Rocket, Walnut and Orange

I have been working at a market stall on Saturdays in return for some organic fruit and veg. Occasionally at the end of the day, if some things haven't sold and will not keep we get given them to take home. This last Saturday I was asked if I wanted to take home a bag of rocket leaves. As I am always needing to increase my leafy green intake I said yes.

I googled rocket salads and, well nothing was really taking my fancy (that and/or I didn't have the ingredients on hand). Eventually I found this recipe. I only had rocket so I couldn't use any other greens. I made a few other changes - I didn't use any oil (I lightly toasted the walnuts in a dry pan). I also only made the recipe for me - so I only used a few walnuts and half an orange. I took this photo before I put on the balsamic vinegar because it didn't look as nice then.

Rocket is sooooo bitter - I know why you need to put sweet fruit with it. It was barely edible. I still had about 3/4 of the package left (and I was still hungry). I made it again except I microwaved the rocket for about 25seconds. then I mixed in the orange pieces, walnuts and balsamic vinegar. I didn't take a photo but the slight cooking of the rocket took the edge off the bitterness and I really enjoyed my second bowl of this salad.

Raw carob chews

Well here is another raw recipe that I learnt from the raw food demonstration that I went to a few weeks ago. I brought home a lot of the stuff for Nat to try and he loved the sweet treats. One that he particularly loved were these raw chews. Now I didn't tell him that they had carob in them until after he declared them to be good as he has a bit of an aversion to carob. I have made these once since the presentation - but I didn't take any photos and I didn't bother wrapping them up because I thought it was a waste of cellophane. So these photos come from the demonstration day. Gosia kindly said that I could share this recipe with you - although if you are interested in yummy raw food recipes you should check out her website.

Carob Chews *when I made this my processor was smaller so if you have a smaller food processor halve the recipe*

Just under 1 cup almonds
Just under 1 cup walnuts
Handful raisins
4 Tbsp carob powder
40 dates
40 dates

Process the almonds in a food processor, then add the walnuts and process until really smooth (the mixture should be quite oily when done). Add the raisins, carob and 40 dates and blend and then add the remaining dates and blend till chewy.

Turn out onto a clean surface and shape into a square (or place in a square container). Cut the mixture into squares.

Cutting the mixture

The mixture once cut

If you want you can wrap each square in cellophane and make lollies out of them.

All wrapped up

More Bread Baking - Moroccan Seed Loaf

Well Nat has had a few days off and so I haven't really needed to do any baking. He started back at work this morning and when I asked him what type of bread he would like he replied with "Surprise".

I looked through The Big Book of Bread and found a recipe for the Moroccan Seed loaf. This is a white loaf which uses honey and milk instead of sugar and water. It also includes sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds.

To veganise, I used agave for the honey and a 50:50 mix of warm water and this soy milk. This bread didn't rise quite as much as I thought it should have and actually sank a little when it went into the oven - I also had to remove it about 10 minutes before the end of the recommended baking time or it would have been burnt to a crisp. I was a little worried that the loaf would be dense as it doesn't have any oil in the dough (aside from a little soy milk) and the fact that it didn't rise, but as you can see it turned out really well. Nat was really impressed and ate about 3 pieces with avocado (our favourite bread spread) yesterday afternoon.

Next time I will reduce the temprature a little and double the amount of seeds as they were quite dispersed throughout the bread. But definitely a loaf with lots of potential that I will make again.

The "I have to make biscuits and be out the door in half an hour" recipe

Sorry for the long title. It sets the scene beautifully though. Apart from my US friends might need biscuits to be translated to cookies.

There I was last night happily thinking that I was going to spend the evening just chilling and watch a movie with Nat, when I get a txt from a friend saying that she was picking me up in 1/2 an hour to go to dinner at another friend's house... I TOTALLY forgot about the dinner and I had said I would bring some post dinner munchies.

Well - with there being nothing in our cupboards that was able to be taken (well there were plain crackers but I didn't have any dip) - I realised that I was going to have to bake something... and something really easy. One of the people going to the party has an intolerance to sugar - so I also had to make it sugar free.

I did a quick search and found this recipe here. It was so simple. I made a few substitutions - I used agave instead of sugar and I also used coconut oil and white spelt flour.

