My background has always been cooking; I use it as an expression of love. I’ve cooked professionally for many famous clients and became a celebrity chef in Moscow, cooking for the oligarchs over the past 30+ years.
Although I then knew how to create beautiful, tasty food, I had no idea how to nourish myself and slowly but surely completely lost my vitality. The long working hours exasperated the situation and I ended up quitting in search of answers. The journey took me from the Amazon jungle in Peru to a plantation in Sri Lanka and from Ayahuasca to Ayurveda. I aim to inspire and motivate you to try out my recipes, learn more about Ayurveda wisdom and ultimately learn more about yourself and support you on your own journey
Follow Laura on Instagram @AyurvedaAdventuress
It was the random meeting with the fabulous Mariana from Brazil, who first brought my attention to the idea of cooking cauliflower leaves rather than chucking them straight into the bin!
What a waste of deliciousness, and loss in general, the amount of meals I’ve thrown away over all these years…… so please take pause and think of sustainability for a moment, then give this ‘free’ ingredient a go!
Cauliflower leaves are full of calcium, iron, vitamin C and fibre which helps to balance our intestinal flora and improves digestion.
Although I didn’t take down Mariana’s traditional Brazilian recipe, as we shared the journey back to London from Stanstead Airport at 3am, I did have a ‘play around’ using spices from my dabba spice tin, to help balance the dish, and below is the result.
It’s delicious with rice and dal!
Ingredients
- 250g cauliflower leaves
- 1 tbsp. Ghee or oil of choice
- 1 tsp. fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp. Panch Pooran (Indian 5 spice mix)
- A pinch asafoetida / hing – (which helps prevent gas!)
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
- 1 whole red or green chilli
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1-2 tsp. fresh lemon juice (to taste)
- A small bunch of fresh coriander leaves.
Instructions
- Rinse the cauliflower leaves, dry them in the colander, then chop them and put aside.
- Heat the ghee/oil in a large frying pan and add the panch-pooran mix and asafoetida, to release their aroma. You may need a lid to hand, as mustard seeds tend to jump far and wide!
- Now add the fresh ginger, stir, then cauliflower leaves, turmeric and chilli.
- Cook gently, stirring from time to time, until stalks are al dente, around 8 minutes depending on the size of your cut.
- Now add a squeeze of lemon juice and the chopped coriander leaves.
Enjoy and contemplate all the other recipe possibilities, such as pickled, kimchee, stir fried with leeks and peppers or with smoked paprika and spring onions or cumin seeds and garlic or just simply roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper as a snack?