such as a shop that just sold ingredients for cakes all in glass jars.  Ingredients included various flours, grains, dried fruits and nuts and seeds amongst other cake essentials. 

Five minutes drive away is Folkestone harbour where you can sit on benches and munch on freshly caught cockles, mussels and prawns.  These seafood's are a good source of protein and they are also a good source of iron, iodine, zinc and copper as well as being low in fat.  On chilly mornings you can also enjoy a bowl of delicious freshly made seafood chowder. 

However, what I was really impressed with was all the vegetables that Kim had grown and how green fingered she had become.   She gave me a doggy bag filled with carrots, celery, giant prize winning courgettes and onions.  Vegetables high in vitamin C and other antioxidants which are good for strengthening the immune system which in turn helping to protect the immune system.  The best thing about all these vegetables was that I knew that they were completely organic and had no poisonous pesticides sprayed on them. 

Kim's home grown carrots

Kim's celery

Edible Flowers

Wandering around the farmers market on Sunday I happened upon these wonderful, colorful edible flowers consisting of marigolds and pansies amongst others.

Unable to resist buying them as I wanted to create something pretty as well as nutritious for my friends who were coming over to mine later.  I also found and bought some courgette flowers and some organic goats cheese. 

When my friends arrived I pan fried the courgette flowers for literally thirty to sixty seconds whilst adding some crumbled goats cheese and flowers on top.  The result was a beautiful, delicious, sumptuous snack of which my friends were extremely impressed.