BASIL MAYONNAISE

This basil mayonnaise is a gorgeous green and tastes superb! So summery and full of the bright basil flavour that enhances any summer vegetable, especially when simply prepared by steaming. Pair with a light crisp rosé and some fresh bread for an easy meal.

Although mayonnaise can be made in a food processor, whisking by hand gives you more control over it and will help prevent it from breaking. It will also build excellent arm strength! 

Basil Mayonnaise

makes: approximately 1 cup

- 2 egg yolks

- 1 tsp salt

- juice of 1 lemon

- 1 cup neutral oil (rice bran, safflower, sunflower, or any other neutral oil - not olive oil)

- 1/2 cup packed basil leaves

- 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves

1. Make the basil oil: Put the parsley and basil leaves into a blender jar (not a food processor) and pour 3/4 cups of the oil over the leaves. Blend until smooth. Strain the oil into a bowl using a fine-mesh strainer or a chinois, pressing the solids down to get all the oil out.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt until pale yellow and slightly thickened. Start adding the basil oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously until the mixture starts to thicken and fluffs up. If it gets too thick and hard to whisk before most of the oil is used up, add 1 tbsp. lemon juice and carry on whisking while adding oil. Whisk until the oil is incorporated into the mix and you have a fluffy mayonnaise. Over-whisking will break the mayo! If that happens, you'll have to either start over or salvage it using another egg yolk, a clean bowl, and a lot more whisking while gradually adding the broken mayo! Try to avoid breaking the mayo :-)
3. Enjoy immediately with steamed or roasted vegetables or seafood, or in any way you wish. Refrigerate leftovers for a few weeks.

SPICY SICHUAN NOODLES

These noodles - a riff on the very popular dan dan noodles - are fiery and addictive! Don't be put off by the ingredient list. Although they sound hard to find, Sichuan pepper, Chinese pickled vegetables, and preserved chillies are easily found in any Asian grocery store, or even at a well-stocked regular grocery store.

Use any greens you'd like - this time I used sweet potato leaves from my garden but in the past I've also used sliced bok choy and spinach. I like spice but not infernal heat, so for some people these might not be spicy enough - simply adjust the spice level to your taste!

Spicy Sichuan Noodles

makes: 4 servings

- 1 recipe homemade noodles (or 1 packet of dried or fresh noodles of your choice)

- 3 - 4 dried red cayenne peppers (or any other dried red chillies)

- 4 scallions, sliced

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 in. piece of ginger, peeled and minced

- 1 jalapeño, sliced

- 2 carrots, julienned

- 1 zucchini, julienned

- 1 cup bean sprouts

- 1 cup sweet potato leaves (or any other greens)

- 3 tbsp. pickled mustard greens and/or bamboo shoots, chopped (optional)

- 1 tbsp. crushed red pepper (flakes)

- 2 tbsp. rice wine (sake is fine) (optional)

- 2 tbsp. peanut oil (or safflower oil, but not olive oil!)

Sauce:

- 1 tbsp. sesame oil

- 1 tbsp. sesame paste (tahini is fine)

- 1-2 tbsp. Chinese preserved chillies (or red pepper flakes soaked in 1 tbsp. distilled vinegar)

- 1/4 cup soy sauce

- 1 tbsp. sugar

- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp. Sichuan pepper, crushed (optional)

- 1 tsp. corn starch (optional)

Garnish:

- 1/2 cup bean sprouts

- 1 cucumber, julienned

1. In a small bowl mix all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
2. In a large pot heat water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and boil for 7 - 10 min. till they are al dente or cooked to your preference. Drain the noodles.
3. On medium-high, heat the peanut oil in a large pan. Add the dried peppers, scallions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño, and give it a quick stir. Add the carrots, zucchini, sweet potato leaves, and pickled vegetables if using, and sauté, stirring constantly. Deglaze the pan with the rice wine. Add the soy sauce and crushed red pepper and stir.
4. Add the noodles and sauce, turn the heat to high and quickly stir everything together. Turn the heat off.
5. Serve in bowls, garnished with bean sprouts and julienned cucumber.

BOURBON, MAPLE, ROASTED ALMOND: EGGLESS ICE-CREAM

This is one of my favourite ice cream base recipes. It's easy, mostly fool-proof, and without the bother of making an egg-based custard for the ice cream. And, it's like a blank slate so you can create away to suit the season (because ice cream is always in season!), your mood, your cat's mood, a theme, a cuisine, whatever!

