Deliciously Ella Plant Based Recipes

I don't know about you, but I am a total sucker for cookbooks. Sure, blogs and websites and instagram are all awesome inspiration and I regularly end up recreating dishes or even just condiments and seasonings I've seen online, but nothing beats the loveliness of a solid, old-fashioned cookbook.

My new kitchen helper is Deliciously Ella The Plant-Based Cookbook by Ella Mills (Woodward), published by Hachette Australia (RRP $32.99). All photographs by Nassima Rothacker.

The following recipes are my favourites from the book. I'd love you to tag me if you make them and want to share a photo to instagram! I'm at @cat13gram.

HERBED LENTIL BALLS
WITH TOMATO RELISH
AND GARLIC CREAM

I know these may sound a little strange, but they taste amazing – especially

sitting in a bed of tomato relish and dressed with garlic cream. They’re

full of flavour thanks to the thyme, rosemary, parsley, garlic and onion.

I love them served simply with some brown rice and salad.

MAKES 10

150g dried green lentils

1 large onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 tablespoons buckwheat flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

handful of parsley, roughly

chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

salt and pepper

for the tomato relish

6 tablespoons tomato purée

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon maple syrup

100ml water

handful of parsley

pinch of ground cumin

pinch of chilli powder

pinch of smoked paprika

for the garlic cream

100g cashews, soaked for at least

3 hours then drained

10 tablespoons almond milk

3 garlic cloves, roasted (see

page 35)

splash of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200.C (fan 180.C).

Start by placing the lentils in a pan of boiling water. Cook for

20–25 minutes until tender but still with a slight bite. Once cooked,

drain and leave to cool to room temperature.

While the lentils are cooking, place the onion and garlic in a pan

over a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and cook

for 5–10 minutes, until soft. Then leave to cool to room temperature.

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until

it forms a thick paste. Scoop balls of the mixture out of the food

processor using an ice-cream scoop, smooth them a little by rolling

them in your hands if you like, then place them on a baking tray

and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes. Check the lentil balls are

cooked through by inserting a knife into the middle of one ball –

if it comes out clean they’re ready, if not bake for a little longer.

While the balls are in the oven, prepare the tomato relish and garlic

cream. Simply place all of the ingredients for the relish in a food

processor and some salt and pulse until smooth. Then do the same

for the garlic cream, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve the

lentil balls piled high with the relish and garlic cream.

TIP

These are delicious served warm straight out the oven – if you’re

doing that then gently warm the tomato relish too.

YELLOW THAI CURRY

Aubergines are one of my favourite ingredients to use in a curry as they

soak up all of the flavours like a sponge. I’ve lost count of how many

bowls of this curry I’ve eaten in the last few years; when I’m having a

busy week I pop into the deli and devour a bowl with brown rice – it’s

warming, hearty and always keeps me going for hours. This one also

happens to be one of Matt’s favourites too.

SERVES 4

for the curry paste

1/2 large onion, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger,

peeled and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 lemongrass stalk, bashed and

roughly chopped

1 lime leaf

31/2 tablespoons coconut oil

for the curry

2 red peppers, deseeded and cut

into bite-sized chunks

1 large aubergine, cut into bitesize

pieces

100g button mushrooms

100g baby corn, cut in half

olive oil

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 x 400g tins of coconut milk

(see tip on page 174)

1 tablespoon tamari

handful of Thai basil,

roughly chopped

salt

Preheat the oven to 240.C (fan 220.C).

Place all of the paste ingredients in a food processor and blitz

until smooth.

Place the peppers, aubergine, mushrooms and baby corn in a baking

tray with a little olive oil and salt. Roast in the oven for 10–15 minutes,

so that they take on a bit of colour, then remove and leave to one side.

Next, place the coconut oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium

heat. Once hot, add the curry paste and cook for 5 minutes until

soft. Add the coconut milk and tamari and bring to the boil – then

lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and

blitz using a hand blender, then pass through a sieve to remove any

unwanted bits (if needed). Place back on to a medium heat and

add the roasted vegetables, then cook for a final 5 minutes. Try not

to overcook this curry – the sauce only needs this short cooking time

and there is a chance it could form a layer of oil on top if you cook

it for longer and reduce it too much.

Once everything is cooked through, sprinkle with a handful of chopped

Thai basil.

TIP

You could make a double batch of this curry and freeze half for

another day. It freezes so well and is really easy to cook straight

from the freezer – just place it into an oven set at 200C (fan 180C)

for 20–25 minutes until cooked through.

SPICY MISO AUBERGINE AND BROCCOLI SALAD

This salad was a real hit in the deli, and it’s one of my go-tos as well.

