Posts

Sri Lankan pulled jackfruit curry

/in ,

By Kelsi Boocock 

I tried jackfruit for the first time when I was in Sri Lanka a few years ago and it got me completely hooked. This is a deliciously unique curry and if you haven’t cooked with jackfruit before, this is probably one of the easiest ways to start. The green beans work perfectly to add a little freshness and crunch to the dish.

Images and text from Healthy Kelsi by Kelsi Boocock, Bateman Books, $39.99

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ.  Join us to access more, exclusive member-only content

Ingredients 

Serves 4  

60 minutes

Jackfruit curry

  • 1 tsp             ground coriander
  • 1 tsp             ground cumin
  • 1 tsp             homemade curry powder (recipe also in the book Healthy Kelsi)
  • 1                   red chilli, halved and deseeded, plus extra to serve
  • 1                   shallot, finely chopped
  • 20                 curry leaves
  • 1                   cinnamon stick
  • ½ tsp            ground paprika
  • ½ tsp            ground turmeric
  • 400 g can     jackfruit
  • 400 ml can   coconut milk
  • 3 T                coconut yoghurt

Sweet and spicy beans

  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 400 g green beans
  • 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped

To serve

  • 2 cups brown rice
  • Large handful of fresh coriander

Method

To make the jackfruit curry

  1. Dry roast the coriander, cumin and curry powder in a frying pan and stir until they turn dark brown.
  2. Add chilli, shallot, curry leaves, cinnamon stick, paprika, turmeric and jackfruit to pan, making sure everything is covered in the spices. Add coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. Add coconut yoghurt and continue simmering over a low heat until jackfruit is tender (should take around 20 minutes).
  4. While the jackfruit is softening, cook the brown rice.

To make the beans

  1. Heat sesame oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes.
  2. Add beans, coconut sugar and lemon juice and cook for 3–4 minutes, until beans are tender but still slightly crunchy. Add almonds and cook for 1 minute more.
  3. Serve curry and beans with brown rice and fresh coriander.

Hot tip: Add any vegetables you have on hand. Broccoli or cauliflower work beautifully.

Easy peri chicken dish

Easy peri peri chicken

/in ,

By Scott Gooding and Matilda Brown 

This recipe gets rolled out a lot in our house. The little kids haven’t taken to it just yet, but they will in time … and while we wait, there’s more for Til, Tashi and me. We also sell this as a ready-to-use marinade at The Good Farm Shop – it’s just so versatile.

Images and text from The Good Farm Cookbook by Scott Gooding and Matilda Brown, photography by Cath Muscat. Murdoch Books RRP $45.00

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ.  Join us to access more, exclusive member-only content

Easy peri chicken dish

Ingredients 

SERVES 4

  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2–3 cm (3/4 – 1 1/4 inch) piece ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • juice of 1 lemon, plus extra for drizzling
  • 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) boneless, skin-on chicken thighs charred
  • lemon halves, broccolini and radicchio wedges, to serve

Method

  1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the chicken, lemon halves, broccolini and radicchio.
  2. Mix thoroughly. Add the chicken thighs and mix to ensure they are well coated with the sauce.
  3. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Heat a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat and add the chicken.
  4. Cook the fillets for 3–4 minutes, or until the chicken is caramelised, before turning over and cooking for another 3–4 minutes on the other side.
  5. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5–7 minutes until cooked through.
  6. Transfer the chicken to a chopping board. Allow to rest for 3–4 minutes before roughly chopping.
  7. Drizzle with some lemon juice, season and serve with charred lemon halves, broccolini and radicchio wedges.
Belinda Clark with her granddaughter Isla

My journey to healthier skin

/in ,

Diet and the skin-sugar connection

For most of her life Belinda Clark has enjoyed good health, despite a tendency to do too much, but her skin has often shown when something’s amiss. Here she shares her story.

Fortunately my mother started learning about healthy food when my sisters and I were young, and my parents eventually converted their citrus orchard to being organic and biodynamic.

