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.

Kale, Quinoa & Falafel Salad

Have you seen mini kale in your supermarket or farmers market lately?
I have found these little kales in Coles, and not only are they super cute, but they are really delicious too. 
They don't have the same grassy taste that regular kale does. They have a subtle sweetness to them.
We have been enjoying them the last few months.

They are called "kalettes" and Coles has described them as a combination of kale and brussels sprouts with a nutty flavour.

I think that is a very good description.

Here's a quick and easy way to add them to a eye-pleasing salad:

KALE, QUINOA & FALAFEL SALAD

You'll need:
1 cup quinoa
1 punnet of kalettes
Approx 20 pre-cooked falafels
1 red capsicum


Dressing:

1 can chickpeas, drained
1 Tablespoon sweet chili sauce
2 Tablespoons soft tofu
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Place the quinoa in a microwave safe dish with 2 cups of water. Place a lid on and cook in the microwave for 12 minutes or until quinoa is clear and cooked through.
Allow to cool slightly.
Remove the woody ends from the kalettes and steam for 3-4 minutes.
Slice the capsicum.
Combine all the above in a salad bowl along with the falafels.
You can make your own falafels, or use packet ones. (Click on this link to see my preferred packet brand.)
To make the dressing, simply combine all the ingredients in a blender with 2-3 Tablespoons of water and blend til smooth. You can add more water if you prefer a thinner sauce.
Pour over the salad.

Can be served warm or cold.

*You can use regular kale if you can't find kalettes. Just steam and chop into rough pieces.

Question of the day:
Have you seen kalettes in the shop?

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. 

Kids Lunchbox Club - Quick Mexican Quinoa Salad

My daughter has decided that she quite loves quinoa! This is thanks to her testing out a Dreena Burton recipe. So this means now she requests it for her lunchbox salad. We don't often eat quinoa, but I had a batch made up this week and with a few leftover bits and pieces from a Mexican-inspired meal we had prepared earlier in the week this delicious salad was created.
Nevermind the kids! I reckon this lunchbox meal would please any adult too!

QUICK MEXICAN QUINOA SALAD

To serve one you'll need:
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 Tablespoons of salsa
1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup corn kernels
1/4 small capsicum - chopped
1/2 small avocado - diced

Stir a tablespoon of salsa into the quinoa and mix well. 
Add the other ingredients and stir through. Top with the remaining tablespoon of salsa.


 

Submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays
You can add your recipe on these blogs:
Vegan Dollhouse 
Rock My Vegan Socks

Warm Bean Salad

Winter is well and truly upon us now, so warmer salads are appealing to me more than cold ones! To be honest I'm not one who enjoys plain boring salads, I like salads with lots of flavours and substance! 

The aroma while this is cooking is just divine...
And is there anything so beautiful as the colours of plant foods?

You'll need:
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 can each red kidney beans, butter beans
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 green capsicum
1/2 small celery stalk
6 cherry tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
small handful each fresh basil leaves, fresh parsley
fat free Italian dressing
salad leaves of choice

Chop the onion (I did half in slices and half in little pieces just to be a bit different for a salad!). In a large frying pan saute the onion with the crushed garlic in a little bit of veggie stock. When the onions start to brown add the drained legumes, the corn, the chopped capsicum & celery. 

Fry for approx 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until the veggies are lightly cooked. Quarter the tomatoes and add them to the fry pan. Sprinkle over the chopped fresh herbs and drizzle the Italian dressing over. Continue to cook for as long til the veggies are as soft as you desire. 
Serve over salad leaves. I used a combination of cos, iceberg & a bag of mixed leaves.

Question of the day:
Do you eat salad in winter, or only in the warmer months?

Lazy Day Lunch

Some days I'm just not so hungry at lunch time. 
And other days, I'm super hungry in the afternoon.

I love this little treat for either of those occasions.

Crispbread
Topped with hummus,
Sundried Tomatoes
and mixed salad leaves of choice

Here's what I use and why I love them:

Ryvita Crispbread
These crispbread come in 3 varieties - Original Rye, Sesame Rye and Multigrain.
They are made using only wholegrain ingredients. Their ingredient list is minimal. They are low salt and high fibre. 

SSS Foods Hommus
This is my favourite brand of hommus. They are oil free which is a HUGE plus on my list. They come in 3 flavours- Natural, Fresh Chilli, and Coriander, Cumin & Mild Chilli which is my personal favourite.

Sandhurst Sun-dried Tomatoes
Again, here is another oil free product. These sun dried tomatoes are air packed & not sitting in oil. They are really moist and delicious, even without the oil. They do dry out a little after the packet is opened but they can easily be freshened up by soaking in boiling water for a few minutes.


I LOVE discovering oil free convenience foods. And whilst I don't like to promote a convenience diet, I think it's handy to know there are products out there that are good to use when those emergency times call for it!

If you're interested in discovering why I follow an oil-free diet you can read about it at these links:
Engine 2 Diet - Why No Oil
McDougall Newsletter - Why do you avoid adding vegetable oils 
PCRM - Avoiding added vegetable oils
Happy Herbivore - There is no such thing as Healthy Oils

Roasted Vegetable Roll

 

 

We all know how great baked veggies can be :-)

They seem to be the perfect accompaniment for all kinds of meals.