Cornstarch is a neutral stabiliser that absorbs residual water left after cooking the cream. This minimises the formation of ice crystals in the cream mixture and results in a creamier smoother ice cream.

If you're adding any amount of alcohol to ice cream, remember to add it nearly at the very end of the ice cream maker freezing cycle. Because alcohol doesn't freeze... and you can imagine the rest! But if you can't, then here it is in plain words: if you add alcohol early on, your ice cream base will not freeze no matter how hard you pray. And that's no fun.

As always, add-ins like nuts, brownie bits, chocolate chips, etc. should go in just before the alcohol, or near the end of the freezing cycle.

Adapted from Ice Cream Nation.

Bourbon, Maple, Roasted Almond Ice Cream: Eggless

Makes: approximately 1 quart

**Freeze an ice cream maker bowl for at least 8 hours**

- 3 cups half-and-half (or an equal mix of whipping cream and 2% milk)
- 1/2 cup Demerara sugar (or Turbinado)

- 1/4 cup Grade B maple syrup

- 3 tbsp. cornstarch

- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

- 1/4 tsp. salt (only if using unsalted nuts)

- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted almonds (I use Trader Joe's Lightly Salted Roasted Almonds)

- 1/4 cup coarsely crushed almonds (pulverized but definitely not almond butter!)

- 3 tbsp. bourbon (I like to use Bulleitt)

1. In a saucepan, stir together 2-1/2 cups half-and-half, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt (if using unsalted nuts). Heat over medium-low heat until mixture begins to steam and barely boil, stirring occasionally to prevent the sugar from settling.
2. In a bowl, blend cornstarch and remaining 1/2 cup half-and-half till the mixture is smooth and lump-free. Temper the cornstarch: add 3-4 tbsp. of the heated half-and-half to the cornstarch mixture and mix well. Repeat.
3. Add the tempered cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring until it starts to thicken and reaches a simmer, about 4 - 5 minutes. Reduce heat to the lowest possible and stir for 2 - 3 minutes or so until thick. Don't overcook after adding the cornstarch or the cornstarch will overcook and won't thicken the mixture!
4. Remove from heat and let the mixture come to room temperature. If there are lumps (although there shouldn't be), strain the mixture into a bowl. Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Remove from the fridge and stir. If there's a skin on the mixture, stir it in. 
5. Pour into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Just when the ice cream is the consistency of soft serve, add the almonds. Blend for a few minutes and when the ice cream is almost done freezing, add the bourbon and let it mix for 2 - 3 minutes longer to blend it in.
6. Serve right away for a soft serve, or freeze for a couple of hours till firm.

INFLAMMATION-REDUCING TURMERIC SMOOTHIE

It's well-known that reducing inflammation internally and topically is one of turmeric's many many salient and healing qualities. In addition to it's quality of imparting a beautiful golden hue to foods, turmeric is used in nearly all Indian savoury foods, because Indian cuisine is rooted in Ayurveda, in which turmeric is revered for it's medicinal and immunizing properties. The beneficial compound in turmeric - curcumin - is fat soluble (not water soluble), so in order to get the best of turmeric, it should be combined with a bit of fat. In my turmeric smoothies I generally add up to 1 tbsp. of hemp hearts, flax seeds, flax oil, coconut oil, or ghee (in savoury smoothies).

However, if you don't want to add fat, you'll still get plenty of Vitamin C, a water soluble compound, from fresh turmeric. So do add it to smoothies as often as you please.

In India internal and topical use of turmeric is ages old, and now it's increasingly being used in the West. When I was at university, I was working on a research project for developing artificial human tissue from the intestinal submucosa of pigs since pig mucosa is closest to human. Anyway in the course of that project I met a woman from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) who was delighted to tell me (since I'm Indian) that BMS is developing a turmeric-based skin care cream for reducing/removing facial hair. I was quite delighted as well, though perhaps a hair less than her. Face masks with turmeric and yogurt are commonly used in India for reducing facial hair and brightening and cooling the skin in the summer.

Sliced fresh turmeric root marinated in lemon juice and salt is also eaten as a relish in India. Generally though, when taken internally, turmeric is paired with a fat to enable assimilation of curcumin compounds. Powdered turmeric used in cooking is briefly sautéed in ghee or oil before other spices and ingredients are added. In this smoothie, I added a tsp. of hemp hearts as the fat along with raw turmeric. If you don't have hemp, you can add a tsp. of coconut, olive, or flax seed oil, or flax seeds to the smoothie.

