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Healthy weight loss

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Diana Noonan discovered a surprising bonus while following a plant-based whole food eating plan – and shares her recipes for wholefood bliss balls and whole grain crackers.

The following is from personal experience, and is not intended as professional dietary advice. This article was first published in Organic NZ Jan/Feb 2021.

Fluctuating weight

When friends I haven’t met for a while fail to recognise me, I try to cover their embarrassment with a joke.

“I should have become a spy,” I laugh. “I have a very unmemorable face!”

But that’s not quite true. The reason they don’t recognise me is that my weight has been forever on the move. And we’re not just talking by a few hundred grams. For as long as I can remember, and despite being vegetarian since I was a teen, latterly a vegan, and having at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, I’ve struggled to keep within a healthy body mass index (BMI) as prescribed by the New Zealand Ministry of Health.

Instead, as someone who found it impossible to stop at just ‘one’ of anything sweet or refined, I’ve been either collecting the kilos, or in the throes of a restrictive diet. From Weight Watchers to Dukan, and the Mediterranean to the raw-food diet, I’ve tried them all. What’s more, they’ve almost always worked. But then, as soon as goal weight was reached, and everyday eating cut back in, I was back to square one.

The plant-based whole food pantry – let the eating begin! Photos: Diana Noonan

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Diana Noonan is a Catlins-based writer and organic gardener who enjoys eating what she grows.

Sri Lankan pulled jackfruit curry

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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

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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.