The Kitchen that was!

This will be my new office in a few weeks, currently the store room come kitchen!

This is were it all used to be housed, well that and 12 other cabinets!!

If you read my Reiki life blog Gifted hand , you may have realised I have no kitchen right now, so cooking and eating great food has been a challenge. As from yesterday we are down to only a microwave! Its so cold right now its hard to exist only on salads and sandwiches. We've been trying our hardest not to eat continuous takeaways, as in my mind I'm thinking 6weeks of that ain't so good for you! Think Super Size Me!

Preparing food in cramped conditions being the challenge it is we thought the next best thing was lots of cheese platters, cold meats and quince. I tried Manchego this week and found it to be quite moreish , it has a particularly tangy, scrape roof off mouth pungent taste which I love in cheese and was even better had with a lovely bit of sweet grainy quince or in Spain Cano's Membrillo.

I was talking with a close relative today about diabetes, as Id had a message in my development class this week from someone, that a family member was possible enjoying the good stuff a little too much and it was affecting their sugar levels, (and yep I was able to corroborate who that was today) ! Ive been reading, through a contact on twitter known as RawHealer , from links on her feed, that there's much interest right now in the raw diet being great for diabetics and reducing the need for medication . I know my relative is on medication right now and I suppose would rather not be,but as yet is not yet sold on the raw diet idea. We started talking about the kitchen and preparation in this dirt bowl of a home! We got into how I'm really interested in eating more raw foods myself and making it a regular part of my weekly diet. Despite her reluctance to go the whole hog, (a bit like myself), was willing, if prepared for her, (and I'm loathe to push anything on anyone unsolicited, more a gentle nudging influence!) , to sample a great raw foods meal, when my kitchen is done of course!

So on that tip I was inspired today, having planned a duvet day sans kiddlies, to make a salad in the style of the raw movement (Not fully fledged as I just am not ready to not eat meat, I like it too much). Id already bought these ingredients this week in preparation but hadn't yet thought what to do :

Turnip
box of seeded pomegranate
1/2 bag pea shoots
1/2 avocado
1/2 papaya
1 pre cooked chicken breast (yes I know I cheated a tad and it sorta isnt the raw foods point. I also kinda cancel the healthy as many supermarkets cook in sugar, but hey just look at were I'm doing this above! You also can’t put a good carnivore down!)
juice of a lime
soft lettuce

It wasn't the most elegantly prepared dish, but it was delicious and fresh: In a large bowl, shred the soft lettuce, add the pea shoots, grate the turnip straight into the bowl, spoon in scoops of avocado , do the same with the papaya, tear up the cooked chicken, throw in half the pomegranate. Pour over a drizzle of olive oil, squeeze all the lime, a dash of agave and a few turns of some sea salt and ready to scoff!




If I'd had more time , I would have looked into a more flavoursome dressing , but this turned out to compliment the combination of ingredients quite well as a quick solution.

I'm really looking forward to doing some more research into the raw textures and flavours I can mix up together , chopping away in my new kitchen for everyone. Ive been waiting for our re -build to be done to find some more books on the subject, (I do have a thang about Chad sarno food though) and add to our ever growing collection. This shall make for a good start to our new environment at home and welcome in the spring.

So any rawists out there, what could have dressed my salad today to give it a more intense layered flavour, I'd love to know your ideas!?