Burns Night surprise!

"What's for dinner tonight?", I queried as I hung up my jacket after coming home.

"It's a surprise", she said, closing the kitchen door quickly.

I'm intrigued.  Hmm, let's piece together the clues. Burns Night, check. Surprise, check.  Could we be having a haggis dinner Japanese style?

No.  Smoked oysters, smoked mussels, wasabi (big dollop), sushi rice with umeboshi on top and a large bowl of wakame and spring greens in a miso broth (not pictured).  Now I did not think of that!

It's been a while since we had either oysters or mussels so having both at the same time was a rare treat.  They are very similar in taste though but their densities differ quite a bit, with the oysters not being quite as firm as the mussels. The wasabi and lemon slice were meant to be decorative but I ate some of it with the seafood and mixed some of the rest in with my rice and the remainder in the miso broth.  I'm sure there are a few Japanese whose toes are curling at the thought.

Tuna soup

Ah, one of my favourites, especially on a cold night after a long day at work.  Left the house at 05:30 this morning and only got back at 19:35.  Surprisingly not overly tired (yet) and the soup and rice perked me up even more.

This is an easy one to make.  There's about 2/3 of a white cabbage, a couple of red onions and two cans of tuna added to enough water to cook the cabbage in, some pepper to season and that's it.  We don't add any salt as the tuna provides more than enough but if you find you need more then do so.

Served with a bowl of short grain sushi rice so there is no chance of you feeling hungry afterwards.

No miso or wakame added.  We've been eating this for 8 years or more but the rice is a recent addition and it fits in nicely with our hashi diet.

Fish ball soup

No, not what you were thinking, naughty naughty.  Very tasty soup in a large bowl with udon noodles, wakame, miso and sliced fish balls.  The fish balls have a meaty texture and come in a sausage which we thickly slice and then halve.  The udon is cut into pieces that are manageable on a spoon.

The wakame is added dried and takes about 5 minutes of cooking time to swell up so is one of the last ingredients to be added.  The noodles are fresh so don't take long at all and we added some tamari to the mixture for an extra flavour.

Quite a filling lunch.

Karaage chicken

Our version of karaage chicken tonight, we don't deep fry but instead pan fry in coconut oil as it has many health benefits and leaves a nice aroma in the kitchen.  Very similar to yesterday's meal but probably more palatable for fussy eaters (of which I do not number myself).

The chicken is coated in dry ingredients which are mixed together first: potato starch, ginger, pepper, salt (not a lot), sesame and turmeric (hence the lovely yellow colour).

We like it "just" cooked so the chicken is still nice and juicy, so it's a very quick dish to prepare.  The potato salad, salad leaves and sunblush were all shop bought so just needed served (yes we did wash the salad leaves first) straight from the container.

Sadly no sushi rice.  I love the taste but it just wouldn't go with this.  The potato salad made up for it though, creamy and with chives.  Thought that would be difficult to eat with hashi but both of us managed without any difficulties.

What delights will tomorrow's dinner bring?

Been a while

Something we used to eat quite a lot of and for some reason stopped is liver.  Tonight saw a return of my old favourite, although with a difference.

The liver was cut into bite sized chunks and coated with the same mixture that we use for karaage chicken (potato starch, ginger, pepper and salt) and then pan fried.  Not quite the way to make karaage chicken I know but it's a wee bit healthier and tastes almost the same.  Served with potato salad, sunblush tomatoes, watercress and baby spinach.  Delicious.

The liver was still lovely and pink and melted in the mouth, just the way I like it.

Love the plate too.  Forces you to eat well with your hashi.

Rock Pool soup

Tonight was salmon night, poached of course, accompanied by a bowl of sushi rice with umeboshi on the top.  The big surprise was the bowl of Rock Pool soup!  Well that's what I'm calling it anyway as it looked like a small rock pool.  It's actually a miso soup with wakame (a type of seaweed) and mushroom.  Maybe I should say wakame with mushroom and miso as it was mostly wakame!  No picture this time but next time we have it I'll post one up.

