In my quest for a tasty alternative to coffee my friend and massage therapist, Carly, suggested I try dandelion lattes. It wasn’t until I was in Melbourne at Leroy Espresso in St Kilda that I saw one on the menu. I was hooked! I ordered 3.

Roasted dandelion root tea has a similar texture and flavour to coffee without the health, fairtrade and chemical concerns of coffee. Dandelion is also said to help with water retention.

I’m still experimenting with different ways of brewing my tea. I bought BonVit’s Dandelion blend but must have bought the ‘fine’ grind as it put up a mighty fight in my espresso maker. It would be perfect for drip filter but we threw out our machine years ago. Next time I’ll try the medium. The coarse grind would be perfect for plunger. To be honest, I didn’t even notice it came in different grinds until I visited the BonVit website just then.

Watch out though, however you make it, because it sets like concrete if you don’t clean it up after making it.

In a further experiment to find the perfect DSL at home. I came across Hari Hari Chai. I am familiar with there beautifully package chai but never even knew they had a dandelion option. Even better, they did mail order. Opening up the parcel post bag was like walking into an indian grocer I was hit in the face with warm, spicy aromas. It was like a big Indian woman giving me a hug! Hari Hari’s website assured me that their grind would be perfect for my espresso machine, so I had extra motivation to get my morning walk done and give it a try. For my tempremental Silvia it was a bit of an ask. She likes her coffee ground at 3 3/4. I get raised eyebrows when I ask for this but 4 is too coarse and 3 1/2 too fine. So it came out a little watery, but the flavour. Mmmmmmmmmm spicy. What a shame I need to experiment some more with my stovetop espresso to see if it’ll work!

As for the soy milk. This of course makes a huge difference. I have two preferences. Rich, thick and creamy BonSoy. The soy milk that tastes like you’re drinking full fat milk. Even their website knows how naughty you feel drinking it (check out the porn soundtrack!). Unfortunately, Bonsoy is full of added sugar so it’s my special treat soy milk. Australia’s Own Malt Free Soy Milk gets my ‘everyday’ tick of approval. It’s not super beany and froths well with my espresso maker. Stir in a spoonful of sweetener or a drop of stevia and it’s a pretty perfect coffee break.

For anyone interested in the process of making their own Dandelion root tea, you’ll find instructions here. In my quest for more sustainable living, I might even give it a go.

While browsing a ‘free vegetables’ list. That is, list of vegetable who are fibrous or low enough in calories and sugar to be included in a serious ‘leaning out’ diet I spotted rhubarb. Ever since then I’ve been eyeing off the rhubarb at the farmers markets and at my organics shop. It’s thick stalks and strange colour taunted me ‘You’ll never make anything out of me’. Finally, on Friday I picked some up from Wilson’s Organics. The guy who always serves me and I both commented on how we’d never cooked it before. He’s quite used to me buying mystery ingredients each week and I report back whether they’re a success or not. Upon leaving the shop I broke a small bit off a stalk and had a taste. ‘PWFATTSST!’ Don’t do that. How anyone would ever think of eating this stuff after a raw taste is beyond me. However, I persevered and with a bit of scanning of my cookbooks concocted a plan.

Nutrition Data has this to say about Rhubarb:

It is also a good source of Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Potassium and Manganese.

However, further research suggests that

… while it’s true that 1 cup of diced rhubarb contains about 10% of the daily value for calcium, it is hardly bioavailable at all, owing to the presence of these pesky natural compounds called oxalates, which bind to the calcium in the vegetable and prevent us from being able to absorb it.  So in fact, rhubarb is NOT actually a good non-dairy source of calcium…

Coconut Custard with Rhubarb compote

Rhubarb Compote

• 6 stems of rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces
• the zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon, freshly squeeze orange juice (or water)
• 1 teaspoon Splenda®

Coconut Custard

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 165ml of light (coconut) milk*
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essense
• 1 tablespoon Splenda®

Place all the ingredients for the compote in a small fryingpan/skillet over a medium heat and cook, stiring occasionally, for 8 minutes.

To make the custard, heat the milk until almost boiling. Either 2 minutes in the microwave or on the stove, stiring until bubble form at the edges.

In a large metal or glass bowl combine the eggs and Splenda®, while whisking add in the hot milk. Place the bowl over a saucepan with about 5cm of simmering water in the bottom of it. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens. If lumps form, it’ll still taste good but it might not be dinner party material. Once the mixture is at the desired thickness it can be allowed to cool and reheated again gently in the same manner. The slightly scrambled version in the photo was very delicious, so if it’s just your Sunday breakfast don’t worry, you haven’t ruined it.

Divide the rhubarb amongst 2 ramekins and place the custard on top. Use a small spoon to give the mixture a ‘half-turn’ to make a pretty swirl.

*Plain low-fat milk works fine also.  I always buy TCC light coconut milk (like at the bottom but in a green can)

Nutrition per serve (makes 2 serves)
Calories: 180
Fat: 10.8g
Carbs: 13.8g
Fibre: 3.7g
Sugar: 3.4g (mostly from the OJ- replace with water to reduce)
Protien: 8.4g (you could boost this by adding in a scoop of vanilla whey to the custard mix)