Simple One Serve Ayurvedic Veggie Kitchari Recipe (To make the perfect amount for just one bowl!)

Hello beautiful Wholesome Souls!!!

It’s been a few Moons since my last blog post here, and I tell you, it is SO beautiful and exiting – wonderful to be ‘back’ and sharing a super-duper practical and (in my opinion, and that of clients I have worked with over the years!), an essential recipe we ALL need in our Kitchens!

It is easy to make Kitchari for a group of people, there are a bunch of delicious and great recipes in my Ebook, ‘Simple Ayurveda in Your Kitchen’ (which has a lot of other goodies in there to inspire and support your holistic nourishment on a lifestyle level also!), however, they are for making Kitchari for 4 people, not for just 1, which often-times, if you’re single, or just making food for yourself one day, you most certainly need to have up your sleeve to avoid cooking too much (yay, no more leftovers!), and no more wasted food. Food is sacred and precious, and so are our resources and energy, the money we spend on our beautiful organic ingredients and food, SO — I am so excited to introduce to you (and yes, I will slowly bring out more ‘Single Serve’ recipes for you, and a little collection/Ebook focused just on this! Stay tuned for this), as I know you and I both need these ‘Single Serve’ recipes in our life! I got you! :)

For now, I introduce to you, the first of the ‘Single Serve’ Simple Ayurveda Wholesome Recipe collection with you!

Get your beautiful organic goodness and ingredients ready, put your favorite divine Vedic chants or other inspired divine music you love on – light a candle, say a prayer in your Kitchen for blessings of health and nourishment for you and your precious gorgeous body, and enjoy!!!

Before we get ‘into it’, I have some hot ‘One Serve’ Kitchari tips for you, that I think you’ll find helpful! :)

This recipe is for a super simple Ayurvedic One Serve Kitchari with spices, fresh coriander and your choice of seasonal veggies! If you wish to make it plain, without Veggies I recommend adding an extra tablespoon of rice so that it has a bit more substance and body! You can also make this with Whole Moong beans (they just require minimum 8 hours soaking) or Split Red Lentils.

My top Kitchari Veggie recommendations to consider are: Celery, Zucchini, Green Beans, Pumpkin, Carrot or Silverbeet / Spinach.

Simple One Serve Ayurvedic Veggie Kitchari Recipe

(To finally avoid food-wastage, left-overs which aren’t ‘ideal’ according to Ayurveda – for optimal cellular nourishment and digestion — AND, to  make the perfect amount for just one bowl! Yayyy!!!)

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp of ghee or wholesome oil of choice***
  • 1⁄4 cup of Split Moong lentils or Red lentils soaked for minimum 30mins up to 8 hours and rinsed thoroughly
  • 2.5 tbsp basmati rice (or Quinoa) washed and rinsed 3 times
  • 3⁄4 cup of organic seasonal veggies of your choice (This isn’t hard and fast. Feel free to add a bit more or a bit less if you wish!)
  • 3 cups of ltered boiling water
  • 1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1⁄4 tsp coriander seeds
  • 2-3 fennel seeds
  • Teeny tiny pinch of asafoetida (optional!)
  • 1 fresh or dried curry leaf or bay leaf (optional)
  • 1⁄2 tbsp fresh ginger grated or chopped nely
  • 2 tbsp nely chopped red onion or shallots (feel free to not be exact with this! A little more or less will still work well!)
  • 1⁄2 tsp of fresh garlic crushed or nely chopped
  • 1⁄8 tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1⁄8 tsp of quality sea salt
  • A few cracks of black pepper to taste
  • 1⁄4 cup of fresh coriander to garnish
  • A wedge of lemon or lime as a garnish to aid digestion
  • Optional dollop of coconut yoghurt and or homemade date or mango chutney on top as a garnish also!
  • Your love!

*Wholesome oils to choose from if on a Vegan/100% Plant-based Healing diet, (ie: not using Ghee): Cold pressed Sesame oil (for Vata & Kapha), Quality coconut oil (for Pitta) or cold pressed quality avocado oil (Suitable for Vata & Pitta). (If you’re not sure which is best for you and your body, reach out to book a consultation so we can establish a bio-individual set of recommendations specific to you!)

**Extra note for ‘cleansing’: if you feel a lot of heaviness and ‘heat’ in your body, this can mean that your liver is feeling burdened and needs a little break. If this is the case you may nd that sauteeing your spices and ingredients in a splash of filtered water, veggie broth or even celery juice can be a great substitute and allows for a little more lightness.

Creation process:

(Prior to starting the cooking make sure you have your two main ingredients; your soaked and rinsed lentils and also your rice, strained and ready to go in bowls next to your stove to save time and make your cooking process more efficient!)

