The Corkless Mind

Tag: healthy

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
Roast cauliflower and quinoa salad

This gorgeous warming salad is inspired and adapted by a recipe from the Gourmet Traveller Australia. As said in my previous post, I’m finding more ways to (excuse the pun) spice up my vegetables and make it into a main dish that is both filling and delicious. Thought I would share a little piece of news with you, I have recently started working for a recipe sharing site called Cookpad, I am expanding their reach to South Africa as their online community manager.They are very successful in Japan, Indonesia, the U.K and the U.S to name but a few. I am very excited to begin this journey to help grow their platform and reach in S.A and I can only hope that this is just the beginning of a fruitful and exciting journey with Cookpad! So if you are an avid home-cook based in South Africa, visit the site and sign up if you love sharing your recipes. Please follow this link if you are interested: https://cookpad.com/za

A belated happy Mother’s Day to all the rockstar moms! I spent the day with my mom and family, and what a beautiful day it was! Seems that winter is unfortunately on hold for Cape Town at the moment with unusually warm weather in May and not a drop of rain in sight for the parched province.

This recipe can be made ahead of time and as a great idea can be packed in for lunch to take to work. I usually boil quinoa for my partner and slow roast tomatoes with garlic, with a mix of baby spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds and some canned tuna or leftover chicken works just as well with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It makes me so happy that I can make him something nourishing and uplifting for him to take to work.

Roast cauliflower and quinoa salad with a yoghurt dressing:

Ingredients:
300g sliced cauliflower florets

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp turmeric

A pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup of quinoa ( I used red and white)

1 cup of vegetable stock

100g baby spinach leaves

50g almonds

50g sunflower seeds
For the dressing:

180ml plain double cream yoghurt

Zest and juice of half a lemon

1 garlic clove crushed

Drizzle of olive oil.
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. In a dry pan, toast the raw quinoa for 1-2 minutes on a medium to high heat. Remove and transfer to a small saucepan

With the stock and bring to a simmer for 25 minutes until all liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy. Set aside to cool.

Toast the spices, sans the turmeric in a dry pan for 30-40 seconds. Add to a pestle and mortar, adding the turmeric then grind. In a roasting dish, add the cauliflower, toasted spices and drizzle of olive oil, roast for 15 minutes until golden and crisp. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, mix together the crushed garlic, lemon juice and zest along with the olive oil.

To assemble, in a bowl or plate, add the baby spinach, the quinoa, the roasted spiced cauliflower, almonds, sunflower seeds and a drizzle of olive oil and a lashing of dressing over the salad.

Enjoy! 🙂

May 17, 2017
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
Honey and Mustard Pork meatballs with pumpkin tagliatelle.

The pairing of pork with flavours like honey, mustard and sage not only enhance the natural sweet flavour of pork but celebrate its umami undertones. This week’s midweek meal is a budget buster, super easy to make and best of all it takes only 20 minutes to magically whip up!
Like many others, I constantly find myself stuck in a rut when it comes to weekly meals and making the same things for convenience sake. Each week, usually as a mid week meal, I make pork and sage bangers, using one of my jars I recycle to use as salad dressing jars(a tip I picked up from Siba from Siba’s Table) I mix some honey, mustard, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and give it a vigorous shake to combine I then proceed to drizzle over the bangers then roast in the oven for 20 minutes to achieve a crisp and golden brown banger. The perfect accompaniment for me is runny polenta studded with butter of course, placing the bangers on top of the polenta and using the pan juices to dress the dish. This for me, is the ultimate comfort food dish.

So in rebellion of boring mid-week meals and costly healthy food, I’ve decided to pimp up the usual pork bangers and give it a lighter more fitting facelift for end of summer days.
Honey and Mustard Pork Meatballs with Pumpkin Tagliatelle with crispy sage.
Ingredients:

-350g pack of Pork bangers

-2 Tablespoons of honey

-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

-1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard

-1 pack of pumpkin tagliatelle(or any spiralized veg for that matter)

-a few sprigs of sage

-a knob of butter or tablespoon of coconut oil

-1 tablespoon of coconut oil to flash fry the pumpkin tagliatelle.
Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Remove the meat from the bangers roll into balls and place in a oven tray/dish. In a jar or bowl, add the honey, mustard, olive oil and lemon juice mix or shake until incorporated. Place the pork meatballs in the tray and pour over the honey and mustard glaze and roast for 20 minutes until golden brown. In a pan, flash fry the pumpkin tagliatelle in the coconut oil for 1 minute on high, place in a separate bowl and set aside to serve with the meatballs. Using the same pan, add the knob of butter or more coconut oil and fry the sage leaves until crispy. Take off the heat and set aside. On a plate, place the pumpkin tagliatelle (I sprinkled a little dukkah and chilli flakes over the veg pasta) place the meatballs on top with the crispy sage leaves using the leftover pan juices drizzle over the dish and serve with grated Parmesan.

February 28, 2017
Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

I have recently gifted myself a digital subscription to the award winning Delicious Australia’s food magazine. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t done so sooner! I’m a massive fan of their glossy food mag and find myself constantly perusing their websites in search for ideas and inspiration.
This recipe is adapted from their February issue, which is packed full of colourful and light summer inspired recipes. This particular recipe looked amazing photographed on their cover but also seemed like something I wouldn’t usually make. Like any fritter recipe, this is super easy and so light and fluffy. The zesty flavour of the zucchini and creamy profile of the Haloumi really complements each other and the accompaniment of the crisp vibrant sugar snaps are just the thing this dish needs for texture and colour. I love how the creamy dressing provides relief for the slight kick of chili in the fritter.

Okay, enough explaining the flavour profile, try the recipe for yourself!

Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

Ingredients:

– 620g Courgette/zucchini (about 5 of them) coursely grated

– 100g Self raising flour

– 50g plain flour

– 250g haloumi

– Pinch of chilli flakes ( I added a few pinches) add according to taste.

– 1tsp salt

– 2 eggs lightly beaten

– 1/2 cup chopped dill

– 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

– 200g of sugar snap peas

– 50g julienne beetroot to serve

– A few spinach leaves or baby gem lettuce to serve

Green Goddess Dressing:

-1/2 bunch of mint and dill

-Juice of 1/2 lemon

-120g sour cream

-140g Double fat plain yoghurt

Method:

Place the colander into a bowl and coursely grate the zucchini into the colander. Add the salt and set aside for 15 minutes, then squeeze to remove extra moisture. In a separate bowl, add the grated zucchini, flours, eggs, chilli flakes and dill, mix to combine.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil for a shallow fry on a medium heat. In batches, spoon in a heaped tablespoon of the fritter mixture and fry for 3-4 minutes on either side, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.

Plate fritters with the lettuce/spinach, beetroot and sugar snaps, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Top with a poached egg or two.
In a blender (or in my case my NutriBullet) blitz together the yoghurt, sour cream, mint and dill until combined. Drizzle over the fritters and salad

**the original recipe calls for smoked ham to be added to the fritter mix, you can, like me completely omit this ingredient or add smoked bacon if you want to take it to next level deliciousness!

February 16, 2017