Chocolate Pistachio Cake: Dairy and Gluten Free

While eating dinner with friends a couple of weeks ago, I was trying to describe the sort of recipes that I create, and one person perked up and told me she had a cookbook that I needed to borrow. She brought in 'Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache' by Harry Eastwood (Harry being a woman's name in this case). The book features 80 vegetable-based gluten-free baked goods recipes, the majority of them desserts, with a few savoury biscuit and scone recipes. Parsnip fudge, dense chocolate cake made with aubergine (aka eggplant), orange and butternut squash cupcakes. Harry uses finely grated vegetables, and sometimes finely ground nuts, in place of butter. It's my kind of cooking.

There are a number of recipes that I want to try at some point (particularly the Red Velvet cake, when I have enough beetroot), and I thought these cakes would be the ideal kind to keep in the freezer. You know, just in case. I don't really keep snack or junk food around the house, so sometimes I open the cupboard and all I see are ingredients: soy sauce, bags of lentils, balsamic vinegar, tahini, sea salt, basmati rice, honey, bay leaves, gram flour, cream of tartar, tamarind paste, black beans. Not exactly appetizing fare! And sometimes it's 3:25 pm and you want something with your cup of Earl Grey but you want it to be healthy-ish. And there's nothing prettier than a home-made cake sitting on the counter, flecked with sliced green pistachios. So I made her Chocolate Pistachio Cake with courgette (aka zucchini). Mmm.

The trick, if you're baking for vegetable skeptics, is to make this when they're not around so they can't see what you're doing.  Then, after they've eaten a piece and told you how good it was, break the news that there was green plant matter in their cake. Okay, courgettes are totally harmless and on the tame side of vegetable baking, but in many people's minds, vegetables live in one field, sweet things live in another and they should never cross-pollinate. But c'mon, people, it's 2011. Modern technology. Innovative thinking. Turnips in your Steamed Golden Syrup Sponge Pudding. It's a brave new world.

This recipe is a modification of the one in Harry's book. The icing recipe is mine, in the sense that I just threw it together with coconut milk instead of butter. I've added cinnamon because I like that spice with chocolate and with courgettes (just like zucchini bread), and because it helps balance blood sugar levels.  This cake is fast to make. It bakes in only 30 minutes, and doesn't require too many ingredients. Don't be put off by having to grate the zucchini/courgette: trust me, it grates very quickly.  You have to do these things for the sake of good food.  And the pistachios grind down to a powder in just a few minutes.

The original recipe seemed to imply that this would provide enough batter to make two layers. I prepared two spring-form pans but half the batter didn't even cover the bottom of one (unless spread ridiculously thin), so I scraped it all into one and ended up with a perfect, 1 1/2 - 2 inch high cake.  Works for me.

A note about lining a spring-form pan with greaseproof baking paper: it's a pain in the arse if you try to fit the paper in perfectly with it going up the sides and all of that. So just do this: open and remove the sides (ring) of the pan; lay a piece of paper over the circular base; push the ring down around the base and lock it into place, securing the paper over the base like a drum. Trim away the excess paper and lightly grease the sides and base of the pan with oil or butter. You can easily run a knife around the sides after baking if you have to.  Having paper over the base is sufficient.

A note to American readers about the measurements in 'grams': this sort of thing happens when you live in England. But having a kitchen scale is extremely handy, so this is your excuse to get one. And while we're on the topic of measurements, if you don't have an oven thermometer, please get one when you can. They're cheap and many ovens vary widely in temperature. If I set my oven to 150C, it shoots up above 200C (hotter than hell, in other words) for some odd reason.  I guess it's not a great oven.  So unless you have a fabulous oven, an oven thermometer will serve you well.

Chocolate Pistachio Cake
Adapted from 'Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache' by Harry Eastwood
Dairy and gluten free.