We used to serve it cool, but have recently discovered a new love of

serving it warm, straight out the oven and couldn’t recommend that

more. The dressing is partly what makes this so good and I use it a lot

in other dishes – the ginger, miso, sesame and lime mix is a real winner.

SERVES 2

AS A MAIN DISH,

4 AS A SIDE

2 medium aubergines, chopped

into bite-sized chunks

1 large head of broccoli, chopped

into florets

pinch of chilli flakes

handful of coriander, chopped

handful of sesame seeds

salt and pepper

for the miso dressing

4 tablespoons miso paste

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

3 tablespoons sesame oil

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger,

peeled and grated

Preheat the oven to 240ºC (fan 220ºC).

For the dressing, blitz the miso, lime juice, vinegar, sesame oil,

ginger and some salt and pepper in a blender until smooth. If

you don’t have a blender, dissolve the miso paste in a tablespoon

of boiling water then stir through the other dressing ingredients.

In a large baking tray, mix the aubergine with the dressing and

roast for 30–35 minutes. At this point, remove the tray from the

oven and switch the oven over to the grill setting. Mix the broccoli

florets with the aubergine, then place the tray back in the oven for

another 10 minutes until the broccoli is lightly charred on top and

the aubergine is soft and golden.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, place in a serving bowl

and sprinkle with the chilli flakes, coriander and sesame seeds

before serving.

Heart Chakra Nutrition - Eat Your Greens

This is a guest post by the wonderful holistic nutritionist, Teri Mosey. She has been a much valued contributor to fitness and wellbeing journals and media, especially in the US. 

The Food Chakra Connection

When most people think of food, the conversation commonly goes towards calories, carbs or protein. What if a different conversation arose and you asked how does food nourish all of me; body, mind and soul?

Welcome to the world of holistic nutrition.

Holistic nutrition, practiced for thousands of years, sees food as a healer, nurturer and way of life. Foods goes beyond the calorie, having energetic characteristics that interact with your bio-field; more specifically, the chakras. Chakras are vortexes of Universal energy that run up and down your spine regulating your life force energy or qi. This energy is what gives the gift of life. With that said, chakras are the link between your energetic and physical beings, and the universal consciousness.

What does that mean? Each chakra vibrates at a particular frequency that impacts specific biological processes. For example, your heart chakra energy influences the health of your heart, lungs, cardiac nerve plexuses and thymus gland. Each chakra has a level of consciousness it reflects; with underlying universal life lessons. Your personal journey, all that you are meant to experience and learn in this lifetime is tucked into your biology!

A way to identify these lessons and discover your true nature is through your relationship to food. The link between food traits and chakras comes from sharing the same vibrational energies, corresponding physiological systems and your behaviors around the act of eating. Let’s look at the heart chakra; surrounded around the theme of love. Universal life lessons in love can be experienced through gratitude, acceptance, compassion and forgiveness; of yourself and others. These lessons around love manifest in heart and lung illnesses, making food choices that nourish the heart and strengthen the lungs at the forefront to foods for the heart chakra.

Food and eating strategies to nourish the flow of energy to the heart chakra begins with emphasizing a plant based dietary pattern. Plants are loaded with phytonutrients; health promoting compounds that assist the body’s self healing abilities while altering gene expression. Begin by adding colorful root vegetables, legumes and the grain quinoa to your dietary pattern. Two qualities that specifically vibrate with the heart chakra energies are green color foods and the flavor bitter. So add cruciferous vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, cabbage, rapini and bok choy into your weekly meals. Add those bitter leafy greens like arugula, watercress and lacinato kale to the mix. Daily! Instead of raw, place them under a little heat, wilting them. This makes nutrients more bioavailable and keeps your digestion happy. In recipe terms, explore a soba noodle soup, an adzuki bean stew, roasted root vegetables, a wilted green salad or a grilled veggie quinoa salad. The options are endless. Just keep in the plant family with a heavy presence of greens! And while you’re at it; add a little pungent flavor to these dishes, in the form of scallions, garlic or leeks. They help keep the lungs clear!

Observe if you have an aversion to the above mentioned foods; especially the bitter greens. That’s an underlying message that your heart chakra is asking for your attention! Take a moment to contemplate, “am I willing to live with an open heart?” It can even invite contemplation on questions like, “Do I have underlying resentment? Or “Are the majority of my decisions intellectual, keeping my heart out of the conversation?”

While in the kitchen which can become your space of active meditation, put on your favorite tunes and hum along as you cook! Humming deepens your breath and lowers your heart rate; perfect additional nourishment for the heart energies. Cooking a meal for yourself shows self-love, share it with others and you are expanding the vibration!

