Dairy-Free Sour Cream

Here is my quick and easy dairy-free substitute for sour cream!  We also use this as a dip - it's especially nice with raw veges.


The best way to make it is to soak the nuts and seeds overnight (or for a few hours) before you make it - it's easier to digest.  But if you forget, you can use the unsoaked nuts and seeds.


I use organic or insecticide-free ingredients, so the pine nuts can be very expensive, which is why I came up with a cheaper version using almonds - they're both very yummy.  If you don't have a Thermomix, grind up the dry nuts/seeds first, then blend everything in a powerful blender. 


(Original recipe from "Rejuvenate Your Life" by Serene Allison; variation by me.)

Soak nuts and seeds overnight in water.  Add all ingredients (including soaking water) to Thermomix and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, scrape down sides, blend again until smooth:
- 85g (1/2 cup) sunflower seeds

- 85g (1/2 cup) pine nuts

- 250g (1 cup) filtered water

- 1 tsp sea salt

- 75g (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice

- 1 small clove garlic, or dash of garlic powder

- 1 tsp onion powder

If you want to use this 'sour cream' in sweet dishes, leave out the onion powder and garlic!

Or, my own version (which is cheaper!)...

Soak nuts and seeds overnight in water.  Add all ingredients (including soaking water) to Thermomix and blend for 1 minute on speed 9, scrape down sides, blend again until smooth:
- 100g blanched almonds (you can blanch your own by pouring boiling water over raw almonds, leaving to sit for a while, then popping the skins off)
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 1 tsp herb/vege salt
- 3 tsp dried onion flakes
- 1 tsp *savoury yeast flakes
- 60g fresh lemon juice
- 250g filtered water


* You can buy savoury yeast flakes from the health food shop - they add a bit of a 'cheesey' flavour.

Yummy Pea & Lettuce Soup

I love a mug of hot soup for lunch on a cold day - here's one I made today, adapted from Cyndi O'Meara's wonderful cookbook, "Changing Habits, Changing Lives". I needed a recipe to use up all those lettuces in my fridge - it's been so cold, wet and miserable that salads aren't going down too well here, so soup is the next best thing! I know, lettuce in soup sounds weird, but this is really yummy. Try it!

(Note: I make this in my Thermomix, but you can make it in a saucepan, then puree using a blender or hand-held processor.)

1. Place in Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds, speed 5 (or chop by hand):
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 onion, halved

(I actually peel my garlic in the Thermomix too, especially when they're small cloves, by throwing in the unpeeled cloves and knocking them about on reverse, speed 5, for 5 seconds. You can just pick out the papery skin, or add some water and it will float to the top, and you can scoop it off then tip out the water!)

2. Saute onion and garlic with oil for 3 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 2 Tblspns olive or macadamia oil

3. Add vegetables, and chop for 5 seconds speed 5, using spatula to push them down to the blades:
- 1 potato, quartered
- 1 carrot, quartered
- 1 lettuce, well washed and separated
- 300g frozen or fresh peas
- a handful of fresh chives
- a few sprigs of parsley or coriander (opt.)

4. Add and cook for 20 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 1 Tblspn vegetable stock concentrate (or vege stock powder such as Massel)
- 750g water

(If chopping veges by hand and cooking in saucepan, simmer soup for about 30 minutes. Because the veges are chopped so fine in the Thermomix it needs less cooking time.)

5. Slowly turn speed dial to speed 8 and blend soup for 30 seconds (or blend in blender or with hand-held processor).

6. Add and mix in briefly:
- 2 Tblspns lemon juice
- 150g cup sour cream substitute (or real sour cream or natural yoghurt)

Rapadura? Panela? Sucanat? Muscavado? Turbinado? Organic Raw Sugar?

 

Rapadura? Panela? Sucanat? Muscavado? Turbinado? Organic Raw Sugar? Are these sugars the same? If not, which ones are the least refined? Which have the most vitamins and minerals? Are you confused?

A lot of people ask me, "What is Rapadura? Is it the same as Organic Raw Sugar? Why is it okay to eat Rapadura, but not okay to eat regular cane sugar, if they're both made from sugar cane?" So here's an overview of these different sugars...

