Sweeet Tropical Chia Seed Pudding

Last week I introduced the low-sugar diet the doc put me on in order to kick my diabetes' ass and I've been experimenting with new breakfast ideas, because my go-to for the past year has either been epic fruit salads or fruit smoothies. Now I'm only allowed to have one fruit serving per day and that does not a breakfast make.

Lately I've been alternating all-vegetable green smoothies with chia seed pudding and it's becoming a breakfast staple. We've all heard how wonderful chia seeds are, but what I was surprised to learn is that these little guys are filled with 2x more protein than most grains and 5x more calcium than milk, they have 8x more Omega-3 fatty acids than salmon and if prepared properly, the high fiber content will make you poop!

So here's what I've been making as of late, a sweeet tropical chia seed pudding that's gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan. Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

1/3 cup chia seeds • 1 cup of unsweetened cashew milk • 2 cups of water • 2 tbs of unsweetened coconut flakes • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 2 tbs raw almonds slivers •  1 diced kiwi fruit

Combine the cashew milk and water in a storage container and stir in the seeds. I used cashew milk because it's gluten-free, unsweetened and low-carb, but any unsweetened nut or coconut milk would be awesome in this recipe. Avoid rice, oat or soy milks if you are on a low-sugar, anti-inflammatory diet like me. Once the chia seeds are in they will sink and clump together so stir them continuously for a few minutes until they break up and float around evenly. Mix in the coconut flakes and vanilla extract. From here you can either store the chia pudding overnight or wait 15 minutes for the little seeds to get all jelly-like and pudding up. Pour half of your pudding into a pretty bowl, top with almonds and kiwi and voila! 

I'm really enjoying this pudding and the creamy cashew milk and vanilla extract add a hint of natural sweetness. The tart kiwi worked really well, but any low-glycemic fruits will work great. 

Nutritional breakdown per serving

Calories 427 • Carbs 35g • Dietary Fiber 20g • Protein 16g • Fat 32g

Veggie Noodle Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Lately I've been craving noodle stir fries like pad thai and yakisoba. So the other night I thought I'd whip something up with lots of veggies and lots of peanut butter. I loved this dish because it was easy to put together and it was sooo good, I made it again the following night. Serves 4 or 2 very hungry Gringoes.

Ingredients:
250 grams of rice noodles
1/2 large carrot, peeled into strips
1/2 large red or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets and leaves
1/2 large onion, cut into thin half moons
2 large garlic gloves, minced
1 red chili, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
fresh cilantro to garnish

Peanut Sauce
2 tbs unsalted natural peanut butter
4 tbs dark soy sauce
squeeze of half lime
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbs toasted sesame oil
1 tbs nut or vegetable oil (not olive oil though)
1 large garlic glove, minced

Prepare your veggies first and get a big pot of water boiling for the noodles. Once the water starts boiling, add in your noodles. I found this lovely broccoli at the supermarket and it has lots of leaves. I loved them and enjoyed them in this recipe, however simple broccoli florets works well too. 

Start warming up a large wok (or something similar) with a few tablespoons of water. Since the peanut sauce has a generous amount of healthy fats from peanuts and vegetable oils, I didn't want to add anymore to the stir frying process. Once the water starts boiling, add in your onions, garlic and chilies and cook until soft. 

Then add in your broccoli and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the bell peppers and carrots. Vegetables lose their vitamins and minerals the longer you cook them, so you don't want to overcook them to the point of complete softness. I cooked them for about 5-10 minutes max. They should retain their color, vitality and crunch!

Meanwhile check your noodles and see if they are close to being done. Different types of noodles have different cooking times, so keep a close eye on them. Once they are overcooked, it's all over. When they are about 5 minutes from being done, start on the peanut sauce. Put all the ingredients together in a little sauce pan and start heating it up over a low heat. 

Continuously whisk until you get a creamy, sticky sauce like so. Taste it! It should be sweet, very very salty and yummy. Notice I didn't add salt to the stir fry? That's because regular dark soy sauce is very salty and I felt it had the right amount of salt for my noodles and veggies. If you like things salty, season with salt throughout the stir fry. If you are watching your sodium intake, use reduced sodium soy sauce.

Add your noodles to the veggies and then the sauce. Mix and voila!

Hub and I enjoyed this so much, we ate the whole thing. Both times. 

