brown rice pudding

I've always really liked rice pudding and the South Asian version, 'kheer' but I've always found it a little too sweet to take more than one serving. I decided to search online for a less sugary alternative and came up with a few versions, but unfortunately they didn't turn out very well so I had a go at making my own recipe. The process itself is super easy, but it does take a slightly long time, so I'd keep about five hours to cook this in total. This type of recipe might not be to everyone's taste, but it didn't sit in the pot for too long in my house!

SERVES 8 - 10

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup washed brown rice (I used brown basmati rice for my version)
1 litre unsweetened soya milk
1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup for a more toffee-like flavour)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sultanas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cardamom extract (optional)

METHOD

Start by soaking the rice for about 2 hours to soften them. Then, once they have been soaked, drain the water and pour into a large saucepan. Add half of the milk, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla extract, and salt and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally to ensure the pudding does not stick to the bottom of the pan. When the mixture becomes thick and the liquid has lessened add the remaining milk.

After one hour add the sultanas and simmer for a further one hour, add one or two gl asses of boiled water as the mixture will start to become very thick. The rice will take approx two hours to cook. If you want the pudding to be really creamy, continue to cook for another hour with the lid on top, and again, add some more water - don't worry at any stage about the amount of water you have added, the beauty of cooking pudding with brown rice is that it will soon become thick again!

Can be served warm or cold.

* Brown rice is a good source of fibre and manganese

banana loaf

I made this to take to a friend's house as a post-lunch treat... and a treat it was!

SERVES 10

INGREDIENTS

2 ripe bananas

2 medium eggs

1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup for a more toffee-like flavour)

1/2 cup soya milk (or normal semi-skimmed milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil (or 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter)

1 cup wholemeal plain flour

1 cup plain flour

2 tablespoons toasted wheatgerm (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup sultanas / dried apricots

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees c.

Peel and mash the bananas with a fork to a pulp. Then add the eggs, honey, milk, vanilla extract and oil and whisk until they come together. The mixture will be runny.

In a separate bowl mix together the flours, toasted wheatgerm, salt, soda, and baking powder. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the sultanas.

Pour the mixture into a loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts. Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the loaf to cool in the tin before removing it. Slice, and serve with ice cream or warm custard.

* Wheatgerm is an excellent source of Vitamin E and B vitamins (Folic acid in particular), Magnesium, Calcium and Phosphorous

* Walnuts have a substantial amount of Omega 3 fatty acids

water is not organic

Yes, it's true. Water is not organic, and you read it here first. Well, not exactly... I first heard about Organic Water being sold in the US by a company called 'O' which many of you may have heard of. The company branded the new drink as a healthier alternative to drinking plain and simple tap water, declaring it free from pesticides, antibodies and growth hormones. The company claimed no genetic modification took place to create the new water. But hang on a second, how can water even be organic? Well the truth is it can't, not really. Water is one of those substances that cannot claim to be organic. Water claiming to be 'organic' is only organic in the sense that it has been sourced from organic land, or soil. There is nothing in it that makes it any different to the water coming out from your tap. And that's it I'm afraid!

Assume however, that all of the recipes I share here contain organic ingredients, unless they are unavailable... such as water I mean ;P