Happy World Vegan Day!

original image here

I'm on a mini break, with a few days off (ahh the serenity) - but I thought I'd post you a recipe being World Vegan Day today.

Being World Vegan Day, I encourage you to make something simple and delicious and of course nutritious this evening. This is one of my most favorite Salads that everybody will love!

spiced chickpea & carrot salad

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander and 1 teaspoon of paprika. Cook for 1 minute and then pour spiced mixture over a 400gm can of organic chickpeas (rinsed and drained of course). Toss chickpea mixture with 2 coarsely grated carrots, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of honey.

Awesome!
original recipe from donna hays 'no time to cook' 2008

The BEST red curry recipe ever. As requested!

This is such a delicious recipe - you have to try it tonight!


Pumpkin & Veggie Thai Curry with Rice



(This is a good one if you are cooking for the family – you can cook chicken separate and add it to the others dishes at the end)
2 cups brown rice, cooked
Red Curry paste (it should just be herbs and spices with nothing else added – read the label, no sugar or anything else added)
1 onion diced
1 piece of crushed garlic
½ butternut pumpkin diced into 2cm cubes
2 potatoes diced
1 red capsicum
1 bunch spinach or similar
1 can coconut milk (full cream, don’t do low fat its REALLY bad for you)
4 dates chopped
Method:
Use 2tbs of curry paste and fry with oil in a pan until fragrant.
Add garlic and onion and stir.
Add pumpkin & potato, dates, coconut milk and if necessary a small amount of water to create enough liquid. Allow to cook until pumpkin becomes soft.
Add capsicum & cook for a further 3-4 minutes before adding spinach.
Season with Salt and pepper, serve with brown rice.

All the good stuff - Vegan Treats!

I've stumbled upon one of the best blogs I have ever seen. I found 101 Cookbooks via Sarah Wilsons blog, so I can't take the credit for snooping this one out, but it has some wonderful Vegan (and otherwise) recipes on there. Certainly stuff for the whole family. Im going to share a few with you that we tried out last night. I've taken these directly from her 101 Cookbooks blog.

I have two words. Absolutely Delicious. You need not ever feel like your missing out with mouth watering dishes like these!

Sautéed Zucchini
I hate to say this, but if you want to do a larger amount, double the recipe, but divide and cook the zucchini in two pans. If you crowd the squash too much, it steams rather than browns, and loses too much structure, which isn't what you're after.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 medium shallots or new red onions, thinly sliced
fine grain sea salt
2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch thick coins
a good handful of dill, chopped
1/4 cup Marcona almonds or toasted almond slices

In your largest skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until it starts to take on a hint of color. Stir in the shallots and a big pinch of salt, and cook until they start to soften, a couple minutes. Add the zucchini, stir to get it coated with a bit of oil, and arrange the coins in as much of a single layer as your pan permits. Dial the heat up a bit if needed, add another pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the zucchini browns - ten minutes or so. Remove from heat and fold in the dill and almonds before serving. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.



Baked Sweet Potato Falafel Recipe

2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g or 1 1/2 pounds in total
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 small cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
a scant cup (120g) gram /chickpea flour
a splash of olive oil
a sprinkling of sesame seeds
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees (220C) and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender - 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.

Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram/chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).

Reheat the oven to 400F/200C. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafelly looking things and put them on an oiled tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Makes about 18 falafel, enough for 4 - 6.

We have people for dinner tomorrow night. With so many great recipes I will be able to make something we can all lick our lips over. I will send the men out to the BBQ, they can have meat and I will have veggie burgers held together with chick pea or spelt flour. I will whip up Grilled Salt and Vinegar Potatoes - of course, because I can eat that! Throw together a toss salad and we will all be happy.

Oh and whilst on the topic of 101 cookbooks. When I finish cleansing I plan on making this, and also this oh and also this not necessarily in that order! If you can't tell, I have spend countless hours drooling over all things this blog has!

I feel like I now need to slap us all across the face to bring us back to alkaline mode. Today is your 4th Day. Your over halfway - well done. Some of you have had a few slip ups, but keep going, Tuesday will be here before you know it!