When the kids want tacos, but you want them to eat veges…these tacos have 6 serves of vegetables in them, not to mention plenty of fibre in the kidney beans. Win!
Category: vegetarian
When life gives you rainy Sunday…
…fill the tins! I had planned a day at the beach, but it seems summer is refusing to come to the party.
So instead I made a batch of sourdough, which I have turned into a loaf of bread, a batch of English Muffins for lunch, and some unbaked pizza scrolls to go into the freezer and bring out and bake on a school morning for lunches.
I also cracked out this rather fabulous batch of muesli, made with more or less equal quantities of wholemeal rolled oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and nuts (in this case macadamias and walnuts). I also added a handful of coconut flakes, and coated the lot with 2 tablespoons each coconut oil, honey and peanut butter, and a teaspoon each of cinnamon and vanilla essence. I baked it at 160 degrees until the whole was golden brown, then threw in a couple of handfuls of sultanas for good luck.
Looking forward to having this for breakfast with fresh blueberries on top; at least summer has got them right this year!
How to make a plate of vegetables sexy?
I mean, I’d happily eat this lot steamed with a bit of soy sauce, but the family aren’t quite so easily pleased, so I needed to turn this bunch of raw veg into an appealing bowl of deliciousness with a couple of added enticements.
I thought I’d use the traditional Korean meal Bibimbap as my inspiration. In Korea, the rice and vegetables are brought out to the table in a stone bowl, and the raw egg is cracked over the top. The diner then adds a good dollop of spicy chilli sauce and mixes it all together while it’s still sizzling. I don’t have stone bowls, and I don’t do even remotely raw egg, so here is my take on Bibimbap:
2 cups Japanese sushi rice
3-4 cups vegetables. I used a sliced onion, sliced mushrooms, sliced radish, shredded cabbage, julienne carrot and broccoli. Beans, courgette and tomato would also be good.
4 free range eggs
Handful toasted sesame seeds
Handful chopped coriander leaves
1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 -2 teaspoons tabasco or similar hot chilli sauce to taste
Make the sauce by mixing the chilli sauces and vinegar together in a small bowl.
Cook the rice in a rice cooker or following packet instructions and keep warm.
Get a wok and a frying pan or skillet heating up; you want to cook each vegetable separately but quickly. Stir fry the vegetables and when ready, put a scoop of rice in each bowl and arrange the vegetables on the top.
Fry the eggs and top each bowl with one egg, a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and a sprinkle of coriander.
Serve with the chilli sauce to be stirred through according to taste.
Sexy vegetables!
Sometimes you just need vegetables!
So here’s tonight’s vege-heavy dinner: vegetable fritters, cumin coated kumara wedges, mushrooms, spinach, raw cashew aoili and coriander pesto. The fritters are a great way to use up whatever vegetables are lying around and need using up; tonight’s numbers had carrot, corn, chilli, spring onion, silverbeet and pureed pumpkin, with a little bit of feta to sweeten the deal.
Healthy bounty bars
Plenty of people have tried to come up with a cleaner version of the classic Bounty Bar. Here’s my take for all the coconut lovers:
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 tablespoon coconut flour
3 tablespoons cacao butter
2-3 tablespoons rice syrup according to taste
1/4 cup cacao powder
Blend the coconut, oil, vanilla and coconut flour in a high speed blender until it forms a sticky mixture. Roll into balls or bars and refrigerate for at least half an hour until cold.
Gently heat the cacao butter, rice syrup and cacao powder in a small saucepan until melted and smooth. Dip the coconut balls into the chocolate to coat, then return to the refrigerator to set.
Makes about 7-8 little balls or bars.
Fast food can be good food!
This meal puts paid to the theory that healthy, tasty vegetarian/vegan food has to be complicated! I whipped up this falafel with hummus and salad in just a few minutes, and it tasted every bit as good as an iskender meal from the local Turkish takeaway. The falafel themselves are ridiculously easy to make, and the salad can just be made with what’s in the fridge. Here’s my recipe:
For the falafel:
2 tins of 4 bean mix
1 handful of fresh herbs; parsley or coriander are good
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon coconut oil
For the hummus:
1 cup cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salad:
4 cups of salad greens; I used lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, grated fennel, grated radish, beansprouts and avocado. The trick is to shred everything quite small.