FOR THE CAKE
100 grams shelled pistachios
3 medium organic eggs
180 grams demerara sugar
300 grams topped, tailed, peeled and very finely grated courgette (zucchini in the US) (about 3 medium courgettes)
120 grams self-raising gluten free flour blend
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60 grams good quality cocoa powder
optional pinch of salt unless the pistachios you buy happen to have a bit of salt on them

FOR THE ICING
60 grams icing sugar
20-25 grams good quality cocoa powder
3-4 tablespoons coconut milk (full fat - I open a can of the stuff, then keep what I don't use in a glass jar in the fridge and put it into oatmeal or curries)
1 handful roughly chopped pistachios

METHOD
-Line the base of a spring-form cake pan with parchment or baking paper and lightly oil the base and sides of the pan.
-In the bowl of a food processor, grind the pistachios into a fine powder. This takes several minutes. A good idea is to add a tablespoon of the flour to the pistachios after an initial period of grinding: this helps them 'skate around the bowl' instead of clumping and turning into pistachio butter. Which sounds nice, but won't work here. Make sure you really do grind them to a powder: the texture of your cake depends on it.
-Start heating the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
-In a large mixing bowl, with electric beaters, beat the eggs with the sugar for two full minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the grated courgette and pistachio dust.
-Using a sieve (the kind you'd wash lentils in), sieve the flour, cinnamon and cocoa powder in to the courgette mix. Cocoa powder tends to have lumps in it. You can push it through the holes of the sieve with a spatula to break up the lumps. Before you turn the beaters on again, swirl it all together to moisten the dry ingredients so that when you turn on the beaters, you don't create a cloud of cocoa. Now beat again to incorporate everything really well, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Pour into the prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes (the book says 30, mine took nearly 40, probably because I had all of the batter in one pan).
-Meanwhile, to prepare the icing: in a medium mixing bowl, sieve in the icing sugar and cocoa powder using the spatula method above. Add two tablespoons of coconut milk and mix with a spatula to smoosh out any clumps. Continue to add coconut milk, 1/2 or 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until you have a nice, thick, spreadable consistency. Set aside.
-When the cake is done (test it by inserting a thin knife into the centre, making sure it comes out clean), remove the sides of the pan. Allow it to cool for fifteen minutes or so, then turn it out onto a plate and allow the other side to cool. At this point, you may want to pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes. You want it to come down to room temp or a bit lower, otherwise the heat in the cake (there's a lot of it in there!) will totally melt your icing.
-When the cake has cooled, ice it. Sprinkle roughly chopped pistachios on top. Serve. Feeds 12 health nuts with sweet tooths.

The Complete Guide on How to Use Coriander and Cilantro (Coriander Coconut Chutney Recipe)

If you're new to spices, or you could use some new ideas to jazz up your meals, then this monthly series where I pick one spice or herb and cover natural remedies, health benefits, a recipe or two and other tips is for you. I'll do one spice per month until I've worked my way through my entire spice rack, which has 40 jars on it! So I better get started.

But first, as far as any natural remedies in this post (or anywhere else on my blog) go, please see my disclaimer.

I didn't start cooking until I was 24, and I started with Ayurvedic Indian food. I didn't realize how adventurous I was being, as a cooking virgin. The recipes were full of items I'd never heard of, like asafoetida and turmeric. But I knew cilantro from eating it in guacamole, even if I had never cooked with its seeds, called coriander (in the UK, coriander is used to refer to the leaf and seeds of the plant).



Cilantro/coriander's leaves taste astringent and sweet. In Ayurveda, this makes coriander very cooling. Wherever there is fire, coriander will be there! You do start to notice that it's used most commonly in dishes that also contain chillies: Indian, Thai, Mexican and Chinese foods. It also goes well with sour tastes, as in yogurt dips (yogurt being sour) or with lime, as a garnish.

Some people have a huge aversion to coriander leaves because they find it tastes a bit like soap. I'm in the 'love it' category. The seeds of the plant are much more tolerable, lacking the funny flavour that puts some off the leaves. I use the ground seed in place of the leaves if I have to (I'd rather not). The leaves have the stronger flavour, so it's not usually advised to substitute them for the seed, but hey, rules are made to be broken. I like to use a bit (or a lot, depending) of ground seed along with the leaves to sort of 'layer' the flavours: meaning, if you have a dish and it calls for coriander, putting a bit of ground seed in with the leaf creates more complexity in the flavours in the dish. As an example, you can also layer flavours when you need a dish to be hot: heat can come from black, white, green, pink or red peppercorns; or from dried chillies of all sorts; horseradish, wasabi, mustard; perhaps try putting in two or three items from the same taste 'category' instead of only one, and adjusting amounts accordingly, so you don't overload the dish with heat but you build the flavours in complexity. Curry powder, for example, has heat from black mustard seeds, ginger and black pepper. It has sweetness from fennel and cinnamon. And so on. Hopefully that makes sense.

Here's where I use coriander/cilantro the most:

*leaves as a garnish in Chinese style stir-fries, ground coriander seed as part of the spice in the stir fries; a bit of coriander seed is nice in other hot or sour Chinese dishes where you might not use the leaves;
*Thai dishes such as Tom Yum soup, Thai curries, Thai rice and noodle dishes. I cook the coriander stems along with other vegetables in the curries and soups, then sprinkle the leaves over at the end, and ground coriander seed and stems would almost always go into a home-made curry paste if I was making it;
*Indian foods: chutneys, any Indian curry, vegetable dish, rice dish, home made curry powder, and Ayurvedic teas;
*Mexican dishes: chili tomato rice, guacamole, most chili-laden Mexican dishes. Cilantro also freshens and 'greens' up a Mexican dish that has cheese, helping to cut through the sour and oily qualities. The leaves are excellent as a balance to spicy mole sauces, and the stems could be cooked with any roasted veg that you're putting into your enchilada;
*yogurt dips: leaves and ground seed, perhaps with lemon and cucumber? Sort of like Tzatziki?
*Chutney! Recipe below.
*summer drinks: pound up a few sprigs of coriander with a handful of mint leaves, pour boiling water on them, steep for a while and drink; or, steep then chill it in the fridge, add some lime juice and a bit of stevia or raw agave nectar and enjoy your cilantro mint ice tea. Yum!
*digestive tea: one of the most popular Ayurvedic recipes is a soothing tea to drink at anytime, for anyone, made of 1 teaspoon each: coriander seed, cumin seed and fennel seed (use whole seeds). Place the seeds in a pot, add a pint or two of water, boil, turn to a simmer, simmer for a few minutes, covered, then strain and drink. This healing brew is helpful for indigestion, acid stomach, cystitis, sluggish digestion and many other conditions. You can make some in the morning and take it in a thermos to sip on throughout the day.



As a natural remedy, cilantro is a great herb in the summer because it's so cooling. Meaning, it's helpful if you're prone to heat rash, excess sweat, irritability, if you have acidity, internal inflammation (anything ending in 'itis' like cystitis), skin irritation or other 'fiery' conditions; or if you just need to cool off. The juice is a good thing to drink (along with unsweetened, pure cranberry juice) for urinary tract infections. The juice also soothes skin rashes and burns, burning sore throats, and is excellent for intestinal disorders and as a blood cleanser. I would guess that this is because, as a sweet and astringent tasting green plant food (like cucumbers and avocados), cilantro is powerfully alkaline. That means it counteracts the acidic effects of foods like sugar, coffee, alcohol, wheat, corn, dairy, meat, etc.

To make cilantro juice, wash a bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro in cold water, then run them through a juicer. If you don't have a juicer, put the washed bunch in a blender with a cup or two of water (depending on the size of the bunch) and blend. If you want to make more of a paste to place on heat rash or irritated skin, then add water slowly, in a trickle, while blending until you have the desired consistency. Apply where needed (but not on broken skin - see you doctor).

How to keep your cilantro fresher for longer if you buy a bunch of it from your local vegetable market? Treat it like a bunch of flowers. Snip off the very ends of the stems and place it in a short glass or jar with a bit of water (not enough water to reach up to the leaves, only about an inch or so of the stems). Then you can just leave it on the windowsill or maybe place it in the fridge.

Or, if you buy a bunch of cilantro and know you won't be able to get through it all, make a chutney. This is a really delicious topping for curries or basmati rice. It's also nice as a dip for South Indian flatbreads - like papadums, dosas or kallappams.



Coriander Coconut Chutney

1 packed cup fresh coriander leaves
1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut flakes
1 teaspoon honey
¼ - ½ teaspoon salt (not table salt - sea, rock, kosher or iodized)
2 Tablespoons lime juice (about 1 small/medium lime)
1/2 inch fresh ginger root, peeled with the tip of a spoon and minced
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional!)
1/2 teaspoon (or a bit less) cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon (or a bit less) coriander powder

Blend the coriander and lime juice until chopped; add a little water if it's too thick. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until you have a paste-like consistency (again, adding minimal amounts of water if needed).