However, I really don't like it when the veggies are smoothered with oil. Not only is it not good for your health, but why destroy the natural taste of the vegetables?!?

Here's another way to have them that our family totally enjoy and I hope yours will too!

Place chopped veggies of choice on a lined baking tray.

Sprinkle with paprika and sage.

Bake in a preheated 200C oven for 40minutes, until tender & cooked through.

Serve in a bread roll with hummus and salad leaves.

Comfort food plus!

Great weekend cooking- when the smell of roast veggies will warm the home all morning, fill the stomach at lunch, and leave you perfectly satisfied all afternoon! 

Meatless Mondays A-Z Avocado

Have you ever heard of the Meatless Monday campaign?

I think its such a wonderful idea! As the website says "Good for you, good for the planet." 

I'm also joining in the Meatless Monday A-Z challenge hosted by the Better With Veggies blog. Each week I'll post a recipe for the food letter! You can read up about it here.
I missed the official start so even though this week is blueberry week I'm playing catchup and sharing my avocado recipe.

Check out what's in store for April:

I don't often eat avocados. So it was a nice change to buy one this week to experiment with.

As I walked through the fruit & veg shop thinking what I would create I remembered a time when I saw sliced avocado served with sliced mango. Even though it was plain is was delicious. I wondered if oranges would taste as yummy with avocado too so I decided to experiment. 

I was honestly surprised at how delicious this was! Don't be scared of the vinegar - it creates a wonderful sweet & sour taste that is just divine!


Avocado & Orange Salad

1/2 avocado
1 orange
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper



Peel and slice the orange. Slice the avocado. Serve in a dish & pour over the balsamic. Sprinkle with the pepper and serve.

Avocado Tip:
You can store avocados in brown paper bags to make them ripen quicker.
Remove the button from the bottom of the avocado to tell if its ripe. If the flesh showing is brown then its overripe, if its green then its ready to eat.

Reverse Salad Wrap

This is what happens when your wrap is not big enough 

to contain all the salad leaves that you want inside it!!!!

I promise you its just as tasty.... and far more refreshing!

In a large mixing bowl or salad bowl combine:


2 cups mixed salad greens
1/4 cup chopped red capsicum
kernels cut off one corn cob
1 chopped spring onion
4 chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup red kidney beans
1 wholemeal wrap, torn into bite size pieces

Top with 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar & 1 Tablespoon sweet chili sauce

Mix all ingredients together well.

 Sit on couch and enjoy the large bowl of delicious and nutritious food all to yourself ;-)

Why not join healthy-vegan-fridays yourself? :-)

WIAW - Week 7 Unprocessed

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen last night preparing my meals for today.
I put them all in the fridge overnight to make my traveling day so much easier! 

Breakfast, lunch & dinner - all set!

Breakfast - mango soaked oats

Lunch - Salad with leftover chickpea and veg medley (recipe will be posted by the end of the week!)

And a treat at work that I like to call "spinach thing". I buy this from a pizza shop but its not really a pizza - just pizza dough wrapped around cooked spinach & onion & pepper. Soooooooooo tasty! 

Dinner - Slow cooker potato pizzas (recipe from John McDougall's lastest book - The-Starch-Solution).

What did you eat this Wednesday?
Join in the WIAW fun at the peas and crayons blog.

Unprocessed - Week 5

Sharing a collection of my meals from this week as I'm continuing my unprocessed journey.
I hope some of these pictures inspire you to make more meals from scratch or at least give you some ideas. 
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment! 
I will provide recipes where I can :-)

Aduzki bean mix served on brown rice.

I had pancakes several times this week. I just felt like having them each morning! They really aren't that hard to make & I enjoy flipping them immensely!  Each time I had some I made different flavours!
These ones are Mcdougalls fluffy pancakes. A bit more involved than plain pancakes but oh so worth it! They were incredibly tasty! Great way to start the morning!

Simply pan hash-browns with lentil bolognese on salad. Easy mid-week lunch.

The hash browns are made by grating a potato and forming little circles in a frying pan and dry-frying til brown. So easy and quite tasty!

Trying out the tofu burger recipe from Dreena Burton's latest book - Let Them Eat Vegan.

These burgers were very tasty and so filling. They held their shape without falling apart, were full of flavour and re-heated without any problems. My idea of a perfect burger! As usual, a great recipe by the amazing Dreena Burton! If you don't have any of her books yet, I highly recommend getting them!

My 2 apple refresher drink. Very satisfying on a warm summer's day!

Bean loaf served with mash and veggies. Recipe coming soon! :-)

Brown rice with raisins and cinnamon.

Portable lunch - leftover tofu burger with salad.

More pancakes! Raspberry and banana flavour.

Combine: 3/4 cup spelt flour, 3/4 cup oatbran, 1 teaspoon baking powder. Mash a banana and stir into flour mixture. Add 3/4 cup soymilk and 1/4 cup frozen raspberries.

Fat-free home-made fries with vegetable medley.

Super simple and really satisfying.

I told you I over-did the pancakes this week ;-)

Oatmeal pancakes with strawberries and maple syrup.

Mashed red kidney beans with tomato paste served with lettuce on a pita bread.

Home-made pizza on chickpea base with pizza cheeze sauce.