Inflammation-Reducing Turmeric Smoothie

makes: approximately 32 oz.

- 1/2 in. turmeric root, peeled
- 1/2 in. ginger root, peeled if not organic
- 2 cucumbers, cut into chunks
- 6 stalks celery, cut into chunks
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 tsp. pink Himalayan salt (or uniodized sea salt)
- 1-1/2 tsp. hemp hearts (or flax, coconut, or olive oil)
- 2 cups romaine lettuce
- 3 cups water 

1. In the order listed, put everything except water in a blender.
2. Add 1 cup of water and blend to a thick smooth paste.
3. Add the remaining water and blend to a thin-nish smoothie.
4. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate/store away from heat and light up to 8 hours.

FACE MOISTURISER: ROSEHIP, YLANG YLANG, AND GERANIUM OIL

This is a wonderful skin balancing oil that I've used for years as my daytime moisturiser. It's splendid on my sensitive combination skin and I can definitely feel the difference when I have to use something else if I'm travelling and have forgotten to take this along.

Rose hip oil is quickly absorbed into the skin and doesn't leave any greasiness - great for sensitive skin. Ylang ylang balances oily skin, promotes smoothness, helps with blemishes,  and is a very relaxing fragrance. Geranium balances sebum production and nourishes both dry and combination skin.

I've always used the Now brand of rose hip oil, and both essential oil bottles I've had for over 3 years - essential oils last for a long time! I usually let the moisturizer sit for 1-2 days after blending, to allow the oils to assimilate. But you can certainly start using it right away.

At night I use cocoa butter on my face, and as a body moisturiser I use shea butter. If you plan to use either of these, make sure they say 100% cocoa butter and shea butter. Nothing added (except perhaps an essential oil if you like fragrant moisturisers). 

Face Moisturiser: Rosehip, Ylang Ylang, and Geranium Oil

Makes: 1 bottle

- 1 fl. oz (30 ml) Rose hip oil
- 8 drops Ylang Ylang essential oil
- 4 drops Geranium essential oil

1. Take off the small plastic inner lid of the rose hip oil bottle and add the essential oils (I add them drop-by-drop directly from each essential oil bottle). Replace both the lids of the rose hip oil bottle, and shake well to combine.
2. To use: put a few drops of the oil onto your palm and gently rub it into clean facial skin.
3. Store away from direct sun.

ENLIGHTENED: HOME-MADE CRÈME FRAÎCHE (OR CREMA MEXICANA)

I find crème fraîche (aka crema mexicana or table cream) much more subtle and delicious than sour cream. Find out more about the difference between crème fraîche and sour cream here. Although it's typically made with heavy cream, half-and-half (half cream, half milk) makes a delicious light crème fraîche with a luscious creamy consistency.

Crème fraîche is delicious in cream sauces, as a dip, or over fruit and savoury dishes, and it's so easy to make at home where you know exactly what goes into it. Commercial varieties in the US have unwarranted ingredients like guar gum, carrageenan, locust bean gum, whey, modified food starch, and potassium sorbate - a totally unnecessary preservative. Why bother with (and pay for) all that when you can have something that's fresh, clean, and healthy for less?!

Home-made Crème Fraîche (or Crema Mexicana)

Makes: 16 oz./2 cups

- 1 pint (16 oz./2 cups) half-and-half or cream, at room temperature

- 1/4 cup yogurt with live cultures (full fat, fat-free, or any fat content in between)

1. Pour the half-and-half into a clean, dry, glass or plastic container.
2. Whisk the yogurt till smooth, add to the half-and-half, stir well to mix.
3. Cover partially and let it stand in a warm place for 12 - 24 hours, or until it's a consistency you like.
4. Refrigerate for up to 10 days.

HOW TO SPROUT MUNG BEANS AND OTHER LEGUMES

Home grown sprouts, no special equipment needed.

