I Quit Sugar for Life (29 page)
Read I Quit Sugar for Life Online
Authors: Sarah Wilson
3. CAULIFLOWER ‘FRIED RICE’
SERVES
If I weren’t flagging it right here, I bet you wouldn’t notice this recipe is rice-free. I’m not averse to rice, I’m simply
very pro adding as many extra vegetables to your day as possible.
1 small cauliflower
1½ tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 cup (150 g) frozen peas
6 spring onions, sliced
300 g cooked prawns, shelled
tamari or soy sauce, to taste
sea salt
Grate the cauliflower on the larger side of a cheese grater, or pulse in a food processor until it’s rice-sized (but not pulverised). Wrap the riced cauliflower in a
couple of paper towels and squeeze it to remove any excess moisture.
Heat ½ tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then cook the eggs as a flat omelette. Remove from the pan and slice into strips using a knife or a pair
of scissors and set aside. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan over medium heat and sauté the garlic. Add the carrot and peas and a splash of water to prevent sticking, and cook for 5
minutes. Add the spring onions, riced cauliflower and prawns, along with a generous splash of tamari or soy sauce and salt, to taste. Stir to combine and cook for a further 3–5 minutes.
SOLO COOKERS:
Make the full quantity of cauliflower ‘fried rice’ and freeze three-quarters of it. Then adjust the
remaining ingredients for 1 or 2 serves.
VEGAN:
Use crumbled tofu instead of egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds or other seeds and/or nuts for extra protein.
BUYING PRAWNS:
Ensure you buy local prawns only – those from Asian farms are a sustainability nightmare. Frozen or cooked
prawns are fine to use, but if you plan on freezing some in bulk, buy only fresh, unfrozen ones (fish should only be frozen once).
SERVES
A spring roll with a baked-not-fried healthsome slant, these takeaway classics are a great way to use up leftover chicken and pumpkin. Perfect for
kids’ parties and sleepovers, too.
2 cups (300 g) finely shredded cooked chicken (use leftovers from Crispy Roast Chook, see
here
)
1 cup (75 g) finely shredded lettuce
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ cup (125 ml) Pumpkin Purée (see
here
)
handful of mint leaves
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
12 × 18-cm spring roll wrappers
olive oil, for greasing
vegetable sticks (carrots and celery – cut into batons – and mangetout), to serve
Satay Sauce or Deceptively Sweet Chilli Sauce (see
here
), for dipping
Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas 4) and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place all the ingredients except the spring roll wrappers, oil and dipping sauce in a bowl and
mix well to combine. Working with 1 sheet at a time, place about 4 tablespoons of filling on the bottom third of each wrapper. Fold over the sides, then, working from the bottom end, roll up the
wrapper and stuffing to form a lovely snug log. Place on the prepared tray and brush lightly with the olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes, turning halfway, or until the rolls are golden Serve with
vegetable sticks and the dipping sauce.
GLUTEN-FREE:
Use rice paper rounds instead to make a ‘raw version. Soften rounds by soaking for about 1 minute each in a
shallow dish filled with lukewarm water. Remove from dish and lay flat on a clean tea towel and follow the instructions as above, skipping the baking step.
Look out for this stamp if you are after sweet' Thai alternatives.
1. SLOW-COOKED BARBECUE PORK
SERVES
Traditionally this dish is made using a lot of sugar and smoke. I developed this recipe to get around such impasses (most of us don’t
have a smokehouse in our backyards, right?). I rub the pork in fennel and salt instead of sugar and use ‘smoked’ sweet paprika to get the fumin’ taste. It’s best to start
making this the night before. Oh, and I make it to serve 6 so that families can also use the leftovers for sandwiches or wraps the next day, or to make the Banh Mi and tacos (see
here
].
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1½ teaspoons black peppercorns
3 teaspoons sea salt
3 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika (plain sweet paprika is fine, too)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground allspice or cinnamon
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1–1.5 kg piece pork neck or pork shoulder (preferably bone in)
2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
2 bay leaves
½ cup (125 ml) red wine or stock
1/3 cup (75 ml) apple cider vinegar
¼ × 440 g can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, with some of the liquid
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rice malt syrup
Beetroot and Apple Relish (see
here
), steamed greens (see
here
) and Cauliflower Cream (see
here
),
to serve
Grind the fennel seeds and peppercorns using a mortar and pestle (or in a blender). Add the salt, paprika, cumin, allspice or cinnamon and chilli powder, and mix well. Rub the
spice mixture over the pork, rubbing well into the fatty bits. Really get your fingers into the meat, massaging it all over. Leave covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours (for a stronger flavour
I reckon you could leave it overnight).
Once you’ve ‘cured’ the meat, rub the oil into it and sear in a hot frying pan until brown all over (I don’t usually brown my meat first when
slow-cooking, but here it adds to the barbecue effect). Whack in an electric slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 5 hours.
Take out the pork, place it in a dish and use a fork to ‘pull the meat’ into shreds. Put the shreds back into the slow cooker with the sauce and cook for another 20
minutes, uncovered, on high.
Serve 4 portions with the relish, greens and Cauliflower Cream.
SOLO COOKERS + FOURSOME FAMILIES:
This will make 6 portions. Freeze any remaining meat in ½ cup (125 ml) portions in
zip-lock bags and use to make the ‘Pork Banh Mi’ or taco recipes on the following page.
NOTE:
The traditional cut for pork is the shoulder, which can be very large and won’t fit into a standard (4.5-litre]
electric slow cooker. Ask your butcher to cut off the bone-in end or use the neck (often called scotch or ‘butt’ in America). It’s more expensive, but smaller.
