Living Wilde and free

Anna and Roger Wilde are champions of healthy living.  he Nelson couple share their passion for life in their community and via a website called Wild Health, where they offer education about healthy eating and living through recipes and nutritional information. With a growing demand for recipes for those with special dietary needs, the Wildes have recently released Real Fresh Gluten-free Food. Colleen Thorpe talks to them about how to start on the road to a healthy, happy life.

Q How easy is it to change to healthy eating habits?

A It's really easy as long as you have sufficient motivation. Of course it takes time and a consistent approach to learn any new behaviour, but it can also feel fun and creative. Most important is to have a kind attitude towards yourself, which means sincerely wishing for your own health and happiness as well as accepting that occasional backsliding is part of the process.

Q Where do we start to do this?

A Start by introducing more nutrient-rich foods into your diet, rather than restricting ''bad'' foods.

Q What actually is a healthy diet?

A A diet that makes you feel good - more energised, relaxed, clear-headed and emotionally stable. One of the main points of our book is that almost all people need to eat more fresh vegetables, especially greens. Plant foods need to be the foundation of the diet, rather than a garnish.

Q Tell us your five favourite ''superfoods''.

A Leafy greens, leafy greens and more leafy greens. Dark greens are best and edible wild plants such as puha are fantastic. These are the superfoods that powered our ancestors and they won't ever go out of fashion.

Q What led you to investigate recipes for those with special dietary needs?

A Our own dietary experiments and explorations included periods eating raw vegan, macrobiotic, low-carb/Paleo and vegetarian. We were also prompted by the specific needs of people who attended our cooking classes.

Q How did you decide what recipes to put in this book?

A Most of the recipes had already been well tested and refined by our experiences teaching wholefood cooking classes, which we offered for several years. We knew which recipes people liked and used often.

Q What is the very first thing you cooked?

A Anna: Potatoes, peas and heating a family mince pie at age 7 when Mum was at work.
Roger: I have a vivid memory of a big floury mess in the neighbour's kitchen. I was around age 4. Was it scones?

Q Who influenced your style of cooking?

A Anna: My mother; the cook at our shiatsu training retreats (miso soup for breakfast); my vegetarian yogi friends in Gisborne; chefs at various restaurants; and Roger.
Roger: Holly Davis, co-founder of Iku Wholefoods in Sydney; the cooks at Bukkokuji temple in Japan where I lived for several years; Masao Kumagai, head chef of Miyazu Restaurant in Nelson.

Q You both have busy lives. Apart from creating some fabulous recipes, what do you do?

A Anna: I am a birth skills specialist, teaching hypnobirthing classes and working with couples or individuals to resolve emotional birth-related issues. Mothering is a big job too, and one I treasure. Riding my cargo bike with two boys on the back is awesome!Roger: I am a full-time kindergarten teacher. I practise and teach Buddhist meditation. And I love being a dad to our busy boys. When I get a chance I ride my mountain bike up in the hills behind Nelson.

Q What is your favourite recipe in this book?

A It's hard to choose (of course). But we agree with the many friends who tell us the easiest, family-friendly recipe is the tomato and coconut soup with fish dumplings.

Q Who would you most like to cook for?

A Anna: A friend in need. Recently I have been organising meal rosters for a new mum and a friend whose child passed away. Roger: The Dalai Lama.

Q Who do you most admire?

A Anna: Anyone who dares to dream, big or small, and lives their dream with focus and passion.
Roger: Hanshi Andy Barber, my sons' Seido karate teacher. I admire his humility and dedication to the Nelson community.

Q Tell us three things about yourselves that would surprise us.

A Our first date was an overnight tramp to Bushline Hut, high on a mountainside above Lake Rotoiti. Both our boys were born at home, but in two different houses on the same street in Nelson. Roger: I still eat my mum's pavlova at family gatherings, I see it as a sacred family ritual. Anna: The best thing I've done for my health recently is intermittent fasting - eating minimally two days per week.


Tomato and coconut soup with dumplings
Serves 4-6

Soup

2 tbsp sesame, coconut or olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp red curry paste
1/3 cup long-grain rice
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
400ml can coconut cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sea salt
chopped fresh coriander for garnish

Dumplings

400g fresh, boneless, white-fleshed fish
1 egg
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted (or 1 tsp ground cumin)
small bunch coriander, chopped
½ tsp salt
A colourful, nourishing soup, which warms the heart and belly, this is a genuine meal in a bowl. Add calamari, scallops or prawns if available.

Heat oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion until softened slightly.

Add red curry paste and rice. Cook for several minutes. Add tomato, turmeric and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make fish dumplings. Cut fish into small chunks and place in a food processor fitted with an S blade.

Add remaining ingredients and process for 20-30 seconds until well combined.

When rice in soup is well cooked, add coconut cream. Bring to a low boil. Using a dessert spoon, scoop some of the fish mixture, squeeze it gently in the hand to form a dumpling and add to soup. They can be any shape but a consistent size is best.

Continue making dumplings, adding to soup as you go, until all the fish mixture is used up. Add lemon juice and sea salt. Simmer for about 5 minutes until dumplings are just cooked.

Serve in individual bowls, garnished with coriander.

- Extracted with permission from Real Fresh Gluten-free Food by Anna and Roger Wilde, with photography by Daniel Allen, published by New Holland, $45.



 

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