Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie

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Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie wm

Chocolate, Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie

Enjoy this smoothie for breakfast, dessert or post work out. It’s often my treat after a km or 2 at the pool.

It’s a thick, rich, sweet soft serve  smoothie, with the crunch of chia and raw cacao nibs. Plus it’s dairy free! I eat it with the same spoon I use to measure the peanut butter, so that every mouthful has some creamy nut butter in it.

 

YOU NEED

2 small or 1 super large banana, pre peeled and frozen

1 cup of chilled rice milk

1-2 tablespoons raw cacao

1 very generous tablespoon peanut butter

*optional 1 tablespoon chia seeds

 

YOU DO

  1. Blend all the ingredients until smooth.
  2. Garnish with whatever you have on hand – fresh banana, chia seeds, raw cacao nibs, peanut butter, crushed peanuts etc.
  3. Enjoy

 

Yields:  1 serve. 2 if you are more generous than I am.

Time: 1 -2 minutes

 

Tips and Notes

This is why you never throw out super ripe bananas, they make for beautiful smoothies. P.S the more ripe your banana, the sweeter this is.

You can substitute the rice milk for any other plant based milk that is fairly neutral in taste.

I use peanut butter that is just peanuts and has no added oils, salt, fat, sugar etc. The ingredients list just states “peanuts”.

Go for raw cacao over cocoa if you can. It’s less processed and you know there is no hidden sugars or dairy.

I will tell you a secret – I hate raw cacao nibs – on their own, but in this they provide a gorgeous crunch to break up the rich creamy texture.

For a nut free version, replace the peanut butter with a nut free paste.

Baba Ganoush

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Baba Ganoush

Baba ganoush is one of the many vegan dips you make and it’s so versatile. Enjoy it with vegetable sticks, on pizzas, in wraps or include it as part of a mezze plate for parties and BBQ’s.

I like mine rich, smokey, creamy and well seasoned with loads of olive oil drizzled on top, waiting to be mopped up with warm flat bread.

YOU NEED

2 small to medium eggplants
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
½ teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of tahini
1 tablespoon of olive oil

For Garnish

Handful of crushed pistachios
Extra olive oil

 

YOU DO

Place the eggplants on your stove top, on a medium to high flame. Turn them as they start to wrinkle. Cook until all sides start to char and they feel soft, (approximately 20 minutes).

While they are cooking, put the garlic into a small pan with a little water (about ¼ cup). Simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Discard any left over water. # This is an important step as it eliminates that harsh astringent taste of raw garlic.

Cut the cooked eggplants in half. If there are still any firm bits of flesh, put them back on the flame, skin side on the flame, until they are cooked. Then remove and discard the woody tops. Scoop the flesh out with a spoon and discard the skin.

Blend the eggplant flesh and the remaining ingredients (except for the garnishes) in a blender or food processor, until they are well smooth and creamy.

Check the seasoning and serve with a sprinkle of olive oil and pistachios.

 

Time: 5 – 10 minutes preparation. 20 minutes cooking time.
Yields: Approximately 1.5 cups of dip. Amount will vary depending on the size of the eggplants used.
Notes: If you don’t have a gas stove top or don’t feel confident cooking the eggplant over a flame, cook it in the oven. This will take 40 plus minutes. The eggplant will not have the same smoked flavour, but you can add a little liquid smoke. Liquid smoke is found at well stocked delis, specialty supermarkets and online.

 

This is best served straight away or at room temperature not long after you have made it.. Sometimes once refrigerated, it can split. But if you do make it the day before or have left overs and refrigerate it, simply blend it again before serving.

Chocolate Honeycomb Cheesecake

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Chocolate Honeycomb Cheesecake wm

Chocolate Honeycomb Cheesecake

YOU NEED

For the crust:

¼ cup of almonds

3 fresh, pitted dates

1 tablespoon of raw cacao

 

For the filling:

1 cup of raw cashews

½ cup Bonsoy organic soy milk

4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons of cacao

2 pinches salt

 

For the garnish:

¾ cup of chopped vegan chocolate honeycomb

 

YOU DO

Line a spring form tin (10 cm diameter and 7 cm depth) with baking paper.

Blend the crust ingredients in a high powered blender until they are well combined and form dough like consistency. If the mixture is a little too dry, add a teaspoon of water to bring it together.

Press the crust into the base of the spring form pan. It can be quite sticky so just wet the tips of your fingers a little if you need to.

Place all the filling ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.

Spoon the mixture onto the crust. Top with the chocolate honeycomb.

Place the cheesecake into the freezer until it sets. This takes about 3 hours

Remove from the freezer and allow it to soften in the fridge or room temperature (if not too hot), for about an hour before serving.

 

Yields: 4 serves

Time: 20 minutes preparation. 3 hours freezing time.

Notes: You can double the base ingredients if your processor is going to struggle with such a small amount. Use half of the mixture for the base and with the remainder; roll the mixture into balls to eat as snack

You also can pre soak your cashews overnight, if you wish to (and discard the soaking water). But a good quality high powered blender or food processor should give you a smooth, velvety consistency for this recipe.

I chose Bonsoy soy milk because it doesn’t have a strong soy flavour and because it has a rich creamy texture.

Medjool Dates with Rosewater Cashew Cream

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Medjool Dates with Rosewater Cashew CreamWM

Medjool Dates with Rosewater Cashew Cream

 

YOU NEED

12 medjool dates

Soaking water

1 cup of raw organic cashews

2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup

Pinch of salt

An extra ¼ cup of water

Rosewater to taste

A few drops of beetroot juice or natural red food colouring

 

YOU DO

Soak the cashews for a few hours, in enough water so that they are covered. Then drain and discard the soaking water.

