Roasted vegetable medley with Moroccan cauliflower rice

Roasted vegetable medley with Moroccan cauliflower rice – Recipe

By Jo Harding, of Paleo Crust

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS

• 530g mixed purple, yellow or Romanesco cauliflower
• 2 small red onions
• 300g baby carrots
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• Pinch of Pink Himalayan salt

Cauliflower rice 

• 1 large white cauliflower
• 1 leek
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon of ginger
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Pinch of Pink Himalayan salt
• Pinch of coarse black pepper
• Zest of 1 lemon

To serve

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley

30g of almonds

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200C (fan assisted)

Peel the carrots and red onion and remove the leaves and stalk from the coloured cauliflowers. Chop into chunks and place on a baking tray. Toss with 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil and a pinch of salt. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile prepare the Moroccan cauliflower rice. Remove the stalk and leaves from the cauliflower. Chop into chunks and blitz in a food processor (using the S blade) until it resembles a rice consistency. Steam on the hob for 5 minutes or place in a bowl and heat in the microwave on medium/ high for 6-8 minutes until soft. Allow to cool slightly and tip into a muslin cloth or thin tea towel and squeeze out the excess water.

In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Remove the skin from the garlic. Finely dice the leek and garlic. Add to the hot coconut oil and cook for 1 minute until translucent. Stir in the spices and then add the cauliflower rice. Fluff with a fork, add the lemon zest and season to taste.

Transfer the cauliflower rice to a serving plate and top with the roasted vegetables, chopped fresh parsley and almonds

Love food. Love life.

Food is a powerful medicine. I passionately believe that once you find the right foods that work for your body, you can regain your health through the healing power of food.

Food has always been such a massive part of my life but when I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, an autoimmune disease, I became very confused over what I could and couldn’t eat. I just knew certain foods made my pain worse.

The difficulty is, Ankylosing Spondylitis can take decades to progress to the advanced stages that would show on an MRI and so many sufferers live for years in chronic pain without a diagnosis or a plan to heal. I was 26. For the next 6 years, I was pushed from one consultant to another, pumped full of immuno-suppresents, all of which came with horrendous side effects. Little miss ‘Happy Go Lucky’ turned into little miss introvert. Lying dow to sleep became almost impossible. My health spiralled to an all time low – IBS, leaky gut, Interstitial Cystitis…

The day of change

Christmas Day 2012. A day of celebration for most, a day of change for me. I made the decision there and then to take matters into my own hands. No more masking the pain, time to find the root cause.

I hold the onset of my autoimmune condition to antibiotics, an 18 months course I took for an infection.  If only I knew then what I know now about the damage a long course like that can cause to gut health. The balance of good/ bad bacteria in my gut was way off. I started to scour the internet for any correlation between gut health and autoimmune disease. That’s when I changed my diet, discovered Paleo and more recently my tailored low starch approach.

As I read and quizzed doctors about Ankylosing Spondylitis, I gained a wealth of knowledge about its link to a bacteria in the gut called Klebsiella, which feeds off starch. By removing the starchier ingredients from my diet like grains (along with sugar and dairy) there became less for the bacteria to feed on.

Four years on, I’d surprised the doctors and I continue to heal my body today. I never thought relief from that pain could be managed by diet. Removing grains, sugar and dairy allowed me to regain control from my illness and live life again. One I know cherish and am so grateful for every day. It’s about finding the right way of eating for you and making foods from scratch with wholesome, unprocessed ingredients.

New beginnings

Eating healthily is so important to me now and whilst there are so many amazing foods you can enjoy on the Paleo diet, there were certain ‘crust’ filled comfort foods I missed – pies, pizzas, breads, cakes; all the things traditionally made with grains. I wanted to make healthy alternatives using a whole host of fresh ingredients, plus loads of delicious sides, nutritious salads and raw dips to go alongside. Plus lots of vegan and vegetarian recipes too.

I passionately believe that the root to good health is a happy, healthy gut so even if you don’t have an autoimmune condition, my recipes are a great addition to help nourish your body and restore energy.

Thank you

A huge thank you to Amu at Ishara Organic for allowing me to guest post and share my experience today. Coconut oil has played a big part in my healing, thanks to its anti fungal qualities. I hope my journey helps inspire you to eat healthier and have fun in the kitchen.

For more recipes and advice on living with autoimmunity, please pop over to Paleo Crust and say hello. I’d really love to hear from you. Jo x

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