I have a rule when travelling with my family that the usual food rules don’t apply. So after four days of eating food from cafes, restaurants and packets, I was definitely feeling the need for a vege boost! Fortunately the drive home includes some great fruit and vegetable orchards, so after a quick stop-off for supplies, it was home to salad up!

This beauty was made in 5 simple steps.

The raw stuff: baby kale, rocket and mesclun leaves, sliced radish, and sliced avocado.

The boiled stuff: a head of broccoli, boiled until just tender then drained and rinsed under cold water.

The fried stuff: 4 rashers of streaky beacon, chopped and fried in a pan. When almost done, 2 handfuls of macadamia nuts tossed through and cooked until brown, when slightly cooled one tablespoon natural maple syrup stirred through and left to cool.

The roasted stuff: 5 figs with a cross sliced in the top of each, a drizzle of raw honey over each one, roasted at 180 degrees until soft (about 20 minutes).

The dressing: 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar, 2 teaspoons freeze-fried raspberry powder, 1/4 cup olive oil, pinch salt, pinch sugar, combined.

Then it was just a matter of layering it all up and watching it disappear!

 

Sometimes the best meals are made from a few simple, fresh ingredients. This salad has been one of my all time favourite recipes for years now, and it never fails to deliver on a hot summer day.

I certainly didn’t invent it, but thought I’d share it today to remind everyone how amazing fresh seasonal vegetables can be, without any extra fuss required.

If possible, use a variety of heirloom tomatoes with different colours, flavours and shapes. (Mine are still green on the vines so I had to settle for one variety.) And please don’t store tomatoes in the fridge; it removes all their delicious flavour! Keep them at room temperature so they’re ready to eat.

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad

3 Fresh Tomatoes, room temperature

3 balls fresh mozzarella (I made mine, but you can buy in most supermarkets)

2 handfuls fresh basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon caster sugar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper (I like to use ordinary table salt as it is more delicate than ground salt or flakes)

 

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into slices of approximately even thickness. Spread on a platter, then sprinkle over the sugar. Leave for 5 minutes.

Splash over the vinegar, salt and pepper, and leave for another couple of minutes.

Shred the basil roughly with your hands and sprinkle over the top. Splash the olive oil over the salad, and check the seasoning.

Serves 3-4

The salad is also delicious with the addition of sliced, perfectly ripe avocado and a sprinkle of dukkah.

 

 

 

I always like to make little sweet treats to give away to friends at Christmas, and wondered how I could give my raw treats a Christmas twist. In the end, I came up with this very simple variation on my SMIZ balls.

For the balls, see my SMIZ Balls recipe in an earlier post.

For the ‘custard’ topping, melt 2 tablespoons cacao butter, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 3 tablespoons maple syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla paste.

Whisk to combine, then refrigerate until almost set hard.

Spread about 1/2 teaspoon cacao mixture over each ball, and top with a dried cranberry.

These make the cutest gifts, without the sugar spike that comes attached with Christmas pudding!

 

Afghans are an iconic New Zealand biscuit, but with all that sugar and butter they are not really a lunchbox snack or everyday food.

I’ve created a recipe free from dairy, grains, gluten and sugar. It’s not technically raw as the maple syrup is processed with heat, but is close enough for me! I would still consider this a treat as it is high is healthy fats and natural sugars, but after a long run or heavy exercise session one of these biscuits would provide lots of energy as well as important nutrients. Oh, and the kids will love them too!

Biscuits:

2 cups raw cashew nuts, blended until breadcrumb consistency

1 cup desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1/4 cup cacao powder

1/4 cup rice syrup

8 dried dates, soaked in warm water for 5-10 minutes

 

Icing:

60 grams cacao butter

4-5 tablespoons cacao powder

2.5 tablespoons coconut oil

2.5 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste

To make the biscuits, mix the finely blended nuts, coconut, coconut flour and cacao powder in a large bowl. Blend the drained dates and rice syrup until pale and creamy. Add this to the cashew mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.

With damp hands, roll balls of mixture and flatten them onto a tray or plate. Refrigerate.

To make the icing, melt all the icing ingredients in a small pot. Put in the fridge (or freezer) until firm enough to spread on the biscuits without it dribbling straight off (about half an hour).

Ice biscuits and top with a walnut half.

Keep refrigerated for up to a week.

 

This argument for eating less meat from today’s Dompost really resonated with me. Even if quitting animal products isn’t an option for you right now, cutting down sure could be. A few myths are debunked here: