Sweet Potato & Salmon Cakes with Poached Egg

It's really important to feed your brain well in the mornings so it has a good chance to get you through the day, making this recipe is a winner!  I like to accompany this with steamed asparagus too. Allow 30 minutes to make this so that you're not rushed. 

If you find it easier to cook at night then pre-prepare the cakes & leave them in a fridge overnight. Then you only need 10 minutes to cook them in the morning!

Loads of vitamin C in this dish thanks to sweet potatoes, red peppers, chill and coriander, plus the salmon packs it's B-complex and vitamin D high.  There is a nice touch (18%*) of magnesium from all the ingredients. This dish will help with insomnia, emotional issues, fatigue, memory & confusion, alongside dizziness, migraines & light sensitivity - basically a winner!

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 x large sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped into large chunks
1/2 x red pepper, deseeded, pith removed & chopped
200 g x sliced smoked salmon or flaked smoked salmon
1 x small red chilli, deseeded, pith removed & minced
1 x spring onion, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped coriander [optional]
1 tsp x salt freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp x oil (canola is best)
1 x egg yolk

4 x eggs, out of shells in cups
1 tbsp x white wine vinegar
Salt & pepper

Instructions
1. Boil sweet potatoes in lightly salted water until tender. Drain and allow to cool.

2. Mash sweet potatoes coarsely. Mix in red pepper, salmon, chilli, spring onions, coriander & egg yolk. Season to taste.

3. Divide mixture into small balls and flatten each slightly to form thick disks. Heat oil in large heavy frypan.

4. Fry cakes over medium heat for 8 - 10 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp.

5. Meanwhile, heat water and 1 tbsp white wine vinegar in large saucepan until boiling.  Then pour in eggs, keeping them separate, & cook for 3-4 minutes or until whites are opaque. 

6. Serve eggs on top of the cakes. Season to taste. 

Courgette & Broccoli Soup aka 'Green soup'

A simple and tasty soup full of healthy greens. If you want to make it less healthy you can add in some stilton or parmesan cheese! 

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 x medium courgettes, diced
1 x broccoli head, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 x garlic clove, chopped finely
1 cup x frozen peas
1 tin x cannellini beans, drained
2 tsp x basil pesto
500ml x vegetable stock
1 tsp x olive oil
Salt & pepper 

Instructions
1. In large sauce pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat & add the garlic for 2 minutes until you can smell the aroma. 

2. Add the courgette & broccoli to the sauce pan for 1 minute. 

3. Add the stock and cannellini beans, bring to the boil & then let it simmer for 12 minutes. 

4. Pour in the frozen peas & let it cook for a further 3 minutes.  

5. Turn off the heat, add the pesto & puree until smooth texture. 

6. Reheat when you want to eat it with some crusty bread.  If you want to add cheese, do it on the reheat phase & allow it enough time to melt into the soup (approximately 3 minutes). Season with salt & pepper to taste. 

Mackerel (or Ham) & Leek Tart

You can make this with mackerel or ham, depending on your preference. Just substitute the mackerel with ham below - you'll need about 1/2 cup of ham. 

This is a simple recipe but does require you to watch the oven. 

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 x sheet shortcrust pastry rolled out with flour (pre-made helps keep it simple)
3 x eggs, beaten
dash of milk (to go with eggs)
2 x medium leeks, chopped small
2 fillets x mackerel (pre-smoked or tinned), chopped into chunks **or 1/2 cup ham
1/2 tbsp x chives, chopped finely
Margarine to butter baking dish
Salt & pepper to season 


Instructions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c.  Butter baking dish on all sides where pastry will meet the edges.  

2. Lay pastry out in buttered dish so it is flat & comes up around the edges of the tray. Place an oven-proof dish over the pastry to stop it rising & cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, steam the leeks for 5 minutes (you can boil them but then they will probably be too wet for the dish). 

4. Beat the eggs & milk in a bowl, then add in the broken mackerel with chives into the eggs. 

5. When the pastry has cooked for 15 minutes, take it out of the oven & lay the leeks evenly over the base of the pastry.  Pour the egg-mackerel mix over the leeks & spread the mackerel pieces out.  Cook for a further 25 minutes in the oven.

6. Enjoy with a salad! 

Beetroot, Feta & Lentil Salad

Another salad for a busy day moving around & a standard salad recipe that is nutritious for the brain!