They came out really well. This is the second batch (that I made so that nat would have some for lunches at work) and they got a little burnt because I was running around getting ready and not paying too much attention.

I couldn't believe how good they were for how simple the recipe was. It was a little too sweet for me but everyone else thought it was just right.

Feeling like raw - and this hits the spot!

Carrot salad with grated apple, celery,
sunflower seeds, walnuts, pepitas and sultanas.

Well summer is defiantly approaching and my body is starting to crave a lot more fresh alive foods and meals. I am going to have to look into finding some nice simple raw recipes for summer.

At the moment I can't get enough of my grated carrot salad... I make it differently every time depending on how I am feeling. So I will give you a run down of basic ingredients. In the photo I put most of them in just to show you - usually I use a little less of the "toppings".

Basically I grate a medium-large carrot.
I grate some apple as well (how much apple depends on how sweet I feel like - today I used less than half an apple, some days I use a whole apple).
Any other vegetable I desire: celery (chopped finely), ginger (finely minced)
Then I add desired toppings: nuts (chopped almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, coconut flakes or shreds), seeds (pumpkin and sunflower), dried fruits (sultanas, raisins, chopped up dates)

Then I devour!! It is raw heaven - believe me!!!

When I was a kid an after school treat that mum used to make was grated apple and sultanas... that is another dish if your body is craving sweet things.

**Edited November 4th - I was thinking about other yummies that would rock in this salad I came up with: grated beetroot, grated parsnip, chopped pineapple, orange segments or orange juice... the list goes on... mmmmm***

Vegan Gluten Free Almond Macaroons

Yesterday was Nat and my nephew's first birthday/naming ceremony celebration.

I really wanted to help with the catering but as we were driving up that morning (they live in the north of the state) and I don't have any big containers for transporting things like cakes, muffins or cupcakes I thought I would make some cookies.

Just before Nat left for work the day before yesterday (when I planned to do my baking) he reminded me that I should make sure that the cookies are Gluten Free. I had forgotten that two of his siblings have a gluten intolerance (and I don't think nat appreciates the difficulty I have had cooking gluten free sweets and breads). So off to the net I went and I searched and searched - my biggest limitation being that the only gf flour I had was buckwheat and I wasn't able to get to the shops to get any more flours or gf ingredients.

Just before I gave up and resorted back to my original plan of pumpkin oatmeal cookies, I saw this recipe for Almond Macaroons. Of course it wasn't vegan, but it wasn't hard to veganize either. They are SO simple and took hardly any time - well they wouldn't have taken much time but I did have to blanch my own almonds.

These were really good!!! They were a hit for all who tried them. I made two batches (just to make sure the first ones worked before making the second lot. Nat tried one and it was difficult to convince him that he couldn't have any more before the party. The second batch I made, I didn't pulse the almonds quite as much as the first lot - they still held together but they didn't look as nice (so almond flour is the consistency that I want in the future).

***Beware, these are VERY soft when they come out of the oven - and they fall apart. But I let them cool a little on the tray and then transferred them to the rack after they started to firm up - best thing about them initially being so soft was that I could squeeze them back together if they fell apart!!

Everyone who tried them at the party loved them so through sheer easiness and taste I will be making these a lot in the future.

Vegan Almond Macaroons
Makes approx 16
Time: less than 45mins (incl. blanching almonds)

1 cup blanched whole almonds
1/2 cup raw sugar (or other granulated sugar)
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer (I use Organ no-egg)
1 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
icing sugar for dusting (optional - I didn't use it)
approx 16 almonds

1. Preheat oven to 180degrees celsius
2. Blend almonds in a food processor (I pulse them to a flour as the cookies look better). When they are processed add the sugar and pulse to mix it through.
3. Add the egg replacer, water and vanilla extract and blend (I thought that the mixture would not stick together but when I grabed a small handful and pressed it together it did - if it doesn't add a little more water)
4. Roll mixture into 16 balls and place on lightly greased baking tray. Press the ball down and place an almond on the top.
5. Bake in the oven for 10 mins. Remove and allow to cook slightly on the tray (so that they harden up a bit) and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completly.
6. Keeps at least 4 days in an airtight container.

