Our nationally touted strapline “have you had your 5 a day?” is soon to be obsolete. Or at the very least superceded by “10 a day”, as that is much nearer the reality of what constitutes a healthy diet. This isn’t a newsflash, it being so much in the air, what with Meat free Monday and vegan diets all the rage, but I am really trying to change the animal protein to vegetable consumption ratio in our house… For my mid-western husband it has been quite a slow dawning that a meal need not necessarily include animal protein to be substantial and tasty. In order to eat like this as a family, turning him around has been a key factor. I remember the first time he came home to our town in Italy and my mother had prepared a light but typical Italian Summer supper. We had just surfaced from our late evening Ryanair flight and made it via hairpin bends all the way to our beautiful Penne (in the Abruzzo), and we sat down to eat a tomato salad and fresh bread and a selection of cheeses. After polishing off a vast amount, my husband said something which is now a piece of family folklore, he turned to me, knowing what a fabulous cook my mum was, with “wow, that was amazing, I wonder what your mum has chosen for the main?”.
There is a reason that despite plenty of pasta and dairy and coffee, the Italians are top of the charts in terms of health and longevity. This is because Italians know how to eat: from the land, seasonally and healthily – because vegetables are really the building blocks of everything they cook at home. In actual fact that particular evening my husband waited 5 minutes for the water content of the tomatoes and the silky olive oil to register in his stomach and after a further mound of fruit he needed no more. It does take some adjustment to eating more of a vegetarian diet, the feeling of satiety is not the same but like removing sugar from your tea or removing refined white flour from your life, you can get there and actually enjoy it eventually.
My issue with the transition to a more veggie-based diet is that there are many veggie dishes but too few that can hold their own when eaten entirely alone as a ‘star’ dish – satisfying and seductive in equal measure. The issue with so much that is good for us in life is the ability to distinguish long term from short term gain. Here I go again, about the eponymous Marshmallow Test, but whether adult or child, you sometimes really have to override short term temptation for long term benefit: eating well, drinking enough water, exercising, parenting (I mean being patient and not giving in to the moment of anger), all these things are examples of what it often feels hard to do and maintain as a norm but which allow you the get a handle on your energy, your wellbeing and essentially your whole life. The reality is that what you spring towards after a night of car alarms going off in the street and babies waking you, is an endless conveyor belt of cups of tea and scalding flat whites interspersed with high-sugar snacks. After my third baby I found it – who am I kidding – I still find it really hard to be motivated and disciplined. My “mojo” is just depleted. What I need is to adjust everything and get my whole lifestyle in hand: bring forward my bed time so I have more energy, then I can face more exercise, meditate to take control of mood, anger, appetite surges, get back in to my yoga, shout at my kids less, eat more healthily, make more time to read etc.. more often than not what happens in reality is a junkie-esque spiral of “tomorrow things will be different” and a successful morning that veers off in to fire-fighting tactics, frustration and disappointment.
Another incident that compelled me to write this post was my recent lunch with my amazing friend M. It also got me thinking about veg. Like me, she is a mum of three like me, but about 5 years ago she was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Despite her diagnosis, she has with absolutely jaw-dropping amounts of strength, self-control and pragmatism, made it thus far, and looking hot as hell and the picture of youth and radiance (putting me to shame basically) by doing exactly what I was moaning is so hard to do: she has modified her lifestyle and, quite drastically also her diet. We sat there, ordered food (the waitress seemed pissed off that we had so many food-adjustment requests but little did she know) and we got her health update out of the way. It must be so exhausting for her to update all her friends repeatedly, continually reliving her trials and test results, but this led to chatter about her very strict diet which appears to be really supporting her recovery and which focuses on reducing the consumption of the amino acid methionine. (For more on this read here. ) Basically cancer cells cannot function without it. Much of the current data out there implies sugar is cancer’s biggest ally, but the NORI protocol (Nutritional Oncology Research Institute) suggests this method (limiting methionine). The foods lowest in methionine are fruit and then vegetables so M’s diet is restricted almost entirely to these which are best consumed raw. She gets “time off” sporadically in which she can go off the reservation culinarily speaking, but her day to day challenge is for her to feed herself with food that is within the protocol which is still satisfying AND interesting so that it doesn’t get her down too much. Her biggest sacrifice has been bread as grains in general are basically off limits. As we sat and chatted in Ottolenghi’s beautiful restaurant Nopi, we were surrounded with a great deal of veggie inspiration. Jake Gyllenhaal at a neighbouring table aslo provided some inspiration : ). We discussed things arriving on the table and we agreed that as long as plenty of “substantial” vegetables and fruits that deliver a rounded and generous “mouth feel” are included, and some voluptuous, chewable textures, then there was huge scope for invention. My Virtuous-o Kale and Quinoa Salad minus the grains or the recipe below, minus the tahini in the dressing, would hopefully scratch that gourmet veggie food itch. Strangely, tahini is one of the exceptions, it is relatively high in methionine, especially for a plant product. I plan to embark on a quasi-vegan/ raw food exploration which fits nicely with the mood of summer eating and come up with some more recipes soon. M, watch this space!
This wonderfully satisfying, digestible, virtuous veggie comfort food dish is best made half a day before you need it to allow the rich flavours to mingle, but it is great even when consumed on the spot. It keeps for about 2-3 days in the fridge, although you might like to spruce it up with stirring in the old toppings and adding fresh. It is also best served at room temperature.
Baba-Ghanoush style Smoky Aubergine and Sweet Potato
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium sized aubergines (egg-plants)
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 30g fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 30g fresh mint
- 30g fresh coriander (optional)
- Topping:
- 50g pine nuts (preferably toasted)
- 50-100g pomegranate seeds
- Dressing:
- 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2tbsp pomegranate molasses (found easily in middle eastern shops and online)
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- 2tbsp tahini (preferably wholemeal which has more flavour)
- half tsp salt
Instructions
- First put your grill (broiler) on to heat (or sling on a barbecue - this works BEAUTIFULLY and gives the best flavour of all) and wash the aubergines and sweet potatoes.
- Prick them all over with a fork but do not peel.
- Chop all your herbs as finely as you can (I often just use the chopper kit that comes with my hand blender)
- Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar or pot with a secure lid then shake vigorously. Put aside and let the flavours sit together until needed.
- If you can be bothered, toast your pine nuts by putting in a dry frying pan and stirring over a low heat until golden and aromatic. It will seem like it takes forever and then when boredom sets in they can suddenly burn, so keep your eye on them!
- When your grill is hot, place the vegetables on baking sheets and put under the grill. Aubergines on top under direct heat, sweet potatoes on the sheet beneath. Turn the veg every 15 minutes or so to allow charring to occur all over. When all the aubergines slump, nicely blackened remove form the grill and allow to cool.
- Turn the grill to an oven setting and let the sweet potatoes finish off in the oven for another 30 minutes or so. Their skin should be baggy and crispy in places. When a skewer is easily inserted in to the potato, it is done. Also remove and allow to cool.
- When cooled enough to allow handling, halve all the veg and scoop out their interiors, discarding the skins. Chop roughly then move to a colourful serving bowl and mash around together to combine to form a lumpy dip-like mix of sweet potato and aubergine. Season with some salt and pepper at this stage as the dip is dense and the dressing will take time to permeate through the entire bowl.
- Add the fresh chopped herbs, stir well and then tip over the dressing. Stir well, turning and lifting to distribute the flavours throughout.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle with the pine nuts and pomegranate seeds and a drizzle more of dressing and pomegranate molasses for decoration.
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