A Sundae Treat

I'm in the middle of preparing for my first Juice and Smoothie workshop which I'm enjoying - sorting handouts, details, recipes and information to share.  And experimenting, playing and creating.  I think I might be overrunning into a separate workshop but that'll be OK in the end... Raw desserts evening here I come (info to follow should that happen)!

Well however it all works out it's been great discovering along the way and I think that's often where so much joy really is. Reaching the destination is all very well but it's the fun (and learning, mistakes and more) you have along the way that's really what it's all about.

So without more waffle I thought I'd share today's creation:

Banana and Mango Sundae with Toffee Sauce

To make: (serves 2-3)

Toffee sauce:

12 medjool dates, pitted
Add to blender with a little water and blend on low until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times. You can vary how runny you want the toffee sauce to be depending on how much water you use. Add small quantities (of water) at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Banana ice cream:

6 bananas, chopped then frozen for at least 5-6 hours
Add to blender and blend until smooth.

Mango ice cream:

2 mangoes, chopped then frozen for 5-6 hours
Add to blender and blend until smooth.

Sundae:

Put a dessert-tablespoon measure of toffee sauce at the bottom of the serving glass/bowl and top with banana ice cream.  Add the mango ice cream next and top this with a layer of toffee sauce.  Lastly another layer of banana ice cream and to garnish use a swirl of your toffee sauce and fruit of choice for decoration.

Vegan meal a week challenge: Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Red Quinoa Soup

Wow these weeks seem to fly by!  With planning to share/ discover a vegan meal a week (and now one that my dad will be up for trying too...) it soon seems to be back to Monday again.

Life is anything but dull at the moment.  The snow has given me a lovely respite from thinking I should be running/cycling (and even swimming seems to have suffered at the minute) however I've discovered rebounding which am just loving - great for chi according to lots of people (and I did have a similar reaction after being on the trampoline as I did after using a friends chi machine - a great feeling!) Studying wise my homeopathy postgraduate course is going well and I plan to graduate from that in April.  I'm coming to the end of a nutrition diploma and about to start on case studies for my kinesiology qualification.. Aside from that my homeopathy work is getting busier all the time, life with my wonderful 6 year old is lots of fun and learning to be done (for me) and am just setting out on my raw food 21 day transition (well on day 3 so far)...

So for my vegan meal this week I've been very lazy (hopefully the above goes some way towards justification for this!) and looked to find inspiration online instead of trawling through my growing collection of great veggie/vegan/raw cookbooks...

Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Red Quinoa Soup

Inspired by: Sprouted Kitchen & Coconut & Quinoa
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked red quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (or other oil)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cup diced sweet onion (about 1/2 large)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded if preferred and diced
• 1 large sweet potato (350 g), peeled and chopped to 1/2-1 inch dice (2.5-3 cups)*
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1.5 cups cooked black beans (one (15-oz) can rinsed and drained)
• fine grain sea salt and black pepper, to taste (I used 1/2 tsp salt or a bit more)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes)
• 2 handfuls Spinach or kale leaves, optional
• toppings: avocado, corn chips, cilantro, cashew cream, lime juice, tomatoes or salsa, green onion

1. In a medium-sized pot, add quinoa along with 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cover with tight fitting lid. Simmer covered for about 17 minutes or until the water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat, fluff with fork, and keep it covered until ready to use.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large wok or pot. Add garlic and onion and sauté for a few minutes over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Now add in the jalapeno and sweet potato and sauté for 5-7 minutes more.
3. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, coriander, and broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 18-20 minutes uncovered, or until the potatoes are tender.
4. Just before serving, stir in the cooked quinoa, drained and rinsed black beans, cayenne, and optional spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste, adding more spice if desired.
5. Garnish soup with cherry tomatoes, cilantro, green onion, corn chips, avocado, and/or cashew cream.

6. Feast on tasty, vibrant comfort food!

http://ohsheglows.com/2012/11/30/black-bean-sweet-potato-and-red-quinoa-soup/

Just off to have a quick look at OhSheGlows - people have kept telling me about it so do check out the site as well....

One vegan meal a week challenge... (this is an easy peasy squashy one)

Here's one I made earlier:

My lovely Squash Salad with a Sweet Balsamic Glaze

To serve two you'll need something like:


1 butternut squash
100g baby leaf spinach
6 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 yellow pepper
1 carrot
2 small beetroot
4 spring onions
handful of grapes
1/2 a small tin of sweetcorn

For the dressing:
A generous splash (30-50mls or so - I generally just swirl a bit into the pan) in equal quantities of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and maple syrup/agave nectar/other plant based sweetener

Preheat oven to 200 Deg C, cut squash in half, scoop out the seeds.  Place on oven tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Cook for one hour.  Allow to cool a little.

Make the salad - share the spinach between two plates, chop the cherry tomatoes (I like to do mine in 4 so I get more cherry tomato bits), cucumber, pepper and spring onion.  Grate the carrot and beetroot, sprinkle the sweetcorn and grapes on.

To make the dressing:
Pour your balsamic vinegar, sweetener and olive oil into the pan and heat gently.  Keep stirring and allow to thicken slowly.  You're looking for a still pourable dressing but a little thicker and stickier than it was when you poured it into the pan.  Remove from heat and allow to cool (it'll thicken a little now also so take off heat a bit before you think it's ready - you can always put it back on if need be).

Score lines on your butternut squash so when you scoop the flesh out of the butternut squash skin it comes out in more cube like shapes (or just scoop it if you want more of a rustic look), put on top of the salad and drizzle the dressing over both plates.

One vegan meal a week: Vegetable Biryani

From the fabulous Forks over Knives Cookbook

Serves 4 to 6

Rice:
2 cups brown basmati rice
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
salt to taste

Veg:
1 medium onion, peeled, diced
2 stalks broccoli, cut into florets
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp whole cumin seeds, toasted
2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
salt to taste

To make the rice - bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add the rice and bring the pot back to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook the rice, covered for 40 minutes.  Stir in the tumeric, cumin, coriander, cardamon and cinnamon.  Season with salt if like and cook for another 5 minutes or so, or until the rice is tender.

For the veg - place the onion in a large saucepan and saute over medium heat for 8 minutes.  Add water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time to keep the onions from sticking to the pan.  Add the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots to the pan and cook until the vegetables are tender - about 8 to 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, coriander, cumin and ginger, mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add the cooked rice, raisins and almonds.  Season with salt if needed and mix well.

As always if there's an ingredient you particularly don't like - omit or replace with one that you do!

Enjoy!!

I didn't know that! Biryani originated in what is now Iran.

Homemade Energy Bars

Loving cashew nuts at the moment so I thought I'd create something yummy instead of simply devouring them (in their equally yummy state) straight from the bag...

Here's what I made...

100g cashews
25g almonds
25g pecan nuts
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sesame seeds
100g medjool dates
50g cranberries
50g apricots

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and whizz.  The longer it's blending the smoother the mix will be and if you leave it long enough it should (mine did anyway) come together in a big blob of loveliness.  Scrape out of the food processor and press firmly into a lined tray (approx 20cmX15cm or so).  Mark out the squares with a knife and put into the fridge to set.

When wanted wrap or put into snack box if taking out for a ride/run or simply enjoy on return.