This month we welcome recipes from Laura Bridge, a professional chef of 30 years, qualified Ayurvedic Chef and full-time Ayurveda Adventuress.
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. Please follow me on Instagram @AyurvedicAdventuress
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Ayurveda’s goal is to keep us happy and healthy by balancing our mind, body and spirit. There is no such thing as Ayurvedic Food, it’s the principles behind it that are so crucial. We all have our own unique constitutions and we are the number one expert at being ourselves. However we have to be mindful and tune in to see how we feel after eating various ingredients. For example chilli flakes in a dish might help balance someone who’s feeling sluggish or provoke the symptoms of someone who suffers from acid reflux. In Ayurveda, everything is considered potential medicine, this includes meat and alcohol, however all in the right doses. Personally although I choose to be flexitarian, I feel a lot more vibrant on a plant-focused diet.
January is traditionally the time we start the New Year’s resolutions that by February we have forgotten! Why put such unrealistic pressure on ourselves? By eating a diet that balances our constitution, we don’t need to ever diet again! If you start one resolution this year, perhaps it can be to stop using the microwave, and move away from ready meals and being a ‘ping chef’ since the microwave destroys the molecular structure of food and its life force, thereby negating its vitality which we need to thrive.
Eating seasonally, locally and organically is a good starting point. It allows us to reconnect with nature’s cycles, supports our local economy and avoids the pollution and cost of shipping. Even more importantly, seasonal food is just so much tastier, nutritious and fresher: a win-win situation! By tuning in and listening to what your body is craving, you’ll naturally choose foods that help you maintain your health and wellbeing.
According to Ayurveda, January starts a transition from cold wind and chills to a wetter climate. The dark days and the come-down from the festive season naturally affect our emotions and we want to hibernate for longer under our covers. These seasonal recipes are worth getting out of bed for!
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Seasonal Roast Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac & kale salad
Mushroom Risotto with lemon and thyme
Chocolate & walnut brownie
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Please note, that in Ayurveda there are acknowledged faulty food combinations and one of these is cheese and beans as they are taxing on our digestion. Therefore if you add parmesan to the risotto and then eat the brownie, with black beans, it may provoke sluggishness, so you can substitute the cheese for yeast flakes (nutritional yeast), or omit completely.
Photo by Laura Bridge @AyurvedicAdventuress
Jerusalem artichokes have a rich, deep earthy, almost ‘pheromone’ flavour when roasted and marry well with the cleansing kale and unctuous celeriac & artichoke purée. Although BEWARE, their sweetness comes from high levels of inulin, (a soluble fibre that passes intact through the digestive system until it reaches the colon, where gut bacteria break it down then releases, gas) You will literally be running away from yourself! For this reason, I’ve included some wonderful spices that relieve the potential hazard: Hing/Asafoetida, cumin and coriander seeds.
Ingredients x4
1 kg of Jerusalem artichokes scrubbed
8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
A small bunch of fresh thyme
6 bay leaves
20g of ghee or olive oil
Pinch of Hing
Pinch of ground cumin
Pinch of ground coriander seeds
A couple of handfuls of young tender kale leaves
3 Tbs. of Extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil for frying
Garnish: Dill fronds
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180.c
Peel the artichokes but reserve their skins.
Cut the peeled artichokes into 2cm sq and place them into a large roasting tin along with the cloves of garlic, bay leaves, thyme, hing, cumin and ground coriander seeds and a generous trickle of olive oil or ghee. Season the artichokes with salt and pepper then place in the oven to roast. Gently turn the artichokes a couple of times during the roasting process, for 1 – 11/4 hours or until tender and caramelised.
Meanwhile prepare the celeriac & Jerusalem artichoke purée then set aside and keep warm with a lid, reserving 3-5 pieces of large peelings to gently fry for a crispy garnish.
Celeriac & artichoke Purée
Celeriac has a subtle sweetness and comforting nutty taste. It’s a mild diuretic and slightly warming so good for balancing sluggishness at this time of year. It also supports healthy digestion and fires up your metabolism.
Ingredients
200g Celeriac, cut into 2cm sq. pieces
The Jerusalem artichoke peelings – reserving 3-5 big pieces per person to fry for garnish!
10g ghee
Pinch of ground coriander seeds
Pinch of hing/Asafoetida
Pinch tarragon leaves
100ml Whole milk or milk alternative
1 Pinch Mineral salt
A pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Squeeze of Lemon juice to taste
Method
In a large saucepan on a medium heat, heat the ghee, add the salt, black pepper, coriander and pinch of hing to release their aromas and soften the celeriac and Jerusalem artichoke peelings for 5 minutes covered with a lid.
