Chef and nutritionist Nadia Lim now lives with her family on a high country sheep station close to Arrowtown.
Photo: Nadia Lim / Facebook
She talks to Jesse Mulligan about her food predictions for 2020 and shares a delicious (plant-based) recipe for Pulled Mushroom Tacos with Pink Pickled Onions and Smoky Mayo.
Rabbits are a big pest in Central Otago and Nadia likes cooking them up to eat.
"We've got neighbours but they're about a kilometre away. We have harvest parties and a lot of rabbit parties. Rabbits taste really good. I make them into pies – leek, mushroom and rabbit pies – or apricot and wild thyme rabbit stew. Delicious. You don't want it to go to waste."
Nadia felt a responsibility to go into food-producing itself after years producing recipes and food bags.
"I feel like I've had a lot to do with what's on your plate … but I always felt that if you're going to do that, you really should understand and know more about where your food comes from and follow the journey of what goes on behind your plate."
Farming is a demanding and important job, she says.
"We need to support everyone that's supplying and growing our food to do a better job. There is so much room for improvement but I really do believe NZ has got the potential to become a leader in sustainable and ethical food production. We need to take this bull by the horns and everyone needs to get behind it."
This year, Nadia predicts New Zealanders will be eating a lot more plant-based food and ditching fad diets.
Plant-based is not as simple as cutting out meat, but with some care, it's not too hard to make it delicious and nutritious.
This recipe from the plant-based My Food Bag includes pink pickled onions which work well in many Mexican dishes and keep well in the fridge.
Recipe: Pulled Mushroom Tacos with Pink Pickled Onions and Smoky Mayo
Nadia's own three simple rules for health are:
- Eat less processed food
"Eat food that comes literally from the ground, from the sea or from the sky… eat food as it comes from nature as much as possible with a few treats now and then."
- Eat intuitively
There's no such thing as a 'one diet that fits all'. Learn what best serves and nourishes your own body, she says.
- Ignore fad diets and the confusing hype around food
Pulled Mushroom Tacos with Pink Pickled Onions and Smoky Mayo Photo: My Food Bag 2019
