Recipes Archives - Page 2 of 19

Roti Canai

on August 18, 2015

Roti Cania

YOU NEED

300 grams of Atta fine wholemeal flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

250mls of chilled water

20 grams of organic coconut oil, melted

Rice bran oil for cooking

Extra flour for kneading

YOU DO

Place the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Add the water and stir to combine. As the dough begins to form, use your hands to bring it together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured bench. Knead it for a few minutes until it is soft and smooth. Portion and weigh the dough into 8 balls. Cover the balls with a clean tea towel.

Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll one of the balls into a 20 cm circle. Brush it with a little coconut oil. Roll the circle into a log, enclosing the coconut oil. Then roll the log lengthwise into a coil shape. Once it’s in a coil shape, using the rolling pin, flatten the coil back into a 20cm circle. Repeat with the remaining balls.

Lightly brush a heavy based pan with a little rice bran oil. Place one of the uncooked roti on the pan and cook it on a medium heat. Wait until it starts to puff up. You will hear it “whistling”. Once it has started to brown, flip it over and cook the other side. Repeat with the remaining roti.

Serve them freshly cooked and still warm.

Yields: 8 roti.

Time: 15 minutes preparation. 15-20 minutes cooking time.

Notes: Atta flour can be purchased in supermarkets and Indian grocers. It is much finer than normal wholemeal flour and results in a much lighter pastry like bread than if you use regular wholemeal flour.

Pulled Jackfruit Rogan Josh Sliders with Slaw

on July 22, 2015

These are my super easy pulled stuff sliders. Who needs pulled lamb sliders when you can just open a can of jackfruit? Just saying. It passed the test in my house! And I can tell you now, if you serve it to a meat eater and don’t say anything, they will not realise that this is vegan.

YOU NEED

1 x 565 gram can of young green jackfruit **in brine**

¼ cup water

1 x 350 gram jar of vegan friendly Rogan Josh Simmer Sauce Medium

1.5 teaspoons of vegan friendly gravy powder

125ml of boiled water

1 cup of finely shredded red cabbage

½ cup of finely sliced carrot

½ cup of finely sliced cucumber skin

4 soft buns, cut in half

YOU DO

Drain and discard the brine from the jackfruit. Trim the triangle ends from each piece of jackfruit and set them aside for another use and remove and discard any visible pips. Now gently rub the remaining jackfruit between your fingers. It should easily break apart and form a stringy texture. As you do this you may discover more pips, so toss those out too. You will end up with a generous cup of pulled jackfruit.

Place the ¼ cup of water and the jackfruit into a small non stick pot and simmer on a low heat until the water has almost dissolved. Add the Rogan Josh Simmer Sauce to the pot. Continue to gently cook.

Place the gravy powder into a small bowl and add the boiled 125 ml of water. Whisk well till its combined and lump free. Add it to the pot. Stir the mixture until it’s all well combined and gently simmer till you get a wet, but not runny mixture.

Allow the mixture to cool a little. Distribute onto the bottom half of each bun. Add the cabbage, carrot and cucumber. Top with the rest of the bun.

Serve immediately and ENJOY!!

Time: 15 mins preparation, plus 10 minutes of cooking.

Yields: 4 serves

Notes: You can get jackfruit from most well stocked Asian grocers. Be sure to get “unripe” jackfruit and jackfruit in “brine/water” – NOT the one in syrup.

I used the Patak’s brand of simmer sauce which you find in most supermarkets in the Asian aisle. But always double check ingredients as brands are often changing product ingredients.

These are gorgeous with crisp baby cos lettuce too. You get an awesome crunch with the contrast of the soft bun.

Mango and Lime Cheesecake with a Chewy Chocolate Almond Crust

on July 12, 2015

YOU NEED

For the crust:

¼ cup of almonds
3 fresh, pitted dates
1 tablespoon of raw cacao

For the filling:
1 cup of cashews
¼ cup fresh mango flesh
¼ cup coconut cream
4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
The zest from 2 limes
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 pinches salt

For the garnish:
¼ cup blended mango flesh
½ cup thinly sliced mango flesh

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.

Place the cheesecake into the freezer for 1 hour.

Once it has set, remove it from the freezer. Top with the sliced mango, pour the blended mango over the top and serve.

Yields: 4 serves

Time: 20 minutes preparation. 1 hour freezing time.

Notes: Shake the can of coconut cream well before you measure out the ¼ cup you need.

A light spray with oil on the tin will help the baking paper stick to it.

You can pre soak your cashews for a few hours, 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.

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

Avocado, Pomegranate & Lime Bruschetta

on March 17, 2015

Avocado and Pomagrantate on Rye 2 wm

Avocado, Pomegranate & Lime Bruschetta

YOU NEED

½ cup of water

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Pinch of rock salt

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 large avocado peeled and cut into a rough dice

4 slices of rye sourdough

handful of washed, crisp baby rocket

¼ cup of pomegranate seeds

cracked black pepper to taste

YOU DO

Heat the water in a small pan. Add the garlic and gently simmer for a few minutes. Discard the water and crush the garlic.

