Maldivian Menu

Apologies for being AWOL. I was lucky enough to enjoy a ten day stint in the beautiful Maldives. Even luckier, I was on an all inclusive package in a beautiful resort with a fantastic chef and have returned a bigger person ... literally!

The food was AMAZING! There was so much choice with an abundance of colourful salads, fruits and vegetables. For the vegetarian the main food sources are:-

- Coconuts - grown on every island and declared the national tree. It is grated and shredded into dishes, eaten raw or turned into coconut milk to add creaminess to curries and beverages.

- Starches - yams, sweet potatoes, breadfruit and screw pine and, of course, rice.

- Curries - often containing the above ingredients as well as aubergines, pumpkins and bitter gourds as well as green bananas. The curries are served with rice and/or roshi, an unleavened flatbread.

               Snake gourd curry above and bitter gourd curry below served with rice and roshi

The influence of nearby India and Sri Lanka manifests itself in the food providing tasty, exotic flavours.

Visiting a nearby island where maldivians live, we saw banana trees, star fruit trees and local nuts left out in the sun to dry.

                                  Star fruits growing on a tree and nuts left out in the sun to dry

The main food source is fish, in particular tuna, so if you are pescatarian rather than vegetarian or vegan, the world is your oyster.

Go figure

It's the first day of Autumn in the UK and already we've been enjoying the fruits of the season. Juicy blackberries plopped amongst crisp slices of apple and baked in pies and crumbles. Succulent plums de-stoned and used in jams, chutneys and tarts. One of my favourites, and a versatile gem, is the fig. 

Coming from Turkey at this time of year, the matt dark purple skin gives way to raspberry pink seeded flesh. It's sweet jamminess, although delicious on its own, pairs well with sweet or savoury. It makes best friends with salty cheeses, bitter walnuts and sweet honey. It can be eaten straight from the skin or gently cooked.

My favourite way of eating them is to toast nuts (pistachio/almonds) in a pan. Remove and clean the pan. Squeeze honey into the pan and gently cook the figs cut side down for a few minutes until caramelised. Plate up, sprinkling the toasted nuts over the top and serve with ice cream or Greek yogurt topped with another drizzle of honey.

Whilst Adam tempted Eve with an apple, they must have had an abundance of figs judging by the clothes they wore!

Smooth Operator

A great way to get your five-a-day is to glug them down in the shape of a smoothie. First drunk in the USA in the 1930s with the invention of the blender, it gained further success in the 1960s with the hippy movement and more people turning vegetarian and vegan. The smoothie has seen a recent increase in popularity with healthy eating (and drinking) being in vogue once again.

The best way to make them is to start with your liquid base of milk (including dairy free alternatives), fruit juice or yogurt. Once inside the blender you can add your fruits/vegetables of choice and blend until you have the desired consistency. At this point have a taste and add any flavourings that may be required. You can stop there or include a bit of texture and some protein if you're on the go and this is a meal replacement.

                            Liquid (milk, inc dairy free alternatives, fruit juice or yogurt)

                                                                     +

                                          Fruit (from frozen works especially well)

                               And/Or vegetables (kale, spinach,avocado, beetroot)

                                                                     +

          Flavourings (cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, honey, maple syrup)

                                                                     +

                               Texture (oats, chia seeds, flaxseeds, chopped nuts)

                                                                     +

                                         Protein (nut butter, tofu, protein powder)

                 You are master of all you command so make like a chef and get creative.

I enjoyed a simple smoothie the other day based on fridge left-overs. An over-ripe banana, some wilting raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and a squeeze of honey were added to soya milk. Pink and tasty.

One of my favourites was on the White Island and named the Ibiza Delight. It consisted of strawberry, banana, almonds, granola, honey, goji berries and almond milk. It slid down a treat after my sunbathing and swimming session.