Hope you have something restorative planned this weekend, guys? I am reading this book about emotional eating right now and the author says that our days need to be filled with tasks that both deplete our energy and restore it. The former are obligations and duties like work, looking after the kids etc. and the latter things that we enjoy doing and can immerse ourselves in, like yoga, reading, going on a bike ride, painting etc. For the sake of good mental health, your day should consist of both types of activities and although in our 24/7 world the first type usually prevails, we need to find space for the latter type on a daily basis too.
It is so common sense, but I definitely struggle to take quality (scrolling through social media doesn’t count 😉 ) ‘me time’ daily, although now that we are more settled in our new home and we have more fun activities on our doorstep, I am getting better at it. Tomorrow, I am off to my 2nd pottery workshop and I am super excited. I will finally get to see three (slightly wonky, I think) bowls I managed to produce last time so that’s really cool and I am looking forward to practising what I learnt so far. I’m really looking forward to it. I also started doing improv – I will tell you about it another time and I am planning to attend my first yoga class next week – with Duncan needing looking after this week, I’ve decided to postpone until he recovers. Speaking of which, thank you to everyone who has been enquiring about Duncan’s health. He is doing much better than even a couple of days ago and while he is still on bed rest, we both hope that he will be right as rain by next week. Today’s recipe is something I have been meaning to share with you since this time last year. It’s a vegan quiche to celebrate the end of asparagus season here in the UK and I know I am cutting it a bit fine as the end of season is literally this weekend (summer solstice marks it), but I am hoping you’ll still manage to get a bunch and try out this recipe. If you get unlucky, replace the asparagus with other seasonal veg – zucchini, sweet cherry toms, garlicky mushrooms etc. I’ve had trouble with today’s shoot, so apologies for no cross section photo but the quiche took ages to cool and by the time it was ready for cutting all the light was gone…I took on a bit much and messed up the pastry and I was getting really stressed as I knew that I would not be able to do any work tomorrow. Luckily, the weather has finally cleared up and it’s been beautifully sunny all day, so I managed to get the final shot. I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe and have a lovely weekend! x
250 g / 2 cups gluten-free flour mix (I used Dove’s Farm) ½ tsp xantham gum (only if your flour mix doesn’t contain it) 1 tsp fine sea salt 90 g / 6 tbsp mild coconut oil, , scoopable but unmelted
FILLING
2 spring onions, sliced thinly 1 garlic clove 25 g / 0.9 oz fresh basil leaves 450 g / 15.5 oz firm silken tofu (I used Clearspring) zest of 1 unwaxed lemon + 3 tbsp lemon juice, adjust to taste 3 tbsp nutritional yeast scant ½ tsp nutmeg, adjust to taste ½ tsp fine sea salt, adjust to taste ¼ tsp fine black salt / kala namak*, adjust to taste black pepper, to taste 3 tbsp chickpea flour 300 g / 10.5 oz asparagus 1 cup defrosted petit pois (optional)