The chakras become a bridge between your soul and physical being, with an invitation to use your relationship to food as a way to discover your most authentic self. What an amazing opportunity.  Are you up for it?

Teri Mosey

www.terimosey.com

www.terimosey.wordpress.com

Here's a VEGAN, heart chakra nourishing Spinach & Artichoke Pizza with garlic sauce. If that's not your cup of chai, have a Quinoa and Potato Crust pizza (also vegan!) You're welcome!

At Home in the Wholefood Kitchen

Whether you are vegetarian, vegan or just love a great vegetable-based dish to break up the meat-and-3-veg approach of usual...I totally recommend Amy Chaplin's At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen (Jacqui Small Books). The photography is amazing - you will want to make everything. Well, ok, you'll want someone to make it as long as you can eat it.
From sweet corn frittata (mouth-wateringly good) to salads that will not leave you feeling deprived or undernourished in the slightest. Plus, there's a guide to what to stock your pantry with to be prepared for adventuring into wholefood recipes full of flavour and nutrients. This isn't a fad diet. While some of the recipes are going to tick the paleo or gluten free boxes, they are not designed to appease any particular dietary needs.
The beauty of embracing wholefoods is to choose good quality, seasonal produce (whatever fruit/veg/legumes/fish/poultry and meat) are available fresh and local rather than pre-packaged, pre-prepared foods. The less that happens to your food between coming from the ground, the plant or the creature and to your plate makes it more "Whole".
If this means you can't eat avocadoes and bananas every one of the 365 days of the year because they're just not growing 365 days of the year close to you, you'll adapt and find new foods to embrace and prepare! Take the challenge.
Here's one of my favourites. Looks fabulous. Tastes incredible.

BEETROOT CHICKPEA CAKES WITH TZATZIKI

MAKES 12 CAKES

SERVES 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,

plus more for brushing cakes and tray

520 g (1 lb 3 oz/3. cups) cooked chickpeas (see page 68),

or 2 425-g (15-oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well

2 red onions, finely diced

8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

2 red beetroot (340 g/12 oz), grated on largest hole of a box grater

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

30 g (1 oz/. cup) chopped dill

Freshly ground black pepper

Tzatziki to serve (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 190oC/375oF/Gas Mark 5. Line a baking tray with

baking parchment, lightly brush with olive oil and set aside.

Place chickpeas in a bowl and crush with a potato masher; set

aside. (Don’t mash the chickpeas completely. The mixture should be

somewhat chunky.)

Warm olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add onions

and saute for 5 minutes or until browning. Add garlic and salt and

cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in grated beetroot and continue

cooking for another 6 to 8 minutes or until beetroot are cooked. Add

balsamic vinegar and remove from heat. Add to mashed chickpeas along

with chopped dill and mix well to combine. Season to taste with salt

and pepper.

Divide mixture into 12 and shape into 12 cakes. Place on prepared

tray and brush top and sides of each cake with olive oil. Bake for

15 minutes, rotate tray and continue baking for another 15 minutes or

until brown on the bottom. Remove from oven; allow to cool for

5 minutes before serving.

To serve, slide a thin spatula under each cake and flip onto plate so

bottom side is up. Top with tzatziki or serve it on the side.

TZATZIKI

Tzatziki is a fantastic Greek yogurt dip or side dish

made with cucumbers, dill, garlic and olive oil. The first

time I ate it was on a trip to Greece with my best

friend, Guinevere, many years ago. The tzatziki we

had was served with cooked beetroot and beetroot greens,

and the simple and extremely tasty combination has

stuck with me ever since. Don’t save it just for these cakes;

tzatziki is delicious served with roasted vegetables,

simple grains and crunchy summer salads.

MAKES 480 ML (16 FL OZ/2 CUPS)

1 large (225-g/8-oz) Middle Eastern cucumber (or

a regular cucumber, peeled and deseeded)

360 ml (12 fl oz/1. cups) whole-milk Greek

yogurt or Labneh (page 215)

10 g (. oz/. cup) chopped dill

2 garlic cloves, crushed

. teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil,

plus more for drizzling

Freshly ground black pepper

Grate cucumber on the largest hole of a box

grater, place in a sieve and squeeze out juice with

your hands. Drink or discard juice and add

cucumber to a medium bowl along with yogurt,

dill, garlic, salt, olive oil and a pinch of black

pepper. Stir to combine, season to taste and serve

drizzled with olive oil. Store any leftovers in an

airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Recipe and image from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen (Jacqui Small Books) $39.99 available now in all good bookstores and online.