Serves 2

Ingredients
4 x beetroot bulbs aka beets (pre-cooked in vacuum sealed pack), chopped into cubes
170 g x feta cheese, cut into small cubes
1 cup x raw spinach
1/2 cup x green or brown lentils (pre-cooked in a tin saves you boiling them)
Squeeze x lemon juice
Pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Boil lentils in water for 20 minutes until tender (unless pre-cooked in a tin, then just combine with 2). 

2. Combine beets, feta, spinach lentils into bowl. Squeeze lemon juice & season with pepper. 

Okra and Tomato Stir fry

My sister made this for me to accompany a roast chicken & I'd eaten most of it before I remembered to take a photo! 

Okra is high in vitamin C, magnesium and is 10% of your RDA for manganese (some B6 and lots of vitamin K), so combined with the garlic and tomatoes this makes the blog. 

Serves 2

Ingredients
300 g x okra
2 tbsp x olive oil
4 x garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 lemon, juice
200 g x cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tbsp x chopped coriander
2 tbsp x water
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Over a high heat DRY fry the okra until it begins to blister (almost popping seeds).

2. Reduce heat to medium and add olive oil & garlic for 2 minutes. 

3. Add tomatoes, lemon juice & coriander for a further 2-3 minutes, so tomatoes warm through. Season to taste. 

Sweet Potato Lentils & Mackerel

This is a staple dish for me as you can keep frozen spinach, lentils, tinned mackerel & a squash (supplements the sweet potato) in your kitchen for ages. Then one night when there's little in the cupboards, you can make this yummy dish! 

Everyone who has tasted this has been inspired to go home & cook it!

P.s. If you're a non fish eater, just don't add the mackerel. It still tastes yummy.

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 x mackerel fillets (smoked or tinned can work fine)
1 x onion, chopped finely
1 inch x ginger, chopped finely
2 x cloves garlic, chopped finely
1-2 tsp x cumin, ground (or powder)
1-2 tsp x coriander powder
500ml x vegetable stock
1/2 cup x red or yellow lentils
2 x sweet potatoes, chopped into small cubes (can substitute with squash)
1 cup x spinach (frozen or fresh)
Pepper to taste
1 tbsp x olive oil

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan, add the onion & garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. 

2. Add the sweet potato (or squash), coriander, cumin & ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the stock, bring to the boil and add the lentils. 

4. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender and the stock has been absorbed. Add a little more stock if necessary throughout. Season with sea salt and black pepper and add the spinach, heat for 1 minute (allow 10 minutes if frozen spinach).

5. EITHER:
(a) FRESH Mackerel - Heat the 1 tsp of oil in a large frying pan, place the mackerel fillets skin-side down in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crisp.  Turn over, season with black pepper and cook for a further 4-5 minutes until just beginning to flake.

(b) TINNED or Smoked Mackerel - chop into chunks and add to lentil pan for 1 minute to heat through. 

Exercise: Tai Chi Baton Breathing

I do not study Tai Chi with a teacher, but to help my meditation and improve balance after my accident I studied Ramel Rones's "Tai Chi Energy Patterns" DVD.  I found it really helped when I wasn't well enough to even go for a walk. These breathing patterns were the beginning of how I learnt to manage pain with meditation. They take focus and control. 

This exercise 'Baton Breathing" is a good starting point to focus your breathing and meditation. 

Do it sitting or standing, then apply it when you're moving mindfully e.g. walking.

1. Sit or stand with a neutral spine, imagining your head reaching to the sky and feet growing like tree roots into the ground. Slightly tuck the pelvis under to encourage a long lumbar spine. 

2. Picture an energy ball behind your naval. As you inhale the energy becomes more focused within you and centralises at the energy centre. As you exhale the energy expands and grows inside your body, giving it strength. Keep doing this for 5 minutes.

3. Picture the energy ball in your pituitary centre (in between your eyes in your forehead) and inhale and exhale, imagining the energy ball becoming larger as you exhale & smaller as you inhale. Keep doing this for 5 minutes.

4. Connect the naval and pituitary energy balls drawing a line between them - creating a baton. Reside in the baton as you breathe. Sense the difference between the naval and pituitary, how does this feel in the baton?  Stay here for at least 5 minutes. 

It is important to feel the length in the spine whilst relaxing to encourage correct posture and the optimum flow of energy in your body. 

Broccoli, Green Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad

Veg salad to accompany the crustless tofu quiches.