  1. Take a medium saucepan and place it on your stove over moderate to high heat. Add your Ghee or Wholesome Oil of choice and allow it to ‘melt’ or to simply warm for a moment or two.
  2. Next add your Cumin seeds, Coriander seeds, fennel seeds and stir with a wooden spoon to allow the spices to toast and sizzle for a few seconds. Next add a teeny tiny pinch of asafoetida (optional) and a curry leaf or bay leaf (optional) and stir for another moment.
  3. Add your fresh garlic, ginger and onion and turmeric powder, stir for a few minutes all together and saute until the onion is coated in the turmeric, golden and lightly caramelized.
  4. Add your lentils and rice and stir regularly and vigorously for 3-4 minutes until well sauteed with the spices and onion and then add your ltered boiling water and stir to make sure there is no sticking on the bottom of the pot and to combine everything together harmoniously!
  5. Add your Veggies (unless you are only using leafy greens like silverbeet and spinach in which case I recommend adding them towards the end, once your Kitchari is almost fully cooked to avoid over cooking them.)
  6. Add 1⁄8 tsp of sea salt (or a little more to suit your tastes – essentially, a little pinch!), a few cracks of black pepper, your LOVE (of course) and a little handful of freshly chopped coriander and stir through.
  7. Stir and bring to a boil for approx 10-15mins or until your lentils and rice are creamy, smooth and fully cooked. Stir every 5 minutes throughout this process to create a beautiful creamy consistency and to make sure there is no sticking on the bottom. If you see that there is sticking feel free to add a little extra splash or two of boiling water intuitively as you see/feel.
  8. Once creamy and fully cooked, remove your pot of Kitchari goodness from the stove and let sit with a lid on for another 5-10mins to allow the avours to deepen and the Kitchari to settle and become even creamier. This step is optional, if time permits I recommend it though!
  9. Your Kitchari is ready! Serve in your favourite bowl, add a generous garnish of fresh coriander on top, a squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice to aid digestion and an optional dollop of coconut yogurt and home-made mango chutney (I have an amazing simple, yummy and sugar-free recipe for this that I shall post on the blog for you soon!) – as well as some extra salt and black pepper to taste and enjoy!!!

With immense love, joy, gratitude, blessings and prayers of goodness to you in your Wholesome Kitchen!!!

Aummm Shanti!

x Lorien

Wholesome & Feel-good Spring Lentil Veggie Soup Recipe!

Bowl of wholesome Spring lentil veggie Soup goodness!Ahhhh, it’s Spring – and such a beautiful, lush and refreshing Spring season it has been so far here in Australia right now too!

In Ayurveda, seasonal change is considered a magical and potent time of the year for giving extra love and nurturing to our beautiful bodies and from a digestion point of view – to focusing on foods that are ‘light’, ‘warm’ and ‘easy-to digest’, so that our body can devote energy to it’s natural seasonal change processes of cleansing, adjusting and aligning for the next season ahead!

So, when it comes to giving the body a little extra space, energy and warmth-filled-loving goodness to support our digestion and our immune system during seasonal change… the solution is Souper Simple! (I just had to go there! hehe) …If that pun didn’t give it away, the solution is, drumroll, yes you guessed it… Soups! Soups my friend are our Seasonal transition best-friend, and are a beautiful way to incorporate the potent, nourishing and ‘deliciousafying’ qualities of healing Ayurvedic kitchen spices and herbs into our cooking too – for literal added goodness!

In seasonal Soup fashion ~ I have personally been living off Soups in my Kitchen lately, since the seasonal change, making some of my staple go-to healing soup favourites from my E-book, as well as creating some fresh new yummy Soupy-goodness filled recipes and today I am so excited to be sharing one of my favourites at the moment, with you!

The Soupy downlo’ on this fresh new recipe…

If you have my E-book, you’ll see that this recipe is very similar to the ‘Sunshine Veggie Soup’ recipe in there that you are most likely familiar with (I think it is THE most commented upon recipe from the book! It’s popular, and for good reason!) It’s definitely one of my all time favourite go-to’s as it is not only packed with my favourite Vegies, but it literally feels like sunshine in my body when I eat it too, (hence the name!)

This new recipe I have for you today, has all the qualities I love about the ‘Sunshine Veggie Soup Recipe’, with a little extra! The two new main ingredients being; whole red lentils for added protein, fibre and oomph! And, fluffy steamed quinoa for extra protein and heartiness! Yuummm!!! (It’s so good, I’m excited for you to try it!)

The combination of healing Ayurvedic spices, vegies, lentils and quinoa (let alone garnishing with some yummy crunchy toasted seeds – also from my E-book) is…. Let me just say, simply Super (or Souper!)-duper wholesome, nourishing and feel good!  It feels DIVINE in my tummy, and I hope in yours soon too!

This Soup is a ready to go meal all in one, and I feel confident that you are going to LOVE it and fall in love with making it a staple go-to wholesome feel-good Soup recipe in your Kitchen also! Yay!!!!

