vegan risotto with truffle oil

You may not realise it, but I love any excuse to add truffle to a meal. I usually add it to a mushroom based dish and this one was not going to get away without a drizzle or two.

It’s such a whole sensory experience that compares to none other. When you sit down to a meal and smell the truffle, it’s like your first kiss, every time. Your heart skips a beat and you can’t wait to dig in, but you want to take it slow and savour every moment. What an analogy huh!

Risotto is an awesome one pot meal to spare you that laborious task of washing up too much. Adding to that beautiful experience.

I don’t know about you, but usually I find myself using heaps of pots and baking dishes when preparing dinner. It’s not so bad because I wash as I go – we’ve got a pretty tight kitchen so bench space is hard to come by. Actually, if I think about it, every night the dishes (bar the ones we eat on) are all washed up and stacked before we sit down to eat. Joel likes that because he is always on washing up duty but there is rarely much to do.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 tblsp olive oil

1 brown onion, finely sliced

200g button mushrooms, finely sliced

1 c arborio rice (risotto rice)

2 ½ c water

1 bunch asparagus, sliced into 1cm rounds

1 c peas, frozen or fresh

salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Tartufo Bianco (white truffle oil)

Heat oil in a heavy based saucepan, add onion and stir until softened.

Next add mushrooms and stir fry for approximately 5 minutes.

Add rice and mix for a further 2 minutes.

Then add 1 c of water to the pan and simmer until water has been absorbed, stirring minimally.

Next mix in the asparagus and add the remaining water.

Cover saucepan to cook through, approximately 15 minutes.

Finally add the peas stirring the risotto until the peas are cooked.

Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with truffle oil and serve.

vegetable quiche

This is just a quick and easy recipe (bar the cooking time), that you can whip together in no time and leave in the oven to cook away.

I've used a variety of vegetables in this because it's so important to keep your diet varied with the vegetables and grains that you use. Each have a unique makeup of vitamins and minerals, so it really is vital that you vary what you eat so that you can get all the beneficial nutrition. If there is a vegie that you haven't heard of before, maybe consider trying it, if you're not sure ask around to see how others add it into their diet.

This recipe made enough to feed a family, but, with just the two of us at home we had a few leftovers. Making meals that are a little bigger is great for a quick lunch the next day or a meal stored in the freezer. This recipe is certainly no exception as it made the perfect healthy lunch for the next day, both cold and warmed up.

Ingredients

(makes 8-10 slices)

4 zucchinis, grated

2 potatoes, grated

3 carrots, grated

2 brown onions, grated

4 eggs, whisked

100g goats cheese, crumbled

¼ c nutritional yeast flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 150 C and grease a medium baking dish with olive oil.

Combine all ingredients well and press into dish.

Bake in oven for 1-1 ½ hours.

Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and serve.

herbed chickpea salad

Absolutely love chickpeas and it has been too long between friends.

Like, seriously, way too long. I even expressed to Joel how excited I was to be having chickpeas for dinner. He sarcastically responded by saying, ‘that’s great honey’.

As you may have read in the last post, we did a whole lot of gardening on the weekend and I had to harvest all my herbs. I don’t really like using up all my crops as I feel safer with still some sitting there. It’s like, but what if I want some fresh mint later in the week? What will I do then! I even get a little precious and won’t use as much as I like, just so there is always something filling the pots. It makes me feel wealthy in a very green way.

Anyways, with the massive influx of herbs in my kitchen, I have been throwing them into everything. Handfuls of mint in some mineral water, chives in my cabbage wraps for lunch, parsley on EVERYTHING.

Chickpeas are so tasty and make an awesome protein packed ‘throw together’ salad-like meal. And best of all, they are inexpensive. Joel and I lived off legumes when we travelled Europe. They were the most filling, affordable meal addition for us vegetarians/pescatarians, on a very tight budget. 30 Euro cents (40c in Aus) would get you a 500g jar of pre-prepared beans, peas, lentils etc and would easily stretch 2 meals each.

You can get super creative with chickpea salads. I’ve just thrown in whatever I felt like when digging through the refrigerator, but any fresh vegetables will work.

Ingredients

(makes 4 serves)

1 ½ c dried chickpeas, soaked for 6-8 hours (or 2 drained and rinsed tins)

1 spanish red onion, finely diced

1 cucumber, diced

½ c of complimentary fresh herbs (mint, chives, parsley etc)

½ lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

If you are using dried chickpeas, place them in a pot of water and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Drain and set aside to cool.