Put the crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and lime juice into a bowl and mix till they are well combined.

Stir the avocado through the oil mixture and check the seasoning

Cook the toast and top with the avocado. Garnish with the rocket and pomegranate seeds and finish with a generous amount of cracked black pepper over the top.

Yields: You decide.

Time: 10-15 minutes

Notes: There are not many components to this simple dish, so good quality ingredients such as a good olive oil, rock salt, fresh garlic and lime juice and crisp washed baby rocket all make a difference.

I usually take the time to cook garlic for a few minutes for recipes like this. It removes that harsh astringent taste raw garlic can have.

Sunday Scramble… Curry & Coriander Scramble on Rye Sourdough

on March 12, 2015

Sunday Scramble… Curry & Coriander Scramble on Rye Sourdough

I can unequivocally say that I never thought I would hear this sentence come out of my mouth, but I LOVE scrambled tofu. It has become my favourite vegan breakfast recipe.

Like many people that transition to a plant based diet, I was not a tofu fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I am slowly coming around.

If you have never had scrambled tofu, do yourself a favour and try it before you decide you don’t like it. There are many versions of it, but after much experimentation this is my favourite combination of flavours.

I honestly use to think people were bonkers for trying to replicate scrambled eggs but it turns out they weren’t.

YOU NEED

2 slices of rye sour dough

1/4 cup of water

150grams of organic firm tofu

1 tablespoon of tamari

2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon of curry powder

Handful of fresh, washed and roughly chopped coriander

YOU DO

Toast the sour dough.

Bring the water to the boil in a non stick pan. Turn the heat down to a simmer and crumble the tofu into the pan. Cook gently until the tofu is heated through and almost all the water has gone.

Add the tamari, nutritional yeast and curry powder. Stir till everything is well combined and continue cooking on a low flame until you get the texture you want. *Some people like their scramble wet, in which case you would serve it now. For a drier texture, continue cooking for another minute or so.

Check the seasoning. Mix the coriander through and serve with the toasted sourdough

Yields: 1-2 serves

Time: 5-10 minutes

Notes: If you don’t have tamari you can substitute it with soy sauce.

Nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast that makes things taste cheesy. You can find it in health food stores and online.

For a super Sunday Scramble I love adding some chopped roasted potatoes, roma cherry tomatoes and fresh spinach to my scramble. Serve it alone or with baked beans, mushrooms and veg sausages.

#dairyfree #eggfree #vegan #veganbreakfastrecipes

Mango Tropical Ice Treats

on March 11, 2015

Mango Tropical Ice Treats

YOU NEED
1 cup of fresh mango
1 cup of paw paw
1 cup of pineapple juice
The pulp from 8 passionfruit

YOU DO
Place 8 small cupcake baking cups on a small tray that will easily fit on a shelf in your freezer.

Blend the first 3 ingredients together.

Whisk the passion fruit pulp through the blended ingredients.

Pour the mixture into the baking cups. Place the tray in the freezer.

Wait till the ice treats are partly frozen. Once they are, carefully insert a paddle pop stick into the centre of each baking cup. Then continue freezing until the mixture is completely solid.

Serve once frozen.

Yields: 8 serves
Time: 15 minutes preparation. Plus the freezing time.

Pinwheel Scones with Coconut, Raspberry & White Chocolate

on March 8, 2015

YOU NEED

1 cup of frozen raspberries

5 cups of self raising flour

An extra ½ cup or so of self raising flour

Pinch of salt

375ml of soda water

300ml of (full fat) coconut cream

2 teaspoons of cornflour

¼ cup of your favourite plant based milk

1 x 100 gram block of melted white Sweet William Chocolate

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 200c. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Roughly chop the raspberries. Put them in a small bowl and place them back into the freezer.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Gently tap each measuring cup once you have filled it with flour to eliminate air pockets. Evenly sprinkle the salt over the top. I prefer to do this instead of stirring them together, because I want the flour to stay light from the sifting.

Add the soda water and coconut cream. Using a wooden spoon quickly and gently stir the ingredients, until they start to stick together. If the mixture is too sticky at this point simply add some of the extra flour, until you have a consistency you can work with.

Turn the mixture out onto a well floured bench and gently work it into a ball. Only spend a minute or so doing this because you don’t want to overwork the dough. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. You just need it to be light, soft and not sticky. Wash and dry your hands.

Dust your bench top again with a little of the extra self raising flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately 60cms by 30cms. Stir the cornflour through the frozen raspberries and sprinkle them evenly across the dough.

Now roll the dough from the long side onto itself, until you have a log. Cut the log into 10-12 scones. Place them onto the baking trays, leaving some space between each scone.

Brush each scone with a little milk. Bake for 20 -25 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the oven. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow them to cool.

Drizzle each scone generously with the chocolate and serve. They are delicious served with whipped, maple sweetened coconut cream and a cup of earl grey.

