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Spa cuisine is all about nourishment. It’s about how you eat and what you eat to make you feel satisfied, energised and revitalised. It’s not about strict diets and fad food. Instead, it’s a way of enjoying delicious dishes that nourish the body, helping you to maintain a healthy weight.

‘Health’ food has come a long way from rice cakes and carrot sticks. Now you can savour a whole range of taste sensations — from stir-fried salmon with sticky rice to orange and raspberry cheesecake — while giving your body all that it needs to work at its optimum and avoid unwanted kilos.

The Golden Door illustrates how good spa cuisine can be with its book, Purely Golden Door, the third edition of its popular cookbook series. The book contains almost 100 new recipes plus many old favourites and culinary secrets. The Golden Door is regarded as one of Australia’s leading Health Spas and its philosophy of balanced living and healthy eating for an improved quality of life is the foundation of this new cookbook.

The recipes have been created by David Hunter, Executive Chef of The Golden Door Health Retreat Queensland and Edwin Rosenkranz, Executive Chef of The Golden Door Health Retreat Elysia in the Hunter Valley. Both David and Edwin believe the key to eating well and maintaining a healthy weight is in trying new and different foods, using a wide variety of fresh ingredients. With this in mind, each recipe in Purely Golden Door features a thorough nutritional analysis, including fat and carbohydrate counts.

“Eating well does not have to be boring. The recipes in Purely Golden Door allow the natural food flavours to really come through and, being quite easy and quick to prepare, make it easier than ever for healthy eating to become part of one’s daily life,” they explain.

Libby Ellis, Nutrition Consultant and Program Manager at The Golden Door Health Retreat Elysia says that with so many mixed messages about what we should and shouldn’t eat (and the mass proliferation of fad diets), it’s no wonder many of us are utterly confused about what constitutes a healthy balanced diet.

“Purely Golden Door will be a useful ‘‘tool’ for people who are fed up with short-term solutions and bad results of yoyo dieting,” says Libby. “It focuses on the philosophy that in order to reduce body fat, people should eat more natural products and reduce processed ingredients and convenience foods.”

Here are a few recipes to get you started. Enjoy!

muesli bar

100 g (3½ oz/1 cup) rolled oats
3 tbsp almonds (optional)
140 g (5 oz/1 cup) dried apricots
90 g (3¼ oz/1 cup) dried apple
180 g (6½ oz/1 cup) pitted dates
60 g (2¼ oz/½ cup) sultanas
2 dried figs
juice of ½ orange

Put all the ingredients, except the orange juice, in a food processor in batches and mix well.
Add the orange juice, a little at a time, until the mixture lightly sticks together.
Press the mixture into a small tray lined with baking paper. Refrigerate overnight and then cut into 16 small bars to serve.
Serves 16
Nutrition per serve: Energy 795 kJ (190 Cal); Protein 7 g; Total fat 3 g; Carbohydrate 35 g; Fibre 6 g; Sodium 37 mg

potato and rocket salad with dijon viniagrette

750 g (1 lb 10 oz) unpeeled kipfler potatoes, halved if large
120 g (4½ oz) rocket (arugula)
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 red capsicum (pepper), roasted, peeled and cut into strips
8 sliced kalamata olives
½ tsp chopped fresh dill
4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters

dressing
125 g (4½ oz/½ cup) dijon mustard
125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) apple juice concentrate
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
4 roasted garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp roasted cashew nuts

Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes until just tender. Drain and leave to cool.
Put the potatoes in a large salad bowl with the rocket, onion, capsicum, olives and dill. Toss together and season with salt and pepper.
To make the dressing, whisk together the mustard, apple concentrate, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic and cashews. Drizzle 1 tbsp per person over the salad and arrange the eggs over the top.
Serves 4
Nutrition per serve: Energy 1071 kJ (256 Cal); Protein 14 g; Total fat 7 g; Carbohydrate 33 g; Fibre 5 g; Sodium 205 mg

fettucine carbonara

200 g (7 oz) firm tofu, diced
2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
300 g (10½ oz) fettucine
3 tbsp lemon juice
300 g (10½ oz) button mushrooms, cut into quarters
6 large field mushrooms, whole
175 g (6 oz/1 bunch) asparagus spears, blanched and sliced diagonally
1 red capsicum (pepper), blanched and cut into strips
750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) white sauce, warmed
2 tbsp snipped chives or basil leaves

Put the tofu on a paper-lined baking tray and sprinkle with the tamari, making sure the tofu is covered. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm, stirring occasionally so that the tofu cooks evenly.
Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside. Put a little of the lemon juice in a frying pan with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Add the button mushrooms and cook until golden, adding more lemon juice if needed. Remove from the pan and cook the whole field mushrooms in the same way. Arrange one field mushroom on each serving plate.