Add all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss well to combine.

Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes - 1 hour for flavours to infuse.

Serve and enjoy.

everything from scratch pizza

I love to make everything from scratch. Knowing what goes into the food you make/eat is so important these days. So many times have I looked at the back of packaging and not known 9 out of 10 of the ingredients listed.

Recently, I was having a lunch with my dad and we were at this café where their specialty was crepes. Dad was egging me on, so when I asked if it was dairy-free, the lady informed me that they pre-buy their crepes and that she would check. She started reading the list on the back to me: Energy, Fibre, Protein, Carbohydrates, Sodium. She then proudly announced that ‘nope, no dairy here’. I was stunned! She was reading out the nutritional information rather than the ingredients! I had no idea that some people may not know the difference between the ingredients and nutritional information. Not to mention that maybe everyone isn’t as much of a control freak as I am, and may not even pay attention to the ingredients of the food they are eating. It sure was an eye opener..

Anyways, to finish the story, I got my hands on the packet and read that it did in deed have dairy, so opted for a smoked salmon salad instead.

For a while now, I have been wanting to make this caramelised onion and pumpkin spelt pizza - ever since the organic food festival a couple of months back.

Ingredients

(8 slices)

300g pumpkin, skinned, deseeded and cubed

1 tsp olive oil

Dough

7g dried yeast

2 tsp raw sugar

2/3 c warm water

1 c wholemeal spelt flour (+ extra for kneading)

1 tblsp olive oil

pinch of salt

Sauce

5 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped

8 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tblsp water

2 tsp malt extract

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

pinch of salt

Caramelised Onions

2 large brown onions, finely sliced

1 tblsp olive oil

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

fresh parsley to serve

Firstly, heat oven to 200 degrees.

Toss pumpkin and olive oil and place on a baking tray, in the oven for 30-40 mins.

Next, you will need to start the dough.

Whisk yeast, sugar and water in a small jug and set aside for 2 mins to activate.

Place spelt flour, oil and salt in a medium bowl.

Once the yeast is bubbly and activated, mix it into flour - knead until elastic and smooth (adding extra flour as needed).

Roll into a ball and place into a flour lined bowl. Cover and set aside to double in size (I find it helps to place the bowl above the warm oven).

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a heavy based pan.

Simmer on medium heat until sauce-like (approximately 10-20 mins).

While you are waiting for your sauce to simmer down, add onions, oil and vinegar to a medium saucepan.

Heat on medium and toss the onions until softened and caramelised.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Assemble

Ensure the oven is on the highest heat setting.

Roll out dough on a floured pizza stone or baking tray (approximately 1.5 cm thick).

Spread over the tomato sauce, then the caramelised onions.

Finally, sprinkle over the roasted pumpkin.

Place in hot oven and bake for 35 mins or until the edges start to darken.

Remove from oven, garnish with parsley and slice into 8 portions.

Enjoy!

orange soup

I am calling this one my 'orange' soup because of the intense rich colour of the ingredients I've used.

Orange foods are high in carotenoids, which have been shown to decrease the risk of cancers, such as; lung, colon, bladder, cervical, breast and skin. Carotenoid consumption also protects against the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts - which is where the old wives tale comes in, that eating carrots will make you see in the dark.

Orange coloured foods help cleanse the body of toxins and stresses. Vitamin C and zinc work together to provide an excellent detoxifying combination helping the body rid itself of heavy metals and other pollutants.

Also high in Vitamins A, C and minerals such as calcium, copper, selenium, zinc - orange foods are a 'must' in your diet.

I made such a large amount of this soup so that I could freeze individual portions to take for lunch at work.

It has been delightfully satisfying and warming over the past week, as we've had a bitter cold snap - I really don't mind, because it means more snow!

Ingredients

(makes 6-8 serves)

2 kg carrots, roughly chopped (skin on)

2 leeks, roughly sliced

2 brown onions, peeled and roughly chopped

2 c pumpkin, cubed (skin off)

1 kumera, roughly chopped (skin on)

1 tsp turmeric, ground

1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1 tsp curry powder

2 tblsp creamed coconut

coconut oil and salt to taste

Place all ingredients except for the creamed coconut, in a large heavy based pot.

Add enough water to cover the vegetables by an inch - bring to the boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins until vegetables are soft (ie. you can poke a knife easily through).

