Author: Kitchenwitch

Grounding Root Veg with Mint, Orange and Za’atar

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If you haven’t heard of za’atar before, fear not – it is not an exclusive fruit, vegetable, grain or seed that is super expensive and hard to find. It’s a spice blend, which you can make yourself very easily! It has a nutty texture and a sweet yet sour lemony taste. This is actually one of the simplest recipes I have posted on this blog, and the prep is simply some peeling, chopping and sprinkling and then bam – the oven does the rest of the work. It’s the type of meal you can make lots of and keep for a few days and doesn’t require much brain nor body, yet it’s incredibly healing. I’ve made this dinner to be a grounding, nurturing, comforting yang meal, with uplifting herbs and spices to bring balance. As potatoes are a complex carbohydrate, they are incredibly calming – they bring that full, warm, comforted feeling. Beetroot is full of iron, which will help prevent that exhausted, achy, weak fatigue. Carrots are full of anti-oxidant vitamin A which will keep …

Homemade Inner Sunshine Herbal Tea

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When everything is looking bleak, reach for the inner sunshine tea. Last Christmas I made a huge batch of a lavender version of this homemade tea and handed out little 50g packets of it as gifts.  It’s lovely to give the gift of sunshine. This tea really does give you that content, nurtured, warm feeling in your heart. As I mentioned above this tea was originally made with Damiana, Lemon Balm and Lavender. Since then I’ve decided to swap lavender for chamomile as not only do I believe they harmonise much better together, I sometimes find lavender extremely heady and when life is a struggle, you need to move the energy from the head into the heart. I feel that the mixture of lemon balm, chamomile, damiana, cardomom and goji berry does just that. You may know chamomile as the before bed tea – this is because of it’s amazing powers of relaxation. For me, it’s not so much of a sleep inducing herb, but more of an overall tension reducer. Chamomile is also effective for …

Mushroom, Clove and Black Bean Healing Chili

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I made this for my lovely partner Matt when he was suffering from a bout of what he was calling “pathetic – itus”. You know  after you exert yourself in ALL OF THE WAYS, and then suddenly have time to relax, and in that time you fall ill? I think he was fully deserving of the time and space to go through the inevitable bout of pathetic-itus, as he had just finished a Masters degree WHILST being my rock in a long-distance relationship whilst I am grieving (if that isn’t one-in-a-million, I’m not sure what is). I put in here what I know to be extremely healing for your body when you’re not quite at your peak: anti-fungal garlic, anti-oxidant rich mushrooms, stimulating cayenne, anti-microbial cloves and anti-bacterial red onion. ALL of the anti’s, in one hearty, delicious dish, with black beans and rice. Mmmm. Garlic really is incredible. It’s a ‘diaphoretic’, which means it increases perspiration. When infections like colds and flu (or pathetic-itus) rise in the body, diaphoretics are invaluable as they promote the eliminations …

Lemon Balm & Blueberry Porridge for a Merry Heart

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So I have been experimenting with using my anti-anxiety holy trinity (passionflower, lemon balm, wood betony) outside of my regular tincture and herbal tea. This harmonising porridge bowl is one of the results of this ongoing experiment – and what a wonderful way to start the day it is. In traditional herbalism, lemon balm is used to induce a ‘merry heart’. How lovely is that? It has been used for centuries for it’s medicinal properties. It melts away your stress, irritation, calms those frazzled nerves and takes the edge off of your anxiety completely. Additionally, it’s an anti-inflammatory; it will provide relief from digestive issues and period pains. What better way than to have it in the morning with your breakfast, and set yourself up for a good day? You can grow your own lemon balm, or purchase the dried leaves. I buy my dried leaves from Indigo Herbs or Neals Yard Remedies. Once you have purchased the dried herbs you can use them to make tea or sprinkle in your soups, stews, salads, smoothies… …

Eat Rainbows – Cooling Yin Bounty Bowl

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After I eat one of these bowls I feel high! The mixture of the stone fruit in with the spicy red onion, creamy avocado, cooling cucumber and spicy dukkah mixed carrot.. good lord. This isn’t your average salad bowl. The mix of the spices, tastes and textures are heavenly. Nope, no soggy tomato or lettuce here. This is a taste sensation. Also, you’ll be tucking into a bowl that has all of the colours of the rainbow. It’s one thing knowing that the food you have just prepared is going to do you some good – the other is feeling good as you eat it. I feel that this is exclusive to wholefoods as I never to experience it with fast food. I think you know that too! This is a cooling bowl, made in appreciation of yin energy. I am entirely new to even taking a step to understand the wisdom of yin and yang, but as I grasp it, yin and yang are relative terms and not absolutes. Interpreted, yin means ‘shady’ and yang …

