Deliciously Ella Every Day
By Ella Woodward
Published by: Jonathan Ball (Price: R380)
Ella Woodward is the eldest daughter of British supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury and Labour MP and former cabinet minister Shaun Woodward.
During her time at university, Ella became seriously ill and, after a long struggle to pinpoint what was wrong, was finally diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which left her bedridden.
Determined to get better, Ella radically changed her diet from junk food to a plant-based, gluten-free, sugar-free vegan diet.
Within two weeks, she felt dramatically better. She started a blog about her progress and shared recipes with her followers.
She was amazed at how many followers she acquired and at one time her blog was receiving 17 million hits.
On the back of her popularity, she brought out Deliciously Ella, which was the fastest-selling debut cookbook on record in Britain.
The success this 24-year-old has achieved is enviable. Besides releasing her second cookbook, she has a YouTube channel, runs cookery classes and has just opened a deli in the prestigious suburb of Marylebone in London.
And she was all over the British tabloids this weekend after tying the knot in beachside ceremony on the island of Mustique.
I spoke to Ella by phone just before her book reached our shores and she said that, after the success of her first book, Deliciously Ella, she felt there was a demand for a second book of healthy, easily-accessible recipes.
Both books are aimed at helping anyone with health issues to have access to recipes that are easy to prepare and nutritious.
“I want readers to find joy in preparing my recipes,” she told me.
Ella's favourite ingredients to cook with are avocados and dates, and she adores spicy food - which is evident in the number of curries in her cookbooks.
Her favourite recipes in the cookbook are the quinoa curry, which I have tried, and have to agree is absolutely delicious, and her chocolate ganache cake which is actually a cake made from mashed avocado pears.
The book is divided into chapters covering breakfast, healthy eating on the go, salads, easy weekday dinners, big batch cooking and simple sweets.
My favourite chapter in the book is the easy weekday dinners. If you follow her recommendation for ingredients to keep in your store cupboard, you can prepare most of the recipes under an hour.
Most of the ingredients in the recipes are easily accessible and the book offers anyone wanting to include more veggies in their diet as well as vegans plenty of ideas and inspiration for healthy eating.
Here are some recipes from the book which I tried and found delicious and so easy to prepare.
Warming Pesto butter beans
There's just something about the mix of soft, buttery beans smothered in home-made pesto with sauteed spinach, crunchy pumpkin seeds and sweet, juicy pomegranates that I can’t get enough of.
Ingredients
Serves 1
PESTO
1 garlic clove
50g pine nuts
big handful of fresh basil leaves (25g)
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
SALAD
400g can of butter beans, drained and rinsed
100g spinach
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
handful of pumpkin seeds
sprinkling of pomegranate seeds (30g)
Method
Start by making the pesto. Simply peel the garlic and then put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
Place the beans in a frying pan with the spinach and pesto and saute everything in a splash of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until the spinach has wilted and everything is warm.
Squeeze the lemon over the beans and add more black pepper.
Place the pesto, beans and spinach into a bowl and sprinkle the pumpkin and pomegranate seeds over the top.
Chickpea and quinoa curry
Serves 6
Ingredients
500g new potatoes, halved
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 teaspoons of ground turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon chilli flakes or powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
400g can of coconut milk
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g can of chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
180g quinoa
400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
150g spinach
Method
Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil, then cook for about 25 minutes, until you can easily stick a knife through them. Drain them well.
Place the potatoes in a large pan and add the garlic, turmeric, coriander, chilli, ginger, coconut milk, tomato puree and tomatoes.
Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, then add the quinoa with a mug of just-boiled water (300ml).
Reduce the heat to a simmer, place the lid on and allow to cook.
Over the next 30 minutes, stir every 5 minutes or so to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
(This is quite a long cooking time, but this is how long quinoa takes to cook in all these ingredients, rather than just in water.)
Halfway through cooking, add the chickpeas. When there are just 5 minutes left, add the spinach and stir it in until it wilts.
Once cooked, the quinoa should be fluffy, not crunchy.
Spinach and black bean salad
A winner if you're looking for a simple, nourishing dish to warm you up. If you want to make it a little heartier, serve it over quinoa or brown rice.
Ingredients
Serves 1
SALAD
half a butternut squash
olive oil
salt and pepper
half a courgette
half a bag of spinach (100g)
half a 400g can of black beans, drained and rinsed
DRESSING
1 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons olive oil
a third of a teaspoon chilli powder
half a teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon miso paste
juice of half lemon
Preheat the oven to 200degC.
Method
Peel the squash, then cut it into bite-sized pieces. Place these on a baking tray with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, until tender.
Cut the courgette into thin half-moons.
After the squash has cooked for 20 minutes, add the courgette to the tray to roast alongside for the last 10 minutes.
While the courgette and squash are roasting, place the spinach and beans in a frying pan with a little olive oil and gently saute. Add the courgette and squash once they come out the oven.
Let everything cook together while you mix all the ingredients for the dressing.
Pour the dressing over the salad, mix it well, then serve.
Middle eastern-inspired salad
This Ottolenghi-inspired dish is full of delicious Middle Eastern flavours.
Ingredients
Serves 6
SALAD
1 cauliflower
2 aubergines
2 teaspoons tamari
olive oil
salt and pepper
100g green lentils
20g fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
200g pomegranate seeds
DRESSING
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon
apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons tahini
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Method
Preheat the oven to 180degC
Chop the cauliflower and aubergines into bite-sized pieces and place them on a large baking tray with half the tamari, some olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.
Next, place the lentils into a saucepan with the remaining tamari and 500ml of boiling water.
Place the lid on the pan and bring the lentils to the boil again, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes until all the water has been absorbed.
Meanwhile, mix together all the ingredients for the dressing and let them sit for a while so the flavours can infuse.
Allow the cauliflower, aubergines and lentils to cool down for a few minutes, then combine them all in a salad bowl with the dressing, mixing gently.
Sprinkle with the coriander and pomegranate and mix so everything is lightly coated in the dressing, then serve.
Angela Day
The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.
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