Corrett Natasha - Eating the Alkaline Way: Recipes for a Well-Balanced Honestly Healthy Lifestyle Honestly Healthy: Eat with your body in mind, the alkaline way

Eat with your body in mind, the alkaline way

Natasha Corrett

Vicki Edgson

Photography by
Lisa Linder

First published in 2012 by Jacqui Small LLP An imprint of Aurum Press 7 Greenland Street London NW1 0ND

Text copyright 2012 Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson Design and layout copyright Jacqui Small 2012

The authors moral rights have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Publisher: Jacqui Small Managing Editor: Kerenza Swift Art Director: Penny Stock Photographer: Lisa Linder Project Manager: Nikki Sims Editor: Jenni Davis Production: Peter Colley

Digital Edition: 978-1-90934-229-3
Softcover Edition: 978-1-906417-81-9

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

2014 2013 2012

From Tash I dedicate this book to my best friend Laura who continues to inspire me everyday and to my Mummy and Daddy who have supported me every step of the way.

From Vix I dedicate this book to my dear friend Karen, who first made me realise how important it is for vegetarians to better understand how to balance their nutrition for vital health.

When following the recipes, stick to one set of measurements (metric, imperial or cups). Measurements used in the recipes are based on the following conversions:

25g = 1oz

25ml = 1fl oz

250ml = 8fl oz = 1 cup (for both liquid and dry volume ingredients)

Note that the weight of dry ingredients varies according to the volume so 1 cup of flour weighs less than 1 cup of sugar.

The Recipes

Key to symbols (see )

really really alkaline food or recipe

really alkaline food or recipe

alkaline food or recipe

vegan

We first met on the day of Natashas birth, when I was introduced to her as her godmother. We have, needless to say, known each other ever since. Our friendship has grown with the years, with Tash always interested to see how my career in nutrition and well-being has grown, while at the same time pursuing her own knowledge of spiritual, holistic and herbal practices alongside her passion for food her taste buds having been influenced from an early age by her French restaurateur father.

We both share a passion for great food always starting with raw ingredients. My own mother prepared everything from scratch and I remember the best part of coming home from boarding school was always the smells wafting through from the kitchen. I now experience the same feeling every time I walk into Tashs home theres always some delicious gluten-free cake on the table, or an extraordinary version of risotto or bean casserole.

We came together in business in May 2009, when I attended one of Tashs retreats in the deepest countryside on the Wiltshire/Dorset borders, where she had rented a large mansion for a three-day retreat. At the last minute the chef she had hired let her down and, true to form, Tash rose to the occasion and simply said, Then I shall have to be the chef! She proceeded to produce some of the most fabulous vegetarian food I had ever tasted, and the weekend was a resounding success, especially at mealtimes, with everyone exclaiming just how mouthwatering the dishes were. She continued to amaze all of us as meal after meal was produced from seemingly simple ingredients fresh, tangy, tasty and very moreish.

By the middle of the following week, over half her retreat guests had requested that Tash set up a home-delivery service, and her Fridge Fill was launched three days worth of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks delivered on a Monday evening. The premise was simply that eating healthy food for at least half your week will yield improvements to your overall health and, in a matter of weeks, have you choosing more carefully when dining out, travelling on public services or just snacking from your corner store. Tash was adamant that she could start to change the eating habits of the nation by delivering really real food to a handful of people who would spread the word, organically.

Organic where it matters became the common thread, and before long the word had indeed spread, and Harrods invited Tash to take a selection of her produce into their store for tasting. She spent a frenetic weekend preparing dishes and painting a wooden crate with her own logo and filling it with straw, as if it had come fresh from the field and ready to serve it looked divine, tempting and delicious!

Her presentation to Harrods was a resounding success, and she called me excitedly to tell me the news. I responded immediately with Do you want an investor in your business? You are clearly going places, and I would love to get involved!

There followed much excitement, many meetings and a lot of hard work in prepping our kitchens to match up to the stringent examination procedures that any department store or supermarket deems essential, and we realised we were no longer simply preparing food for friends and clients. The commercial food industry health and safety standards are rigorous (as they should be), and there was much to learn about running our own kitchens.

Interestingly, we never did end up selling into Harrods, as Harvey Nichols and Selfridges both got wind of our brand, and made seductive moves to ply us away! We finally launched into Londons Selfridges Food Hall in July 2011, with our own small refrigerated concession, and much fanfare from friends and family. News of our great, delicious vegetarian food spread, and we were soon sought by many specialist food shops, stores and markets.

Tash and I both firmly stand by our brand the importance of really real food is becoming ever more important in todays increasingly ready-prepared, genetically modified range of non-foods, with widening girths, increasing rates of diabetes and ever-mounting NHS bills for diseases that could be avoided if only we all ate food as nature intended in its simplest form. We are both proponents of buying British, locally sourced, fresh seasonal produce where possible, and reducing waste by teaching people how to use their food wisely and frugally. We eschew anything that risks being genetically modified, preferring instead to choose an alternative ingredient if we cant be assured that the ones we are using are in their natural state.

We also believe that good food should cost less, but without the knowledge of how to prepare your own from basic ingredients you are forced to pay the market rate for dishes that have been prepared in gigantic kitchens, without love and attention. Food that