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Sprouting Mung Beans and Other Legumes
Makes: approximately 4 cups sprouts

- 1 cup mung beans (or peanuts, garbanzos, or any other bean, or a mix of beans)
- 4 - 8 cups water, or enough to submerge any bean you're using by at least 2 inches

1. Rinse the mung beans.
2. Put the rinsed beans in a large bowl and add all the water. Soak overnight (8 - 12 hours, but really up to 24 hours is ok too). 
3. Drain the water and put the beans back in the bowl. (It's ok if some water is clinging to the beans, you don't want them to be totally dry. You don't want too much water in the bowl, because otherwise they'll just spoil and smell bad. If this happens, throw the beans away and restart at step 1.)
4. Cover the bowl with a damp cotton kitchen towel and leave at room temperature. After 8 - 12 hours, rinse the beans, drain, and put them back in the large bowl.
5. Repeat step 4 three or four times until you have sprouts with a 1/2 to 1 inch long "tail".
6. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Notes:

1. Beans absorb a lot of water within the first 8 - 12 hours, so make sure to soak in plenty of water.
2. Sprouting time will vary with bean size - larger beans like garbanzos will take a longer time to sprout.
3. Sprouted peanuts are terrific, lightly steamed or raw in salads.
4. I've never tried sprouting kidney beans because I don't really like them so the only time I cook them is if it's for someone else, by request. But I suppose they'd sprout.

MACADAMIA COCONUT BUTTER

My sister brought me some - a lot of - beautiful macadamias from Australia where they grow abundantly. Macadamias are the only native Australian food crop to be commercialized. A couple of years ago, while driving around the Nightcap National Park area, we passed dozens of macadamia orchards where folks had baskets of tree-fresh macadamia nuts set out on tables, to be paid for on an honor system. Most people, particularly in North America and around associate Hawai'i with macadamia nuts but in fact they were introduced to Hawai'i in the late 1800s as a wind shield for sugar cane crops. They were, however, commercialized in Hawai'i well before Australia, which is why they're associated with Hawai'i more than Australia.

So anyway I had all these macadamias sitting around and I thought why not do a butter with these beauties - and add in coconut and sweeten the whole lot with plump Halawi dates I had in the fridge. I happened to have 6 dates left so I put them all in, but if you want a sweeter butter, add more! Medjool dates which are most commonly available would probably work well, although I think Halawi is a more fragrant and soft date and any similar date if you can get it, would be just as good.

Macadamias are quite soft and unctuous compared to, say, almonds or pistachios, and will turn into butter more easily. I add salt to my nut butters if I am using unsalted nuts because salt enhances the flavour of the nut butter. You can certainly omit the salt if you wish.

I like this butter with pear and apple wedges but I sometimes have it on a cracker or in my breakfast rolled oats which I always soak overnight with fruits and nuts or nut butter.

Macadamia Coconut Butter

Makes: approximately 1-1/2 cup

- 2 cups (250 grams) macadamia nuts, toasted or raw

- 6 pitted Halawi dates, or any soft date variety of your choice

- 3 tbsp unsweetened dried coconut, shredded or flaked
- 1/2 tsp good quality salt, I use Himalayan pink salt

1. Put everything in a food processor and pulse until you have a nearly smooth butter, with some date flecks. You will need to occasionally push the ground mix of dates, nuts, and coconut back into the bowl of the food processor, as shown in my almond butter post.
2. Enjoy!

DANDELION PESTO

I love dandelions - the delicate wispy flowers and the delicious leaves! If I had a garden and if dandelions grew in it, I'd never consider them a weed. I usually whip up a dandelion green smoothie - one of my favourites! But this time around I had an exceptionally large bunch of dandelion greens, so I decided to do something different with half of the bunch: pesto. The lemon juice enhances the distinct flavour of the fresh dandelion greens and the earthiness of toasted walnuts. And parsley as always, just livens everything up!

Not only are dandelion greens delicious, but like all delicious things they're high in the feel-good factor: you know, the one you need everyday to feel like you're not slowly degenerating thanks to many weekends - and some weekdays - of long nights and lots of adult bevvies! Anyway, while we're on the subject, dandelion is excellent for liver detox. Not that I need it, but just letting everyone know. It is also rich in iron, calcium, and protein. And it's a leafy green so: antioxidants. Basically, you need some of this weed.

The pesto is fantastic in a grilled cheddar sandwich, as a pizza/pasta sauce, on a burger, with roasted vegetables and some homemade pita, or just with crackers. Or, let your imagination run wild like a dandelion and use it in any way you like!

Dandelion Pesto

Makes: approximately 2 cups

- 3 cups dandelion leaves, cleaned
- 1/2 cup parsley, cleaned
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted just until aromatic
- 1 teaspoon good quality salt, I use Himalayan pink salt
- 1 Meyer or regular lemon, juiced

1. Put the walnuts, garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, and greens - in that order - into a blender jar and blend until smooth.
2. Refrigerate or freeze if not using within 2 hours. As all pestos and condiments, this one also tastes best after 6 hours or longer.

