Spicy Chickpea Eggplant Fritters w Orange Dip

Spicy Chickpea Eggplant Fritters w Orange Dip
I'd say this is comfort food, but apart from the oil the ingredients are all healthy, so I think I can get away with it now and then 😉 I didn't use a deep fryer, just a large pan with a few centimeters of oil. Serve with a salad, or have a few pieces as an entrée.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: fritters
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
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You need
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 cup of chickpea flour
  • ½ tsp of black salt
  • ½ tsp chilli powder (or more, of course)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • juice of ½ lemon or lime
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • about half a cup of water
  • half a cup of Cashew Cream
  • juice and zest of half an orange
  • pepper
To do
  1. heat your oil
  2. sieve the chickpea flour into a bowl
  3. mix in all dry ingredients
  4. stir in lemon or lime juice and then the water bit by bit until you have a nice cream like substance
  5. slice your eggplant in slices of about ¾-1cm and dredge through the batter
  6. deep fry till quite brown, so they're nice and crisp
  7. for the orange dip, just mix Cashew Cream with the pepper, orange zest and half of the juice, adding in more juice as needed for the texture you prefer.

 

Roasted Sweet Potato w Thyme, Garlic & Sesame Oil

Roasted Sweet Potato w Thyme, Garlic & Sesame Oil
A simple side dish, but with the lovely flavours of toasted sesame oil and thyme 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: side dish
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 2-3 tbsp of toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp of minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp of dried thyme
  • 1 tsp of Himalayan rock salt
To do
  1. preheat oven to 200C
  2. mix the oil, garlic, thyme and salt
  3. peel the potato, cut in cubes and place in oven dish
  4. pour oil mixture over potatoes and toss to coat
  5. place in oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until soft and browned to your liking

 

Home made Bread w Mushrooms & Chickpea Sauce

Home made Bread w Mushrooms & Chickpea Sauce
Hubbie is well and truly allergic to mushrooms, so I usually have them for breakfast or lunch; they are easy and quick to prepare and even just a piece of toast will do just fine with them 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: lunch, light meal
Serves: 1
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 1 slice of bread (to bake your own, have a look here)
  • 4 mushrooms
  • a dash of oil for cooking
  • a few fresh basil leafs
To make the sauce (I make more and keep it in fridge for other dishes)
  • 1 can of chickpeas
  • 1 heaped tbsp of miso
  • ⅓ cup of oil
  • 1 tsp of Himalayan rock salt
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced (I always use the microplane for garlic)
  • non dairy milk to dilute as much as you like
To do
  1. blend all ingredients except for the milk in your blender or food processor
  2. (let sit overnight if you like, it will make it slightly tangy)
  3. dilute with milk to consistency you like (handy is to dilute only what you need, so you can keep the rest for a dip or spread on toast)
  4. then slice your mushrooms, bake in a bit of oil. I wouldn't add water as your bread will go soggy then.
  5. place mushrooms on bread (toasted, if you like), top with sauce and scatter basil leafs on top
  6. Voilá!

 

Power Coconut Smoothie w Banana & Açai

Power Coconut Smoothie w Banana & Açai
I needed a pick me up and put my trust in some awesome antioxidants 🙂 As açai purée is quite tart, I threw some bananas in. This recipe is for two glasses.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: smoothie
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 2 bananas
  • 1 can of coconut milk (light or normal, up to you)
  • 175 ml of coconut water (or half a can)
  • 1 sachet of Açai purée
  • 2 tsp Maca
  • 2 tsp Mesquite
  • 2 tsp Lucuma
  • 2 tsp Chia seeds (or more)
To do
  1. Mix all but the Chia seeds in the blender, pour in glasses and top each with a tsp of Chia seeds. Enjoy!

 

Dukkah Roasted Butter Beans

Dukkah Roasted Butter Beans
Great nibble or side dish! Flavours are easily tweaked, and any of your favorite spices will do great. Curry, Chilli, Asafoetida, Garam Masala, you name it 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: nibble or side dish
Prep time: 
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You need
  • 1 can of butter beans (Lima beans)
  • a decent dash of olive oil
  • about ⅛ cup of Dukkah
  • 1 tbsp of garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp of onion flakes
  • Himalayan salt - to taste
To do
  1. preheat oven to about 190-200C
  2. rinse the beans, let drip dry or pat dry, and then either give them a squeeze or slice them in halves length wise. Some brands cook the beans softer than others, which makes it easier to squeeze them open.
  3. add all to a bowl and toss with oil and spices
  4. spread out in oven dish and roast for about 25 minutes - but really, it's up to you if and how crispy you want them, so you may want to test after 15 minutes (also, time depends a little on how hard or soft the beans were to start with)
  5. take them out and add more spice to taste
Notes
Munch away with a garlic dip or chilli sauce, or serve as side dish.
Eat them same day as they won't stay crisp (but that won't be a problem!)

