Lemony Eggplant w Artichoke & Kale Sauce on Adzuki Bean Spaghetti

Lemony Eggplant w Artichoke & Kale Sauce on Adzuki Bean Spaghetti
I love eggplant, but at times I have a problem with it absorbing oil like crazy; while that tastes really nice, it doesn't make for the healthiest food. So in this recipe I use lemon juice and smoked paprika to flavour the eggplant and the only oil I use is spray oil, to keep the eggplant (with a thin batter) from sticking to the pan. The sauce has a mild tartness due to the artichokes, but blends lovely with the pasta. I used Adzuki bean pasta in this case, which provides us with proteins and carbs nicely, plus is gluten free 🙂
Cuisine: vegan, cooked
Recipe type: Dinner
Serves: 2
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 60gr of Adzuki bean pasta (or more, if this is too modest for you)
  • 2 eggplants of abt 200g (1 per person)
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup non dairy milk
  • 4 tbsp (gluten free or spelt) flour
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • a generous grind of pepper
  • spray oil
  • fresh coriander
for the sauce:
  • 2 stalks of curly kale (about 60grams without stem)
  • 160gr of marinated artichoke (about 8 pieces, and mine were store bought)
  • ½ avocado (about 50gr)
  • ½ cup of non dairy milk (I used homemade almond & hazelnut milk)
  • ¼ tsp Himalayan rock salt
To do
  1. rip leaves of the kale and mix with the artichoke, salt, avocado and the milk in a blender or with a stick blender. Add more milk if you like. Pour into a small pot and set aside.
  2. mix the lemon juice, non dairy milk, paprika powder, salt and pepper - keep the flour on the side for now
  3. slice the eggplant (slices of about ⅓cm thick), and dip them in the lemon mixture
  4. when done, whisk in the flour in to the lemon juice, bit by bit
  5. heat a skillet (medium to hot), spray with oil
  6. now dip the eggplant slices in the batter, cover both sides, and place in the skillet
  7. bake for a couple of minutes before turning them over (try not to check too early if they are brown, as then the batter may stick to the pan despite the oil. If you do, spray some more oil and place the slice back)
  8. turn over and repeat with all slices (you could use a small skillet to keep the finished eggplant slices warm)
  9. during this process, cook the pasta
  10. when you're almost finished with the eggplant, heat the sauce
  11. serve eggplant with a few coriander sprigs or leaves, spaghetti plus sauce on the side
Notes
2 Skillets will make a nice difference in prep time 🙂
Nutritional Information
Serving size: (with 30gr of pasta) Calories: 415 Fat: 17gr Saturated fat: 2gr Unsaturated fat: 2gr Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 49gr Sugar: 16gr Sodium: 306mg Fiber: 17gr Protein: 20gr Cholesterol: 0mg

 

Kale Chips w Curry, Thyme & Garlic

Kale Chips w Curry, Thyme & Garlic
Kale chips come in all sorts of flavours nowadays, and many of them are really yum. But, they are still quite expensive, and if you have your own dehydrator, it makes much more sense to make them yourself, not only financially, but also because you can flavour them exactly as you like! They are easy to prepare, and this recipe is just one of the many varieties you can make.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan, raw
Recipe type: snack
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 bag of curly kale leaves (about 5 leaves)
  • 3.5 tbsp Cashew Cream (mine was quite thick)
  • 1 tbsp toum (or garlic paste, and add ½ tbsp olive oil extra)
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp mild curry powder (or hot, if you prefer)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp water (optional)
To do
  1. rip all the soft bits of the stem, roughly tear them up (you want them to fit in your dehydrator) and place in a large bowl
  2. in a small bowl, mix all the other ingredients except for the water
  3. pour the mixture over the kale and use your hands to coat all bits and pieces
  4. if you find the cashew mix is a tad too thick and the leaves have too many dry spots, add the water to the kale in the bowl and massage again
  5. place pieces on your dehydrator trays (without sheet but with mesh)
  6. put trays in dehydrator and run it at 45 or 46C for a few hours; check now and then to see if the leaves have the desired crispiness. If you prefer to dehydrate at a lower temp, it will just take a bit longer. If you have very curly bits, you may want to turn them over during drying.

 

Green Banana Smoothie

Green Banana Smoothie
Quite a lazy way to make a meal, but it does us so much good 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: smoothie
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 large banana
  • ½ capsicum
  • 3 leafs of kale
  • 1 orange, peeled
  • 2 dates
  • 1 tsp of Maca
  • 1 tsp of Mesquite
  • 250ml coconut water
To do
  1. Blend the whole lot and drink or keep in a jar and take places 🙂

 

You need:

1 large banana
1/2 capsicum
3 leafs of kale
1 orange, peeled
2 dates
1 tsp of Maca
1 tsp of Mesquite
250ml coconut water

Blend the whole lot and drink or keep in a jar and take places 🙂

 

Dehydrated Kale Chips w Dukkah

Dehydrated Kale Chips w Dukkah

Dehydrated Kale Chips w Dukkah

 

These guys are quite irresistible 🙂 If you own a dehydrator you’ve probably made them, but here’s a recipe anyway:

You need (for a small batch, you can easily double or triple):
♥   6 stalks of kale
♥   about 2 tbsp of Dukkah (which ever flavour you fancy)
♥   about 2 table spoons of olive oil
♥   a generous pinch of salt

You do:
– pull the leaves of the stems, leaving them in quite big chunks
– toss in a large bowl with Dukkah, oil and salt, coat as evenly as you can
– transfer to dehydrator trays, making sure there is no overlap
– dehydrate on 40C for about 4 hours. Check now and then and take them out once crispy to your liking.

 

Leftover Veggie Pasta Soup

Leftover Veggie Pasta Soup
Soup can be a piece of art, or it can be a practical way to get rid of left over dishes and veggies that would otherwise give up the ghost soon. I had left over pasta bake and made it into a soup. There was tofu in the pasta bake, but the soup doesn't need it, so it's optional (about half a block, crumbed) 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: soup
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • your left over pasta bake!
  • (This was in mine::
  • a cup of Orzo (or other pasta)
  • 3 leafs of curly kale or a bit more, finely chopped
  • 2 large Shiitaki muhrooms, sliced or chopped
  • ½ capsicum, chopped
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • few sprigs of fresh Rosemary or ½ tbsp dried Rosemary)
  • 1 tbsp white Miso
  • 1 tbsp of veggie stock powder
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • any veggies you have left over
To do
  1. boil the water with the stock powder and Miso
  2. add your leftover bake, stir and let it simmer for a while.
  3. serve!