Ayahuasca Food Diary | Diet Day 9 | Bean burgers

Quote marks are definitely needed around the word “burgers”, here. Without oil, the bean patties can’t be fried or even roasted properly. Rather, this mix of kidney beans (soaked dried ones, not the salty type from a can), onion and fresh parsley, was baked and ended up tasting a little dry. They really do benefit from oil and spices – none of which are allowed when preparing for ayahuasca.

I also put no egg in the mix, which would have stopped the burgers from falling apart and kept them moist. They look great, but are dry. Next time an egg for sure, or perhaps just wait until I can use oil and throw in a little spice.

They’re served with the ubiquitous fresh salad, boiled new potatoes (local produce and therefore deliciously in season) and home-made flat bread. The garnish is fresh parsley.

Ayahuasca Food Diary | Diet Day 6 | Gnocchi

I spotted some gnocchi in the supermarket and fancied it. There’s nothing about the ayahuasca diet that says anything about not eating pasta or potatoes, and gnocchi is tasty and filling. However, a look at the ingredients and I was put off. There were way too many things I’d never heard of. So I decided to make my own, how hard could it be.

The recipe I followed was thus… Skin, dice and boil a kilo of potatoes until just cooked. Mash and mix in an egg, stirring quickly to avoid cooking the egg in the hot mash. Add a handful of white flour and begin to form a dough. Then empty the dough onto a floured table, roll into sausages and slice with a knife to create nice little crimped gnocchi. Put these on a floured plate, with space between to prevent sticking. Boil a deep pan of water, chuck them in and when they float to the top they’re done. I then made a simple pasta sauce by reducing blended tomatoes with chopped onions and mushrooms. Garnish with fresh basil.

My only criticism of this method is that the potatoes take on too much water, which means a lot of flour is needed to form the dough. The potato flavour was lost, and they tasted more like dumplings. Another recipe I found said boil waxy potatoes in their skin, starting from cold so as not to make them burst. Then peal off the skin afterwards, leaving you with less soaked spuds. I shall try this next time.

The recipe for next time:

http://www.videojug.com/player?id=a233568d-6fac-44af-d041-7445c07fc808

Ayahuasca Food Diary | Diet Day 5 | Pea and broccoli soup

Based very much on a Gordon Ramsay recipe (see YouTube clip below), this is essentially puréed peas and broccoli. Boil a large pan of both vegetables for ten minutes, drain but keep the liquid, then add a little back and blend either in a blender or with a hand blender. The purée will probably be too thick, in which case, add more of the saved “stock” water.

It should be served with goats cheese, walnuts and a little olive oil, but on ayahuasca none of these bar the nuts are allowed. I didn’t have any nuts. Gordon doesn’t cook it with peas, but I think it adds extra depth. On the side is one of my home-made, yeastless flat breads.

The man himself: