Christmas preparations

It's that time of year again where we shop until we drop, and eat until we burst! Now we're actually into December, my mind is turning towards Christmas cooking. I love all the seasonal flavours with warming spices, sharp pickles, rich nut dishes and crunchy greens.

Christmas can be challenging if you are a sensitive eater, or are cooking for someone who is. This is not the time of year to miss out! With this in mind, I'm going to be doing a series of blog posts to help you out at this time of year. All recipes are plant based and can be easily adapted to gluten free too.
To start you off, here are some links to existing posts from the last couple of years:
1) A useful nut roast. This is my go-to basic nut roast recipe, simple to make and delicious eaten cold on Boxing Day too. You can jazz it up with some more herbs, or put slices of tomato or mushroom in the middle. A firm favourite with us.
http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/planning-christmas-dinner.html
2) Tasty tarts! I made these last Christmas for one of my supper clubs and they went down a storm. Worth making if you want something a little more innovative than nut roast. Use your pastry of choice - I now make one with minimal fat and will be adding the recipe soon
http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/i-dont-know-about-you-but-this-year.html
3) The ultimate red cabbage. Perfect for Christmas Day, everyone can eat it and it can be made a couple of days in advance if needed. What more could you want!
http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/comforting-cabbage.html
4) A lighter dish. When you've eaten so much and are looking for something a bit lighter, this fennel stuffed pepper hits the spot. Sumptuous flavours without the need for a post-dinner snooze, unless you want one of course!
http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/thanks-delia.html
5) Rich paté without the meat. This lentil and walnut paté will hit the taste spot for a Boxing Day spread and no-one will guess how easy it is to make.
http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/amazingly-tasty-lentil-and-walnut-pate.html
Finally, if you have a sensitivity to egg, dairy or fish, don't forget to check that your booze. Many beers, wines and ciders use animal proteins in filtering the yeasty gunk from their products which will then linger in the final product. Check out this old blog post to find out more and I'll be doing a little update with some recommendations - it's a hard life testing these things out for you!
http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/milk-in-wine-surely-not.html
Let the Christmas countdown begin!

More than just a cooking demo....

One of the great things I've been able to do since coming to Bangalore is attend a number of different cooking classes, some in restaurants others in people's homes. Often, I can't eat everything that's on offer due to my milk and yeast intolerance, but there's one class I've been to that I could eat everything on offer (well, nearly everything) that was not only really healthy but delicious too - a vegan one.
Say the word vegan and it tends to bring to mind aged hippies eating lettuce leaves, museli and chewy smoked tofu that gets stuck in the back of the throat, food with an odd taste and just not interesting. Go to a cooking demo by Dr Nandita Shah and you'll get a completely different opinion and a taste sensation.
We had morning shakes, mayo, tongue tingling salads, curries and dals (this is India!!) and, the most exciting for me, home made vegan 'cheese' that was used for pizza.
I haven't tried making it myself yet (the demo was only yesterday!) but I will, and once road-tested, I'll put up the recipe; I'm hoping it works out as good as yesterdays. Not being able to actually eat pizza because of the yeast in the base, they kindly cooked the pizza sauce and some vegetables together, topped with the cheese and it was absolutely gorgeous!
Apart from eating mounds of yummy, healthy food, the purpose of these cooking demos is to put across a more serious and profound message - that the food we eat really does make a difference to our health and that the chronic diseases that are on the increasing around the world, such as diabetes and heart disease, can all be reversed or prevented through eating a plant based whole food diet. It's a simple but radical message and one that can take some time to accept. Dr Shah herself is a the perfect advocate of this type of eating as she just glows with energy and vitality. This is the third session I've been to with her, and each time I take away more ideas and thoughts, and I'm gradually making the changes needed, although I haven't managed to stop the tea or the alcohol!
There were some really inspiring stories yesterday of people who had made a real difference to their health - I spoke to one lady who has been eating this plant based whole food diet for 2 months and has already halved her diabetes medication. There was someone else who was almost medication free since starting in June. Years of health problems building up and growing turned around in such a short period of time - quite remarkable.
So it makes me think about why don't more doctors advocate this instead of just handing out the pills and potions? Why aren't governments that spend so much money managing chronic health problems promoting this kind of eating? Why are there so many fast food chains still just chucking out the same, addictive junk? I guess it comes down to money - there's not a lot of it in carrots and brown rice, but there is in the pharmaceutical, meat, dairy and fast food businesses.  Co-incidentally, I read some startling statistics the other day. According to a UN report, 18% of the world's CO2 emissions are produced by animal agriculture, compared to 13% from all forms of transport combined together. Also,  it takes between 4000 and 18,000 gallons of water to make the beef for just one hamburger. So just from an environmental perspective, there are big issues related to animal food products even before you start looking at the health side.
So as well as feeding my stomach, the cooking demo also fed my mind, giving me lots to think and learn about. But one thing I am sure about is that food can harm, but it can also heal, and I'm following that route, so my next burger is definately a veggie one!
If you want to find out more about Dr Shah's work check out the SHARAN India website at www.sharan-india.org.