The BEST pasta sauce just got better..recipe ideas and tips..photos

Fresh, very ripe tomatoes are the secret. wash and then fire roast in grape seed oil, skin them and then proceed as for the recipe in "Recipes For Success"  (1 gallon pasta sauce), $7 available at www.amazon.com/kindle.

"Roasting" the tomatoes makes their flavors intense

Pasta e Fagioli; Green Minestrone; Mushroom soup with Thyme; Pasta Vegetable Gratin; Vegetable and Cashew "Paella" base; Thai style rice with pineapple, mint & walnuts; Roasted bell Pepper and scallion salad; Sourdough raisin wholewheat breads; HRH Prince Charles's Bread & Butter Pudding with Whisky and marmalade: Prep and all photos

A thick and "meaty" all Vegan pasta e fagiole

Swiss Chard one of my all time fave greens as everything is edible,and tender.For the first time I am growing my own this year.

Green Minestrone, I have also added turmeric to improve nutrition

Mushroom soup with thyme and also turmeric

Rice with turmeric for the "Paella"

Roasted bell peppers for the salad with scallions and lemon dressing

Whole-wheat sourdough bread dough for the cinnamon raisin bread

Coarsely mashed carrots

for the pasta gratin

Brown Jasmine rice cooked with cumin and tossed with scallions and raisins will add minced fresh mint and chopped fresh pineapple

The completed Pasta bake ready for client's oven

The completed Thai style rice with pineapple and walnuts

Bread and butter pudding topped with scotch whisky and later warm marmalade

 

now topped with warm marmalade

The hot weather of late has now given way to "May grey" and it looks like it is going to be cooler than normal for the next few weeks...which is fine by me, now I can prepared hearty food, with lots of fresh and seasonal vegetables.
Please eat more whole grains, and don't buy ready to cook, they are still processed.

WASHING AND SOAKING BEFORE EATING TO PREVENT INDIGESTION

If the likes of Mrs Beeton had discovered the New World we would all be eating properly.
So much is lost in translation when eating new, imported foods; when tea was first introduced to England, they threw away the liquid and attempted to eat the leaves.
For as long as we have had dried fruit imported, we have eaten it wrong.

Drying fruit is a way of preserving it, when we eat it dried it screws with our digestion process and usually ends up in heartburn.

if you want to eat properly and digest all those nutrients like potassium, carotenoids, Vitamin C , iron (folate) and the fabulous soluble fiber, then throw out the dried trail mix and go for washed and soaked dried fruit and whole grains.
The same applies to any dried fruit in muesli and granola.


In the days before "already washed" dried fruit, housewives and cooks knew to soak and wash it, removing any debris and seeds/pits.

When you want to add any dried fruit to any dish/recipe, soak it  for a few hours in clean cold water, or brewed tea, or fruit juice ( usually just enough liquid to cover it)..for larger and tougher types of fruit (dried apricots and pitted prunes/dates), soak in hot liquid.

When it is time to add the recipe, drain well and then fold in.
For some desserts and stews any leftover soaking liquid may be added.

Also when pre-soaked the fruit appears to taste sweeter so you may want to use less sugar in baking recipes.

Stay well and eat well and remember, Digestion begins in the mouth not the stomach..chew everything except water.

This afternoon I made some whole-wheat carrot cakes and replaced half the brown sugar with soaked pitted dates..fantastic results.

Info on dried fruit varieties:

Dates contain high amounts of natural aspirin and are linked to lower rates of pancreatic cancer and other cancers.


Figs contain high amounts of benzaldehyde a compound that helps shrink tumors in humans. (Japanese study).
Also have anti-ulcer, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic powers.

Happy eating and staying healthy......