The Corkless Mind

Tag: Health conscious

Balducci’s Cape Town Launches Exciting Plant-based Menu

Disclaimer: I was invited by Balducci’s as a guest, and thus no expense was spared on my part.

It’s no secret that vegan and vegetarian fare get a lot of flack for what most think is rather bland and unimaginative cuisine. Balducci’s is here to change your mind. Last Friday I was invited to try out the new menu and what would also fall on international champagne day proved to be such a refreshing treat.

Delicious new offerings include Vegan Butter-Chicken-Style Pasta, Roasted Tofu and Vegan Satay Sauce Pizza, Chickpea and Potato Curry, Roasted Chilli Paste and Cashew Nut Yellow Noodles, Sunshine Plate including Lebanese-style Falafel, Bhajis Plate including Corn Kernels dusted in spices and chickpea flour and lightly fried, Vegan Peanut-Butter Blondies and more…

The vegan butter chicken, falafel and Bhajis plate was so incredibly tasty! I could go back just for those meals. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by the lack of choices for vegan and vegetarians but Balducci’s has certainly proved they care about all of their diners by providing variety and sustainability. If you’re not vegan or vegetarian like me, but want to experiment with different tastes and flavours, then you need to visit Balducci’s and try their new menu out! Who knows you might walk away wanting to convert 🙂

Balducci’s plant-based menu reflects their commitment to supporting sustainable organic agriculture in the long term and respect for the planet.
For more information on the vegan menu please visit: https://balduccis.co.za/balducci-vegan-menu/

Balducci: Shop 6162, Victoria Wharf, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 421 6002/3

October 23, 2019
Satsuma and coconut granola

I have never considered myself to be health obsessed or fit.
However, as one ages and times change, circumstance dictates otherwise and almost forces one to be health conscious and smart about what we put into our bodies. You might have noticed lately I’ve been eating a little healthier than usual, and for that I feel a little more energetic. With that in mind, I do have my cheats here and there with balance being key, I certainly don’t plan on depriving myself anytime soon.

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend a meet and greet with Jessica Sepel hosted by the awesome Wellness warehouse. Jessica is a renowned nutritionist and health author born in South Africa and later moved to Australia where she pursued her career in nutrition. In the intimate setting of the wellness warehouse café, Jessica shared with us her journey to eating clean to fuel mind and body adequately to keeping cortisol levels at bay for a calmer wellbeing. Having just finished her South African book tour for her second book ‘Living the Healthy Life’. I have a feeling this one is going to be another resounding success. Inspired by her talk, I made one of her super tasty homemade granola recipes which is from her first book, The Healthy Life.
Making your own granola at home is the best thing you can do if you’re trying to cut sugar out. Store bought granola is often riddled with tons of refined sugar amongst many other nasty stuff. This recipe is incredibly easy and takes just 20 minutes in overall time. I love the toasty taste of the coconut and nuts together with the fresh zestyness of the satsuma. Possibly one of my favourite granola’s I’ve tasted thus far! Because oranges are not in season just yet, I’ve replaced them with Satsuma citrus, which is a soft citrus and kind of reminds me of a milder tasting naartjie or clementine. I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit here and there, feel free to put your own spin on this one too.
Satsuma and coconut granola:

Ingredients:
-140g Almonds, roughly chopped

-50g walnuts

-50g pistachios

-50g sunflower seeds

-50g pumpkin seeds

-100g rolled oats

-4 tbsp of dessicated coconut/coconut flakes

-1 tsp of ground cinnamon

-2 tbsp of satsuma/orange zest

-2 tbsp of maple syrup/raw honey

-75g coconut oil, melted

-juice of one satsuma/orange

-pinch of salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. In a large bowl, mix the oats, nuts, both seeds, cinnamon and salt together with the zest. Melt the coconut oil if solid, until liquid, add the juice of the satsuma and maple syrup, and stir to combine. Add this mixture to your dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are just combined. On a parchment lined tray, spread the granola evenly then bake for 10 minutes, stir the granola after the first 10 minutes, then bake for another 5-10 minutes until golden. Store in an airtight container. Serve a few dollops of double cream plain yoghurt and fruit.

To give you an idea of what more you could use the granola for, you could make a delicious yoghurt parfait as a midday or brekkie snack. Just stack ingredients in a jar or glass and serve topped with mint and berries.

And just like that you have your very own homemade granola!

March 29, 2017
Roasted Sunbutter with chocolate.

I seem to have a healthy(excuse the pun) obsession with nut/seed butters these days. I could spread this luxurious paste on anything, from toast to dipping fruit into the nut/seed butter for a quick healthy snack option. This week I spotted a special on the sunflower seeds at my local supermarket and decided that I would experiment and make my very own homemade Sunbutter in my NutriBullet. I normally don’t have leftover chocolate, I think I might have forgotten about it and probably stashed it away for a rainy day… So with Sunbutter in mind I decided to use the leftover chocolate to give it a more dreamy luxurious feel.

This recipe is modeled off of a general guideline to make nut butter.
Roasted Sunbutter with a hint of chocolate.
Ingredients:
250g of Sunflower seeds

2 x Tablespoons of coconut oil

Two tablespoons of cocoa powder or four blocks of 70% dark Lindt Chocolate

Pinch of salt

Two tablespoons of honey
Method:
Place the seeds on a baking tray with parchment on and roast in a preheated oven(180 degrees C) for 10-15 minutes(watch it carefully as you don’t want the seeds to burn) set aside to cool.

Once the sunflower seeds are completely cooled down, in a large NutriBullet cup, add only the seeds and blitz till the oils of the seeds are extracted and the grainy texture becomes oily and comes together, blitz every 30 seconds then scrape down the cup with a spoon. Once an almost paste like consistency is obtained, add the salt and coconut oil. Blitz for a further 30 seconds until a smooth consistency is achieved. Add the honey and melted chocolate/cocoa powder and blitz again for another 30 seconds.

Serve on toast, with fruit on the side or seed crackers.
*the melted chocolate I heated up the microwave with 10 second blasts in between and add a little milk in at the end to make the mixture runny.
There are so many things you can do with nut/seed butters. I am an avid smoothie drinker and maker, so it’s only natural that I add some of the Sunbutter to a smoothie. I made a Banana, Whey protein, honey, coconut milk and Sunbutter power up smoothie. Just add all the ingredients to the cup and blitz, easy as that! For best results, freeze banana slices, this will give your smoothie a smooth and creamy texture whilst keeping the smoothie really cold too.
If you own a NutriBullet and love the nifty little gadget as much as I do, then please share some other ways you best utilize yours.
Dominique x

January 25, 2017