Cardamom Snickerdoodles

I love baking. It's therapeutic and can be so beautiful, especially when cake is involved. But I'm also a bit of a health nut. What I consider ideal is having a couple of sporty, hungry teenage boys to pass the cookies to so that I'm not stuck in the house, alone, with an entire cake or batch of cookies. Teenagers have amazing powers of absorption when it comes to food.

Let's cut to the chase. I made some Snickerdoodles in April and took them to dinner at the house of our friends Oleg and Anna, and their sons Dennis and Alex who are...14 and 16, I think. They're both very tall for their age, which makes them look 24 and 26. Their hair is a perfect blend of their mom's curly red and dad's fluffy blonde hair. I hope Oleg doesn't mind me calling his hair fluffy. I simply mean, 'not flat'. It's a good thing. But anyway, they loved the Snickerdoodles. We were over there again last weekend. The lads, plus Lucy, Dennis' girlfriend, cooked dinner for 10 people. I was so impressed, given my complete cluelessness about cooking when I was their age. They wanted the cookie recipe, or at least the spelling of the word so they could look it up.



I guess Snickerdoodles are American – this seems obvious when I think about it. There are plenty of silly words in British English but Snickerdoodle is not one of them. If it was an English 'biscuit', it might be called 'Snickies' or something else with a 'y' sound at the end. They love that over here. Like chocky for chocolate.

As a thanks for dinner, guys and gal, here's a recipe. I thought they'd be nice with cardamom in them. I love cardamom and think it's amazing in the right desserts. Dennis and Alex fondly remember the chai crème brulee that my brother made for everyone at our wedding party in 2008, and last week I had a similar cardamom crème brulee at a very authentic French restaurant near our house. Mmm. Anyway, the cardamom is optional here but I love it.

If you're going to use gluten free flour, it's a good idea to use baking paper so that you don't end up demolishing the cookies while trying to scrape them off the bottom of the pan. Baking paper lets you lift your gluten free wares off easily, with minimal crumble. It's a miracle for the gluten free baker.

I fiddled around to make them a bit 'healthier'. I used half whole spelt flour and half gluten free self-rising flour and modified the amount of baking soda accordingly (self-raising GF flour has baking soda in it). Feel free to use ordinary unbleached all-purpose flour. I also used demerara sugar, but I ground it up in the blender because I didn't want huge crystals but I wanted to keep the sugar unrefined. It's an easy trick that I use when I need powdered or caster sugar but don't want the white stuff.

Cardamom Snickerdoodles

for the dough:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
pinch of salt (not table salt) (omit if you have to use salted butter)

for the topping:
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

In one bowl, cream the butter and sugar with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the egg and mix well.



In a second bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt (if using) and cardamom. Do try to grind the cardamom yourself, the aroma and taste is amazing. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until it starts to clear the sides of the bowl and comes together into a dough. Pat down the top, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight.



When you're ready, take out the dough and preheat the oven to 350F / 180C (I have an oven thermometer and I only have to set my UK oven to 130C! Obviously, these are handy). In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Scoop out spoonfuls of dough, enough for 1 inch balls, and form them by rolling the dough around gently between your two palms. Then toss them in the cinnamon mix to coat and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until just starting to brown around the edges. Makes about 32 cookies. These freeze well. In case you need to save them for the next time you see some teenagers.

How To Beat a Crappy Mood (plus a recipe for spiced greens)

It's been raining since I woke up at 7. I have a sore throat and a sinus headache. Two weeks ago, I had a kidney infection. It was excruciating. I'm better now, but, you know...being able to feel your inner organs (in a bad way) just isn't right. So, I'm lying in bed with a shiny new cold, having just recovered from an internal infection. Schtuff happens. And because I've had to rest a lot and work less in the past few weeks, I start to feel like I'm trapped in a little town in the middle of a foreign country, going nowhere. That's not really true, but it's how I feel today. In other words, I'm in a crappy mood. Just being honest.

So, what do I do when that happens? Here's a list of a few essentials. Try them out next time you're stuck in a rut.

