Keep-me-going slice

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I love that this slice has enough protein to keep me full for ages, but lots of other good stuff too: oats for fibre and slow release carbs, fresh fruit, and enough sweetness to satisfy the 3pm slump. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe, so feel free to change up the nut butters and fruit toppings.

raspberry slice

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup nut butter (I used 50/50 peanut and cashew)

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup rice syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup fruit (I used frozen raspberries)

2 tablespoons coconut butter (or oil, but makes the topping less creamy)

1-2 tablespoons maple syrup

 

Blitz the oats in a blender until they are fine crumbs. Add the coconut, nut butter, coconut oil, rice syrup and vanilla, mix, and press into a tin. Sprinkle the fruit over the top.

Gently melt the coconut butter and maple syrup, and drizzle over the top.

Refrigerate for an hour or 2.

 

 

Baked pakora with yogurt sauce

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I’m always looking for inventive ways to serve vegetables! This is a beauty of a recipe: low fat, gluten-free, dairy-free and plant based. Oh, and did I mention delicious? I found the recipe here at the upbeet dietician. Of course I made a few tweaks, just by using my own favourite curry powder blend and sneaking in some fresh herbs for an extra punch.

I served the pakora with a sauce made from coconut yogurt, filtered water, chopped fresh mint, and a shake of sweet chilli sauce. It was declared a winner all round!

pakoras

Friday night fridge blues

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When you buy your fruit and veges at the Saturday farmer’s market every week, by Friday night the fridge is looking pretty sad. This is what faced me tonight:veges

I struggled for a bit to think how I could possibly make anything inspiring from this lot, then realised I had the makings of a good salad bowl. Thank goodness for Moore Wilson’s, where I was able to get my hands on a beautiful sashimi-grade tuna loin. Then it was just a matter of chopping and marinating the tuna in a soy sauce/sesame oil/rice wine vinegar marinade for a couple of hours, cooking the rice and quinoa, steaming the asparagus (yay, asparagus season is here!) and assembling it all.

It turned out bloody great, ended up with 7 serves of vegetables, and there were no complaints from the troops. Here’s the finished product, which took about 15 minutes total to throw together. Disclaimer: I found half a bag of edamame beans in the freezer and added them to the mix, raising the exotic-ness level significantly. poke2

 

 

Orecchiette with mega veg

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I always love a meal that can be whipped up in just one or two pans. This meal is a beautiful example of comfort and nutrition in one.

orrechiette

In one pan, I boiled up the pasta. I used orrechiette, but any shape would be fine.

In the other, I fried chopped onion, garlic and brussels sprouts until brown and soft. The kitchen smelt amazing! To that I added chopped mushrooms (a mixture of fresh button and re-hydrated shiitake) and fried for a few minutes longer.

Once the pasta was almost ready, I threw in with the veges a tin of 4 bean mix (drained), chopped pre-cooked beetroot, and a handful of fresh herbs. The crumbled feta and toasted walnuts scattered over the top took it next level!

 

Happiness in a glass

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Needing an afternoon pick-me-up today (it’s hump hour of hump week!) I threw a few goodies in the blender and was pretty stoked with what came out. This little ray of sunshine contains a glass of almond milk; handful each of silverbeet leaves and frozen berries; a splash of vanilla essence and maple syrup; and a teaspoonful each of peanut butter and cacao powder. 30 seconds on high speed and voila!

smoothie

 

It IS easy being green!

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Including more green vegetables in my diet doesn’t mean endless salads! Tonight I threw a bunch of spinach in my buckwheat crepes, and with an avocado filling (did I mention how much I love avocado?) and spuds freshly dug from my garden, there were 3 easy vege servings right there.

This dinner was literally met with groans of pleasure…and it was as simple as smoked salmon, avocado, and wasabi mayonnaise (70% mayo/30% wasabi paste; seriously, try it).

Other fillings could be sauteed mushrooms (with blue cheese for a special treat); steamed vegetables with a sprinkle of grated cheese; scrambled tofu with shredded veges and sauerkraut; sliced tomato and basil; or pear, rocket and feta.