Optional sauce (not vegan)
1/4 cup natural, unsweetened yogurt
1 large handful fresh mint, roughly chopped
To make the falafel, blend all the ingredients except the oil together until they form a paste but it is still a bit chunky. Add a splash of water if it needs to be loosened a bit. Put aside in the fridge for 15 minutes before cooking.
In the meantime, make the salad and hummus.
Put all the hummus ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth, adding water until you get a good consistency.
Toss the salad ingredients in a large platter. If making the sauce, mix the yogurt and mint with a little water to thin it down and serve in a jug to the side.
Roll the falafel mixture into walnut sized balls, and fry in the coconut oil until brown on both sides.
Serve falafel on top of a bowl of salad with a big blob of hummus on the side, and sauce dribbled over the top (if using).
Grain-free vegan lunch in 5 minutes?
I’m trying to go wheat-free for a while, so the standard lunch of mushrooms on toast or salad wrap is off the cards for now. Searching around in the fridge and my rather sad winter vegetable garden today netted me half a block of tofu, 1 field mushroom and some winter greens. Yep, not looking great, until I remembered that scrambled tofu can be really tasty and a good vehicle for other flavours. Within 5 minutes I had a plateful of goodness which contained 5 servings of vegetables, plenty of protein and some powerful spices just to really get things going, although clearly not enough to excite the dog.
Here’s my recipe for a super-simple vegan and grain-free tofu scramble for one:
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
Half a block of tofu (about 150 grams), chopped into small dice or crumbled
A couple of handfuls of vegetables. I used a chopped field mushroom and a handful of frozen edamame beans, but courgette, bean sprouts, tomato or corn would be equally good.
Handful of spinach leaves, shredded
Handful of rocket leaves, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
Handful of my savoury seeds
1/2 a fresh lime or lemon
In a small frying pan, heat the coconut oil. Drop in the spices and cook until light brown and fragrant. Add the tofu and stir fry for 3-4 minutes until brown.
Stir in the vegetables and cook for another minute, then stir through the shredded spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted.
Serve the tofu scramble with a big handful of rocket leaves, chopped coriander, savoury seeds, a good squeeze of lime juice and salt and pepper.
Dumpling delight
Check out this great meal that my 15 year old made for our dinner! A little time consuming to make, but not difficult and so good!
The first step is to make a mixture of cabbage, tofu, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, egg and spring onions.
Then you stuff dumpling wrappers with the filling, crimp them together, and cook. It really works!
She followed this recipe from thekitchn.com, but I’m already thinking of experimenting with shrimps, coriander, minced chicken….
Raw peppermint slice
I have one child who just loves peppermint slice; you know, the recipe with the sugar and butter filled base and 2 layers of icing? I told him if he could find a raw alternative, I would make it, and he came up with this in the blink of an eye. I found the base to be a bit dry so added a tablespoon of melted coconut oil, and needed to up the peppermint essence significantly, but I think I’ll be returning to this lovely recipe from Wholefood Simply.
Raw choc-nut cups
I’ve just put a tray of these babies in the fridge, and it’s taking all my will power to wait until the chocolate topping is set before I dive in! In a bit of experimentation, I’ve made these with 3 different nut butter fillings; hazelnut, peanut and macadamia. I reckon it’s going to be tough to pick the best one, but will reluctantly submit myself for scientific experiments. Will get back with the results of scientific taste tests when the crew are home from school to provide unbiased opinions. In the meantime, here’s the recipe:
For the base:
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup dates
1/2 cup sultanas
1.5 tablespoons cacao powder
For the filling:
Your choice of nut butter, about 5 tablespoons in total
For the topping:
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons cacao powder
To make the base, blend the nuts into fine crumbs, then blend in the dates and cacao until the mixture sticks together. Roll teaspoon-sized balls of dough and drop into mini-muffin tins, then press into shape.
Drop about half a teaspoon of nut butter into each base (or enough to come not quite to the top of the crust). Refrigerate while you make the topping.
To make the topping, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Pour over the top of the cups to just cover the butter. I put a corresponding nut on top of each cup so I’ll know what I’m getting; just like choosing chocolates from a box!
thefuelledfurnace 