Rapadura is the pure juice extracted from the sugar cane (using a press), which is then evaporated over low heats, whilst being stirred with paddles, then seive ground to produce a grainy sugar. It has not been cooked at high heats, and spun to change it into crystals, and the molasses has not been separated from the sugar.  It is produced organically, and does not contain chemicals or anti-caking agents.

In Brazil, where it is produced, 'Rapadura' is the traditional name for this kind of sugar - it is also known as Panela, Raspadura, Chancaca, Piloncillo... depending on where it's made.  There may be some small differences in the process used to make these, but generally it is as outlined here.  Daabon, who import this sugar from Columbia to Australia and the United States, state that Panela and Rapadura are two names for the same product, Panela being the Colombian name.

The German company Rapunzel registered the name 'Rapadura' for the organic sugar they sold, but because of the diplomatic problems it caused, the labelling was recently changed to 'Organic Whole Cane Sugar.' 

There are similar products to Rapadura, such as Sucanat (USA - a trade name), and Jaggery (India). Sucanat is different to Rapadura in that the sugar stream and the molasses stream are separated from each other during processing, then reblended to create a consistent product, whereas Rapadura is a wholefood product which can vary according to sugar cane variety, soil type and weather. This is why one batch of Rapadura may be lighter or darker than the last batch. (See this diagram)  Because Rapadura is not separated from the molasses, it has more nutrients, vitamins and minerals.  Jaggery can refer to either whole cane sugar or palm sugar.  From what I can understand, it is also heated to higher temperatures, as much as 200 degrees C, which Rapadura is not.  Like many of these similar sugars, Jaggery is solidified and formed into cakes, which can then be grated for use.

Because Rapadura is dehydrated at a low heat, the vitamins and minerals have been retained. (See this specs sheet for details of what Rapadura has in it, compared to other sugars!) It still has the natural balance of sucrose, glucose, and fructose, and contains components essential for its' digestion. It is metabolized more slowly than white sugar, and therefore will not affect your blood sugar levels as much as refined sugars. The more refined the sugar, the more it raises your blood sugar.

Muscavado, Turbinado, Demarara and 'Organic Raw Sugar' are all refined, though not as much as white sugar. They are the product of heating, clarifying, then dehydrating the cane juice until crystals form, then spinning it in a centrifuge so the crystals are separated from the syrupy juice (producing molasses). The clarifying process is usually done with chemicals, although sometimes through pressure filtration.  The crystals are then reunited with some of the molasses in artificial proportions. The molasses contains vitamins and minerals, and is recommended for a healthy diet, but the crystals themselves are pretty much 'empty carbs.'

'Raw' sugar is not really raw - it has been cooked, and a lot of the minerals and vitamins are gone. Still, it's better than refined sugar because it has a little of the molasses still clinging to it. Some sugar is sold as 'organic' raw sugar, and people think this means it's unrefined - all it really means is that it's grown with organic agricultural methods, then refined as usual... the juice (molasses) has been mostly removed, and there's not really much goodness in it.

White sugar is refined much further... see this flow chart for details.  The raw sugar is washed with a syrup solution, then with hot water, clarified (usually chemically) to remove impurities, decolourized (in some countries they use bone char made from cattle bones), concentrated, evaporated, reboiled until crystals form, centrifuged again to separate, then dried, and by then any lingering goodness has completely dissapeared! All other sugars are refined sugars of different sizes, and various stages of processing. Crystallised refined sugars are pure sucrose and contain no nutrients beyond calories. They are a "pure" industrial product, and can hardly be considered a food. Some would say they are closer to a drug, which affects our bodies adversely and is very addictive. Not only do they not give anything beneficial to our bodies, they actually take away from the vitamins and minerals in what we are eating. People who get headaches from eating refined sugars usually find they have no problem with Rapadura.

Brown sugar is just white sugar mixed with molasses.