Mix together the pasta, button mushrooms, tofu, asparagus and capsicum. Season with salt and pepper, add the white sauce and gently mix through to coat the pasta.

Spoon the pasta over the mushrooms and serve immediately, garnished with the chives or basil.
Serves 6 Nutrition per serve: Energy 1407 kJ (336 Cal); Protein 19 g; Total fat 8 g; Carbohydrate 46 g; Fibre 8 g; Sodium 400 mg

stir-fried salmon with sticky rice

500 g (1 lb 2 oz/2 cups) black sticky rice
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp minced garlic
½ tsp minced fresh ginger
1 onion, sliced
150 g (5½ oz) bok choy, Chinese cabbage or bean sprouts
125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) fish stock
1 tsp tamari soy sauce
1 tsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp cornflour
400 g (14 oz) salmon, boned and diced
1 tsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

Cook the black sticky rice according to the instructions on the packet.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan and add the garlic, ginger, onion, and vegetables. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
Mix together the fish stock, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce. Mix the cornflour with 3 tsp of water until smooth and add to the sauce. Add to the wok, bring to the boil and add the salmon. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring gently, and then serve over the sticky rice. Garnish with coriander.
Serves 4
Nutrition per serve: Energy 1085 kJ (259 Cal); Protein 22 g; Total fat 8 g; Carbohydrate 24 g; Fibre 2 g; Sodium 103 mg

orange and raspberry cheesecake with mango coulis and fresh berries

1 kg cottage cheese
3 eggs
2 egg whites (additional)
1 lemon (juice and rind)
1 orange (juice and rind)
4 tbsp cornflour
½ cup natural honey
1 cup rice flakes (crushed)
2 x 150 g of fresh raspberries (reserve a pack for garnish)

Combine all ingredients, except rice flakes and raspberries, in a food processor. Blend ingredients together until smooth.
Lightly crush rice flakes and place them on a 25x30cm (10x12in) baking tin lined with baking paper.
Gently pour cheese mix over rice flakes and top with fresh raspberries.
Bake in a low to moderate oven (about 140°C) for approx 45 minutes or until set and golden on top.
Allow to cool, then serve with fresh raspberries and mint sprig.
Serves 12

Purely Golden Door ($44.95 incl GST, excl P&H) is available at all Golden Door boutiques, via mail order by phoning 1800 816 906 or online at www.goldendoor.com.au

Nutrition Tips for Summer

In traditional Chinese medicine, summer is known as a ‘yang’ season, a time for eating foods that promote energy and activity. This is a time to enjoy lots of bitter and sweet flavours such as peaches, avocado, kiwifruit and lettuce. It is also a time to balance the hot days with cool foods — citrus fruit, yoghurt, watermelon, tofu, basil, cucumber, tomato, eggplant and celery — all of which have cooling properties.

Bloating: A bloated belly does not bode well for summery dresses and swimwear. Bloating can be caused by a whole host of triggers; from food intolerance to a serious digestive disorder. One of the main culprits of bloating is poor eating habits, including not chewing your food adequately and chewing with your mouth open. Another tip for avoiding bloating is to reduce your intake of sugar and soft drinks. Yoghurt, Swedish Bitters (available from a health food shop) and peppermint tea are traditionally used to relieve bloating.

Huge workload ahead? Try Siberian ginseng. This herb can be taken safely during times of physical or mental stress.

Hangover: Summertime is often party time for many people as their Christmas and New Year celebrations kick into action. Obviously, moderation is the key if you choose to drink alcohol but if you do indulge, make sure you support your body by taking daily doses of B-complex, Zinc and Vitamin C. To help out your liver, take a dose of the herb, St Mary’s Thistle, before and after you drink.

Love your Sunday afternoon barbeque? Why not sprinkle some cardamom over your meat? It aids digestion and tastes good.

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