Yields: 10-12 scones

Time: 20 minutes preparation. 20-25 minutes cooking. Cooking times will vary with ovens.

Notes: When you open the coconut cream make sure you stir it well before you measure out the 300mls.

For a sweeter scone you can replace the soda water with the same quantity of lemonade. I prefer this more savoury version though, because it lets the raspberries shine. Plus you have the sweetness from the white chocolate.

Don’t worry if your mixture is really sticky at first. Flour can have different “hardness” and can vary greatly. This is why I always have the “extra flour” on hand. Just in case the mixture is too sticky. Simply add a small amount of flour at a time, until you get the right texture.

It’s crucial that you do not overwork the scone mix. It’s not like bread dough and it relies on not being over worked.

Rosemary & Garlic Marinated Almond Feta

on February 22, 2015

Rosemary & Garlic Marinated Almond Feta

Lashings of feta on freshly baked French stick is one of those things I really missed when I became vegan, but not anymore.

I have played with this a number of times, replacing vinegar for the lemon juice, using part lemon juice and part vinegar for the acidity, using varying amounts of oil and salt, baking it and so forth but finally found the balance of flavours, texture and shape I was looking for. And for me feta is perfect when marinated. Olive oil, garlic and rosemary are a gastronomic match made in heaven.

You need (for the feta)

1 cup of blanched almonds

½ cup of water

¼ cup of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

You need (for the marinade)

1.5 cups of good quality extra virgin olive oil

1-2 large cloves of fresh garlic peeled and minced.

4 tablespoons of roughly chopped rosemary leaves

salt to taste

You Do

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

Then place the mixture into a nut bag. Place your hands at the top of the nut bag, above the mixture, squeeze it tightly and secure it with an elastic band. Place the nut bag into a colander and place the colander over a bowl so that any excess liquid can drain into the bowl. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day carefully remove the feta from the nut bag. Discard the draining water. Put the feta into a small square container. Press it down so that it takes on the square shape and place it back into the fridge.

Make the marinade by mixing all the marinade ingredients really well. Pour it into a shallow container. Carefully turn the feta out onto a chopping board and cut it into small squares. It is super soft like Perisian feta so breaks easily. Place the squares into the marinade and serve.

I love serving it with marinated olives, roasted nuts and fresh crusty bread.

Time: 10 minutes, plus the draining time over night.

Notes: You can soak the almonds for a few hours before you blend them to soften them too, if you like.

If you don’t have a nut bag (which I didn’t until recently) just line a colander with a clean chux, place the feta mixture into 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 over a bowl and also place it into the fridge to drain over night.

I like to serve it the same day I make it, only because once refrigerated the marinade turns solid because of the olive oil.

Super Green Salad (Almost Raw)

on November 5, 2014

Super Green Salad (Almost Raw)

Packed with nutrition, texture and flavour, mostly raw and dressed with such a simple olive oil and herb dressing, I just love this super green salad.

YOU NEED

For the salad:

1 large brown potato, steamed, not peeled, cut into bite size pieces

1 small head (2 cups) very lightly steamed broccoli, cut into small florets

½ cup mung bean sprouts

1/2 small avocado, peeled and diced

1/2 small cucumber, finely sliced

1 handful (1 cup) green beans, tops removed and cut into 3

½ cup finely sliced spring onions

1/2 cup finely sliced celery

1 handful (1 cup) snow peas, tops removed and thinly sliced length ways

1 cup green cabbage, finely shredded

½ cup kale leaves, finely shredded

1 cup baby rocket

2 cups baby spinach leaves

Handful raw almonds

For the dressing

1 cup coriander leaves, washed and drained

½ cup sweet basil leaves, gently washed and drained

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup good quality cold pressed olive oil

Salt/pepper to taste

YOU DO

For the salad:

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Place into a serving dish.

For the dressing:

Blend all ingredients till smooth. Drizzle over the salad and serve.

Yields: We enjoy this as a huge main meal salad for 2. Alternatively it is a polite side dish for 4-6.

Time: 20 mins to prepare all the salad ingredients. 5 – 10 minutes to make the dressing.

Notes: If you eat tofu it’s a nice addition or can be used instead of the potato.

The dressing yields enough for 2-3 salads. I make it up in bigger batches and use it in any other salads, drizzle it into mash potato or use it as a dipping sauce.

Do not dress the salad until just before it is to be served.

Tropical Chia & Almond Smoothie

on November 3, 2014

YOU NEED

1 teaspoon chia seeds

½ a ripe banana (roughly half a cup)

¼ cup paw paw

1 generous cup ripe pineapple

1 cup almond milk

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Fresh ginger to taste

2 tablespoons coconut milk

YOU DO

Soak the chia seeds in water for 10 minutes. Drain and discard the water.

Place the chia seeds, along with the rest of the ingredients into a blender (I used my Nutri Bullet). Blend everything till smooth

Yields: 1 large serve

Time: 5-10 minutes for preparation and blending. Plus the soaking time for the chia.