Vegan Mofo Day 5 Cookbook Inspired - Rice & beetroot salad

I did a whole series of cookbooks for 2014 vegan mofo which you can check out here.
So today's inspiration doesn't really come from a cookbook (as set out on the mofo list), but instead from a retreat I stayed at last year where it was lovely to have someone else cooking for me!

To be honest, I didn't exactly enjoy all the meals as I felt they were too heavy and so loaded with oil and somewhat lacking in flavour. However I used the idea behind a salad that was served to create this dish myself. 
I'm pleased to report I've since found another retreat that gladly caters to oil free requests and it's simply divine to stay there!

RICE & BEETROOT SALAD

This rice and beetroot salad is so delicious, and with cooked rice already on hand, it's super quick and easy too.

You'll need:

                 
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 carrot
3 cooked baby beets
1/2 small red onion
1/2 cup sprouted legumes (these are available in most stores, if you don't want to sprout your own)

Dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 crushed garlic clove
few cracks black pepper

Grate the carrot, chop the onion and beets. 

Stir all ingredients  together and you're done.

Another year down - Christmas dinner review

2014 went so quickly for us!
I usually post quite a few pre-Christmas ideas but unfortunately this year I didn't get a chance to - my apologies.
I will however, do my usual wrap-up of our Christmas meal & include a few recipes that you might like to store up for next year (don't you just love pinterest for that reason)!


Pre-dinner nibbles of veggie sticks and baked corn tortillas with refried bean dip (recipe coming soon).

 Dinner included the following:

Beetroot & Green bean Salad (recipe below)

Agave Mustard Baked Veggies

Mini potato bites

Wholemeal Quinoa Loaf

Spinach, sweet potato, corn & mixed bean salad

Red Lentil & Spinach Loaf (recipe below)

And for dessert we enjoyed:

Christmas Chocolate fruit cake

Trifle (directions below)

Red Lentil & Spinach Loaf

375g packet red lentils
2 bay leaves
120grams baby spinach leaves
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
400g can tomatoes
1 1/2 cups oats   **
1 teaspoon each: oregano, cumin, sage
BBQ sauce

Place the lentils and bay leaves in a saucepan & fill with just enough water to cover them.
Bring to the boil and then simmer til lentils are softened but not yet falling apart (approx 15-20 mins).
Pour the cooked lentils into a large mixing bowl, removing the bay leaves.
Stir through the spinach leaves and allow the warmth of the lentils to wilt the leaves.
In a small frying pan, place the chopped onion and crushed garlic - dry fry until golden brown.
Stir the onion/garlic mix into the lentil/spinach mix.
Stir through the tomatoes, oats and herbs.
Place mixture into a lined loaf pan and spread the top with BBQ sauce.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 45 minutes.
This will slice best if you allow it to cool briefly before removing it from the loaf pan.

** For a firmer loaf you can use 2 cups of oats, however this will make a more dense loaf too (pictured below). My husband prefers the loaf with 2 cups of oats, I prefer it with 1 1/2 cups of oats. So take your pick!!!

Beetroot and Green Bean Salad

60grams baby spinach leaves
60grams beetroot leaves
6 baby beets
1 cup green beans
6 walnuts

Dressing:
150g soft tofu
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Combine the leaves in a salad bowl. Chop the baby beets and spread them evenly over the leaves. Remove the ends of the green beans and lightly steam them. Spread over leaves along with the crushed walnuts.
To make the dressing - blend all ingredients until smooth.
Pour dressing over salad to serve.

Trifle

You will need:
basic vanilla cake
custard- I doubled the quantity of the custard in this recipe, but halved the sugar
600grams frozen raspberries
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves.

Tear or chop the cake into little pieces.
In a glass serving bowl, layer 1/3 of the pieces of the torn cake, 1/3 of the raspberries and then a final layer using 1/3 of the custard, followed by a sprinkling of torn mint leaves.
Repeat layering process 3 times or until all ingredients are used up.
Refrigerate until time to serve.

I have to admit that I wasn't too disappointed to have some leftovers to enjoy!
I hope you all had a splendid Christmas time.

Happy New Year to all my readers :-)

Look forward to sharing with you in 2015.