A few more reasons to love Soup during Seasonal transition (and in life in general!): 

  • Soups are an amazing nourishing staple, they are simple, quick, easy to make and nutrient packed!
  • They are warming, light, high in fiber from Veggies and or lentils/legumes and generally speaking – are easy to digest for the body due to their warm, soft and smooth qualities!!!
  • They are easily customisable and adaptable and are a great meal to make when you’ve only got a few veggies left in the fridge!
  • You can make Soups in advance so that you have a nourishing wholesome meal for lunch or dinner ready to go on days when you’re busy and need something quick!

…Basically, what’s not to LOVE about Soups!!! …I love them SO much!

So, without further adieu, let’s get straight into the Recipe!

little line with graphic of a bowl of soup

Wholesome & Feel-good Spring Lentil Veggie Soup Recipe! 

Wholesome Vegie Lentil Soup Recipe with Ayurvedic Spices and ingredientsIngredients:

  • 3 tbsp of Ghee, Coconut Oil or Avocado Oil
  • 2 tsp of Cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp of Coriander seeds
  • A pinch of fennel seeds
  • 2 tbsp of fresh ginger finely chopped or grated
  • 1 cup of finely chopped red onion (or shallots!)
  • ½ tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1 cup of celery finely chopped
  • 3 cups of small – medium cubed pumpkin
  • 2 cups of zucchini cut into quarters
  • 2 cups of broccoli chopped into little florets (little trees!)
  • Approx 10-12 cracks of black pepper from your pepper grinder!
  • ½ tsp of sea salt
  • 1 cup of fresh coriander finely chopped
  • 1 cup of whole red lentils (ideally soaked overnight, or at least for 1/2 a day prior to cooking!)**
  • 1.5 cups of *cooked* whole Quinoa (white or tri-colour will work perfectly!)
  • Your love! (…Obviously, the *most* important ingredient, always! :)

**Note: A common question about the ‘Whole Red Lentils’, in this recipe is ‘Why do they *look* like ‘brown lentils’? The answer is that ‘Whole red lentils’ infact don’t actually look ‘red’ as their name suggests, they look ‘brown’ (like you can see in the photo’s here)!  Also, if you don’t happen to have ‘Whole Red Lentils’ in the pantry as you’re reading this and are wondering what you can swap them for, you can easily use ‘French Green Puy Lentils’ instead and you’ll find they have a similar cooking time so you can follow the exact same steps!

Simple Creation process in 3 Stages:

This dish is simple, however within it’s simplicity, there are 3 key stages of preparation for it then all come together with the click of your fingers that I’m going to walk you through step by step! …There’s preparing the Lentils, preparing the Quinoa and then preparing the Soup herself! (If you already have lentils and quinoa prepared by chance, you can skip right to the bottom to making the core of the Soup straight away!)

Stage 1: Preparing your lentils… (as they require the most preparation!)

The first step and step that requires the most pre-thought and preparation is soaking and cooking the lentils. There are a couple of different ways to do this.

Lentil Cooking Option 1: If you own a pressure cooker (I recently started using an ‘Instant Pot’ pressure cooker for the sole purpose of cooking beans and lentils quickly!) then you can simply soak your lentils overnight or for at least a couple of hours, and then pop them in your pressure cooker with a bay leaf, pinch of salt and pinch of asafoetida and then cook for 10mins! After 10mins, voila, your lentils will be perfecto and ready for the soup!

Lentil Cooking Option 2: If you don’t have a pressure cooker (I didn’t for years also!) then you can cook the lentils on the stove in water for approx 50mins until they are soft, again with a bay leaf, a pinch of salt and a pinch of asafoetida. So, these are the lentil preparation options.

Bowl of Steamed Organic QuinoaStage 2: Preparing your steamed Quinoa

This step is super simple. If you’re familiar with cooking quinoa, then all you’re going to do is cook quinoa the way you know how. If you’re new to cooking beautiful fluffy quinoa then I have some instructions for you below:

How to cook beautiful fluffy Quinoa in 2 easy steps:

Step 1: Take a pot, place 1 cup of quinoa inside the pot, and fill the pot with water to rinse the quinoa and wash it, to help remove the ‘saponins’ that are naturally on the outside of quinoa and make it yummier and easy on the digestive system. Rinse your quinoa in the water a couple of times, use a fine mesh strainer when pouring the water out to prevent losing any little quinoa seeds and then place on the stove.

Step 2: Add 2 cups of filtered boiling water from the kettle (this will just save you a bunch of cooking time!) and a pinch of sea salt, place the lid on the pot and then bring to a boil! Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it cook with the lid still on for 15mins. After 15mins turn the heat of completely and let the quinoa sit with the lid still on (to utilise the steam) for another 5 mins before serving. The result will be beautiful gorgeous fluffy Quinoa! Yum!

Okay, now let’s get onto making the heart and soul of this soup – the warming, healing ~ liquidy Vegie goodness!!!