Holistic Hot Chocolate

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This is my go-to. I have made this hundreds of times, especially during my grief journey. It is calming, composing, warming and like a kiss on the forehead after a hard day. It’s truely lovely. Chocolatey, rich, slightly spicy, stimulating and nurturing, you won’t reach for a different hot chocolate ever again. This contains cacao, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, a small kiss of cardamom, black pepper, warming fresh ginger, a teeny bit of salt and a pinch of nutmeg.  It will really reduce that tension headache, lift you out of your numbness and give you an inner hug. Let me tell you about how this is fantastic for you – The active compound in turmeric, curcumin, has a huge range of medicinal benefits including being an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-oxidant. As well as this, curcumin is being looked into for alleviating the symptoms of mood disorders. Scientists say that curcumin may provide benefits for mental health disorders by regulating dopamine and serotonin production in the brain (for those of you who don’t know, those are …

Take a Cold Shower

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Okay, I know – you probably think I have lost it. You possibly associate cold showers as the sort of thing that happens when your bloody housemate decides to flush the toilet when you’re enjoying a luxurious hot shower. In fact,  having a hangover-curing hot shower and having someone repeatedly turn on a tap somewhere else in the house is enough to reduce Dwayne Johnson to tears. The first time I willingly gave cold showers a go I went about it the wrong way and it was complete overkill. I turned the water to freezing before I got in, got in the shower, danced around, screaming and hyperventilating from the cold. I got such a rush of endorphins and mixed with hyperventilation I pretty much nearly passed out. I quickly turned it off, clutched the side of the bath and then stood looking out the window with the towel around me, shivering and feeling absolutely euphoric. And that, folks, is how NOT to take a cold shower. Here is my tried and tested how to: Turn …

Dukkah Massaged Raw Mango Salsa Wraps

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You may not have heard of Dukkah before, and the word may scare you into thinking ‘oh my lord this recipe looks lovely but it’s impossible because what on earth is dukkah aaah’. That was my thought process when I first saw a recipe for potato chips with dukkah. I could do potato chips, but WHAT ON EARTH IS DUKKAH.? Fear not, avid readers, soon you will be so clued up on the tasty world of dukkah you won’t remember your life without it. Dukkah is an Egyptian condiment which is generally a mix of toasted nuts, spices and herbs. It tastes incredible; an earthy, toasty, warm, spicy, aromatic mixture. I like to dip pitta bread in hummus then dukkah. You can add it to your sauces, salads, have it on toast or with your baked potatoes. As it’s made with nuts it’s full of essential minerals and omega 3. I love to use toasted hazelnuts as I love the hearty and slightly-reminiscent-of-chocolate taste. I make my own dukkah, and I will provide the recipe …

‘All-Out’ Pink Power Pancakes

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Yep, I am not kidding. PINK PANCAKES! This is a gorgeously tasting mixture of  beetroot, creamy banana, nutty buckwheat with a kick of ginger and nutmeg. Did I mention this recipe comes with a sugar-free chocolate sauce, too? Oh, stop it. How do you feel after eating beetroot? If you haven’t yet asked yourself that question, I would suggest you do. Eating an abundance of beetroot, whether it’s in a soup, in my pancakes (!), or in a salad gives me increased energy, clarity and a clearer head. This is probably due to the fact that beetroots are a great source of vitamin C, widely known as a combatant against the common British snuffly nose. Vitamin C is uplifting and energizing. It’s a powerful antioxidant and it is also involved in the production of collagen – maintaining healthy cell reproduction. This is why you see so many anti-aging creams with vitamin C in it! You’ll notice that the healthier you eat, the more your skin will behave itself. Rich in iron, beetroots will be beneficial for …

Baked Sweet Potato with Curried Chickpeas, Greens and Hummus

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I made this for my gorgeous partner Matt before he went off to do an overnight swimming race (3x 30 minutes of swimming from 8.00PM until 6.00AM the next day! Where does he get the motivation?!). This is a lovely, filling, satisfying dinner with lots of calming complex carbohydrates, filling and sustaining fibre and lots of protein. The sweet potato is decadent and creamy and the curried chickpeas have the kick of ginger, cayenne and turmeric and a small kiss of cardamom. Hummus is a given as it goes well with anything, and once you mix in the tangy, crunchy mixed leaves, you’ve got an all round winner. Also, it’s really simple: bung the sweet potato into the oven for 45 minutes, saute the chickpeas in the spices and then throw them onto your plate along with the salad and hummus and boom. Demolish. Does anyone else get “food happies”? After particular food, I literally feel euphoric! I know I am hyper sensitive, but I’m pretty sure others get it too. Not from overstuffing yourself, …