*First, I make sure I'm eating good food, in other words, green vegetables, since they're packed with nutrients (see recipe below). I include spices like turmeric for its antibacterial properties, its benefits for the liver and skin and many other healing functions. I might eat a kiwi or two because of their exceptional Vitamin C levels. I have a couple of eggs for protein, which helps keep my blood sugar steady. But basically, I keep my food light and super nutritious. I don't eat cookies or a chocolate bar. That makes you feel worse, once the sugar high has worn off and you've swallowed it and can't taste it anymore. Then you just feel more lethargic and maybe slightly regretful, and your body still needs the real food to nourish it.



*Second, I move. I turn on this song...



...and I dance. There, now you can do it too! I adore old music videos. They don't make 'em like they used to. I'm diggin' the guy in the orange/red shirt and black trousers on the platform - I don't know what he's up to, but it makes me smile. I almost always choose 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' by McFadden & Whitehead because it's the most positive, uplifting song I can think of. You could say, in terms of Ayurvedic medicine, that 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' is universally beneficial. I jump around, clap to the beat, kick my legs up and really get the blood going. Even with a sore throat. I do this in front of a mirror so that I have someone to grin at. It feels great.

*I drink ginger infused hot water with lemon and add some manuka honey after the 'tea' cools enough to comfortably hold the tip of your finger in. Manuka honey is helpful in fighting off infections (it seems) because of its antibacterial action. Ginger helps to clear any phlegm, perks up your digestion in a big way, and helps to detoxify the body. In Ayurveda, ginger is also said to promote circulation and creativity. You can't lose with ginger. Just slice an inch (or less if you want less spice) of ginger root into 3 cups (700 - 800 ml) water and boil; then reduce to a simmer and cover, simmering for 5 - 10 minutes until it's nice and spicy. Pour into a mug, squeeze in lemon to taste, let it cool down and stir in the manuka.

*I ask myself what I really, really, really feel like doing. In other words, I listen to my body. This is a little like meditating. Maybe I need to rest. Journal. Dance. Stretch. Finish a task that's been on my mind for too long. Clean the house. Get some sun. Turn off the computer. Snuggle the cat. Whatever it is, I take the time to do it.

After all of that, I can usually fight off any encroaching ailment, feel better and get some good work done. Like writing this post, so that you can have a better day too.

Dark Greens with Garlic, Lemon and Spices

As usual, use organic where possible to avoid giving yourself a dose of pesticides. The better the vegetable, the less you have to do to it to make it taste gorgeous. So hit up your local farmers market or save money, support independent farmers and join a CSA (in the UK or the USA).

The point of this recipe is simplicity and ease. It can be as fast as: steam greens. Toss in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve. Or you can get fancy with the garlic and spices.

Chard, kale, tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli, broccoli rabe, beet greens, turnip greens, spinach, arugula (rocket), mustard and dandelion greens...these all work. If you're using dandelion or mustard greens, you might want to use them as an accent to a different green like chard, spinach or kale, unless you're really hard core about your bitter foods.

2 bunches of greens, about 300 grams, or 4 big handfuls after you chop them
1 - 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 medium/large garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, enough to sprinkle over the pan
1 - 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (save the rind and put it in tea)
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon each: cumin, coriander and paprika powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of chili flakes (optional)
fresh herbs (optional): parsley, coriander, basil, oregano...it's up to you. A sprig or two of each.
fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (to taste, or leave it out here)

Wash the greens, remove any tough stems and chop them. Mince the garlic. Heat the oil on medium in a medium/large skillet, then add the garlic and sesame seeds. Toast for a minute or two, just until the garlic starts to brown a bit. Then add the greens, lemon juice to taste and crack the pepper over the greens. Stir occasionally until the greens have wilted down.

A minute or two before the greens are cooked to your liking, add the cumin, coriander, paprika and turmeric powder; also add the fresh herbs. Sprinkle a bit of salt over everything. Mix well. With dry spices, you want to add them just before you're done cooking. They dry out the pan and will stick and burn quickly if there is very little moisture in the pan. You want to heat them just enough to take out any raw taste but not much more.

Taste for salt and pepper, then serve. I actually love this for breakfast, for the way it tastes and for the way it makes me feel, with an egg or two on the side, or fried and placed on top.