Iron Chef Challenge #2 - Pear walnut and banana muffins with walnut crumb topping

So I have a vegan potluck to go to today - and, as there are mountains of bananas in my fruit bowl I thought some banana muffins would go down pretty well. When I looked at some other vegan blogs I found this pretty awesome recipe at vegan visitor.

But then this morning when I woke up and started checking my blog reader I saw that the Iron Chef Challenge for week 2 of Vegan Mofo used the ingredients pears and nuts. Now pears are becoming quite expensive here (as it is now spring in Aussie) but I did have two pears in the fruit bowl. As I needed to get cooking straight away so I could get to the potluck on time, I decided to create a pear and banana muffin and use the crumb topping from vegan visitors muffins.

The muffins were a BIG hit - everyone thought they were moist and the crumb topping really went well. I did have issues keeping the walnuts from falling off the top - maybe I need to press them down more firmly next time.

Pear, walnut and banana muffins with walnut crumb topping.

1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup whole meal flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 225g (8 ounce) tub plain soy yogurt
1 large banana mashed
1 1/2 cups pears –peeled and diced
Topping
1/4 Cup Walnut Halves or Pieces
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Margarine
1/8 teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Finely grind walnuts using a mortar and pestle or a food processor.
Sift flour into a bowl; add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in ground walnuts. Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine sugar, oil, vanilla, yogurt and banana in a small bowl, add to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in diced pear.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

Topping
For the walnut crumb topping I followed Vegan Visitor’s recipe here.

Bake at 180ºC on the centre rack for 18 minutes, until firm and golden or insert and remove a toothpick.
Allow muffins to rest in the tin before moving to a rack to cool.
Makes about 12 muffins.

Vegan Mofo #12: Breakfasts on the go - healthy breakfast bars

Nat is a tour/bushwalking guide. His job has its perks (ie. getting to go bushwalking around many pretty places in Tasmania and getting paid to do it) but it also has its drawbacks (a day trip starts by nat leaving before 6.30am and getting back well after 7.30pm). Having said that - some of his multiday trips require him to leave before 5am so I am not complaining too much about getting up at 5.45am for the day trips.

Because its way too early to have a decent breakfast I have been looking into cooking some breakfast bars for Nat to take. I was having trouble finding something that I thought looked nice and had almost given up hope (it either had too much oil or sugar or used banana or tofu so wouldn't keep for very long). But then as I was making myself a dandelion coffee (really good coffee substittue - I would reccommend it) I saw on the back of the soymilk container the perfect recipe... ok, well almost the perfect recipe. (It was a different soy milk that I had because I had run out of my normal one and the local shop only stocked this one)
I pretty much followed the recipe but veganised some of the ingredients and changed the nuts and fruit (ok -I didn't actually measure anything specifically - I just bunged it all in roughly according to the directions- I was really tired).

I was really pleased with the results. Its crunchy but not too crunchy - sweet but not too sweet and held together really well. And it was really REALLY easy. I will be making these a lot more often.


Breakfast on the go breakfast bars

2 cups rolled oats
1/3cup dried apricots - chopped
1/2 cup dried dates - chopped
1/4 cup almonds (chopped) or sunflower seeds
1/4 cup coconut flakes (optional - I was going to put them in because I thought they would be nice but I forgot when I was making it)
3 tbsp agave or maple syrup
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coconut extract (or vanilla)
1 cup soymilk
egg replacer for one egg (I used organ no-egg)

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius
2. Place all ingredients in large bowl
3. Spray bottom of pyrex dish (20cm square) with cooking spray or line with baking paper
4. Press mix into pan and bake until golden (approx 30mins)
5. Let cool completely and then cut into bars.

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Oh before I go - I got so SUPER excited yesterday. I was walking back from the city Library and I walked past a little store that I know sells foreign food (ie. American and British comfort food mainly). I have never had the need to go in there but I thought that now I see so many recipes online with american ingredients maybe I should check it out. Well what did I see... a few really gross things like marshmallow spread and peanut butter and jam swirled into a jar - "biscuit" mix (which I now realise to be scones) and lots of Hershey's chocolate products to name a few. But what got me super excited was that I found this:




LIQUID SMOKE!!
YAY!!!

I was hoping that this would be in there but I didn't want to get my hopes up. So now as the BBQ season approaches I will not feel deprived when I find recipes calling for this little baby. I am rather happy right now.