If you are unused to the grainy texture of Rapadura, it can be ground in the Thermomix (or a powerful blender) to a fine powder to help it dissolve better. Rapadura can be used cup for cup as an alternative to sugar in all your baking and cooking. I buy my Rapadura bulk from Demeter Farm Mill through a local co-op (12.5kg for about $73). I always cut down on the amount of sugar when converting recipes, just adding some raw honey or some crushed dates, or sometimes a pinch of stevia powder if I think it needs more sweetening. That way it doesn't end up too expensive an option. However, when you're considering the price, remember that Rapadura is grown and produced without chemicals, in third world countries, by people who need our support to continue this traditional method of producing sugar if they are not to be taken over by large, multi-national companies who would discard the old methods for their high-profit, ultra refined methods!

Here are some links to places where you can buy Rapadura - check on bulk prices, get a few friends together and buy a big bag, and you'll save a lot!
Biodistributors (Australia)

Daabon Organic (importing to countries all over the world)
Honest to Goodness (Australia)
Good Food Warehouse (Australia - prices include postage/freight)

Kombu Wholefoods Organic Grocery Store (Australia)

Santos Online Organic Healthfood Store (Australia)

Menu Plan Monday - 27th July

Okay, I'm going to try and be organized and have a menu plan this week - been a bit slack with that lately! I don't know about you, but I find it really helpful to know what I'm cooking each day, as the meat can be thawed out in the fridge the day before, and any grains/nuts/seeds soaked the night before. If you'd like some menu planning tips, or recipe ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. And if you're a fellow Thermomixer and would like to share what you've been cooking, come on over to the Thermomix forum for a chat.

This week I have plenty of greens which I usually use up by steaming with other veges, or in stir-frys... plus pumpkin, and LOTS of lettuce. So lots of salads, stir-frys and steamed veges are on the menu as side dishes. Also, a friend whose little boy has many allergies (wheat, dairy, soy, nuts and eggs!) wants a recipe for a flourless cake that doesn't have eggs in it - and I found one! And it has pumpkin in it, which works out well, as well as dark chocolate which I make myself using this recipe. So I'm going to try that recipe out and will be posting it soon.

TMX stands for 'made in the Thermomix'.

Have a great week!

Monday: (lunch) Roast beef with baked potato, sweet potato & pumpkin, and steamed broccoli and greens; (dinner) Creamy pasta with veges TMX (dairy and gluten free - using this white sauce recipe TMX).

Tuesday: (lunch) Beef & vege pie (made with leftover roast dinner) with spelt shortcrust pastry TMX, & salad; (dinner) leftovers, spelt bread rolls TMX, salad.

Wednesday: (lunch) Salmon, boiled egg & spinach salad; (dinner) Mexican Chicken & Lime Soup TMX (with hominy!).

Thursday: (lunch) Fish strips (see photo here) with steamed brown rice & steamed veges TMX; (dinner) Fried rice with leftover rice, veges, boiled eggs and chopped up fish strips.

Friday: (lunch) Raw Pasta Sauce TMX on spelt fettucine with salad; (dinner) Turkey mince sausages (homemade TMX) in spelt tortillas with salad.

Saturday: (lunch) Sandwiches on homemade spelt bread; (dinner) Fish cakes with creole mayonnaise TMX & salad.

Sunday: (lunch) Leftovers/sandwiches; (dinner) Roast lemon chicken with baked potatoes & salad.

Snacks/Desserts/Baking/Condiments:

- Flourless Eggless Chocolate Cake

- Spelt Bread & Rolls & Tortillas

- Tahini Balls

- Tomato Sauce

- Mayonnaise

- Apple Butter

Coconut Lemon Chicken Soup

Whenever anyone in our family starts to come down with a cold, I get out the stock pot and make a great big batch of chicken stock so I can make lots of chicken soup! There's nothing better than old-fashioned chicken soup when you're feeling achy and miserable, in the throes of a bad cold. But when you get tired of 'old-fashioned' chicken soup, try this one for a change. This is my new favourite - it's so delicious, and the fresh herbs and spices and chilli are great for colds, not to mention the thick, jellyish, golden stock. It's a comforting remedy for colds, chills and sore throats. (Adapted from recipes in "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon.)

It really is true that a rich chicken broth - the famous Jewish penicillin - is a wonderful remedy for the flu. "Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily-not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons--stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain." - Weston Price Foundation (see full article)

So get out your stock pot, and start cooking!