Walnut Pesto: Better Than Nutella

I know the title of this post might make some people think that I'm not human, but the truth is that the full cup of walnut pesto we made the other day was gone within 24 hours. We also recently had some Nutella hanging around, since Colm occasionally makes crepes on Sunday mornings. The jar of Nutella, less than a cup, lasted over two weeks.



It's true: I eat pesto straight from the jar. I love it. Not the store-bought stuff, but real, home made pesto. The difference is huge. Actually, let me make that really clear: home made pesto is a million times better (and somewhat cheaper) than store-bought varities. I haven't made my own pesto for nearly a year - probably not since the last time basil was in season. I had forgotten the massive difference between the stuff from the store, made with cheaper ingredients and probably containing preservatives, and the stuff you make at home. I had forgotten the sweet sharpness of raw garlic, how bright the taste of fresh basil is, the tang of the parmesan (or lemon). I made it right before dinner on Wednesday, and we each mixed a big spoonful into our soup. The next morning, I put some of it on a salad that I was taking to work. Colm took the rest of the soup with another big spoon of pesto. When I arrived home in the afternoon, I spread it on oatcakes with goat's cheese as a snack. Then Colm came home and saw how quickly it was disappearing, so he had to have it on rye crackers. And that was it. Done. Gone.

Maybe, if we have this stuff around all the time, then we'll adjust and regain some self-control and civility. It's worth a shot. But before that happens, maybe you should make some yourself so that we can be in good company. It only takes a few minutes to make, walnuts are far more affordable than pine nuts these days (at least they are in England), and they're rich in omega 3 fats. Basil is a green leaf, and green leaves are always good for you, unless they're rhubarb leaves.

If you don't eat dairy, you can use a bit of lemon zest and juice, to taste, in place of the parmesan. This is a trick I learned from Peter Berley's books, and it works really well: the sour, bright taste of lemon replaces the sour taste of cheese. There are thousands of ways to make pesto: with different nuts, vegetables, herbs and spices, so feel free to play around. It's also very easy to make, and involves no cooking. I'm sure that stirring it into mayonnaise would be amazing. On artichokes. Mmmmm.

Walnut Pesto
note: 1 cup = approximately 235 ml, 1/3 cup = 80 ml

1 generous cup of chopped basil leaves, packed lightly
1/2 cup or a bit more of roughly chopped walnuts
1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese (or 1 - 2 tsp. lemon zest and 2 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice - this is a guess, so taste as you go if using lemon)
3 small or 2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
good quality extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4 - 1/3 cup - enough to create a paste-like consistency and to cover the top for storing

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the basil, walnuts, garlic, cheese or lemon and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Begin to blend on a low speed and as it's blending, slowly drizzle in a thin stream of olive oil. Continue to blend and drizzle until the pesto is coming together into a paste. Pause and scrape down the sides of the mixer. Adjust the salt if you need to.

If you're happy with the consistency, then stop here. Or, add more olive oil as needed and blend again. I like my pesto thick enough to hold together when used as a spread. Plus, with home-made pesto, you need to put a layer of olive oil over the top to keep it from turning brown (see below), so more oil will go in anyway. Blend for a total of several minutes, making sure all ingredients are well ground.

How to store: Spoon the pesto into a jar with an air-tight lid and pat it down, making sure there are no air bubbles and that the top is flat. Pour a thin layer of olive oil over it and close the jar. The oil will sit on top and keep air out. Refrigerate. I prefer a jar that is tall and thin rather than wide and flat so that I don't need as much oil.

Now you have some delicious pesto. The self-control part is up to you. Good luck!

Turnip Potato Soup with Turnip Greens

I am not a lover of turnips. I don't know anyone who is. Turnips are not the life of the party in the vegetable world. That would be asparagus, which everyone is head over heels for at this time of year. But spring is also a good time for baby turnips, whom I fell for last week. Baby turnips, made into a soup, with their greens.



In New Mexico, you could head to the local co-op and find a vast, sprawling line-up of amazing greens, many grown locally. Dandelion greens, broccoli raab, broccolini, dino kale (called cavalo nero in the UK), mustard greens, all sorts. It's a bit harder to produce all of that when you live in the middle of a northern island. But we have an amazing CSA right down the road, and last week we had a small bunch of baby turnips, greens attached, in our share. I was stumped. What to do?