Cut a thin slice lengthways, along each date and carefully remove the seed.

To make the cashew cream, blend all the remaining ingredients in a high powered blender until everything is smooth and creamy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the blender to ensure you blitz any lumps.

Pipe equal amounts of the cashew cream into the dates. For a firmer result, refrigerate the cream for an hour or so before piping it.

Serve as a dessert, along with coffee or mint tea.

 

Yields: 12

Time: 10 minutes

Notes: A high powered blender, built for processing nuts, is the key to this recipe and will provide the creamiest result with no lumps.

Summer Cheesecake Smoothie

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Summer Cheesecake Smoothie

My Summer Cheesecake Smoothie is smooth, sweet, nourishing and creamy.  It’s packed with paw paw, banana and ruby grapefruit and blended with cashews for a gorgeous creamy texture. Vegan smoothies are just as creamy as their dairy counterparts, so don’t be afraid to leave the cow’s milk out because you won’t even know the difference.

 

YOU NEED

¼ cup of raw cashews

½ cup of fresh ruby grapefruit juice

1 large, super ripe frozen banana

¾ cup of papaya

# Would be gorgeous with the addition of lime zest/lime juice and/or fresh ginger too.

 

YOU DO

Blend until velvety smooth.

Enjoy

 

Time: 5 – 10 minutes

Yields: 1 serve

Notes: If you have a high powered blender your smoothie should be smooth and creamy with no gritty unprocessed cashew bits.

If you soak the cashews over night it softness them and makes them easier to blend.

EASY (Vegan) Vanilla, Choc Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

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EASY Vegan Choc Chip Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches wm

EASY (Vegan) Vanilla, Choc Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

I prefer to make my own meals and desserts most of the time but sometimes I just want something super quick and even easier. My EASY Vanilla, Choc Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches are just that and they are always a hit!

 

YOU NEED

1 packet of vegan friendly chocolate chip cookies

1 litre of dairy free ice cream

 

YOU DO

Lay the biscuits on your bench, smooth side facing up.

Using scissors cut the ice cream container away from the ice cream. Discard the container. Now cut the ice cream into large slices at whatever width you want your ice cream sandwiches to be.

Use a cookie cutter to cut rounds of ice cream from the slices. As you cut each ice cream round, immediately place it onto a cookie and top with a second cookie and pop onto a plate because they melt fast!

Once you have finished, place the sandwiches into the freezer to firm up. Then serve. It’s that easy!

VARIATIONS:

Use any vegan friendly sorbet or flavoured ice cream.

Use any kind of vegan cookie you want.

Roll your sandwich sides into sprinkles, coconut or nuts.

Dip half of each sandwich into vegan friendly chocolate.

 

Yields: 10 serves. I get 20 small cookies in my packet.

Time: 10 minutes.

Notes: I get my chocolate chip cookies in the health food aisle of the supermarket. They are not only dairy free, egg free and vegan but also wheat free and gluten free.

Beetroot Rosemary Pizza with Almond Feta

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Beetroot and Rosemary Pizza with Almond Feta

I love beetroot but I’m not normally a fan of it on pizza. But then Nourish Magazine asked me to do a series of beetroot recipes for one of their publications and among the many recipes I experimented with, I played with a popular beetroot pizza recipe to make it dairy free, vegan and healthier. And whilst doing the recipe development I made so much of this pizza that I came to love it!

 

YOU NEED

For the almond cheese

1/2 cup of blanched almonds

1/8 cup of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of olive oil

¾ teaspoon of salt

¼ cup of water

 

Other

2 large whole meal Lebanese pita breads

4 tablespoons of tomato passata

4-6 cooked baby beetroots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary leaves

1cup of fresh rocket, washed well and drained

1 lemon

 

YOU DO

Make the almond feta the day before.  Simply blend all the almond ingredients together in a high powered food blender or food processor, for a few minutes until they are smooth. This takes about 5 minutes.

Line a colander with a clean chux and scrape the almond mixture onto the middle of the chux. Bring the sides of the chux up around the mixture and tie it firmly with an elastic band. Place the colander onto a bowl and place it into the fridge to drain over night.

Once your feta has drained and you are ready to make your pizzas, preheat your oven to 180c.  Lay your Lebanese breads onto oven trays. Top the bread with the passata. Evenly lay the beetroot slices on the passata and place the pizzas in the oven until the bread becomes crisp.

Sprinkle the feta, rosemary and rocket on top. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice onto the pizzas also, just before you serve them.

 

Yields: 8 generous slices of pizza.

Time: Once the feta is ready this is such a quick recipe with 10 minutes of preparation and only 10-15 minutes of cooking time.

Notes: I use cooked baby beetroots that have been packaged in just their own juices. You find them in supermarkets near the uncooked beetroot. They make this a much quicker recipe and are not packaged in salt and sugar like canned beetroot.

Maple Pear and Oat Smoothie

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Maple Pear and Oat Smoothie

 

YOU NEED

1 organic pear, core removed (peel left on)

1/4 cup whole grain oats

1 cup Bonsoy

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

 

YOU DO

Blend till smooth.

 

Yields: 1 serve.

Time: 5 minutes.

Frozen Grapes

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Frozen grapes are the perfect treats for a hot day . They are such a fun and gorgeous snack or healthy dessert option for kids and adults alike. It doesn’t get much easier than this.

YOU NEED

Grapes

YOU DO

Wash the grapes to remove any gritty bits and pop them in the freezer until they are solid.

Serve and ENJOY.

Simple, delicious and healthy.