Serves 3

Ingredients
1 x Broccoli head, chopped into mouth sized chunks
50 g x Green beans, ends removed & chopped in half
12 x Cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp x Sesame seeds

Instructions
1. You can have this all raw, so combine all ingredients into a bowl & enjoy OR

2. Steam the broccoli & beans for 5-8 minutes. Then combine with cherry tomatoes & sesame seeds. 

Crustless Tofu Quiches

Super yummy & brain food! I made these to accompany the green bean, broccoli & tomato salad also posted on the blog. 

Serves 3 

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp x olive oil 
1 tsp x garlic, minced
1/2 cup x bell pepper, chopped
1 cup x mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp fresh chives (or one green onion), minced
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp. dried, crushed)
black pepper to taste

350g firm silken tofu, drained of water 
1/4 cup x plain soymilk
2 tbsp  x nutritional yeast
1 tbps x cornstarch (may sub another thickener such as arrowroot or potato starch)
1 tsp x tahini (preferred) or cashew butter
1/4 tsp x onion powder
1/4 tsp x turmeric powder
1/2-3/4 tsp x salt

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 190 C. Grease muffin cups/tray with butter or non-stick spay. 

2. In frying pan heat oil over moderate heat & sauté the garlic, bell peppers, and mushrooms over medium heat until the mushrooms just begin to exude their juices. Stir in the chives, rosemary, and freshly ground black pepper, and remove from the heat.

3. Place the tofu, soya milk, yeast, tahini, onion powder, turmeric & cornstarch  into a food processor or blender. Process until completely smooth and silky. 

4. Add the tofu mixture to the vegetables and stir to combine. Spoon equally into the muffin cups: it will fill regular muffin cups about halfway.

4. Put the muffin pan into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 175 C. Bake for approximately 25-35 minutes depending on your oven, until the tops are golden and a knife inserted into the middle of a quiche comes out clean. 

5. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes. 

Detox Soup

This is a simple soup that you can eat tonnes of & never seem full!  Sometimes I like to add in jerusalem artichokes if they're in season. 

You can forget the parsley & lime juice if you don't have them in stock. I'm posting 2 photos to show it with and without broccoli. 

Serves 4 
Ingredients
2 bunches x spring onions or 1 x large leek, finely chopped
1 x small cauliflower, chopped to bite sized chunks
1 x small broccoli, chopped to bite sized chunks
1-2 tsp x cumin powder
1-2 tsp x coriander powder
4-5 large ripe tomatoes or 400g tinned
2 x garlic cloves, crushed 
1/4 tsp x cayenne pepper
1 litre x vegetable stock
1 tbsp x olive oil
1 x lime, juice
Handful x Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add cauliflower, spring onion/leek & garlic with coriander, cumin & cayenne pepper for 3 minutes. 

2. Add vegetable stock & bring to boil. Reduce to simmer & cover for 20 minutes. 

3. Add tomatoes & lime juice to saucepan & simmer for 10 minutes. 

Chickpeas with Spinach & Tomatoes

If you stock up your cupboards with tins and dried foods, and your freezer with frozen vegetables, you can save yourself the dreaded grocery shop on bad days when all those lights, items, people & decisions will turn you into the babbling wreck in the corner ('flooding'). 

This is basically a chuck it in a pan & let it cook for 15 minutes recipe. Simple & healthy, but simple to make on your bad days. 

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 x tin chickpeas (pre-boiled)
1 x tin of chopped tomatoes
50 g frozen spinach (fresh if you have it)
1 tspn x cumin powder
1 tspn x coriander powder
1/2 tspn x chilli powder (optional)
1 x garlic cloved, crushed
1 tbsp x olive oil

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in saucepan & add crushed garlic until lightly browned. 

2. Pour in chickpeas, tomatoes, spices & spinach and stir. Heat it to boiling & then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

3. Eat with wholemeal bread if you need something a bit more energy. 

Broccoli, Artichoke & Sardine Salad

This recipe doesn't require too many fresh ingredients, so can be quite good if you're on the move. 

Ingredients
1 x broccoli head, chopped into mouth sized chunks
1/2 jar x artichoke hearts in olive oil, chopped into quarters
1 tin x sardines in tomato sauce, chopped
10 - 15 chilli olives (plain if you prefer is fine), chopped in half
Handful x lettuce leaves (optional)
1/2 lemon, juice
1 tspn x paprika

Instructions
1. Combine broccoli, artichoke hearts, sardines, olives & lettuce leaves into a bowl.

2. Pour over lemon juice, paprika & olive oil from artichoke hearts. Mix in well.