Turn off heat and stir through creamed coconut.

When cool enough, transfer contents to a blender and process until smooth (you may need to do this in batches).

Return to pot and reheat, adding salt to taste.

Serve and drizzle with a small amount of coconut oil.

fresh pea citrus salad

Fresh peas will forever take me back to my childhood.

My Grandfather has always had a vegetable garden, even now when he is in his mid-eighties he is growing turmeric, ginger, squash, kohlrabi, passion fruit, tomatoes.. and the list goes on.

When I was younger, I would always raid his fresh pea vine.

Seriously, whenever we visited I would strip the plant of all it's juicy peas and devour them on the spot. Slowly making my way along the fence that the vine grew, I was like a pacman.

Not much has changed since childhood though.

Because whenever I visit now, I ask Granddad to take me straight to his garden and show me what he's been growing - although, I don't eat anything without permission these days.

But, if I'm super lucky, he'll pack me up some of his treats and send me on my way.

Ingredients

(makes a side for 2)

1/2 c fresh peas, shelled

1/2 c snow peas, diagonally sliced

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tsp lime rind, finely grated

5 basil leaves, finely sliced

2 tsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss well.

Serve.

moroccan spiced homemade couscous

Sometimes I get in this mood where I’m ready to pack it all up and keep travelling. 

It certainly has nothing to do with not being completely happy and satisfied with my life at the moment, but more that I love living and experiencing all that the world has to offer.

Not to mention I love travelling with Joel; creating new memories, expanding our views on the world, planning life and dreaming together.

There is so much to see in the world and I feel we could live a thousand times over and still not truly absorb the cultures of the globe.

At the moment I am dreaming of Morocco. We were so close to getting there when we were in southern Spain, but with visa constraints, we had to be careful not to cross in and out of the EU.

So, this dish is Moroccan inspired.

I love the intense spices of the Moroccan cuisine, and teamed with a good couscous - yum!

Couscous is really easy to make from scratch, even quicker than the instant kind that you get in a packet.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 c course semolina

1/4 c chilled water

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 star anise, ground in a mortar and pestle

1/2 c pistachios, shelled

2 medjool dates, finely chopped

1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 c fresh mint, chopped

1 tsp lemon rind, finely grated

1 lemon, juiced

Place semolina and chilled water in a food processor and process until crumbled.

Bring a medium sized pot to the boil.

Simultaneously, heat a saucepan on dry heat and toss cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, anise, nuts and dates for flavours to release.

Drop crumbled semolina into boiling water and bring to the boil for 1-2 minutes. 

Remove from heat, drain and rinse through with cool water.

Add the drained couscous to spices, warm through and turn off heat.

Toss through parsley, mint, rind and juice.

Serve.

baked rice paper rolls

I have a love of rice paper rolls.

But, Joel has an absolute love of spring rolls.

They are both great for dipping and serving as an entrée.

Not so long ago I wanted to see what it would be like to bake a rice paper roll, to see if it would be a healthier option of the greasy spring rolls. I was so surprised with the outcome. Retaining their freshness but still having a crunchy outer shell, they made for a great alternative.

When I gave one to Joel, he did his infamous “mmm tastey” and I knew I was on a winner.

It’s fun wrapping up the spring rolls, it can take a bit of practice but it’s super easy once you get the gist of what you are doing.

Keep in mind that these baked rolls don’t have to be Asian inspired, but could be filled with anything that you wanted really. You can even make ahead and freeze them ready for a party or impromptu entertaining.

Ingredients

(makes 20)

20 rice paper roll sheets

1 tblsp seseame oil

1/4 cabbage, finely sliced

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 c basil leave

2 large garlic cloves, finely sliced

olive oil spray

Heat over to 180 C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Heat oil in a wok and toss in cabbage, onions, garlic and basil frying for 3-5 mins until softened and fragrant.

Remove from heat and cool.

Place one of the rice paper sheets in some luke warm water to soften (I usually do this under the tap).

Once softened lay sheet on a plate.

Place a tablespoon amount in the middle of the sheet running the mixture vertically. Fold the bottom of the sheet towards the middle. Next fold the left-side so the crease is at the edge of the filling. Then fold the top down and roll the spring roll to the right.

Repeat method with the rice paper, until all the mixture is used up.

Place rolls on baking tray and spray ever so lightly with olive oil spray.

Bake for 20 mins.

Serve immediately.