Ma Po Tofu

Ma Po Tofu

Ma Po tofu.  I should probably put that in quotation marks ‘Ma Po’ tofu as it has been properly butchered since I first started making it (thank you Ai-Leng), to make it more Ayurvedic.  It realistically no longer resembles Ma Po tofu at all but it remains utterly delicious and, Read more…

Lunch box

Packed lunches: Can they be healthy, easy, cheap, environmentally and child-friendly?

I think they can.  It’s a fine balance but it is possible. I often get asked about healthy packed lunches.  I try to tiptoe a wiggly line between health, ease, environmental-impact and child-acceptability!  I don’t get it perfectly right and I’m no Delia Smith, but for what it’s worth, here Read more…

The 6 tastes of Ayurveda

Balanced meals, balanced person, that’s the concept.  Ayurveda has a delightfully simple way of devising a balanced meal; it’s all done through taste.  There are 6 tastes, and if you have a balance of all 6 in your meal, your meal will be nutritious and, importantly, satisfying (assuming that your Read more…

Spelt Grain

What’s the story with wheat?

Why my obsession with spelt? What is wrong with wheat?  Nothing. The ancient texts of Ayurveda extol the virtues of wheat, as a nourishing, strengthening food.  Its properties are heavy, oily, sweet and cooling.  As it is fairly heavy to digest, it is best not to over consume.  Looking at wheat from a Read more…

Sourdough – the bread that’s easy to digest

Fermentation has been used worldwide for thousands of years to produce foods and drinks of different flavours, textures and longevity.  An example of this is alcohol, and less obviously bread and soy sauce.  In Ayurveda, there are various slow-fermenting vinegars and medicinal ‘wines’ which have documented therapeutic uses.  This natural, Read more…

Spelt Sourdough loaf in a bread-maker

Before you can make spelt sourdough bread, you need to first, make or obtain a sourdough starter.  If you are starting one yourself, you can use wholemeal spelt or rye from the beginning.  If you are getting some from a friend or another source and it is wheat, you can feed Read more…

Oil

The myths of oils and fats

Oils and fats are a much misunderstood area of our modern diet.  We moved away from cooking with saturated fats (e.g. meat fats, dairy fats) as we were told they were causing us too many problems.  We jumped straight from the sizzling frying pan into the fire… Types of oils Read more…