 

Mint & Cauliflower Soup w Orange Cream

Mint & Cauliflower Soup w Orange Cream
The orange and mint in this soup complement each other, the cashews make it nice and creamy. Simple to make but very tasty 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: soup
Serves: 4-5
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
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You need
  • 2 ltrs water
  • 1 head of cauliflower, in florets
  • 3 hands of fresh mint leafs plus an extra 5 leafs per person for topping
  • 2 tbsp of vegetable stock powder (or about 4 cubes)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup of soaked raw cashew nuts
  • juice & zest of 1 orange, plus a zest for topping
To do
  1. boil the water with the vege stock powder, cauliflower and the mint
  2. while cauliflower is boiling, blend the cashews with the orange juice and zest into a nice smooth cream - dilute a little bit if need be, with water or more orange juice
  3. cook cauliflower till it is soft, then switch heat off and let cool down for a few minutes
  4. add the other 2 hands of mint and the garlic, blend in blender or with stick blender
  5. if you need pour back into pan and just keep warm on stove
  6. pour in bowls, place a few dollops of the orange cream in the middle and top with fresh chopped mint and a little orange zest

 

Raw Smoky Coconut Flakes (or Raw Vegan Bacon)

Raw Smoky Coconut Flakes (or Raw Vegan Bacon)
This recipe can be made in the oven too (in that case, it'll be ready in 10-15 minutes, the flakes will be a little crispier than the dehydrated version), but of course then it won't be raw. Both versions taste lovely though!
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: snack, vegan alternative
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 3 hands of coconut flakes
  • 1 tbsp liquid smoke
  • 2 tbsp Tamari
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp organic agave nectar (or maple syrup)
  • salt to taste
To do
  1. in a bowl, mix the liquids
  2. add in the flakes and mix well
  3. transfer to dehydrator tray
  4. dehydrate at 46C until crisp, at least 8 hours.
  5. add salt to taste
Notes
You can give these flakes any flavour, add spices like curry or chilli 🙂

 

Steamed Rice w Capsicum, Onion, Garlic & Mint

Steamed Rice w Capsicum, Onion, Garlic & Mint
With a kitchen being renovated (no stove, no tap, no bench top, really good!), I used only a steamer to make this easy meal for two.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: main
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • one cup of rice
  • 1 capsicum, sliced
  • 1 small white onion, sliced thinly
  • 1-1.5 clove of garlic, raw and grated (or less if you're less of a garlic lover 😉 )
  • a small hand of fresh mint leafs, chopped
  • olive oil
  • chilli salt or something similar spicy
To do
  1. steam the rice for 30 minutes (in the designated bowl, with 1 cup of water)
  2. after 22 minutes, add another steam basket, and put the capsicum and onion in it
  3. steam to the end of the 30 minutes
  4. in the meantime, grate the garlic
  5. when rice is ready, mix all cooked ingredients, add the chilli salt, raw garlic and mint, and pour a dash of olive oil over the top
  6. taste and tweak the hot stuff if you like 🙂

 

Gluten free Gnocchi w Peas, Basil & Lemon Sauce

Gluten free Gnocchi w Peas, Basil & Lemon Sauce
A quick dish to make, especially if you have Cashew Cream sitting in the fridge. I love the taste of lemon zest in dishes like this and pasta, it seems to lift all flavours 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: main
Serves: 1
Prep time: 
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You need
  • about ½ to ¾ cup of gluten free gnocchi
  • ½ to ¾ cup of peas
  • half a cup of Cashew Cream
  • a small hand of fresh basil leafs, or about 8, chopped or torn
  • 2 tbsp of lemon juice
  • zest of ½ lemon
  • ½ cup of almond milk (or similar non dairy milk)
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • oil to cook
To do
  1. heat some oil in a small pan, add the peas and garlic and heat till peas are cooked
  2. add some salt & pepper
  3. in another pan, cook the gnocchi
  4. use a small pan for the sauce: heat the non dairy milk and lemon juice, when just coming to the boil, add cashew cream, zest, salt and pepper
  5. stir and add more milk if too thick
  6. place gnocchi & peas on plate, pour sauce on top and then the fresh basil

 

Orange & Berry Smoothie

Orange & Berry Smoothie
A beautiful smoothie, to drink and to look at. I only used half a banana, otherwise it will just taste of banana 😉
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: smoothie
Serves: 1
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • ½ orange, peeled
  • ¾ cup strawberries
  • ¾ cup blackberries
  • ½ banana
  • ½ cup of coconut cream (or milk)
  • 1 tsp of lavender leafs (optional, I know they can be hard to come by)
To do
  1. Blend the whole lot and drink!

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