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.

red lentil burgers

Is life just busier? I feel the days are going faster than ever and any spare time that I have gets filled up pretty quickly. I don't mind though, I love fitting as much into life as possible that's just living, right?!

After a busy weekend and a full day at work I came home, chopped the fire wood, started the fire, then got started on these beauties.

Luckily there were heaps more burgers than I anticipated which means I can stock the freezer for a quick lunch option on work days. Sometimes with all the rushing, it's good to have a healthy back-up meal that you can defrost for a quick satisfying lunch or dinner and this is surely one.

Ingredients

(makes 20)

1 1/2 c split red lentils, soaked for 6-8 hours

1 c walnuts

2 carrots, grated

1 brown onion, grated

1 c besan flour

1 tsp bi-carb soda

1 tblsp savoury yeast flakes

2 eggs, lightly whisked

olive oil, for greasing

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 180 C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper then lightly grease with oil.

Bring lentils to boil in a heavy based saucepan.

Cook for 15-20 minutes until soft, then drain and set aside to cool.

Add walnuts to a food processor/blender and pulse until crumbled.

Mix walnuts, carrots and onion in a medium sized bowl.

Next add in the lentils and remainder of ingredients, mixing until well combined.

Using wet hands, scoop small handful sizes of the mixture then roll into a ball.

Place on tray and push down lightly to flatten out.

Repeat until all the mixture has been used.

Place tray in oven for 25 minutes, then flip the burgers and bake for a further 15 minutes.

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.

vegan curried 'egg' salad cups

I love a good curried egg salad. It reminds me of staying at my Grandma’s house when we were younger ‘kidlets’ . My Grandparents are/were mad water skiers and we would spend hours on end out on their ski boat in the summertime. My attempts of water skiing were never a great success. You see, I wouldn't let go of the rope when I fell and would be dragged under the water to the point of nearly drowning. This made me develop a bit of a phobia. So, I spent most of the time clinging for my life on the donut and cruising on the kneeboard.

Grandma would always make up a massive eski full of sandwiches and come lunchtime we were always famished. With my brother and sister we would sit with our feet in the water enjoying a super satisfying lunch of curried egg sandwiches.

As well as the lunches on the boat, during the school term when we would stay with our Grandparents, Grandma would always be up first thing in the morning making our lunches. Adding lots of homemade goodies like biscuits, fruit cake, Grandad’s dehydrated bananas and of course homemade bread with fresh curried egg and lettuce. There’s nothing better than meals full of nostalgia so that’s what this one is.

Although veganised and totally adapted from the original, it still takes me back to the summer days on the ski boat as the texture and flavours are still all there.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

300g organic firm tofu (homemade or otherwise)

2-3 tsp mild/stong curry powder

1 tsp hemp seed oil (or oil of choosing – olive also works great)

1 tblsp nutritional yeast flakes

pinch of salt and pepper

iceberg lettuce leaves

snow pea sprouts (optional)

Crumble the tofu into a small bowl, using fingers.

Stir in all other ingredients until well combined.

Lay out a lettuce cup and fill with curried ‘egg’ and sprouts (as much or as little as you like).

Roll and munch down straight away.

If you want to make it a take-away option, pack the lettuce cups and curried egg in a separate containers and make the rolls later - perfect for a picnic.

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.

sweet potato breakfast loaf

I turned into our road this afternoon and saw these sweet bright little flowers sitting on the edge of a paddock. This paddock contains a old lovely white horse, her name is Rose.

Whenever we go for walks to the end of the road, I always scoop up a bunch of grass from the other side of her fence and she has a nibble. Grass is greener, right Rose?!

Well, today she was standing by the fence trying to reach these flowers. So, I stopped the car and picked some and held them up offering them to her. She quickly gobbled them down, but I managed to spare a few for me, because they are so pretty.

Sorry Rose, I had to keep some.

Anyway, I've had a sweet potato loaf written on my "to build" list for a while now.
And finally, I've got around to it.

With very minimal effort, the 'loaf' is a great addition to a meal or my favourite - a quick on-the-go breakfast.

Ingredients

(makes 1 loaf, 12 slices)

2 sweet potatoes

1 tblsp coconut oil

2 c wholemeal spelt flour

1 tblsp savoury yeast flakes

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp himalayan rock salt

1 tsp bi-carb soda

1 c water

1 tblsp sunflower seeds

Heat oven to 180 C and line a loaf tin/dish with baking paper.

Next, thoroughly wash and roughly chop the sweet potatoes (skin left on).

Boil, cool and mash the potatoes, add the coconut oil and set aside.

Combine flour, yeast flakes, spices, salt and soda in a large bowl.

Add the sweet potato mixture, then slowly add the water stirring until well combine.

Transfer the dough to the loaf tin, sprinkle over the sunflower seeds and bake in oven for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and cool before cutting.

 

sprouted wheat berry salad with jerusalem artichokes: raw

This past weekend there was an Organic Food and Living festival on in Sydney.

I hadn’t heard it was on until a couple of days before hand and was glad I had a free day to head down and check it out.

It took us 4.5 hours to make our way around to all the stalls, and by the end I was so inspired.

Lunch was awesome too, we had some spelt vegan pizzas.. me thinks I will be doing my own adaptation soon!

On the way out, I noticed a guy selling a heap of organic fresh produce and seeds, and was immediately drawn in by the Jerusalem Artichokes. One box for $2, SOLD!

I've been meaning to get my hands on this tasty root, however my grocer doesn't seem to stock any.

Natively known as the 'Sunroot' in America (as it is part of the Sunflower family) it is a bit of a nutritional power house. Packed with dietary fibre, anti-oxidants (such as Vitamins C, A, E) and minerals - potassium, iron, and copper. It also contains small levels of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and thiamin.

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 c whole organic Australian wheat, soaked for 24 hours

200g Jerusalem artichokes, shaved/finely sliced

½ c fresh basil leaves

bunch of salad greens, roughly chopped

½ lemon juice

1 tsp lemon rind

2 tsp hemp seed oil

Note: you will need to start this recipe 2-3 days before hand, to allow time for the wheat to sprout.

Drain and rinse the soaked wheat.

Place wheat in a glass jar, covered with a clean muslin/chux cloth fastened with a rubber band.

Store in a cool dry location rinsing the wheat twice a day for 2 days until the wheat starts to sprout.

Do a final rinse and place in a large bowl.

Add all other ingredients and toss well to combine.

Serve.