Healthy Sundays-Sunday 'Kashka' Spooky edition

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I've never been a Halloween person. I never understood why would someone celebrate negativity, ugliness and fear. I never understood scary movies and giving children insane amounts of sweets-diabetes? All of these sounded to me ridiculous and at the same time odd. Year after year I tried to analyse this holiday, and only recently I discovered the positives in it. First and foremost is the fact that for one night in the year people can become anything and anyone. The question here is do they really?

There are a lot of different perspectives to the holiday, however what I have decided to take on from it and explore further, as well as learn to appreciate is the aspect of creativity. Being creative when choosing a costume, being creative while dressing up, being creative with decorations, being creative with food, being creative with image footage, etc. The creativity is what drives us, and the lack of it destroys us...

So yes, in an absolute healthy manner I have decided to embrace this creative aspect of Halloween, this year and do a few experiments. I felt excited about decorations, as well as food. An after some thorough online research I discovered black rice. And immediately the spooky 'kashka' concept came to mind. Interestingly enough, I had never encountered black rice before.

Also known as 'forbidden' black rice is definitely a curious grain, with a history going back to ancient China. Cultivated in relatively small amounts, compared to other types rice varieties, the whole grain rice is also packed with nutrients and antioxidants. In fact the amount of antioxidant-anthocyanin contained in black rice is higher than any other grain, including brown rice, red rice, red quinoa, or other colored whole grain varieties. The magical grain is also a natural detoxifier, excellent source of fibre, with richer protein content. I would definitely recommend it as an occasional substitute of the oh, so favourite quinoa for example.

And now to the Sunday 'kashka'.

For 1 bowl of the spooky 'kashka' you will need:

• 2 cups water

• 1/2 cup forbidden rice (oh I love how it sounds... forbidden!) soaked in water for about an hour or preferably over night.

• 2 tsp black sesame seeds

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• nutmeg

• 1/3 cup coconut milk

For topping you will need:

• frozen berries, or fresh if in season

• 1tbsp toasted coconut flakes

• sprinkle of sesame seeds

• 1 very creepy chocolate eye (optional) may be 3 actually...

Nutrition information per portion:

• Calories: 418 kcal

• Protein: 6g

• Carbs: 43g

• Fibre: 7g

• Sugar: 6g

• Fat: 24g

How to prepare the spooky 'kashka'?

In a saucepan add the water on high heat until boiling. Add the black rice (soaked and drained) to the boiling water. Add the sesame seeds plus a pinch of salt, turmeric and nutmeg. Stir well and let cook, until the water evaporates. Add the coconut milk at the end. Stir until the consistency has become thick and creamy. Remove from the heat. Serve and top with the berries, coconut flakes, sesame seeds and the very creepy chocolate eye (this is an essential!) There you have it! Booo, don't forget to tag #alexandkashka if you decide to try the recipe! I would love to see your take on this creepy dish full of goodness! Enjoy and see you next time!