This alkaline and spicy aubergine and chick pea stew can be found all over the Mediterranean, but is particularly popular in the Lebanon.

As most of the Mediterranean dishes this stew is packed with a range of spices, which gives it its different flavours and gets your taste buds tingling.

Apart from being extremely delicious it is also very healthy and alkaline, as aubergines and chick peas are packed with nutrients, which are important for good health. Aubergines are a good source of folic acid and potassium and also help the formation of free radicals. Chick peas contain high levels of protein, zinc and folate.

We hope you enjoy this tasty and very flavoursome aubergine stew with spicy chick peas!

Aubergine Stew with Spicy Chick Peas

Serves 4

Ingredients

200g chick peas, soaked overnight
3 large aubergines, cut into cubes
3 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
3 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Himalayan crystal salt or celtic sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To serve: Brown basmati rice, cooked as per instructions

For The Garnish

1 onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Sprigs of fresh coriander

Instructions

Cut the aubergines into cubes, place them in a colander and sprinkle them with salt. Leave the colander sitting in a bowl and leave for about 20 minutes, so that the bitter juices can escape. Rinse with cold water and let them drain.

Drain the chick peas, put them in a pan with enough water to cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until they are tender. Drain.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently, until they have started to soften. Add all the spices and cook whilst stirring. After a few seconds add the aubergine and stir so that the cubes get coated with the onion and spices. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the chick peas and tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover the saucepan and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.

Instructions For The Garnish

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the garlic and onion and gently fry until golden.

For a nice presentation fill the bowls with the rice, then add the stew and top everything with the garlic, onion and coriander sprigs.

Enjoy!

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

Don’t freak out. I know. The recipe says PASTA. Whaaaat? Listen, you have to remember two important things if you are going to successfully live the alkaline diet:

1. The alkaline diet means aiming for 70-80% alkaline and 20-30% acid – not 100% alkaline. So you can include some items such as pastas, rices etc in your 20% acid, it makes things way easier.
2. You can be smart with ingredients to make what would normally seem an acidic meal a rather alkaline one – for instance, with this recipe if you use spelt or vegetable pasta you will be making the pasta far, far less acid forming. Plus, if you keep the pasta to 30% of your plate and veggies the other 70% you are having a really alkaline meal that is filling and delicious!

These are the principles I have written my Alkaline Diet Cookbook with and the principles that have kept me alkaline for nearly six years. They work. Trust me.

So with that in mind, lets enjoy this wonderfully filling, satisfying, energising, alkalising meal!

Spicy Aubergine Pasta

Serves 2

200g spelt or vegetable pasta
1 large aubergine (eggplant)
1 red pepper (capsicum)
3 tomatoes
A handful of baby spinach
1 medium-sized red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 small chilli (or two if you can handle it!)
150ml yeast-free vegetable stock (I prefer the Marigold brand)
1 handful of fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon organic sea salt or Himalayan salt
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
Drizzle of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil (to use afterwards)
1 teaspoon of coconut oil (to cook with – coconut oil is the only oil that doesn’t go toxic on exposure to heat, light and air)

Instructions

Firstly get the pasta on, spelt pasta takes a little longer than normal pasta.

Now get the veggies going. Start by chopping the aubergine and tomatoes into medium sized chunks (a little bigger than a cubed cm), slicing the pepper, onion, chilli and dicing the garlic. Tear the basil up.

Now warm the coconut oil in a pan and lightly cook the onion and garlic, then throw in the aubergine. Once the aubergine has browned a bit, chuck in the tomato, capsicum and then add the stock, salt and cayenne pepper. Let this simmer for ten minutes until it is starting to reduce a bit and get a bit saucy.

Once the pasta is cooked, you’re almost there. For the final 30 seconds just throw in the basil and spinach to just let it wilt slightly. Now serve over the pasta and drizzle very lightly with the olive oil.

Delicious!

Optional extras if you’re transitioning: olives, sprinkling of parmesan.

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Mail | Web | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | YouTube

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

This week I’m blogging and newsletter writing from Greece! I know! Jet-setting all over the place at the moment!

OK – so as I’m in Greece and I thought I’d whip out a nice Greek alkaline recipe! This recipe is not 100% alkaline because the ingredients are ‘cooked’ a little, but I’ve tweaked the traditional recipe to make it more raw and more alkaline.

Of course, serve with a big green salad and you’re rocking!

Alkaline Ratatouille

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 decent sized aubergines
3 medium courgettes
2 red peppers
5 tomatoes, diced
3 tsp thyme leaves
2 cloves of garlic
2 massive handfuls of baby spinach
A handful of basil leaves
10 coriander seeds
A big handful of pitted black olives
Organic extra virgin olive oil
Himalayan salt & black pepper

Instructions

Firstly cut the tops and bottoms off the aubergines and courgettes. Now slice the aubergines and courgettes by standing them on their end and slicing the skin and a little bit (about 2-4mm) of flesh.

This is all you’ll use of the vegetable in this meal, so use the flesh for my Baba Ganoush from last week and the Courgette Hummous from a couple of weeks before! How convenient!

Firstly, get the garlic chopped up nice and fine.

Now slice the aubergines and courgettes again (keeping separate) so that they’re in little cubes about 3mm x 3mm. Nice little shapes. Now put these to one side.

At this stage you want to get your grill on and preheating. Now cut the tops and bottoms off the peppers and get rid of the seeds and white bits. Give them a good wash and cut them into thick slices so that you can place them skin side up under the grill.

Once they’re blackened, pop them in a bowl and cover with cling film for five mins. After that time you should be able to get the skins off nice and easy. Now dice them up to match the courgettes and aubergines.

Now you need to get these the aubergine cooking. So heat a little olive or coconut oil in a pan (preferably coconut as this is less effected when heated) and gently cook along with one clove of garlic.

After cooking the aubergine all at once, put into a sieve and press with kitchen paper towels to get out any excess oil. Now add a little more oil to the pan and do the same with the courgette and the other clove of garlic.

Now mix in a large pan with the other ingredients and warm very gently. I like to keep the tomatoes raw and throw the spinach in right at the last minute so it just wilts a little.

Serve with a big salad and voila!

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Mail | Web | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | YouTube

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...