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I have been lucky enough to have learnt a lot about Ayurvedic medicine through my work.  This age-old Indian practice are strong advocators of the healing power of mung (or moong) beans, mostly for fighting cancer and detoxifying.  These green legumes are extremely filling, nutritionally packed, and easy on the digestion.  However, people often dismiss them as they find them too bland.  What they don't realise is how versatile the mung bean really is, and how using a few simple herbs can turn a dish from drab to fab!



Preparing Mung Beans
Mung beans can be used whole, split, or sprouted.
I use whole mung beans in this recipe which can be purchased from any good natural food store or Indian grocer.

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I have been craving chocolate like you cannot believe.  I have never, ever, ever been like this before as I usually crave normal things like grated carrot and walnut pancakes or quinoa and fig porridge - never chocolate.
It seems that my sweet tooth has flared since commencing seventy-hour working weeks and all I want to do is create the most decadent chocolate desserts I can.  But who says decadence has to compromise nutrition?

This mud cake, like all my recipes, are healthy variations to the traditional and is choc-full with good fats, fibre and protein.

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Muesli bars - the quick go to snack for busy mothers who want to shut their kids up, for professional athletes to get some carbs, for tradeys between mouthfuls of curses.

Construed as 'healthy', commercial muesli bars are often filled with cheap grains, flavoured with fructose and bogged with vegetable oils.  Although there are more and more varieties popping up all over the planet, some of them better than others, nothing beats the home-made variety.  This recipe is how I like my muesli bars - full of protein (from nuts), diverse, and naturally flavoured using fruits and spices. 

I made over forty of these muesli bars last week, and they have all but pretty much disappeared.  They have been useful for a quick breakfast option, packed in lunches and eaten as a snack - morning, afternoon or midnight.

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Australia Day.
A day of nation-wide relaxation, celebration, inebriation and flag-waving.
A day who most of us are completely ignorant of it's origins or purpose.
As far as my knowledge extends, all I can say is that I am almost certain that Anzac biscuits are not traditionally Australia day fare.  Instead they are reserved specifically for the Anzacs, those bloody fine men who have given us the opportunity to live within the security of this country without memoirs of wounded mates, wasted lives and Luger barrels.  How many of us take for granted our safe, sheltered, lives where our loved ones stay safe by our sides and not leave for years and return never quite the same.
NB: I have just finished watching the rather riveting American TV series 'Band of Brothers', which is why I am talking like this.  I was originally reluctant to watch it as I detest all war, but it is rather grounding, and I took away from it many lessons that I hope will never leave me.

The point of my story is that this Australia day I decided to bake off some traditional (TBC-style) Anzac biscuits in remembrance of what Australia has become rather than the anniversary of it's "invasion".

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This is a curry made completely from scratch using an assortment of aromatic spices.

Such things as herbs and spices, garlic and ginger, give dishes hearty, rich, flavours without using an overload of salt or salt-derived products (such as soy sauce, fish sauce etc etc.).  Also, by making your meals from scratch, rather than using products and sauces found on supermarket shelves, you can control what you are consuming.  A lot of people don't realise how heavily laden with salt, sugar and other crappy ingredients, these commercial products are.  They also don't realise how gosh-darn simple it is to make their own!

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This cheesecake really tapped into my bordering-on-insane creative streak.  It started off in my head as a cheesecake, as well as a chocolate cake, but then the chocolate cake kind of randomly evolved into the idea for a chocolate base.  And then there was no turning back.

I have always had the idea for an alternative filling for the traditional 'cheese'cake, but have never got around to putting it into practice.  Today, I rustled up all the ingredients, got the yoghurt separating, and tended to the fire, so there was no excuse.

This recipe does require at the very least a couple of free hours, and a touch of resourcefulness.  This recipe I am providing, although pretty damn close, is still an approximation of what I myself used.  Use this recipe, but not to exacts - if you feel it needs more of something, then bloody do it.  I always have to modify things before I am completely happy with the texture, the quantity, or the taste.  It's all about trial and error, and the only way things are going to work the first time round is to make use of those little gifts god gave to you known as intuition and taste.

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