Stuffed Squid with Brown Rice & Lentils

The other day Hub and I decided to get out of our cooking comfort zone and we bought a few whole squids to experiment with. Originally, we wanted to chop them up and toss them into a curry, but then I decided it would be nice to stuff them. I found this lovely recipe by one of my favorite chefs Ottolenghi and modified it to include what I actually had in my cupboard. I was very nervous about this dish, but it turned out superb. I was so chuffed with myself because I challenged myself and prepared everything from scratch. I hope you like it as much as I did. Enjoy! Serves 4

First, thank God I spoke to my friend Annie before attempting this dish or I would have seriously messed it up. I thought I bought some special Brazilian species with purple skin, unlike the clear white ones I usually see and eat. Annie quickly informed me that my beautiful purple squid needed to be skinned and prepared before cooking. She told me to go on YouTube and I found this helpful video. 

All clean! Cleaning squid is tedious, but I'm happy I learned how. I would recommend buying them prepared and ready to go. Two helpful tips I learned in the process: you don't need to remove the skin from the tentacles and the little suction cups are a b@#$% to get off. Since I was baking my dish, I gave up after a while. Didn't notice it at all. 

Tomato Sauce

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3/4 cup of white wine

5 shrimp heads & tails (the main body & meat will be used for your stuffing)

1 can of tinned tomatoes, cubed or peeled

1 tbs of honey

1 red chili

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 tbs capers

salt & pepper

olive oil

Prepare your tomato sauce first, before you start on the squid. Heat up a good glug of oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic cloves and fry for about a minute, just until light golden. Add the wine carefully and let it bubble for a minute. Add the shrimp heads & tails, tomatoes, honey, thyme, chilli and season with salt & pepper. Leave the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes and start on your squid and stuffing (see below). Remove from the heat, stir in the capers, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Squid & Stuffing

4 medium size clean whole squids with tentacles

1 cup of parboiled brown rice

1 cup of parboiled lentils

20 small/10 large fresh Italian basil leaves

Grated zest of ½ lemon

salt & pepper

1 vegetable bouillon cube
5 large whole raw shrimps
2 crushed garlic cloves

While your tomato sauce is simmering, add the rice to a medium saucepan filled with 1 1/2 cups of boiling water, 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube and simmer for about 10 minutes, just to par-cook. Add the lentils to a medium saucepan filled with 1 1/2 cups boiling water, 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, just to par-cook. Basically, the rice and lentils should be chewy and just a bit under cooked. Drain both of any excess water, refresh under cold water and shake to remove all the water. Transfer both to a mixing bowl, adding oregano, lemon zest, crushed garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Stir and taste for seasoning. Grab the shrimp, remove the shell, mince up the meat and add to your mixing bowl.

Heat the oven to 190C/375F. Grab your squid, remove any excess water and pat dry with a paper towel. Use your hands to stuff the squid with the mixture and then place in a shallow, ovenproof dish. Once done fill the gaps in your dish with the tentacles. 

Pour the hot tomato sauce over the squid until it is just covered. Put the squid tray uncovered into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the squid is white (not translucent). I was nervous about under cooking the squid so I took a little bite from the fins and it was perfectly cooked.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with parsley, and voila! 

I served it with a side of steamed broccoli and it was so, so good. I really loved this dish because it felt like the right balance between fiber-rich carbs, good fats, and lean protein and I didn't have to worry about measuring. It was just right and healthy.

Sweet Chili Veggie Chili

The other day I had this crazy desire to make chili and I wanted it to be smokey and sweet. I researched several recipes that called for chipotle peppers, which they don't sell down here in Rio. So I thought I would experiment with red chilies, honey and Tabasco sauce and voila! Sweet chili chili. Makes 4-6 servings. 

Black beans
1 1/2 cups of dried black beans
3 large garlic gloves roughly chopped
1 red chili roughly chopped
1/4 white onion roughly chopped
sea salt

Most recipes use canned beans, but I decided to cook dry black beans I already had. This yields more beans than needed for this recipe, but I took this opportunity to create more meals for the week. I also didn't want to discard the black bean juice, which is good for making black bean soup or pureed beans Salvadorian style.

Prepare your beans in advance, you want them cooled down when preparing the chili. Soak the beans for at least 12 hours, then discard the old water and put the beans in your chili pot and cover with fresh new water. Completely submerge the beans and add an additional inch of water on top. Throw in the garlic, chili, onion, and a generous amount of sea salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once the beans are cooked and have cooled down, remove 1 1/2 cups of strained beans for the chili. Store the remaining beans and soup for another day. 

Sweet Chili Chili

1 carrot chopped into small chunks
1 small red pepper chopped into chunks
1/2 white onion chopped into chunks
2 red chilies minced
1 1/2 cup dried soy mince (or frozen soy or quorn mince)
1 tbsp dried cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cup of cooked black beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of Smoked Tabasco
olive oil
sea salt & pepper
water

Using the same chili pot, start sautéeing the onions, chilies, red pepper, and carrots in a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Once the vegetables start to soften, add the cumin and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Allow it to cook for a few minutes, then add in your vegetarian mince, mix well and season with salt. Since I used a dry vegetarian mince I also added 1/2 cup of water. However, this is not necessary with frozen precooked veggie mince. Once your mince starts browning a little, add in the canned tomatoes, one can of water and smoked Tabasco. Add in the beans, cover and leave to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

While your chili is reducing, use this time to prepare whatever accompaniment you like. I decided to serve my chili with brown rice, but lots of other grains would pair well. I love the hearty texture of pearled barley and you could go with something lighter like quinoa. If you want to really lighten the load, serve it with a nice crunchy salad.

