I have become a big fan of Deliciously Ella! I have always followed her blog and tried out a few of her recipes but recently I have become a little obsessed with her style of cooking. Her gluten free, dairy free and vegan recipes have resulted in two bestselling cookbooks and she is featured in various magazines and sites with an array of recipes suited to all tastes. I personally could not live by a complete vegan, dairy and gluten free diet. Put a good quality steak cooked black and blue in front of me and my mouth drools, send to me to my local gastropub Salt n Bone and I find it hard to order anything but the slow cooked ribs glazed in coke and maple syrup and try and keep me away from some baked camembert on a cold winter night – but I do think that we all should be paying more attention to a diet similar to that of Deliciously Ella.
I am lucky enough not to have a dairy or gluten intolerence so I don’t need to restrict that completely from my diet. I do however believe that we are eating too much processed food and not finding the right balance. With so many ‘hidden’ sugars or salts in our foods we are now a generation unsure of exaclty what we are eating and this is why I have always supported the likes of Gizzi Erskine, Helmsley & Helmsley and Jamie Oliver in promoting healthy eating. It is not necessary to eat a complete raw food, plant based diet but a few small changes can make a huge difference to our diet. I started this by restricting the amount of meat I eat. Meat doesn’t need to be a part of every meal and I like Gizzi’s approach to eat meat less often but when you do, to buy the highest quality that is affordable.
I initially started paying more attention to Deliciously Ella for her sweet recipes after a few people have told me how delicious and tasty they are. I like sweet things but often struggle with sugar and end up with headaches or feeling really tired. So I made her oat bars that are sweetened with banana and a little honey. Not only were they tasty and felt quite indulgent due to how soft, sticky and rich they were but I was also able to enjoy them without feeling sick and dizzy! I then began to do some more research and came across Madeleine Shaw. I am a fan of Madeleine’s recipes in the Sunday Times Magazine but had not really followed her in much detail. Not only is she making well balanced main meals and lunches but she is cutting out sugar and bad fats from her sweet treats. It was during this research that I came across this recipe. A creamy mushroom pasta but without the heavy, rich cream! I use almond milk and cashews for the cream sauce and brown rice pasta. If you are not gluten intolerent and just want to eat standard pasta then this recipe is still perfect. It is all about balance but still looking at how we can cut down and create a good way of eating that we all stick to.
- 150g brown rice pasta (I use penne)
- 1 packet mushrooms (I use button mushrooms but whatever you can get your hands on will do)
- 70ml almond milk
- 3 cloves garlic (peeled and crushed)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 50g cashews
- 2 red chillis (finely sliced)
- Small bunch parsley (finely chopped)
- Olive oil
- Salt/ pepper
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
- While the pasta is cooking heat a dash of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, chilli mushrooms and cashews.
- After a few minutes once the cashews and mushrooms are slightly soft add half of the mixture to a blender (leaving the other half gently cooking in the pan). Add the almond milk and lemon juice to the blender and mix until smooth. Add to the pan with the rest of the mushrooms.
- Drain the pasta and add to the mushrooms and creamy sauce. Season with the pepper, salt and then add the fresh parsley. Mix everything together and serve!
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