Wholesome Lentil Vegie Soup Recipe Close UpStage 3: Now, to make the Soup! (this is the quickest part, your Soup will be ready within 20-25mins!)

1. Warm your Ghee or oil in your pot, then add your Cumin seeds, Coriander seeds and fennel seeds. Allow to saute for a few moments until you see the spices release little tiny ‘bubbles’ around them (a sign of them releasing their healing volatile-oil goodness into the pot) and then add your finally chopped garlic, ginger and onion.  Stir and saute for a few minutes to soften the onion and allow the garlic and ginger to become yummy and then add your turmeric powder and continue to saute and stir until the onion is soft and caramelised.

2. Add your celery and stir for a few minutes, allowing the celery to soften and meld with the other ingredients already in the pot. Next, add your pumpkin, and stir for a few minutes to give it a head start before then adding the rest of the vegies. Next add the rest of the vegies; the zucchini and broccoli and stir.  Add your hot water from the kettle, a generous amount of ‘black pepper’ from your pepper grinder (or approx ‘12’ cracks!), sea salt and some fresh coriander. Allow to cook for approx 20mins or until the pumpkin is soft and tender. When the pumpkin is soft, you know your soup is done!

3. Scoop your drained and cooked lentils into the Soup and stir to allow the lentils to merge with the vegies.  And then optional is to add a few spoons of quinoa to your soup (this is really delicious) OR leave the quinoa as a side to enjoy adding to the soup as you eat it, like dipping bread into your soup, but it’s fluffy quinoa instead!

And your Soup is done!!!

Serve with some crunchy toasted seeds, fresh coriander, a little pinch of salt and a few more cracks of black pepper to suit your taste.

Enjoy and relax while eating… put some soft music on in the background, light a candle or two and take a moment to ‘center’ your mind and body before your first bite. When we do this before a meal we are relaxing the nervous system, which in turn relaxes the digestive system. This prepares the body to digest the divine food we are about to bring into our precious body optimally for great digestion and our ultimate Nourishment!

…Yum! Enjoy in bliss and if you make this recipe and love it please let me know on instagram, facebook or even good-old email (lorien@wholesomelovinggoodness.com) ! :) I love hearing from you and seeing your creations! 

With love and joy to your home and family from mine!

Blessed and blissed nourishing!

x Lorien

P.S. If you’re feeling inspired to take your personal inner and outer nourishment and self-care to a whole-new delicious level, you might love my self-paced signature 6-Week Ayurvedic Food & Lifestyle transformation program, ‘Simple Ayurveda in Your Kitchen’!

It’s a juicy course to support you in not only becoming a creative intuitive genius in the Kitchen, with making staple wholesome Ayurvedic dishes for yourself and your family, but to also empower you to implement Ayurveda’s foundational healing wisdom and magic into your modern daily life! The wholesome doors to the program are opening for enrolment again soon, so if you’re ready to take your nourishment to a new level I highly recommend you join the ‘Waiting list’ here so I can let you know when enrollment opens for the last time this year!

Yes please, I’d love to find out more and join the Waiting list!

x

Wholesome vegan lentil veggie soup recipe

Wholesome & Easy Ayurvedic Beetroot Garden Vegie Patties Recipe!

Gluten Free Ayurvedic Beetroot Protein Patties Recipe

A quick and wholesome lunch, simple dinner, savoury hearty breakfast or an on-the-go wholesome snack / plant-based meat-free alternative to bring to your next family event or Aussie bbq!

These delicious morsels of love are one of the MOST exciting, simple and yummy vegie-licious wholesome recipe creations to be born out of the Wholesome Kitchen!

I first developed this recipe for one of my clients who came to see me for holistic Ayurvedic Wholefood nutrition support for a series of health challenges he was experiencing. He needed a recipe that was quick and easy to make (as he travels a lot, is busy and ussually is just cooking for one), nourishing and nutrient dense, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free and that was something he could eat that had ‘texture’ so he had the experience of biting into something, along with enjoying the delicious soupy Kitchari’s and Soups that I gave him to have also.

…The result, HE LOVED them, and so did I! 

These patties hit the ‘Pattie spot!’ (if that’s even a thing!), and when you try them at home also, I think you’ll find they hit your ‘Pattie spot’ also! (…Please do email me to let me know!)

Since this recipe came into being I have made it a personal staple in my weekly Meal planning and have enjoyed these beauties for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at various times throughout a week!

I recommend serving these Patties with some fresh organic leafy greens dressed with a little olive oil and lemon or apple cider vinegar. So yum!

These Patties can also be enjoyed as something ‘substantial’ with a light evening soup or with a little chutney as a yummy tasty snack!

As this recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make for one person (as a quick ‘what should I take for lunch today’ meal! …don’t worry, we all have those moments!) I have written this recipe to be the perfect amount for ONE single person to make, with no excess/no wastage and so it’s something you can easily follow for making yourself  a quick meal when needed!