I looked up a recipe for turnip soup with turnip greens by Deborah Madison. Instead of stock, it called for milk. I am also not a huge lover of milk. Maybe a splash in my tea now and then, but not four cups of it, with turnips. But I hadn't made a milky soup in ages, and I decided to throw caution to the wind and plunge ahead with reckless abandon. It was delicious. The next week, there were no turnips in my vegetable box, so I had to beg. I made the soup again, this time with some old potatoes that needed using up (it's almost new potato time) to thicken it. It was, again, delicious. My partner, also a turnip skeptic, loved it.



I thought that a turnip soup recipe might be a nice way of saying thanks for the bonus veggies. I also feel that what the world needs now is greens, bitter turnip greens. They're delicious, especially fried in butter and mixed into a soup that's creamy and sweet. Their bitter crunch balances out the other flavours in the soup. Spring is the time of year to eat plenty of bitter green vegetables - daily if you can - to help cleanse your liver and balance out any lingering effects from winter indulgences (spotty skin, excess weight or water retention, etc.). So say Ayurveda and Chinese medicine. And with all of the amazing green leaves coming into season at the moment, it makes perfect sense to focus on this type of vegetable. I topped my bowl of soup with some walnut pesto, which was really delicious. So delicious that I'm going to have to make that my next recipe.

Turnip Soup with Turnip Greens (and potatoes)
inspired by The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison

3/4 lb (6 - 7 small) turnips, removed from their greens before weighing
All the greens from the turnips (most of the stalks included)
3/4 lb potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 leeks, tough green part discarded, washed and sliced into thin half-circles
6 branches of thyme, plus a few pinches of fresh thyme leaves
2 cups of organic milk
water
sea or kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Wash, trim and peel the turnips. Slice them into 1/4" rounds. Peel the potatoes, quarter them if they're large and slice them into 1/2" pieces. Bring a small pot of water to the boil, salt the water and add the turnips and potatoes. Blanch for 1 minute, then drain.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a heavy bottomed soup pot with the olive oil. Add the sliced leeks and cook them in the oil for a few minutes, until they're going translucent. Then add the potatoes, turnips, thyme, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon or so of sea salt. Cover and stew all of this over medium low heat for 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the milk and about 2 cups of pure water, enough to not quite but almost cover the vegetables. Slowly raise the heat without letting the milk boil. Eventually it will simmer a bit, but keep the heat low so it's barely boiling or just under. Cook this way until the turnips and potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, sort through the greens, remove the ends of the stems and discard any that are too tough. Wash the greens and stems. Chop them into small pieces. Melt the second tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet. Let the butter brown a bit if you like. Toss in the greens, season with salt and pepper and fry them in the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally until they're tender, 5 - 10 minutes.



When the turnips are tender, remove the soup from the heat and puree with a hand blender. Add the turnip greens and stir to incorporate. Season with pepper, taste for salt, stir in some fresh herbs of your choice (thyme, parsley or chives) and serve. I happened to be making pesto at the same time and it made for a really nice garnish, so that's an option too.

...Start All Over Again

Oh dear. I'm afraid I haven't been a very committed blogger, even though I have 3 years of blog ownership behind me now. It's so easy to push blogging to the back burner when you're feeling the pressure from every other direction. Your blog doesn't send emails asking for an immediate response, it doesn't require you to be at your desk by 9:30 am or to memorize your lines by next week. It doesn't send you letters threatening to fine you £100 if you don't file on time. But I have many ideas, videos, recipes and helpful information about health and other elements of a well-lived life that I'm constantly thinking about, so I'm recommitting. I just wanted you all to know that. In case anyone is still listening.

Here are some of the things that have inspired me to post about in the very near future: apple cider vinegar as a natural beauty treatment for hair; a basic beginners' guide to growing your own vegetables; becoming 'financially literate'; yoga poses that let you massage your own back; gluten-free South Indian-style flatbreads with coconut and cumin; how to cleanse and detox for spring; great pubs and inns in Northern England to enjoy; and more.



At the moment, I'm feeling very inspired by spring and the amazing weather that England has been enjoying. We've waited a long time for it. See you soon.