Notes:

1. Use all organic ingredients if possible, especially greens.

BETTER THAN MAC-N-CHEESE: ORECCHIETTE WITH ROOT VEGETABLE SAUCE

Cheesy? Dairy-free? Lowfat? Vegetarian? Vegan? Gluten-free? Yeast-free? Totally delicious? Easy? All of those is what this recipe is! Just make this - you're going to love it! I've served it plenty of times to my dairy- and dairy-free friends, no one can tell that there's not a morsel of cheese in this mac-n-cheese.

I used orecchiette but any short-ish pasta with a texture that allows sauce to cling on to will do: Maccheroni, fusili, rigatoni, radiatori, conchiglie, cavatelli, casarecci, gemelli, ruote... whatever strikes your fancy. Or whatever you've got waiting to be cooked... or whatever the market has for you.

Orecchiette with Root Vegetable Sauce

Makes: 6 generous servings

Sauce:

- 4 cups water

- 1/2 cup raw cashews

- 1 shallot
- 2 medium red or yellow potatoes
- 3-4 small (2 medium) carrots
- 1 medium yellow or white onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. crushed red pepper

- 2 tsp. good quality salt

- 1 tbsp. olive or grapeseed oil

Pasta:

- 4 quarts water

- 16 ounces orecchiette

Topping:

- 2 slices of bread, torn into large pieces

1. Soak cashews in 1 cup water.

2. Cut all the vegetables except garlic into roughly evenly sized pieces.

3. Bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil in a large saucepan.

4. Add the cut vegetables and 4 cloves of garlic to the boiling water. There's no need to cut the garlic, add the cloves whole.

5. Bring everything to a boil.

6. Lower the heat to medium-high and cook until vegetables are soft.

7. Remove the vegetables from the heat and allow to cool almost completely.

8. Do not drain vegetables.

9. Add the cashews, 1 clove of garlic, cooked vegetables and water, salt, and all the seasonings to a blender.

10. Blend on high until everything is a smooth paste. SAUCE!!

11. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.

12. Bring the 4 quarts water to a rolling boil.

13. Add the orecchiette and cook until al dente. Thoroughly drain the pasta.

14. Process the bread in a food processor or blender to make breadcrumbs.

15. Mix the drained pasta with the sauce and put in a 9 in. x 13 in. baking pan. I prefer a glass or ceramic pan but metal will do I suppose.

16. Top with the breadcrumbs and bake for 30 min. or until the sauce starts to bubble.

17. Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Notes:

1. Make the sauce ahead of time and thin if required before mixing in cooked pasta.
2. Make this gluten-free: use gluten-free pasta and breadcrumbs.

3. Mix in other vegetables along with the sauce and pasta: kale or chard torn into pieces, spinach, lightly steamed broccoli, or even cauliflower florets.

4. Make it vegan: make sure to use eggless pasta.

GO NUTS: HOMEMADE ALMOND BUTTER

You guys have to make this make itself! Because that's what almond butter does. It makes itself. (Sorry, the photos are a bit rubbish, but I was too eager to make the almond butter so I could have it in my smoothie that evening.)

It's heavenly on toast but get creative... on ice cream, on waffles, as a dip mixed with cinnamon, honey and cocoa powder, as a savoury dip mixed with roasted garlic, lemon, salt, chili powder, cinnamon, and whatever other spices you want, orrrr just by the spoonful!

Just make it, and it'll inspire you to get creative with it.

Almond Butter

Makes: 2 cups

- 2 cups dry-roasted almonds (I use 50% Less Salt dry-roasted almonds from Trader Joe's)

- food processor

1. Put the almonds in the food processor.

2. Start the food processor.
3. Stop-and-go till you get almond butter, loosening the almond meal/paste from the sides as needed.
4. The almonds will go through a few stages - chopped, ground, pasty, smooth (almond butter).
5. If you're adding honey, spices or other things, add them when the almonds are pasty, or just before removing the almond butter from the food processor.
6. Enjoy!

Notes:
1. Raw almonds, like all raw nuts and seeds, are quite heavy on the digestive system and I don't recommend using them for almond butter or for eating.
2. Blanched or sprouted (soak almonds for 12 - 24 hours in water) almonds would work if you dry them completely first.
3. To dry: put the wet almonds on a towel to "surface-dry", transfer to a pan/baking sheet and let them air-dry in a single layer.