Once the chili has reduced to a nice chunky state, add in the honey, taste and season with salt if needed. I'm starting to be more mindful of my sugar intake at meals, so I served myself just under 1/2 cup of brown rice with my chili. The recommended serving for rice for diabetics is 1/3 cup, not much I know. Then I ladled my chili on top and dinner was served.  

I wasn't sure about posting this recipe, because there are tons of vegetarian chili recipes out there, but Hub loved this dish so much he encouraged me to share. It was a great hearty Sunday meal and a nice balance between sweet and spicy.

I've always loved black beans, but I rarely cooked them in London or New York. Now I'm really starting to get into them and experimenting like with my smoky vegetarian feijoada or spicy black bean burgers. Black beans are so great for diabetics because one cup of black beans has 15 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber. Protein, fiber and fat help slow down the digestion of carbs, which makes black beans a super food. 

In the Kitchen: Arroz com Castanha de Caju

 

A few weeks ago our friends invited us to this great seafood restaurant called Bangalo in Barra da Tijuca. We ordered their most popular dish baked octopus which was fantastic, but it was the cashew rice or arroz com castanha de caju with prawns that really won me over. It was amazing, full of different flavors and I loved the crunch from the cashew nuts. The rice was also seeped in a red buttery jus and it was lovely, but I imagine not very healthy.

   

I've been thinking of that rice ever since and the other night I decided to create my own heart healthy version served with a light squid stir fry. Serves 4 diabetic portions of 1/2 cup each. 

Arroz com Castanha de Caju

1tbs olive oil or coconut oil

1 fish bouillon cube (vegetable works just fine too)

1 cup of wholegrain brown rice

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of fresh cilantro

paprika

salt & pepper

1/2 yellow onion roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted unsalted crushed cashews

Heat up the oil and gently stir fry your onion and garlic until soft. Add the rice and toss it around so that it's nicely coated in oil and mixed in with the garlic and onions. Let it toast for a few minutes until it starts browning a little, then add the water and bouillon cube. We have strong concentrated bouillon cubes here and for me, one is more than enough. If yours is a bit weaker than double up. Let the water come to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer and cover. Leave for about 15-20 minutes or until rice is fully cooked and liquid absorbed.

 

Once your rice is cooked, give it a taste to see if it needs any salt and pepper. Add the coriander and cashew nuts just before you are about to serve. 

 

Squid stir fry with vegetables

olive oil or coconut oil (I used olive oil butter here)

1 1/2 cups of chopped squid (for vegetarians substitute with firm tofu, seitan, etc.)

1 red chili minced

1 garlic clove minced

1 red onion thinly sliced

1 large red bell pepper thinly sliced

ground coriander

ground cumin

ground paprika

Heat up a large frying pan or wok with a bit of oil and sautee your onions on medium heat. When the onions begin to soften, add the garlic and chili and cook for a few minutes. Then add your red bell pepper and season with salt and pepper. When the red peppers start to break down, remove all your veggies from pan and set aside.

 

Using the same pan, add a couple tablespoons of oil and start sauteeing your squid. Add a generous dash of paprika, coriander and cumin. Squid will release a lot of water whilst cooking, so cook on a medium to high heat. Squid cooks quickly too, so keep a close eye on the texture and color. They will start changing from translucent to white as they cook and you want it to be slightly firm, but not tight, hard and chewy.

When the squid is almost finished, toss back in your cooked veggies and reheat along with the squid until fully cooked. This meal was a success and the rice delicious. And we gobbled up all of the rice between the two of us. Doh!

Fun reads for this post:

Tips on preparing and cooking whole squid

Apparently all cashews are cooked, even raw ones, because the shell is super poisonous!

In the Kitchen: Raw Almond Milk

It is unbelievably easy to make delicious nut milks. I never knew, but it also never occurred to me to make my own because I've always enjoyed my store bought brands. That is until I moved to Rio. I love unsweetened soy and nut milks and they have a lovely subtle sweetness that I'm used to, but searching for unsweetened non-dairy milk has been an expedition without success. Most grocery stores offer soy milk, but ALL are sweetened with either sugar or an artificial sweetener like cellulose. Fake sugars are really unhealthy, so I try to avoid them as much as possible.