If you wish to make a larger batch for an event, a gathering, for the week and or for the whole family, you can simple double, triple or quadrouple the quantities to make it suit your desired situation and how many you wish to cook!

So, without further adue… here is the recipe for the worlds most divine, mourish, tasty, wholesome, Ayurvedically dosed in digestive loving spice and harmonious food combining qualities (…I know it’s bold, but I’m going to just go ahead and claim that these are the worlds best, because to me, they ARE!)

Enjoy my loves and please let me know how you go by coming to say hello to me over on my instagram!

Meat-free Ayurvedic Plant-based Beetroot Vegie Pattie Recipe

Wholesome Ayurvedic Beetroot Garden Vegie Patties Recipe

(Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sugar-free… totally delicious though!) 

Serves 1 person (this recipe makes 6 small yummy patties!) 

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium organic beetroot grated
  • 1 medium organic carrot grated
  • 1 medium organic zucchini grated
  • 1 small red onion finely chopped (optional if onion doesn’t agree with you!)
  • 1/2 cup of besan flour (chickpea flour)
  • 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp of cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp of coriander powder
  • 1/8 tsp of ajwain seeds (you can find these at asian/indian grocery stores)
  • 1/8 tsp of fennel seeds
  • 1/2 tsp of himalayn salt
  • a few cracks of black pepper
  • 2 tbsp of Coconut oil or Ghee for cooking

Creation Process:

  1. Add your grated beetroot, carrot and zuchini to a medium mixing bowl and mix them into each other using your hands so the three of them are well combined.
  2. Add your red onion, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, ajwain seeds, fennel seeds, salt and pepper and mix through.
  3. Slowly add your besan flour (chickpea flour), stirring as you add it so that any clumps in the flour get broken up and properly integrated into the mix. Once all of the flour has been added, use your hands to ‘massage’ the mix, squeezing the mix inbetween your hands to allow the naturally occuring ‘water content’ of the vegies to form a nice ‘batter’ with the flour.
  4. Once it’s all well mixed, juicy and a good ‘Pattie’ forming consistency, you are ready to form your patties so they can be cooked. To ensure the patties stay together and form a nice shape that you’d want to eat, I recommend taking a small-medium amount of the mix and forming a ball with it in your right hand, then transfering it back to your left hand, and back again until its a nice well firmed morsel. Then to make it ‘Pattie-ish’ gently use your hands to press the pattie ball into a flatter shape suitable for cooking! You are now ready to cook the patties! Yay!
  5. To cook, allow your healthy non-stick pan** to warm for 2-3 minutes with a little coconut oil or ghee on the pans surface. Once it is warm, place your patties one by one on the pan and allow them to cook for 4-5 minutes before carefully flipping them over with a spatula to cook the reverse side.

**(If you’re looking for a good healthy non-stick pan, the one I use is the Pancake/Crepe pan by Neo-flam, I’m not paid to say this, I’m just a big fan so want to share the good pan love!)

And that’s it! You did it!!

You made the worlds best, Wholesome Ayurvedic Beetroot Garden Vegie Patties and are about to enter a whole new realm of digestive feel-good ‘goodness’, love, joy and simple soulful – nourishment satisfaction!

If you loved this recipe, please let me know over on my instagram and or by dropping me an email saying ‘Pattie love!’. …These are my favourite kind of emails to receive!

P.S. If you are interested in diving deeper into the world of Wholesome Ayurvedic Wholefood Nourishment, in your Kitchen then my new soon to launch 6-Week Ayurvedic Food & Lifestyle Transforamation program, ‘Simple Ayurveda in Your Kitchen’ could be just the next step for you!

…To find out more and be first to know when the doors open next, click here to enter your details and join the official course waiting list!!!

 

Yay and yesss to feel-good nourishment in life!!! 

Loads of wholesome love, joy and warm yummy delicious Kitchen wishes!

 

x Lorien 

Vegan Savoury Buckwheat Moon Wraps Recipe!

savoury wheat-free buckwheat wraps

The best wheat & bread alternative since… well, before sliced bread!

Organic Whole Foods, filled with innate wisdom and intelligence (for our beautiful bodies) from nature is where it’s at!!!

…One of the hardest things for many to give up and find satisfactory wholesome replacements for when switching to Whole Foods and wanting to clean up their diet is WHEAT and breads and bread-like products made from gluten and wheat.

I totally get it. We are often brought up eating it for breakfast, lunch and often dinner.

Regular (processed wheat, pesticide laden, nutrient devoid) bread has culturally become a staple in the west and sadly is heavily marketed to us by big companies as being highly nutritious, (think ‘wonder white’etc) when the plain, honest real truth is that it is the total opposite. It’s essentially like poison to the body due to the chemical pesticides these grains are grown with as well as the over-agriculturalisation of the grain in general ~ sadly making wheat today devoid of the goodness it once contained in the past that allowed our bodies to recognize and draw nutrients from it.