(P.S. You can make enough stock for this recipe in your Thermomix - just use chicken wings, necks, and backbone with cartilage; crack the bones, and cook in steamer basket with a few celery leaves, onion, carrot and garlic, covered with water, with a tsp of vinegar.)

Chicken Stock

You will need:
- 1 whole chicken (free range, organic if possible), or 1 to 2 kg bony chicken parts
- 4 litres cold filtered water
- 2 Tbspns apple cider vinegar
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 celery sticks with leaves, roughly chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (opt.)
- 1 bunch parsley

1. Cut the chicken into several pieces, sawing through bones or cracking them with a meat hammer. You can cut off the breast and put it aside for another meal (eg: a stir-fry or pasta). Just leave the fat on - don't worry, chicken fat is good for you! However, if you don't want the fat, when the stock cools it will solidify on top so you can easily scoop it off if you like. If you are using your own home-raised chicken, throw in the feet too, and even the head if you're game - the stock will have a lot more 'gel,' which is so good for you.

2. Place chicken pieces into a large stainless steel stock pot, cover with the cold water, add vinegar and vegetables (except parsley), and let stand for 30 minutes.

3. Bring to a boil, remove scum that rises to the top, reduce heat and simmer for 6 to 24 hours. I cook it on low in my slow cooker. (If you don't have time, at least simmer for 3 hours.) The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavourful it will be. About 10 minutes before you're ready to turn it off, add the parsley. (This will add more minerals to the broth.)

4. Remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and refrigerate. When they're cool, take the meat off the bones. Save 200-300g for your soup (recipe below) and store the rest in zip-loc bags in the freezer for other recipes - soups, salads, enchiladas, sandwiches and curries.  Strain the broth into a large bowl and place in the fridge until the fat rises to the top and can be skimmed off (optional). Once cold, the stock should be 'jellyish'. Set aside 1 litre of stock for the soup; place any leftover stock into small containers and freeze.

Coconut Lemon Chicken Soup (Thermomix version)

1. Chop in TMX for 5 seconds speed 7, until finely chopped:
- 1 inch fresh ginger
- 1/2 inch fresh turmeric
- 1 large clove garlic
- some fresh coriander or cilantro (to taste)
- a few fresh chives or shallots

- a piece of fresh red chilli (to taste)

[Note: For extra goodness and 'zing', double the amount of ginger, turmeric, garlic, coriander and chilli (opt). After whizzing it up, remove half to a bowl, then add it back into the soup after it's finished cooking. That way you'll get the benefit of the raw enzymes, not to mention more flavour!]

2. Add, and cook for 10 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1, or until starting to boil:
- 1000g home-made chicken broth

3. Add remaining ingredients, and cook 10 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 1 tin coconut cream or milk
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp Rapadura
- a few good splashes of fish sauce
- sea salt to taste

4. Add in the 200-300g cooked chicken reserved from making the broth. Cook for another 2 minutes at 100C, reverse speed soft. Then add in the extra minced herbs, garlic, ginger, etc if using.

5. Pour into bowls, and garnish with fresh cilantro or shallots.

'Blender Batter' Berry Cake (GF & DF)

You would never guess that this scrumptious cake is made completely from brown rice, would you! It is the most moist and delicious gluten-free cake ever... and it is completely dairy-free and refined-sugar-free too! It is not made with flour, but with the whole, raw grains, ground in the Thermomix, blended with the liquids, then left to soak for a few hours before the other ingredients are added. You could use other grains besides brown rice - see variations at the end of the recipe. I use raw honey for the sweetener, which I buy bulk to save money.

I've adapted this recipe from one in Sue Gregg's "Breakfasts" cookbook  called "Almond Coffee Cake" which is made with her 'Blender Batter Baking' method.

1. Place 200g of rice in Thermomix and blend on speed 9 for 1 minute. Set aside and grind remaining 150g rice on speed 9 for 1 minute. Return first batch to Thermomix bowl. (It's best to grind this amount of rice or grain in two batches so you don't overload the blades.)