Add the milk, tarragon leaves and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes until the celeriac and peelings are completely soft.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then with a slotted spoon, place all the celeriac and peelings into a food blender with a little of the warm milk and blend to a smooth puree being careful to avoid filling your blender with too much hot liquid! I always put a tea towel over the lid!
Once the puree is smooth, add a little squeeze of lemon juice and put to one side with the lid on to keep warm.
Next, thoroughly wash the reserved artichoke skins to make the crispy garnish, in fresh water, drain and pat dry on clean absorbent kitchen paper, to avoid oil splashes whilst frying.
Gently heat 2 cm of olive oil in a medium sized saucepan when hot, but not smoking, carefully fry the artichoke skins in batches. They take about 3 mins. Don’t allow them to get too dark or they will be bitter!
Remove each batch of crispy artichoke skins and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
Blanch the kale leaves in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain in a sieve, transfer to a bowl and dress lightly with a squeeze of lemon juice, a tsp of olive oil.
To serve divide the purée between 4 warm plates. Dot around the roasted artichoke pieces, giving each person a couple of cloves of garlic as well.
Scatter over the lemony kale leaves. Finish with a sprinkling of crispy artichoke skins. Garnish with dill fronds.
Enjoy in a calm atmosphere, without the distractions of electronics or negative media. Place your cutlery down between mouthfuls and chew, to mix the food with your saliva, as this aids the digestive process.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 tbs. ghee (clarified butter)
Mineral salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Garlic cloves crushed
1 stick of celery finely diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1.25 litre + Organic Vegetable stock & (use the dried mushroom soaking water)
50g dried porcini mushrooms
250g chopped Mushrooms – chestnut & wild mushrooms
A slug of dry white wine
1 Tbs. Olive oil
350g risotto rice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon juice
4 tbs. mixed chopped flat-leaf parsley
Garnishes: lemon wedges and flat parsley
Optional – 65g freshly grated parmesan or yeast flakes
Method
- Put the dried mushrooms into a large bowl and pour over 1 Litre boiling water and soak for 20 mins.
- Meanwhile, Heat 1tbs of the ghee in a shallow saucepan over a medium flame. Add the onion, garlic and celery and sauté until soft without browning, for about 10 mins.
- Drain the reconstituted mushrooms through a sieve into a measuring jug and squeeze the mushrooms gently to remove any liquid. Retain the soaking liquid, but discard any dirt or sediment that may have settled at the bottom.
- Chop the reconstituted mushrooms and the fresh mushrooms and in a separate frying pan melt the other 1tbs ghee and tbs of olive oil and when hot, add the salt and pepper, then the fresh and dried mushrooms and continue to cook for about 8 mins until the fresh mushrooms have slightly browned.
- Then pour over a slug of dry white wine and reduce.
- Add the mushrooms, lemon zest & rice to the onion mixture, with half the stock and gently cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Continue adding the stock, until it’s all been absorbed, roughly 6 minutes and just see if you need to add more? The risotto rice should be al dente, ie retain a bite.
- Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and parsley.
- Garnish with lemon wedges.
- Optional – sprinkle with Parmesan.
The magic ingredient in this recipe is Black Beans!? What? Yep, that’s correct! I tested out the recipe on a chef friend and family and no one could guess why they were so melty in the mouth!
They’re sweet and moreish yet also substantial.
INGREDIENTS
250g cooked black beans (1x 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well)
10g cocoa powder
40g quick oats
1/4 tsp mineral salt
110g pure maple syrup or agave
40g coconut, mild untoasted sesame oil, vegetable oil or ghee
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g chocolate chips
Optional: more chips, for presentation
Method
Preheat oven to 180 C. or 350 F.
Combine all the ingredients, except the chocolate buttons, in a food processor and blend until it becomes a completely smooth thick batter.
Now stir in the chocolate buttons and pour into a silicone paper lined 13×9 inch or 27x17cm Swiss roll pan. Top with a few extra chocolate chips to give it a shine.
Cook the brownies for 15 mins, then allow to cool and set for at least 10 mins before cutting into squares.
This recipe allows for half the brownies to be packaged up and delivered to a neighbour in need! We all need a bit of extra love during these darker days.
Please follow me for more tips on Instagram @AyurvedicAdventuress
Laura Bridge
@AyurvedicAdventuress
07973 133 567