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. 

Walnut Blondies

Brownies - turned blonde.... and healthy ;-)

You'll need:
2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup walnuts

1 Tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 Tablespoons boiling water
1 banana
1 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
100g dairy free white chocolate (I used Sweet William)
1/4 cup boiling water



Smash the walnuts into crumbly pieces. I do this by putting them in a zip-lock bag & hitting with a 'meat' mallet. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined and walnuts are evenly distributed.


 
Prepare the flax seeds - combine them with the water and whisk well. Leave aside for 5 minutes until thickened.
Mash the banana.
Melt the chocolate. I do this in a microwave on 50% power, checking every minute and stirring til nearly melted. The residual heat will do the rest. I find it best not to wait until it's completely melted or some parts tend to be hard and overdone.

Pour all the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently stir until folded through.
Pour mixture into a lined 18cm square baking tray and spread until evenly distributed.
Place in a preheated 180C oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool before slicing.

School Tip:
For nut-free schools make this with sunflower seeds instead.  

Submitted to Meatless Monday A-Z:
Unbleached Flour

Apple, Fig & Walnut Strudel

 

I did promise the occasional treat, and again I'm resorting to filo pastry :-)

But yes, I have added some tweaks to my version of strudel to make it healthier. 

Instead of spreading the pastry with butter & breadcrumbs to create layers I have used soy milk & oat bran, and I haven't sprinkled it with sugar either!
And just for the record --> No, I will never be bothered to make my own filo pastry ;-)

APPLE, FIG & WALNUT STRUDEL

You'll need:

2 green apples

4 dried figs

1 orange

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup oat bran

2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

soy milk - roughly 1/4 cup

6-8 sheets filo pastry

Core the apples and slice into thin pieces. Dice the dried figs. Juice the orange and remove half the zest. Combine all of these in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Crush the walnuts into little pieces and stir into the apple mixture.

 

While the apples are cooking, prepare the pastry sheets.

In a small bowl mix together the oat bran, flax seeds and cinnamon. (This will be used in place of breadcrumbs in tradition recipes to create the layers between the pastry.)

Lay 2 sheets of pastry on a flat surface and brush with soy milk. Lightly sprinkle the pastry with a layer of the oat bran/flax mixture.

Repeat this layering process until you are down to the last sheet of pastry - if you're pressed for time you can add 2 sheets at a time.

*Do not spread the top layer of pastry with the milk and oat bran.* 

On the top layer spread the apple mixture in a log shape towards the end, but leaving the edges bare to be tucked in.

Roll the pastry up, folding tightly and tucking the side edges in.

Brush the top of the strudel with soy milk & sprinkle with another layer of the oat bran/flax mixture.

Bake in a preheated 200C oven for 30 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

Meatless Monday - Jelly

Today's Meatless Monday food is Jelly.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, Jelly! Or as we call it in Australia - Jam!

There is only one brand of jam that I will buy and its St Dalfour.

I love their jam and the range of flavours.

My favourite flavour is Four Fruits.... 

So that is what you'll find in today's recipe!

Chewy Walnut Jam Cookies

You'll need:

1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour

1/3 cup raw sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup soymilk (or other plant milk of choice)
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons ground flax seeds mixed with 2 Tablespoons water

1/2 cup jam (flavour of choice - I used four fruits)

Mix the flaxseeds with the water and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix well.

Crush the walnuts and add them to the dry mixture.

Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the applesauce, soymilk, vanilla and flax seed mixture.

Gently stir until all ingredients are well combined.

Scoop large tablespoons full of the mixture and place onto a lined baking tray. Use the back of the spoon to make a well in the centre of each cookies.

Pour 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the centre of each cookie.

Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 15 minutes.

Allow to cool before eating as the jam will be bubbling hot.

Makes 14 large cookies

Question of the day:

Do you have a favourite flavour jam?

Date & Coconut Slice

This is made in 3 parts.
Its a little time consuming & fiddly but oh so worth it!

For the base you'll need:
1 cup plain flour
100g nuttelex.

For the filling you'll need:
1 cup dried dates
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dessiccated coconut
1 tablespoon corn flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping you'll need:
30g walnuts
2 tablespoons shredded coconut (you can use desiccated if you wish but the shredded looks great as a topping!)

Line a 2cm square cake tin with baking paper.
Preheat your oven to 180C.
Put the flour into a mixing bowl & add the nuttelex cut into bite size pieces. Use your hands to rub the nuttelex into the flour until the mixture is crumbly.
Push the mixture into the lined cake tin and press down firmly.
Bake in the oven for 13 minutes (it won't look cooked or very golden - that's ok!).
Chop the dried dates into little pieces & place into a saucepan. Pour boiling water over the top of the dates until just covered. Place on the stove & bring to the boil & then simmer until nearly all the water is dried out - takes about 10 mins. Remove from heat & drain any excess water.
Place dates, brown sugar, desiccated coconut, corn flour & vanilla into a mixing bowl & mix well.
Pour the date mixture over the base. Spread until evenly coated.
Place the walnuts in a sandwich lock bag. Zip shut & then crush with a meat mallet!!! You can make the crumbs as small or large as you like. Add the shredded coconut to the bag and mix well.
Sprinkle the coconut/walnut mixture over the top of the date filling & lightly press down til its just into the date mix.
Bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes or until lightly golden on the top.
Allow to cool before cutting into bite size squares.