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food

creating food vanlife

Making it up as I go along

June 15, 2020

The best way I’ve found to move towards #zerofoodwaste in the van kitchen is to work with what’s already in instead of buying new ingredients all the time. I try not to just do the food shopping on the same day each week, instead going once the food has run out (which can be up to 9 days later). This dish of spicy black bean and fresh tomato soup with lemony-herb topping, served with garlic chapati, was inspired by the…

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dailyconnectionwithnature food nature

foraging for fennel fronds

April 14, 2020

We’ve been parked up on this same riverbank in Portugal now for a month as the spring season has unfurled, blossomed, and flowed around us. This week I suddenly noticed fennel fronds feathering out from the undergrowth. Fennel is such a delicious plant, sweet, fresh aniseed and a lush green colour. I was immediately inspired to make a bright, crisp brunch… and then again a slightly different one the next day, so here they are: Brunch #1 Crisp apple, carrot…

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Europe food nature

a return to connecting with wild plants

March 29, 2020

While we’re staying in one place for the next few (or more) weeks, I’ve been revisiting some of the OUTSIDER pieces previously behind a paywall. For the past five years-or-so I’ve been working with the mint plant, and this is a connection that continues to deepen even when I can’t find any to forage in the wild (like just now). But of course this is the beauty of plants, when one recedes into the background, another steps forward, and nettle…

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food vanlife

for when you’ve finished all your snacks…

March 24, 2020

throwbacktuesday *From southern Spain Nov 2019 * I’m opening up some previously password protected content on this OUTSIDER blog over this next week-or-so for free. I chose this one today because if, like me, you’re stress eating and are running out of snacks because you ate them all in a day, here’s my favourite go-to treat to add some sugar & spice to all those healthy nuts & seeds that you bought when kidding yourself that this lockdown would make you…

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food minimalism OUTSIDER Patreon chapters

Working towards zero food waste

November 28, 2019

Words & photos: Sophie McKeand I find the best way to avoid food waste in the kitchen is to always cook with whatever’s already there (eg leftovers) as well as checking to see if anything needs eating before it goes off. Building meals that roll along into the next day takes away the stress about what to make as half the meal’s already done, and means we never throw anything away.  I wanted to give an example here of how…

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food OUTSIDER Patreon chapters

November van treats

November 14, 2019

I’ve been on a cooking spree again recently as I focus on minimising dairy and wheat in the diet. This is difficult because I love them both dearly, so I have to work hard to find interesting and exciting foods to substitute them for, otherwise I feel like I’m missing out and then it gets miserable.  First up is a sweet/savoury snack that is so easy to make and tastes delicious. It’s got sugar in it so it’s not that…

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creating food OUTSIDER Patreon chapters

My best hummus recipe (and what to do with it)

October 27, 2019

I love hummus, and over the years I’ve made so many different versions: plain, extra lemony, with chilli or red pepper or sundried tomatoes, without garlic, but this month I’ve finally hit on, what I feel, is my absolute best recipe for hummus and it’s so delicious I’m sharing it here: Ingredients 1 cup dried chickpeas soaked overnight then boiled in a large pan of water until soft. I have a large plastic container with a watertight lid so that…

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dailyconnectionwithnature Europe food OUTSIDER Patreon chapters travel

journeying with wild mint (continued)

October 27, 2019

I wanted to keep you with me on this journeying with plants that’s occurring so organically it feels as if I have always worked this way. In September I shared words on the continued connection to wild mint and on this journey south I’m discovering an abundance of wild mint such as I’ve never found before. If you’ve been following OUTSIDER for a while, you’ll remember that Iris flower showed up throughout the first half of 2019, firstly on Crete, and…

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food OUTSIDER Patreon chapters

curried carrots with fresh pomegranate

October 14, 2019

Andy loves cooking with Indian spices and has been experimenting with a Gajar Matar dish. Fresh peas and dried pomegranate (usually found in the dish) are difficult to find all year round on the road so he’s adapted it to just have carrots and stirs fresh pomegranate in at the end for a burst of sweet flavour. Andy’s adapted dish is absolutely delicious and it’s vegan. Served with crispy fried tofu and chapati. for the carrots4 large carrots, diced 1 small…

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food nature OUTSIDER Patreon chapters

Wild mint foraging

September 14, 2019

I love the simplicity of life on the road. It feeds so effortlessly into the food we eat. Foraging is a skill I’m acquiring as we travel, but being a novice, I tend to stick to what I know, working to discover the properties of a new plant, flower or tree every few months before adding them to my repertoire. I tend to forage mint from the gardens of people we visit as it’s ubiquitous in some gardens. The mint…

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