I feel some experimenting coming on!crepe

 

Let food be thy medicine…

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A few weeks ago I was hit by a double-whammy of the flu, followed by pneumonia. It’s taken 2 courses of antibiotics, lots of rest, restraint and self-compassion to get myself back on my feet, and I still have a long way to go! It’s at times like these that Hippocrates’ quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” really rings true. In sickness, the only things that can really nourish us are food, meditation and rest. I’ve been using this time to try to fill up on the stuff that will allow my body to heal, so I’ve looked toward a plant-based diet with plenty of gut-friendly foods. Science still points to these being the 2 most valuable things for our overall health, and who am I to argue with science?

Of course, the family have been eating with me (I’m sure as hell not getting out of my sick bed to cook separate meals!), so my challenge has been preparing plant-based meals that appeal to active teenagers. I definitely nailed it last night with this healthy take on nachos.

nachos

Instead of greasy, rancid corn chips, I thinly sliced potato on a mandolin and baked them until crispy. The topping is a truckload of veges; kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, spinach and grated carrot. Now that I can buy avocados without taking out a small mortgage, I’ve whipped up some guacamole  to take it to the next level. The kids got a sprinkle of cheese on theirs, and let me tell you, there were no complaints!

 

It’s too hard to eat vegan…

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roast vege

I often get asked if it’s hard cooking mainly plant-based meals. Well, tonight’s meal involved throwing some stuff in the oven and walking away for half an hour, and it was delicious!

This is one of my favourite ways to cook plant-based. You can use whatever vegetables are in the fridge or garden, and it always works out well. A handful of nuts or grains over the top add interest and ring the changes.

Tonight, I tossed some yams, mushrooms, half a red pepper, and a handful of chestnuts in a roasting dish in the oven at 180 degrees. While they were cooking, I shredded some fresh spinach and mixed up a dressing from equal parts miso paste and rice vinegar and a splash of sesame oil. At the last minute I heated a couple of left-over falafels I had in the fridge and tossed the lot on a plate. Filling, tasty, and 4 serves of vegetables in one go. Win!

 

Vege night Friday!

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Saturday morning is when I stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables at the local Farmer’s market, which means Friday is the night to use up all the old vegetables that are languishing in the fridge to make room for the new guard.

To be fair though, there was nothing sad or floppy about tonight’s offerings. Literally a toss-together of whatever I could find, this little beauty was a combination of half a bag of baby spinach, capsicum, spring onion, fennel, grated carrot, radish, sliced apple, steamed green beans and grilled cauliflower and broccoli. To elevate it to the next level I tossed through a handful of crumbled blue cheese and toasted walnuts, and added a diner’s choice of either grilled haloumi  or tempeh and a slice of wholemeal sourdough.

Not bad for a Friday night, and no fish and chip hangover tomorrow morning!

salad

When you’re eating clean but need dessert now!

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Finished dinner, still a bit hungry, feel like something sweet…but am eating a vegan diet. Fruit salad won’t cut it tonight. Should I cheat and have some chocolate? What can I make that will be ready in 5 minutes, be raw and vegan, but still satisfy my sweet craving?

This was my conundrum last night, and this is the invention that necessity was the mother of. Creamy caramel pudding with fresh banana; tasty, velvety, and oh so filling!

caramel pud

 

1/2 cup raw cashews

1.5 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon lucuma powder

1-2 tablespoons rice syrup/maple syrup (to taste)

1 banana

Extra maple syrup for drizzling

 

Blitz half the banana with all the other ingredients (except the extra syrup) in a blender until really smooth and creamy. Share it between 2 bowls. Slice the remaining banana over the top of the pudding, and if desired, drizzle over a bit of extra maple syrup and maybe shake some more cinnamon over the top.

This recipe is not technically raw if using maple syrup, which doesn’t bother me as it’s still a natural wholefood, but you could make it raw by substituting raw honey or rice syrup. Don’t worry if you don’t have lucuma; it adds a nice caramel flavour but won’t make a big difference if it’s not in there.