Ooh and don't get me started on the almond milk. So far I've found one brand of nut milk, Mandorlat almond milk, but it's so unnatural it's scary. It's made from water and almond SYRUP and then a bunch of additives. I mean...what? I found rice milk at my local organic shop and I swear I didn't see any sweeteners in the list of ingredients. But when I tried it, it was sooo sickly sweet it had to have had sugar. Tasted great in my coffee though.

Fortunately this experience has encouraged me to try something new and one of my favorite things to make is homemade raw almond milk. And it's crazy easy, the steps are soak, blend, and strain.

Ingredients 

• 300 grams of plain raw almonds
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1. Soak

Put your almonds in container and completely submerge them in water with a few extra inches above. You can soak your almonds overnight or up to 48hrs and the longer you soak, the creamier the milk. 

2. Blend

Once you're done soaking, strain the almonds and rinse them in clean water. Put them into your blender and fill with 3 1/2 cups of fresh water. Add the vanilla extract and cinnamon then blend baby blend. The milk tastes great on it's own, but I love adding cinnamon and vanilla for a bit natural sweetness.

 

3. Strain

Now you want to strain the almond meal from the milk and there are multiple ways of doing this. The easiest/quickest method is to filter the milk through a cheese cloth. I don't have one so I use a spoon and a fine strainer and that works perfectly, just takes longer. Regardless of the method, make sure to squeeze as much of the liquid out of the almond meal.

BOOM! Almond milk done and it's sweet, creamy and natural goodness. There's also delish almond meal leftover that you can bake with, snack on or throw back into milk shakes for protein and good fat. The milk will last in the fridge for about 3-4 days and it's natural for a little separation to occur, just give it a stir before consuming. I love making breakfast shakes with it and a diabetic nutritionist told me that my morning staple was a healthy and balanced breakfast. Here's my favorite recipe:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon of linseeds (chia or flaxseed are excellent too)

Great Reads for this post:
Health benefits of almond milk
7 Good reasons to say bye bye to cow's milk

Spicy Veggie Burgers with Avocado Mayonnaise

Happy Friday! Today is the first day of Carnival and I'm looking forward to checking out some blocos, block parties organized by samba schools with lots of live music and good street food. In an effort to avoid tempting salgadinhos, I'm thinking of making a big batch of these burgers so that I can just grab and go. They are delicious and filled with goodness. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Spicy Veggie Burgers
1 1/2 cup soaked black beans
1/2 red bell pepper finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, 2 whole and 2 minced
1 veggie bouillon cube
fresh cilantro
olive oil
1 red chili minced
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 medium yellow onion, half whole and half minced
1/2 cup canned sweet corn
3/4 cup of wholegrain flour of choice (I used gluten-free linseed flour)
sea salt

Avocado Mayonnaise
1 avocado
juice of 1/2 lime
couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro
sea salt to taste

I basically prepared my beans the same way I did for my smokey vegan feijoada. Soak your black beans overnight then straight and throw in a pot with 2 whole garlic cloves, half of a whole yellow onion, the bouillon cube, few sprigs of cilantro and sea salt. Fill the pot with fresh water and with two inches above the beans. Bring to a boil, the down to a simmer and cover for about 1 1/2-2 hours. When the beans are fully cooked like below, remove from the hob and let them cool down. 

Sautee your minced yellow onion with a tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan until soft. Then add the minced garlic, chili, bell pepper and all your spices. Season with a little bit of sea salt and sautee until the peppers start to soften. Strain the bean and put aside to cool down. For the avocado mayonnaise, blend all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender until creamy smooth.

When your beans have cooled down, remove about 3/4 of the black beans and place in a large bowl. Mash up your beans using the back of a fork or potato masher. Once completely mashed add in 1/4 cup of flour, sauteed veggies, sweet corn and remaining whole black beans.

Start heating up a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Place the remaining flour on a plate for coating. Start forming round patties about the size of your palm by hand and coat each side well with your flour.

When your pan is ready, start cooking your burgers and cook about 5 minutes on each side or until the flour starts browning. Helpful tip, don't panic if your burgers crack a little. They just need a little extra love on the skillet and I used my spatula to help keep the shape together.  

 

And poof! I served Hub's bean burger on a fresh baked roll, but I served mine with a nice side salad instead.

Hamburgers are no fun without some fries, so for a healthier version I decided to roast some veggies. I chopped up carrots, sweet potato and zucchini into french fry strips and baked them with a little bit of olive oil and lots of sea salt and rosemary.

What are you up to this weekend? Hope you have a good one and I'll keep you posted of my first Carnival experience later this week. Have a good one.

Great reads for this post:
A raw burger?
Tips for homemade veggie burgers