Healthy cooking

March 16, 2015

Vegan ice cream sundae

For two huge sundaes:

Chop up three bananas and put them in a sealed bag in the freezer – use them from 24 hours later.

Take out the bananas about 10 minutes before you’re ready to blitz them.

For the hot fudge mix 3 tablespoons brown rice or agave syrup with 1 tablespoon cocoa in a double boiler over low heat. I just use a small pot with some water in it and a coffee cup inside that.

Chop some nuts of your liking.

Dump the bananas in the food processor with a half a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of any nut butter or tahini but beware peanut butter will have a dominant flavour. Blitz until the consistency of ice cream and scoop into a bowl.

Top with hot fudge & nuts!

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March 9, 2015

mexican bean soup

This is very similar to the winter veg soup last week but with some different flavours.

Just start a pot on the stove top 1/3 full of salted water, throw in whatever veggies you have, in the order of how long they will take to cook. I used potato, carrot, onion, mushroom, red pepper & lots of different beans. Add in a can of chopped tomatoes & some mexican spices; cayenne pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, italian herbs & just a sprinkle of sugar.

All the flavours should be infused by the time the veggies are cooked. Top it with avocado, coriander if you have it/like it & perhaps some nutritional yeast for a little “cheesiness” – yum!

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March 2, 2015

Winter Veg Soup

We affectionately call this one “oma soup”, oma is grandma in dutch and this is a classic winter soup like your grandmother used to make – minus the chicken carcass.

Start a large pot on the boil about half full of water. I add the veggies in the order of how long they take to cook. In this case it went; swede, parsnip, potato, onion, celery (and leaves they have lots of flavour), carrot, capsicum & mushrooms. Once the water starts to boil I add in a handful of pasta. Also some beans, whatever I have on hand; kidney, chick peas, black beans – whatever. I don’t use a stock mix as all the ones I can find have vegetable oil in them so I do a lot of dried herbs and spices, you can just do some stock instead. I put in a big handful of salt, lots of fresh ground pepper, some dried chili flakes or cayenne pepper, some mixed italian herbs or herbs de provence, garlic powder, onion powder, and a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce or soy sauce – it just adds some depth of flavour. Just taste it as you go along and add more to your liking.

I serve it with a big hunk of crusty bread and some olive oil drizzled over. Sometimes I sprinkle nutritional yeast on top too. Supper yummy & healthy & a great use of all that root veg from the veg boxes. Great for leftovers too.

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February 23, 2015

Vegan mac n cheese

Put your pasta on to boil.

Sauté a small diced onion & 2 cloves of garlic minced – I use a sprinkle of apple juice instead of oil.

In a food processor blend the onion & garlic with cashew nuts (3/4 cup soaked for several hours) & the below ingredients until smooth:
Vegetable broth, 2 cups
Brown miso, 1.5 Tbsp
Nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup
Tomato paste, 1/2 Tbsp
Turmeric, 1/2 tsp
Corn starch, 1.5 Tbsp

Bring the mixture to a boil then simmer 5-8 minutes while stirring. Once it’s thick mix the cooked & drained pasta into it. Serve with salt, pepper & a squeeze of lemon juice.

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February 16, 2015

bbq breaded tofu with kale couscous

This is a fun & different way to eat tofu, especially for when you’re feeling like something a bit naughty. They taste deep fried even though they’re super healthy! Start by cutting them into squares and dredge them first in a bit of watered down bbq sauce then a mix of flour and bread crumbs. Dry fry them on medium high until browned in a tefal pan. Once they’re done on both sides turn the pan down to low and baste them with bbq sauce on each side.

CousCous is a super easy side dish, 2 parts boiling water poured over 1 part couscous & let it sit covered for 5 minutes and it’s done. I add in veggies & spices before I pour over the boiling water so the flavours really get mixed in. This one I did with some shredded kale leaves, dried currants, pine nuts, mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame & flax), salt, pepper, & a bit of cayenne pepper.

I also did some candied nuts while everything else was cooking and served those over the top. I mixed them with a little garlic powder & maple syrup and cooked them in the oven on high for about 10 minutes.

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November 10, 2014

swede (turnip) patties with blackened leek & chard

Peel, cube & boil the swede til tender then mash it.

Slice the leek & chard & cook it on a dry cast iron skillet. Add those to the swede and season – I did mixed Italian herbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper & chili flakes.

Form into patties – if you let it cool you can use your hands but I was impatient and pressed it into a little bowl and hit it out. Fry on a hot, dry tefal skillet until browned on each side.

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