This literal stripping of goodness that has occurred over the last 100+ years is why so many now experience inflammation, swelling and gluten-intolerance when it comes to eating this major western staple.

So, what ‘bread’ and grain you’re eating is a big area to look into when exploring your health and wanting to heal your body and digestive system. Especially important for anyone currently experiencing high inflammation/join/skin/gut/anxiety issues.

So, this is why I for one am so over the Buckwheat Moon! to share this incredibly simple and easy recipe for making your own home-made wholesome wraps, pancakes, flat bread, roti, chapatis, naan and… whatever else that is flat and bread-like that you wish to find a wholesome alternative for!

Hello Buckwheat. 

Hello Savoury Buckwheat Moon Wraps!

P.S. Even though the name, ‘Buckwheat’, has the word ‘wheat’ in it, I want to ensure you that Buckwheat is not wheat at all, and is 100% gluten-free. Another interesting fact about this amazing wholefood is that while it is used like a grain in cooking, it is actually technically a ‘seed fruit’, not a grain, making anything you make with 100% buckwheat, not only wheat-free, but also ‘grain-free’. 


Vegan Savoury Buckwheat Moon Wraps Recipe:

(This recipe will make approximately 6 x large, thin wraps.)

Ingredients:

  • 2 x cups of Organic Buckwheat flour
  • 4 x cups of room temperature filtered/spring water
  • 1/2 a tbsp of Organic Potato Starch
  • 1/2 a tbsp of Organic Tapioca Flour
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • some organic coconut oil for seasoning your pan
  • of course, the most important ingredient, your love!

To Make Your Wrap Mix:

  1. Place Buckwheat flour in a medium mixing bowl and make sure you smooth out any lumps with the back of a wooden spoon or through sifting, (so your mix is nice and smooth).
  2. Next add the Potato starch, Tapioca flour and salt. Mix these into the buckwheat flour until well combined. 
  3. Slowly begin to add water, stirring slowly to gradually mix the liquid in with the flour. Mix until water and flour is well combined and forms  a smooth, runny, fall of the spoon consistency! 

Cooking your Wraps: 

  1. Warm a healthy non stick pan, and add a dash of coconut oil to help the cooking process.
  2. Using a ladel, pour a spoonful of your mix into you pan and quickly lift the pan of the heat to move it around, ’spreading’ the wrap mix around the pan to ensure it is thin and a nice big circle!
  3. Cook on one side until little air pockets show through from underneath, then using a spatula, flip to cook the other side for 2-3 minutes or until looking cooked.

That’s it. So SIMPLE!

You now have a beautiful, soft, digestive friendly, nourishing and wholesome Buckwheat moon wrap to enjoy immediately or to store in an air tight container for making lunches the next day! :)

The key to making a good wrap that you can put tasty delicious fillings into is to make it thin, flexible and supple (i.e.: unbreakable once goodies are inside)!

You’re in luck as with the recipe above, I’ve done the work of ensuring your mix is ‘unbreakable’ for you, so you can relax and simply enjoy some super versatile, wholesome, buckwheat wrap love in your life!

 

Making a thicker / Roti / Naan like bread from your Wrap mix:

The key to making your buckwheat moon wraps into more of a roti / naan like bread to go with soups and curries is to add slightly less water to your mix, so that the ‘wraps’ are  thicker. To do this I recommend:

  • Experimenting with using only 3 cups of water, rather than 4
  • Adding slightly more coconut oil (or ghee) to your pan while cooking them, to get them more toasty and buttery
  • To get some ‘air’ into the wraps, giving it a flakey/more roti like consistency, press your spatula onto the already cooked face up side of your wrap (once you’ve flipped it once) while cooking to encourage air bubbles and pockes to move around, helping make it more ‘bready’ and crispy.

wheat-free. gluten-free savoury buckwheat wraps. the best thing since before sliced bread!

…I’ve been a Buckwheat lover my whole life, (forever thankful to my awesome alternate, wholesome-nutritionist Mum!) So, as you can imagine, making buckwheat pancakes has been something I’ve loved doing forever.

Lately, while doing some kitchen experimentation (…which is ALWAYS happening, as I just love exploring new ways of doing things and new wholesome tastes, flavours and solutions for good nutrition) I stumbled upon this wrap mix/concept. Needless to say (from everything you’ve now read above), I got a bit excited about this development, and in particular, about how versatile something so simple, nourishing and wholesome like this can be, esspecially for families with making school lunches etc!

During one of my morning buckwheat feasts the wrap was born, and the photo above shows you the ingredients I prepared to go inside the wrap. The filling.

You can put anything you like inside a wrap obviously, it is a blank canvas for your nourishing tasty pleasure…

Incase you want to know what I put in (which tasted great!) I will list the items here for you to give you some inspiration!

