Feeling a bit fed up with the weather at the moment and as usual I turn to food, for something to do!
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I am still enjoying my fun game of adding as many sources of prebiotics to my food as I can, so my wee gut buddies get a treat, and so do I!
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So I made some twisty sourdough breadsticks using sourdough discard and added some nettle seeds & sesame seeds.
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Decided to go for a green dip so green olives, lemon zest, spinach, chickpeas, thyme, oregano, flat leaf parsley, fermented garlic and my best extra virgin olive oil blitzed in my Vitamix then topped with more nettle seeds became my fab probiotic/prebiotic dip.
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Lots of fibre and polyphenols for my gut buddies and plenty of flavour for me!!
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Avocado would also work well in this or natural yoghurt or tahini instead of the oil.
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The beauty of a dip is you can just add what you have and pile in the good stuff!!
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Here is my recipe,

Ingredients
So I used

• a jar of green olives, (175g)
• a tin of chickpeas,
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• big handful of baby spinach,
• 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs, flat leaf parsley, thyme or oregano all work well
• 2 spring onions,
• 2 big cloves fermented garlic 
• zest of a large unwaxed lemon
• tablespoon lemon juice
• nettle seeds for garnish

Method
Simply add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth.
Taste and add more lemon juice if you like more zing and add a touch of salt and black pepper to your taste. Olives are quite salty so I didn't add any salt to mine.
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This will tide me over till dinner!
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Does anyone else choose food to feed their gut microbes, or is it just me....
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I have been experimenting a lot with vegan cheeses and this one is my absolute favourite! I made a version of it for Christmas using thyme and dried cranberries but this smoky version is my current favourite!
You can buy liquid smoke but I actually use my own smoky marinade leftover from home smoking mushrooms or aubergines, its so intensely smoky but liquid smoke works just as well.

You can replace the liquid smoke with lemon juice and add some lovely fresh herbs like thyme or oregano for a lovely light summery creamy cheese.

This is just so good, it doesn't last long in our house and is perfect served with sourdough crackers or slathered on a freshly baked sourdough with some sliced tomatoes, basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar! It also makes a lovely filling for a baked sweet potato!

If you forget to soak the cashews overnight you can boil them in water for 10 mins to soften them, just drain them before you use them!

You can also shape the cheese into a log shape, or a round shape once it has firmed up. Then get all creative by rolling it in herbs, chopped nuts or a spice blend!

White miso paste adds a fabulous umami flavour and makes this taste like actual cheese, its fermented and makes a real difference to the taste. You can buy it in Waitrose, Tesco and online.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashew nuts, soaked in cold water overnight
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 2 teaspoons white miso paste
• 1 clove garlic of garlic, fermented garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• zaatar spice blend, fresh herbs, chopped nuts or lemon zest to coat

 
Method
Simply add the drained cashew nuts, lemon juice, nutritional yeast flakes, coconut oil, miso paste, garlic, liquid smoke and salt to a blender and blitz until smooth.
Line a small bowl with cling film
Scoop the cheese mix into the bowl, gather the sides of cling film around the cheese and twist to make a ball shape.
Chill in the fridge for a few hours, until firm.
Remove the cling film, then roll the cheese into a log shape and coat with dried herbs, fresh herbs or chopped nuts.
This cheese will keep for around 5 days in the fridge.

 It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, well it is in our house, apart from the fact that we all have a sore throat, so we've not been singing festive songs as much as usual!
I've been having sea salt baths with lavender and tea tree, downing shots of turmeric, ginger and lemon and eating loads of Immune boosting soup and fermented garlic!
I always use drugs as a last resort once I've given all my natural remedies a chance to work! I'm feeling better but now Kathryn and Laura have a sore throat!! Its always the same at this time of year!

Anyway I'm still in full on festive food mood and have a few more brilliant recipes to share before Christmas!

I came across this recipe on the awesome Kellie Andersons excellent blog food to glow
she has some incredible recipes, mostly plantbased and all delicious and healthy.
Her blog is well worth a look, I love her style of cooking and the flavour she manages to pack into her recipes is amazing!

So back to this great recipe... 

These wee crackers would make a great gift, presented in a wee bag and tied with twine or ribbon. You can be creative and cut out all sorts of shapes. That's the brilliant thing about making your own stuff, you know exactly what the ingredients are and you can personalise most recipes to suit your own tastes and preferences. 

Kids would also love making these and they make a nice change from sweet biscuits covered in icing! These crackers actually taste a little sweet and have a lovely crunch and festive flavour. They would be perfect with a Christmas cheese board (lots of dairyfree vegan cheeses around too) or as an accompaniment to dips or just plain as a wee snack!
The recipe makes lots of crackers so I have frozen half the dough and will make more crackers next week when we've eaten all this batch!

I used avocado oil in mine but olive oil or any mild tasting oil would work. Kellie's original recipe added 50 ml orange juice and the zest of a small orange but I didn't have any so I added a bit more water instead and used 1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice instead of ginger.

The trick is to try and roll the dough out fairly thinly for nice crisp crackers. Just be sure to flour your work surface well or use 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and roll the dough on the paper with one sheet on top. You can then put the greaseproof paper directly onto an oven tray.

I just lightly greased and floured 2 baking trays and the crackers crisped up nicely and didn't stick at all!
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So here is the slightly adapted recipe..

CRANBERRY & HAZELNUT CRACKERS

Ingredients

• 120 g wholemeal flour
• 100g porridge oats
• 50 ml olive, avocado or rapeseed oil
• 50 g chopped hazelnuts, lightly toasted
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds or linseeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 25 g dried cranberries, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup, rice syrup or honey
• 120 ml warm water
• 1/2 to 1 tsp mixed spice, cinnamon or ginger

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160 C for a fan oven/ 180 C conventional / 350 F
2. Put the flour, oats, salt, flax seeds and poppy seeds in a large bowl.
3. Toast the hazelnuts for 10 mins in a moderate oven, then cool them and rub them between your fingers to remove the skins. Either put them in a bag and bash them with a rolling pin to break them up. Put a tea towel underneath to deafen the noise!
4. Add the hazelnuts, chopped cranberries and mixed spice to the bowl and mix it all together.
5. Add the oil, syrup and the water and mix until you have a cohesive dough. You can just use your hands for this. Add extra warm water if the dough is a bit dry. Similarly if the dough is too wet or sticky then sift a bit more flour and mix it in until the dough is smooth. It depends on the flour you use, exactly how much water you need but its not crucial to use exact amounts. Just use your own judgement!
6. Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 mins to firm up and make it easier to roll.
7. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and work with one piece at a time. I actually froze half so just used half the dough which makes plenty of crackers!
8. Dust your work top well with flour and your rolling pin and roll the dough out as thinly as you dare! Cut out shapes using whatever cutters you fancy or if you don't have any cutters you can use the top of a glass dipped in flour or just roll the dough into a rectangle shape then using a sharp knife mark the dough into squares, rectangles or fingers.
9. Transfer your crackers to a lightly oiled and floured baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the trays halfway through to bake evenly. 
10. Cool on a cooling rack then store in a tupperware container, where they will keep happily for around 2 weeks, if they last that long!!

                   .....your health in your hands.....