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.

garden breakfast juice

The weather is certainly getting warmer here and with it comes the desire for lighter and refreshing meals.

This also means that it is time to bust out the juicer and make it a permanent home on my bench top.

Before Joel ducked out to the markets to pick up groceries, I raided the refrigerator for what remnants of fruit and vegetables we had left to make a super breakfast juice. Talk about quick and easy breakfast! It’s just the clean-up that can be a bit of a fuss.. but it’s worth it.

I fed all the components through the juicer and poured it into a tall glass. Then went outside to sit in my garden to check on my summer seedlings and watch the little red-browed finches build a nest in the ficus tree next to our table and chairs.

Ingredients

(makes 400 mL)

2 carrots

3 oranges, skinned

1 grapefruit, skinned

1 inch piece of ginger

¼ bunch celery

1 medium beetroot

Wash all ingredient thorough and feed through the juicer.

Enjoy!

vegan apple pie

Okay, okay, okay, so my craving for apple pie was not entirely quenched by the tea that I came up with the other day. It kept coming to mind that I just wanted to enjoy a real, warm apple pie - and I finally gave in.

Joel hovered the whole time that I was making this. I've never seen him so interested in something that I am making. He would just wonder into the kitchen, sip on his beer and say 'mmm I love pie'.

The smell that filled the house was this warm, caramely rich and deep appley cinnamon smell that made it hard not to dig in as soon as the pie came out of the oven.

To top off this evening, a book that I have been eyeing off for over a year now has finally been released. I have it downloaded on the kindle app on my ipad ready to go.

So, I am going to love and leave you as I have a date with a book and some pie.

Ingredients

(makes 6-8 slices)

Pastry

2 c white spelt flour

1 tblsp fine sugar

3 tblsp non-dairy butter

45 ml iced water

Filling

4 apple (skin on), cored and sliced 1cm

1/4 c currants

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tblsp water

Pastry

In a medium sized bowl combine flour, sugar and salt.

Rub butter into flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs.

Create a well in the middle and slowly add water, cutting it in with 2 forks. 

Add enough water for the pastry to come together without being sticky.

Roll into a ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut 1/4 of the pastry out and place back in the refrigerator.

Roll out the 3/4 of the pastry between two baking paper sheets.

Remove one side of the paper and invert into baking dish, press down and slowly remove the top sheet.

Trim off excess pastry and use to fill in any gaps.

Using a fork, poke holes in the pastry and place in oven for 20 minutes until golden.

Remove and cool.

Filling

While the pastry is in the refrigerator cooling, start the filling.

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized pot and heat on medium for 20 or so minutes until apples are softened.

Remove from heat and cool.

Assembly

Fill the pastry dish with apples.

Then, roll out the final 1/4 of pastry and cut into 2cm strips.

Lay each strip down diagonal, about 3cm apart down the length of the dish.

Repeat in the opposite direction.

Return to oven to bake for a further 20 minutes until golden.

homemade apple pie tea

Happy Friday! One of the best days of the week. Work is over and there is a full weekend of exciting activities to do.

After a lovely afternoon walk with my sister, I sat down and brewed up a cup of this herbal tea.

Tea something that I have been wanting to make for a while now.

When it comes to what I would put in it, well, there were some apples and pears in the refrigerator and what goes better with apples than cinnamon. Then finally from some recent baking, I had a few left over vanilla beans that I had put aside for this very purpose.

When I first gave it to Joel to try, he said 'wow, it takes just like a McDonalds apple pie'. I just laughed and told him this is as close as he'll get.

Ingredients

1 apple, finely diced

1 pear, finely diced

2 tsp cinnamon sugar

2 vanilla bean skins

optional: brown rice syrup

Optional: Dip vanilla beans in brown rice syrup and drain of any excess liquid.

Finely slice the vanilla beans and toss with the remainder of the ingredients.

Spread out on a dehydrator tray and set to 40C.

Run the dehydrator for 12 hours or until there is no more moisture in the apple bits.

Store in an airtight container and use as you would herbal tea.

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.

raw kale chips

Productive weekends are the best, and that is exactly what this last one was for us.

We spent the weekend spring cleaning, tidying and sorting. I'm on top of the housework after vacuuming and dusting, washing and hanging, folding and ironing - it feels great. On top of all that we were able to spend heaps of time outside as the weather was stunningly perfect. Lots of walks, sun soaking and getting on top of some much needed garden work. The spring/summer garden is finally planted, and I'm really looking forward to impending crops - impatient much!?

I love that feeling of fulfilment and satisfaction from a wholesome weekend. And what's more, we have been fuelling our bodies with these delicious raw kale chips.

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale, wash and roughly torn

1 tsp paprika

1 tblsp olive oil

pinch or two of salt

Toss all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Arrange on dehydrator trays and turn on to 40 C.

Dehydrate for 12 hours or overnight.

Store in an airtight container for as long as they last. 

citric vitamin water

A trip to the dentist has left me feeling completely sorry for myself and a little tender. I don't have much to share other than it's nice to have polished teeth again.

Luckily a little pre-thought had me make up a jug of this vitamin water. Mainly because I knew I wouldn't be racing home to eat nuts or crackers, but would want something cool and soothing.

The flavours, vitamins and minerals have leached out of the fruit into the water, creating a beautiful refreshing drink with barely any calories.

So after a long day today, I have just sat down to enjoy a tall glass full of this simply tasty vitamin water and share it with you. It would make the most refreshing summer evening drink, something to keep in mind as these spring days get warmer.

Ingredients

(makes 2+L)

1 large grapefruit, sliced into 1/2 cm rounds

1 medium orange, sliced into 1/2 cm rounds

2 inch knob of ginger, finely sliced

water

Add fruit and ginger to a large jug (2 or more litres) and cover with water.

Sit in refrigerator for 4-6 hours to allow flavours to infuse.

Pour over ice or just as is.

Tip: you can top up the water as you go, will last for 2-3 days.

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!

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.