  • fresh avocado with lemon juice 
  • fresh alfalfa sprouts (so yum!)
  • finely grated beetroot and fresh basil from the garden (herbs are excellent and add ‘wow’ factor!
  • fresh organic leafy green leaves
  • home-made sesame tahini dressing/sauce (tamari, toasted sesame oil, lemon juice, dash of maple!)
  • sauteed asian greens + vege (red onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric, wombok cabbage, silverbeet, red capsicum, brocolli) 

I hope this recipe brings you and your family endless wholesome Buckwheat Wrap love and joy! 

If you try it and love it, please let me know and help spread the word by sharing with others who may appreciate having this simple, delicious, wheat-free wrap goodness in their lives also!

 

With love & warmest gratitude,

 

x Lorien

 

Simple Ayurvedic Split Moong Veggie Dhal!

Ayurvedic Dhal and Rice Picnic

Simple Ayurvedic Split Moong Veggie Dhal with handfuls of fresh coriander!

A dhhaaalicious simple, easy and oh so yummy meal to make for friends, family and loved ones for a non-traditional Christmas lunch or dinner that will nourish your belly and warm hearts!

Split moong is a staple in any Ayurvedic Kitchen and can be made into Dhal like this one here or ‘Kitchari’, by simply cooking the rice and split moong together in the 1 pot, (which is the recipe you’ll find inside my E-book.)

I’ll let you in on a little secret, …the cooking process for making Kitchari and Dhal is virtually the same, Dhal is just made without the rice! 

It’s mostly steamy hot, beachy balmy summer days here in Australia for Christmas, there certainly isn’t much snow falling however whether you’re in the tropics or in a winter wonderland right now… This light and nourishing clean wholesome Dhal will likely hit the spot (and the ingredients are super affordable, which is certaintly a bonus this time of year!)

Yum! Share the dhalll love this festive season! :)  Everything tastes more delicious and nutritious when shared!


Simple Ayurvedic Split Moong Veggie Dhal Recipe       

Ingredients: 

  • 1 cup split moong beans soaked for 1 hour and strained
  • 5 cups boiling water from the kettle
  • 1 tbsp of coconut oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
  • 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • A few cracks of black pepper
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander (or more!)
  • 1/2 cup of diced and skinned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup of diced carrots
  • Spoons of your LOVE!

Method:

  1. Warm  coconut oil in a saucepan on medium heat then add dry spices; cumin, coriander and fennel seeds. Stir to lightly toast the spices for 2-3 minutes or until they start to sizzle.
  2. Add fresh ginger and turmeric powder. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add the split moong beans and ‘toast’ by stirring the moong into the spices before adding any water.
  4. Next add the chopped pumpkin and carrot. Stir the vegies with the lentils for 3-4 minutes or a bit longer, you’ll know it’s time to add water when the lentils start to get sticky on the bottom of the pot.
  5. Immediately pour your boiling water into the pot at this stage to prevent sticking and bring to the boil for approx 10 minutes.
  6. Add sea salt and black pepper. Stir continuously to bring out the creaminess of the lentils and the veggies.
  7. Turn heat down to medium and simmer with the lid on for approx 20 minutes or until the lentils and veggies become smooth, soft, ‘dhaly’ and creamy.
  8. Once cooked add a generous handful of freshly chopped coriander and stir into the dhal. Serve with a side of steamed basmati or brown rice, a generous garnish of fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon for extra digestive goodness and tang!
  9. Voila! So easy, so creamy, so dhaaalicious and tummy nourishing!

Enjoy the recipe for this scrumptious dhal and make sure you share the

#wholesomelovinggoodness

by tagging me in your dhaaaalicious photo’s!

Merry Christmas and oodles of love and joy to you and all your loved ones for the holidays! 

x  Lorien 

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Spring Moong Bean Kitchari Recipe with fresh parsley & creamy salted avocado! Gluten Free / Vegetarian / Vegan / Wholesome!

Ayurvedic Kitchari Recipe - Vegan - Vegetarian - Gluten Free - Wholesome

The best nutritional path to take in life is the one that suits you most!

We are all unique and this means that our bodies and digestive systems are unique as well! (Yay! how beautiful is that!)

Our bodies thrive when we can listen and be intuitive about our food & lifestyle choices.

Instead of following the latest food trend or getting overwhelmed by varying food philosophies – ask your body what it wants, what it needs and then listen. You are not like anyone else. Doing what everyone else does will never be truly nourishing.

In order to really nourish yourself – you must listen to the call of your tummy, your feelings, your passions and your inspirations.

Ask yourself these questions… Which foods feel amazing in your tummy? & Which foods make your heart and mind sing? and move towards those things… experiment, play and explore!

Often creating this inner connection with self is all that is needed to soothe, calm and rebalance the intelligence of our body, heart and mind. 

It’s exciting, it’s fun and it’s delicious to open up, to explore your body and to listen to what foods your body wants, loves and needs.

Master your eating and you will master your mind… this is what the Ayurvedic sages of India share with us.

“Quality of mind depends on quality of food.” ~The Vedas 


Ingredients:

  • 2 cup whole moong beans (soaked overnight)
  • 1 cup basmati or brown rice (washed 3 x and strained)
  • 1/4 pumpkin chopped into cubes
  • 1 cup green beans chopped into small pieces
  • 8 cups of boiling water
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
  • 1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
  • 1 clove of garlic finely chopped/pressed
  • 1/2 a red onion finely chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp coriander seeds, 1/3 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp himalayan salt & a few cracks black pepper
  • 1/2 ripe avocado & some fresh parsley or coriander
  • your love! :)

So easy to digest, nourishing & in Ayurvedic texts said to be a ‘complete protein’!

Creation process:

  1. Add 1 tblsp Ghee or Coconut oil to your pot
  2. Once melted, add 1/4 teaspoon of Cumin seeds & Coriander seeds. Allow to toast.
  3. Add Ginger, garlic and onion to the spices & toast. (Garlic & Onion is optional).
  4. Add 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric powder & stir.
  5. Add 2 cups of soaked & rinsed whole moong beans.
  6. Add 1 cup of rice.
  7. Stir & toast in the spices for a few minutes to lighten the lentils & rice for improved digestion.
  8. Place your chopped pumpkin and green beans in the pot.
  9. Add 8 cups of boiling water & stir. Allow to gently boil.
  10. Add a pinch of Himalayan salt and a few cracks of black pepper.
  11. Continue to stir regularly – adding your juicy love! :) Cook for approx 20-30 minutes on a medium heat.
  12. When Rice & Moong become creamy, turn off the heat and serve with an extra spoon of ghee or coconut oil on top, 1/2 an avocado sliced and salted and a fresh garnish of parsley or coriander!

Voila!

A super delicious nourishing vegetarian and vegan (minus the ghee!) complete protein dish! Yum! This is such an easy meal to make during the week when it’s hard to come up with creative ideas for the family and you want something fast, nourishing AND delicious! :)

Bon appetite! :)

x Lorien

Wholesome Spring Ayurvedic ‘Green + Gold Soup’ Recipe!

wlg_vegie_souplay

The chill of winter is starting to fade as the sun begins to rise a little earlier each morning; set a little later each evening and transition back to summer.

Spring is the beautiful in-between season that allows us to slowly say goodbye to winters woolly-weeks and hello to the sprouting fresh blossoms of spring.

In Ayurvedic medicine spring is a very important time of the year for paying attention to the body and practicing mindfulness towards our food and daily activities. With the start of warmer weather, our bodies know that it is time to ‘lighten-up’, cleanse, purify and clear the decks of one season to make room for the next. We go from hibernation mode to being engaged and more easily outward in the world.

In summary: having the awareness and capacity for being able to adapt to the changing environment around you is key factor in maintaining a balances, healthy strong body and mind.

Health is a state of inner-balance!

One of the best ‘foodie’ ways to specifically nourish, balance and gently cleanse your body during Spring is to eat warm, light, easy to digest foods such as Soup!

In the spirit of spring I have prepared a special soup recipe for you to get you on your soupy way!

Stay in tune with your body, spring-clean, dance in the sun and eat soup!

wholesomespringsoup_lorienwaldronrecipes_web

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • spices: 1 tsp of each; cumin, coriander & ¼ tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger finely chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh turmeric finely chopped & ½ tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1 leak chopped
  • 1 zucchini chopped into small pieces
  • 1 small head of broccoli chopped into pieces
  • 1 stick of celery chopped small
  • 1 cup of pumpkin chopped into cubes
  • 1 cup of green beans chopped small
  • 1 handful of chopped fresh coriander
  • 4 cups of boiling water
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
  •  ¼ tsp black pepper

Creating your soup:

  1. Place a spoon of ghee into your pot on a medium heat and stir in cumin, coriander and fennel seeds.
  2. Stir in fresh ginger, turmeric, turmeric powder and chopped leek; toasting for 2-3 minutes to coat your ingredients in the ghee and spices.
  3. Add your vegetables: zucchini, celery, pumpkin, green beans, broccoli and stir them into the spices.
  4. Add 4 cups of boiling water, sea salt, black pepper and fresh coriander.
  5. Place the lid on and let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes or until your vegies are soft and cooked.
  6. Serve in your favourite bowl with a garnish of fresh coriander and a few extra cracks of pepper & sea salt to taste.

I hope you enjoy this delicious simple soupy recipe as much as I enjoyed shopping for these seasonal fresh organic ingredients and making it!

Wishing you and your family a beautiful spring!

Wholesome Love & Yumminess!

x Lorien