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: 'Cheesy' Broccoli Baked Potatoes

Back again! It's been a little crazy lately (one diploma down - I've just this afternoon found out I've got a grade A in my nutrition diploma - hooray!) working away at my kinesiology homework and my homeopathy postgrad course... The end is getting clearer into sight now.... and I've discovered two more areas I really want to look at which I feel will enhance my life and my practice. It seems my studying journey is not about to end for a while yet!

My raw food journey continues along it's own route. I'm loving it and see no end in sight there either. Not saying never to cooked foods but the energy increase, vitality raise and all round feelings of wellness are amazing.  My gorgeous new blender has made smoothies, salad dressings and so on an absolute joy. Looking for excuses to use it really! So here's a recipe that I'd need it for...

From the fabulous Forks over Knives - The Cookbook:

'Cheesy' Broccoli Baked Potatoes

Serves 4 although adapt as need to suit

4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
1 batch no cheese sauce (see below)
2 cups broccoli florets

Preheat oven to 180C
Pierce the potatoes with a fork a few times
Place potato on a baking sheet and bake between an hour and an hour 15mins/until tender
Combine No cheese sauce and broccoli in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, or until broccoli is tender
Slice the potato with a cross shape on top and spoon the warm broccoli cheese into the potato.

'No cheese sauce'

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons cashews, toasted (optional)
1 tablespoon tahini (optional)
1 cup nutritional yeast
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender in the order given and puree until smooth and creamy, adding up to 1/2 cup of water if neccessary to achieve a smooth consistency.

Enjoy!

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.

Vegan meal a week challenge - Tagliatelle with Pan Fried Pumpkin and Red Pepper Oil

Helloooo!

It is my intention to trial these recipes that I share however this week I'm doing a juicing detox (actually the http://www.worldsbiggestjuicedetox.com/) so am feasting on yummy, life enhancing juices - feeding and cleansing my body at the same time. Having quit caffeine several years ago, been involved in actively reducing sugar to just about zero and largely removed wheat from my diet I've been lucky not to have been experiencing the withdrawal symptoms from these.  However it's worth going through them if you've not reached that point - it rocks to get to the other side!

Today's recipe looks fantastic and is a definite on my list of ones to make once I've juiced and done my raw food challenge (more about that another time). This is from a lovely book (easy vegan; simple recipes for healthy eating) that I picked up at Salts Mill the day after my sister's wedding earlier this year.  It reminds me of my number one favourite ever meal - eaten on a warm evening at a pavement table in Melbourne, Australia. Delicious pumpkin and pasta - and this looks like a great vegan, potentially wheat free alternative - win, win!

You'll need:
1 tblsp light olive oil
1 lb/450g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
14oz/400g vegan friendly tagliatelle (or spaghetti - you can make it wheat free too if you use a pasta such as corn and rice spaghetti)
finely grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
a large handful of rocket
a large handful of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the red pepper oil:
1 small red bell pepper, sliced
6 large chilies
1 small red onion, sliced
 4 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup/65ml olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4

Put the red pepper, chilies, onion, garlic, cumin seeds and 2 tblsps of olive oil in a roasting pan.  Cook in the preheated oven for an hour, turning often.  Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor while still hot.  Add the remaining oil and whizz until smooth.  Let cool, then pour the mixture into a clean and dry screwtop jar.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet/frying pan set over high and add the pumpkin.  Cook for 10 minutes, turning often, until each piece is golden brown all over.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions and drain well.  Put it in a large bowl and add 2-3 tblsps of the red pepper oil.  Add the cooked pumpkin, lemon peel and juice, rocket and parsley and toss to combine.  Season with the salt and pepper and serve immediately.


The remaining red pepper oil will keep for a week when stored in an airtight jar in the fridge.  It can be used as a dip for baked potato wedges ot the enrich tomato based sauces and soups (or really whatever you'd like to eat it with!)

Let me know how you get on...

Our halloween Warlock's Wife pumpkin (probably not the most tasty type for this dish though - steer towards less stringy pumpkins or butternut squash for a yummy result)

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.