Cauliflower steak, seeds and lemon kale

Like any good carnivore, I was sceptical about making cauliflower steaks.
Luckily, a lonely cauliflower inspired me to make something out of the ordinary. And it was... The cumin, garlic and thyme coated cauliflower is insanely delicious, balanced nicely with some lemon kale and brought together by mild chilli seeds.
Give this recipe a go. You may be pleasantly surprised about just how good it is.

Ingredients for 2:
1 pack of chilli Munchy Seeds
1 medium cauliflower
3 stems of curly kale or 4x handfuls of chopped kale
8 cherry tomatoes on the vine
1 small clove of garlic
1 sprig of thyme
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
juice of half a lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Butter or rapeseed oil to cook

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
To make the cauliflower steaks, remove the leaves, sit the cauliflower on a chopping board (stem down) and cut off both sides until you are left with an 8cm wide, central piece. Cut this piece in half to form two 4cm steaks.
Heat the butter or oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
Squash the garlic by pressing down on it, there is no need to peel it. Put the garlic and thyme into the hot oil, stir, then add your cauliflower steaks. 
Season the steaks with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and cumin and cook for 2 minutes without moving.
Flip the steaks over carefully, add a little more oil or butter if required, season with salt, pepper and cumin again and cook for another 2 minutes.
Remove the steaks from the pan, put them on a roasting tray with the tomatoes and roast for 15 minutes.
Whilst the cauliflower steaks are roasting, make the lemon kale. Remove the leaves of kale from the stem and tear them into 2-3" pieces.
Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon, season well with sea salt and black pepper and massage the kale until the leaves are bruised and reduced in volume to about half the original amount.
To serve, divide the kale between two plates, top with a cauliflower steak, put the roasted tomatoes on the side and sprinkle liberally with chilli seeds.

Ginger & lemongrass rice noodle stir-fry

Stir-fries are a great way to increase nutrient density in your diet. Add a tasty sauce and you have the perfect base for a comforting yet healthy supper in less than 10 minutes.
This stir-fry recipe combines ginger, lemongrass and coconut to add subtle flavour.
Use it as a base for your protein or enjoy it by itself if you are vegan/vegetarian.

Ingredients for 2:
A large heaped plateful of vegetables - I used a mix of red and hispi cabbage, broccoli and pea shoots
2" piece of ginger, peeled, thinly sliced then cut into tiny cubes
1 stalk of lemongrass, outer layer removed, grated
1 large clove of garlic, grated
20g of creamed coconut dissolved in 100ml of water (or 100ml of coconut milk)
Tablespoon of tamari (or gluten free soy sauce) plus more for drizzling
200g of pre-prepared rice noodles
Black pepper
1 red chilli and 1 spring onion to garnish
1 teaspoon of rapeseed or coconut oil for cooking

Method:
Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok over a medium/high heat.
Add the vegetables, garlic, lemongrass and ginger, season well with freshly ground black pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes. The vegetables should be part cooked and slightly reduced in volume.
Add the noodles, tamari and coconut milk and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring to combine the flavours.
Divide between two plates, sprinkle over the chopped chilli and spring onion and drizzle with a small amount of tamari before serving.

 

 

Should you put protein into your smoothie?

There are a few smoothie camps in our modern times: the vegan/ vegetarian purists, the gym going protein lovers and the “not too sure about this but it looks like a good idea” group of inbetweeners.
Irrespective of your position, putting protein into your morning smoothie could be a beneficial way of starting your day.
Here is why:

Protein is an essential building block
Protein is used for so much more than just the obvious muscle building.
It is needed for repair, to construct essential parts of the immune system, detoxification (YES PROTEIN IS NEEDED FOR DETOXIFICATION), to make certain hormones, for carriers (these are used for transport in the body i.e. to carry oxygen in blood) and for enzymes that allow us to break down our food.
As you can see, almost every essential process in our body involves protein.

Protein will keep you fuller for longer
The average smoothie of fruits and vegetables is pretty easily broken down by the digestive system. In fact, carbohydrates are digested the quickest out of any food group, followed by protein then fats.
Here is the clever part: when you add protein to your smoothie, the whole thing is broken down at a slower rate. So instead of the smoothie powering you for a matter of half an hour, it may keep you full for several hours.

BUT - not all protein sources are created equal
Protein is broken down into smaller molecules before we can use them, known as amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, 9 of which are essential (meaning they can only be obtained from food), the other 11 are conditionally non-essential or non-essential (meaning we can generally manufacture them in the body dependant on the state of your health).
Protein derived from plants rarely contain all of the essential amino acids. One exception to this is sprouted rice protein which contains all essential amino acids, albeit some in only small quantities.
To get the full amino acid range at the correct level, animal sources are the most optimum i.e. whey protein.

Word of warning
Whilst there is a benefit to adding protein to your morning smoothie, do pay attention to what else is in your protein product.
A good natural organic whey or rice protein may be great but if it is mixed with a bunch of chemicals you cannot pronounce then you may as well avoid it. Sugar is also commonly mixed into protein powders and we all know that's not such a healthy ingredient.
The moral of the story is: don't buy cheap protein, go with an organic source and check the list of ingredients.

My favourite proteins*:
I'm a longstanding fan of The Organic Protein Co's Organic Whey. It is affordable, pure and contains no added ingredients.
For a flavoured whey protein, Nutristrength's Vanilla Whey has been a recent discovery. This option is more costly but you are paying for quality. As an added bonus it turns your morning smoothie into what tastes like dessert and who wouldn't want to start their day with pudding.

*please note I am not affiliated with either of these companies. Having tried a few proteins in my time, I am listing these as genuine options and have not been bribed by these guys.

Check out the next post for a delicious raspberry protein smoothie recipe.