Sarah Graham - Wholesome: 100 sugar, gluten and carb conscious recipes

To Rob, Sophie and Isla, for being there every step of the way. I love everything about being on this journey with you. And to my family and friends, without you this would all be meaningless.

To Linda and your wonderful team at Penguin Random House, for giving me the opportunity to do this again. Its a joy writing books with you.

To Bev, Curtis, Luisa and Strone, for pouring so much beauty into the book during the creative process. Its so special to me that your fingerprints and cleverness are all over this.

Also, Luisa, besides styling this book so ridiculously brilliantly, thank you for generously contributing your recipes for Turmeric and Cinnamon Spiced Oats, Spiced Pork Ramen, and Lamb and Barley Bowls they are full of goodness and I know that they will be instant favourites. Also, thank you for being such a special friend in food your styling for all my TV work is amazing, your work ethic unparalleled. You are a treasure.

To Peter and Precious Bhasa, thank you for your generosity, patience, kindness and endless smiles. Pete, thank you for so many hundreds of hours spent in the kitchen testing recipes with me. We couldnt do this without you both.

And to some of my favourite friends who were also recipe testers (again!), youre scattered around the world and precious in so many different ways your input is invaluable. A sung-from-the-rooftops and very sincere thank you to Debbie Buchner; Lucy Bell; Pamela Berry; Kimbo Brown-Schirato; my dearest and endlessly generous and kind and clever Mum, Wendy Conolly; Tracy Dane; Teneale Holley; Jenna Hutchings; Trudi Naylor; Justine Passaportis (and for so many moments spent brainstorming fun food ideas together); Luciana Popiol; Angela Ridge; Ruth Tanser; Yvonne Turner; Katherine Tyler (my special cuz!); Claire Van Tonder; and Elsie Velacott.

Published in 2016 by Struik Lifestyle

(an imprint of Penguin Random House (Pty) Ltd)

Company Reg. No. 1953/000441/07

The Estuaries, 4 Oxbow Crescent, Century Avenue, Century City, 7441

PO Box 1144, Cape Town 8000, South Africa

Copyright in published edition: Penguin Random House (Pty) Ltd 2016

Copyright in text: Sarah Graham 2016

Copyright in photographs: Penguin Random House (Pty) Ltd 2016

Print ISBN 978 1 43230 702 8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

Publisher: Linda de Villiers

Managing editor: Cecilia Barfield

Editor and indexer: Joy Clack

Designer: Beverley Dodd

Photographer: Curtis Gallon

Food stylist: Luisa Farelo

Food stylists assistant: Strone Henry

Proofreader: Bronwen Maynier

Hello again! I feel ridiculously lucky to be back here, with another book. And thats mostly thanks to you being part of the journey.

And so, please read this part because if you get it , this book will change the way you think and the way you eat, and that will change the way you live.

I have poured much love and care into writing what I hope will be a guide to living well and eating mindfully, and to making small, positive changes every day. I want this book to be about goodness, and about food that nourishes our minds and our bodies. Putting goodness back in and getting goodness out.

I fully realise that I am not a qualified nutritionist or health professional, and I am not advocating to be that, but rather offering people ideas and inspiration for eating delicious, close-to-the-earth whole foods that are free of refined carbohydrates and sugars.

I grew up on a farm, where the milk came from down the road and the veggies grew in the back garden. It was no surprise to head off to bed with my mothers cottage cheese-filled muslin cloths hanging from our kitchen cupboards to make overnight cheese. Living simply and cleanly is what I love.

We are starting to see a really exciting and sustainable food revolution, and it begins with educating ourselves, and in our very own kitchens.

A few years ago, I had a rare stomach issue, which resulted in a fairly dramatic operation. I came out of hospital having lost a lot of weight much too quickly, and with serious blood sugar issues. On some days, several times a day, I would stand up and have to count to at least 10 before the black fog of dizziness would lift and I could see clearly again. This lasted for a good couple of months before I went to see a dietician.

To get me back on track and to regulate my blood sugar, the dietician created a healthy eating programme for me, and along with that and a lot of extra reading I learnt a massive amount about good and bad fats, carbohydrates and sugars. The whole experience drastically changed the way that I cook and eat. Ever since, Ive limited sugar, gluten and refined or processed carbohydrates without even thinking about it, but havent stuck to particularly hard and fast rules.

Over the last couple of years, Ive revisited the whole conversation. I think a large part of it has been due to having children and striving to feed them well.

A proviso: If you believe that we should be eating better food that is, produced with a conscience, because its kinder to the planet, to the livestock and produce involved, and ultimately to our own health but you want to understand WHY, then here is some research that Ive put together for you. As I mentioned previously, I am not technically qualified to have an opinion, so Ive spent hours researching what the experts say to try to simplify the conversation for you. Also, although I love living and eating whole foods that are unprocessed and unblemished as far as possible, and I love the results Ive seen in my own and others lives, the information in this book is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any specific diseases or act as a weight-loss guide. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to this kind of thing our bodies are far too clever and complex for that so you need to find what works best for you. It is worth consulting with your personal doctor or dietician if you have any specific conditions or concerns.

Imagine if we had a food system that actually produced wholesome food. Imagine if it produced that food in a way that restored the land. Imagine if we could eat every meal knowing these few simple things: What it is were eating. Where it came from. How it found its way to our table. And what it really cost. If that was the reality, then every meal would have the potential to be a perfect meal. We would not need to go hunting for our connection to our food and the web of life that produces it. We would no longer need any reminding that we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, and that what were eating is never anything more or less than the body of the world. I dont want to have to forage every meal. Most people dont want to learn to garden or hunt. But we can change the way we make and get our food so that it becomes food again something that feeds our bodies and our souls. Imagine it: Every meal would connect us to the joy of living and the wonder of nature. Every meal would be like saying grace.

Michael Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Growing up on a farm, the food that reached our plates was almost always perfectly good and whole and locally sourced. Now, we have to go into supermarkets armed and aware. I have wanted to stamp my feet and shout at this machine that consumes us and propels us forward, helter skelter and with little consciousness of what is going into it, and about the state of what it is belching out. Where do we begin?