Very tasty indeed and with added health benefits.

Japanese style dinner

Tonight's dinner was really tasty and filling too!

The salmon was steamed and served cold with preserved whole lemons which we sliced and de-seeded.  They are quite sweet and the skin is quite delicate.


The sprouting beans are about four different types but as the packet has been thrown out I'm not sure what they all are.  Bought them in Sainsburys so if you are interested take a look in the fresh fruit and veg section. 


Juliennes of carrot and celery were served with some halved pomodorinos.  They are very sweet too for a tomato.


Was expecting some sushi rice in the covered bowl when I took this photo but got a pleasant surprise when I lifted the lid and found mashed sweet potato with tamari dressing.


Loving this new eating regime!  Mmm mmm (for Chris I, I know he must have missed that over the Christmas period).

Foraging

Today we went foraging for brambles (blackberries). The banks of the Union Canal at Ratho have some brambles, mostly just out of reach, so only collected enough for a dessert. Just had an apple and bramble "crumble" the other day so these are being frozen for use later in the week as a treat. I say "crumble" because it was made without any wheat products, ground almonds, dried fruit and coconut oil taking the place of all the bad ingredients (that's bad by Primal Blueprint standards).


Probably venture out again on Saturday as the weather looks like it's going to be good over the weekend although thinking of heading somewhere else for our fruit supplies. Where have all the brambles gone? I remember there being tons of them when I was a kid but they seem to be thin on the ground these days.


Also had a wee walk around part of the Almondell and Calderwood Country Park in the vain hope that there would be some brambles there too. Good views but no fruit.

Captain Caveman reporting

Grok

Well we're a week in with this new eating regime and I must say I'm not missing all the things I used to like. No more sugary foods, wheat based products, cereals and the like.

"Doesn't leave much" you might think, but there you would be wrong.

Beef chili with sweet potato (two nights in a row, with the second being better than the first - well it's always better the second day), pork belly with mixed salad leaves (watercress is so peppery), chunky lamb chomps with green beans. Mmm mmm all so tasty you don't miss the "bad" things.

We're eating a bread/cake thingy made with mixed seeds, nuts, fresh fruit and lard (but no wheat!) for breakfast, which is remarkably filling and tasty to boot. Eaten with five or six blackberries and a couple of fresh cherries it keeps you going until lunchtime.

Lunch for me is mackerel with salad leaves and a few pomodorino (or any smallish tomato) in a nice balsamic vinegar and avocado oil dressing. Bit boring you might think, but I love mackerel so always love tucking into it.

To cap it all I've lost 2.36 Kg in a week (that's 5.2lbs in old money - come on, keep up) without trying at all. Not going to weigh myself that regularly though, once a month will do and I can give myself a bigger surprise that way. Only weighed myself because I felt I had lost something and was checking.

Time will tell but I think I'm going to enjoy this way of eating.

The Hunter/Gatherer

Started on a new eating regime this weekend, the hunter/gatherer method. I'm straying away from the word diet as most people don't use it in it's broader sense and this is a completely new way of eating. I already feel more vigorous and don't seem to be having the hunger pangs that I did, thanks to all the good food I am eating and which slowly gives me energy and keeps me feeling full.

Now you may scoff at this but it does make sense, eat the way your body is designed to and not the way your taste buds dictate. No more sugar, grains, cereals, chocolate, etc and more of the foodstuffs that we should be eating. Meat, seeds, salads, fruit, vegetables, etc are tasty in themselves and there are plenty of interesting things you can do with them.

Tonight was day 2 of a beef chili (the second day is always better!!) served with sweet potato. Delicious!!

To cap it all off I did lose 2lbs in weight without even trying and am looking forward to slowly losing more.

Having to catch up on though, apparently Mark's Daily Apple is a good place to start, so I will be checking his site out over the next week or two.