Our mother’s research into wellbeing strongly influenced my own choices with holistic health later. These helped me stay generally well through student and overseas years and teaching in a New Zealand Steiner school, mostly while raising three children.

I sometimes enjoyed sweet foods, concerned only for my teeth and very occasional candida outbreaks, although I knew of naturopaths who advised clients to avoid it. Dr Rudolf Steiner had recommended it for some, I’d heard, and most people ate it, so I took little notice.

Twenty-two years ago, my daughters, our pets and I moved to a lifestyle block near Napier. It was lovely and brought many benefits but also new pressures, especially when I accepted a herd of angora goats.

  ABOVE: Belinda Clark with granddaughter Isla and Caspian the cat, by a raised vege bed.

The following content is only available to logged-in members. Join us to gain access to a wide range of content.

Belinda Clark is a Soil & Health member who lives near a daughter and granddaughter at Birdsong Nature Sanctuary.

She enjoys learning from and supporting Nature, writing poems and short stories for her ‘Unusual Encounters’ book, being part of an International Peace Group and singing in Napier Community Choir.

Dark chocolate crunch bars (aka ‘healthy’ protein bars)

/in ,

By Dr Linia Patel 

Many shop-bought protein bars hit your protein numbers, but they come with so many other sweeteners and additives that aren’t great for you to be eating habitually. With this recipe I tried to create a protein bar that was healthy.

Images and text from Food for Menopause by Dr Linia Patel, photography by Clare Winfield. Murdoch Books RRP $45.00

We hope you enjoy this free article from OrganicNZ.  Join us to access more, exclusive member-only content

Clients (especially those who are on the go a lot) are always asking me to recommend a protein bar. To be honest, there isn’t one that I would recommend for regular consumption! They’re okay as an occasional get-out-of-jail card, but not for regular consumption.

Many shop-bought protein bars hit your protein numbers, but they come with so many other sweeteners and additives that aren’t great for you to be eating habitually.

With this recipe, I tried to create a protein bar (without using protein powder) that was healthy. One that I would be happy to recommend my clients eat regularly. Each bar gives you about 5 grams of protein – perfect for a snack. They are high in healthy fats, so, as yummy as they taste, keep it to one per snack!

Makes 10-12 bars

Ready in 20 minutes, plus chilling

Vegan

Gluten free

Ingredients 

  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 4 tbsp almond or peanut butter
  • 60g (scant ½ cup) dark (70%) chocolate chips
  • 200g (7oz) cooked quinoa
  • 70g (½ cup) whole unpeeled almonds, chopped
  • 30g (1oz) whole linseeds or flaxseeds

Method

  1. Line a small loaf, baking or cake tin with parchment paper.
  2. Either in the microwave or in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, melt the tahini, nut butter and chocolate together until smooth.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
  4. Tip into the prepared tin and chill for at least 1 hour, then cut into 10–12 small bars.

Tips

These will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days. If you like, you can drizzle with extra melted chocolate before slicing (as per the photo).

Differently wired brains

/in ,

By Mary Allan

“Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits”.  This is the introductory sentence on the Harvard Education blog “What is neurodiversity?”

However, unless we dig a little bit deeper that catch-all term doesn’t explain the glaringly obvious struggles some people live with or the subtle, hardly noticed nuances that make life very difficult for others.

While I applaud inclusive language and thinking, my experience as a specialist in the management of autism spectrum in schools tells me that despite changing the terminology every 30 years or so, we are still very short on understanding how to help neurodiverse people survive and even thrive in our society that caters to the less diverse majority.

Understanding what is going on for people – especially children – is the only way to inform strategies and systems to help them cope with life.

The shape of walnuts is similar to the human brain

  

The following content is only available to logged-in members. Join us to gain access to a wide range of content.

Mary Allan is a retired special needs educator who still maintains a focus on managing ASD and severe behaviour. She is a keen gardener, spurred on by the limited range of organic and GE-free foods in the supermarkets, and the need to provide gluten-free and dairy-free food for her family.