Food confusion and an awesome Dip recipe

Ja... so much for regular blogging.

I guess I spent the last couple of months in eating and blogging confusion. My stomach is still giving me major hassles so I tried to avoid all ingredients which might make the symptoms worse. As a result I was left with a restricted collection of ingredients making it difficult for me to come up with yummy recipes. This made it very difficult for me to stick to the "allowed" food groups and I ended up cheating again and again and again. 

But hey if you fall down you need to get up again. Resilience is an important component to success in life. So in order to help my stomach to calm down I will avoid any kind of grains, sugar and dairy for the next 30 days. Regular updates on my progress will be given here.

What I can say for Day 1 so far: After a week of dining out my body is paying me back with severe cramps and pains. I am planning on an easy lazy Sunday. Not so lazy though that I am slacking in the workout department. It's not even 9 am yet and I already finished a 5 km run. Funny enough I realized over the last months that exercising in the morning helps me to make better food choices during the day. It's almost like it helps me to switch on the internal "health button". I have not entirely decided yet on what to cook today but might try my hand on the carb-free bread recipe from the new Tim Noakes book and a home-made version of mayonnaise with healthy fats. I let you know some time next week on the results.

In the meantime a few words and a picture of last Sunday's meal (unfortunately including ingredients I should avoid):

Auberging and Feta Dip (top left), Barley Risotto with Feta (top right), Ricotta Gnocci (bottom right) and Courgette and Nectarine Salad (bottom left)

The inspiration for 3 of the dishes comes from Any Fenner's book Taking it Easy. It's a lovely book featuring recipes and meal suggestions from 20 South African Chefs easy to make at home. 

I tried the Ricotta Gnocci with Gorgonzola Sauce, Grilled Courgette and Nectarine Salad and Roasted Aubergine and Feta Dip. Everything turned out lovely. I made some adjustments to the original recipes taking into account the ingredients I had available. The meal was complemented by the Barley Risotto with Feta inspired by the recipe in Ottolenghi's book Jerusalem. 

Roasted Aubergine and Feta Dip

Ingredients:

2 Aubergines

125g Feta Cheese, broken into small pieces 

50g roasted Almonds with the skin

2 tablespoons Tahini

4 tablespoons Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and roast the aubergines until the skins are burned and the aubergines are soft inside. This should take around 30 minutes.

2. Let the aubergines cool down until cook enough to handle and scoop the flesh into the bowl of your food processor.

3. Add the other ingredients listed and whizz the dip with the food processor until the desired consistency is reached.