- 350g raw brown rice

2. Add the following ingredients and mix on speed 9 for 30 seconds:

- 260g rice/almond milk

- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 50g olive oil

- 280g raw honey

2. Scrape down lid and sides of bowl, and leave batter to soak for a few hours, or overnight, at room temperature. (I prefer to pour it into a glass bowl for soaking.)  If you're in a hurry it can be made without soaking - just add an extra minute of blending once you add the liquids.

3. Oil a large rectangular baking dish. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C (325 degrees F).

4. Add, and reblend for 2 more ninutes on high speed:

- 2 eggs

5. Add to batter, and blend briefly but don't overmix (5 seconds speed 5):

- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp ginger

6. Pour batter into baking pan, and sprinkle over the top:

- 1 cup of frozen mixed berries/blueberries

7. Don't rinse out Thermomix/blender; just place into bowl and chop on speed 5 for 3-5 seconds:

- 1 good handful raw almonds

8. Add, and mix on speed 3 for 3 seconds:

- 1 good handful of raw rolled oats (or if gluten free, use 1/4 cup gf flour instead)

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 2 Tblspns Rapadura

- 2 Tblspns macadamia oil (or other mild tasting oil, or butter)

9. Sprinkle over cake, and place in oven. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until knife or toothpick comes out clean when poked into centre of cake. Enjoy!

Variations:

- Other grains you can use: 1 1/3 cups wheat or 1 1/2 cups spelt/kamut or 1 1/4 cups barley grain.

- Apple cake: Cook 2 cups thinly sliced apples with 1/4 cup water and 1 tsp cinnamon; place on top of batter in pan, then sprinkle topping over (use walnuts or pecans instead of almonds in topping).

- Dried fruit: Soak 1 cup dried apricots or other dried fruit in hot water for 1-2 hrs, until soft; use in place of apple as above.

- Date & walnut cake: Mix together 3/4 cup of diced dates and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts; fold half into batter, and sprinkle rest on top with topping. (Omit almonds in topping.)

- Pineapple cake: Use juice from tin of crushed pineapple instead of rice milk in cake; add crushed pineapple to topping and omit almonds.

Make Your Own CHOCOLATE!

You're going to love me for this!!!

I got tired of trying to find healthy chocolate with no dairy, no soy (or soy lecithin) and no refined sugar... so I took my friend Cheryl's advice and made my own. (Thanks Cheryl!) I used a recipe for carob chips from that wonderful cookbook "Nourishing Traditions," (by Sally Fallon) and converted it for the Thermomix. If you don't have a Thermomix, melt it in a double boiler, stirring constantly until the Rapadura is dissolved. (You will have to first grind the Rapadura to a fine powder in a blender.) You can eat this chocolate on it's own, or cut it up small to use in healthy chocolate chip bikkies (cookies). Of course, you can use carob instead of cocoa if you'd rather.

(I know coconut oil is expensive, but it's still cheaper than buying 'healthy' chocolate. I buy my coconut oil from my bulk wholefoods co-op, so it's about half the price of what you pay at the health food shop.)


* Homemade chocolate update!!  I now use this recipe for "Almost Raw" Chocolate - it's smoother and very rich and delicious!! *

1. Mill in Thermomix on speed 9 for 30 seconds, or until very fine (or use blender):
- 50 to 70 grams Rapadura (depending on how sweet you want it)

2. Add, and melt at 50 degrees, 4 mins, speed 3:
- 250 grams coconut oil (cold pressed)
- 40 grams cocoa powder (preferably a good organic one)
- 1 Tblspn vanilla extract
- pinch of fine sea salt

3. Line a large rectangular baking tray with baking paper (or greased parchment paper), and pour chocolate onto paper. The chocolate should be very thin, or else it will separate too much. Place carefully into freezer for about 20 minutes, until set. Cut into squares or bars or break into chunks, and keep it in the fridge in a ziploc sandwich bag, if you can keep your family away that long!

I think it's best to make this when the kids are in bed, or you won't have much chocolate left to put in the fridge... although mine heard my loud 'rejoicing' that the chocolate had worked, and jumped out of bed to try it - so rejoice quietly!

Variations: Add some orange peel to the Rapadura before milling it, for orange chocolate; or some peppermint essence; or maybe some coffee beans... let me know what variations you come up with!