Rockmelon & Spinach Salad w Ginger, Peppermint & Pepper

April 13, 2014 · by · Leave a Comment

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Rockmelon & Spinach Salad w Ginger, Peppermint & Pepper
This dish is just unreal, the freshness of the cold rockmelon against the bite of the ginger and pepper, then lifted by the peppermint.... wow. It's simple dishes like this that make me thank Mother Nature for her beautiful flavours. The spinach I added purely for health (I eat spinach, kale or watercress every day), but goes extremely well with the melon, even if you would serve it as dessert (I'm love having it as a main with a sprinkle of hemp seeds or nuts). If you can't find peppermint leaves (it does well in our garden), then you'll have to make do with mint, but I'm sure that will be pretty awesome too 😉
Cuisine: vegan, nutritarian
Recipe type: salad
Serves: 1
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • ~250gr cold rockmelon (cantaloupe)
  • ½ tbsp chopped peppermint leaves
  • 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
  • a few grinds of black pepper
  • a cup of spinach leaves
To do
  1. scoop balls with a melon baller, or cut cubes
  2. chop your mint, grate the ginger (a zester works well here), grind the pepper and mix with the melon balls
  3. place the spinach in a bowl and add the melon, or just mix the whole lot
  4. ready to eat!

 

Filed Under: All, Breakfast, Desserts, Fruit dishes, Gluten free, Light meals, Low/no added fat, Raw & Almost Raw, Salads · Tagged: , , , , , ,

Lasagna Rolls w Walnuts in Tomato Sauce

September 23, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Lasagna Rolls w Walnuts in Tomato Sauce
Just another - but fun - way of presenting lasagna; roll up the sheets with a filling you like. Mine are never the same 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: main
Serves: 2-3
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 5-6 wholemeal spelt lasagna sheets (or wheat, if you prefer)
  • ½ zucchini, sliced in long pieces
  • ½ large red capsicum, also sliced in long pieces
  • 2 slices of vegan cheese per roll
  • a few spinach leaves per roll
  • 1 small to medium onion, sliced
  • fresh basil leaves, a small bunch (or as much as you like, really)
  • 2 or 3 walnuts per roll, chopped
  • about 2 cups of tomato sauce (to make: chop 10 ripe tomatoes, place in a large pan with a dash of olive oil, and cook till all nice and soft, then blend quickly or look here), with a few cloves of minced garlic stirred through
  • grated vegan cheese to cover (about 1.5 cup, loose)
  • 2 tbsp of vegan mayo/aioli or 1 tbsp of oil to oil the oven dish
  • a good squirt of tofu mayo or aioli for topping
To do
  1. preheat oven to 200C
  2. cook your lasagna sheets in a large pot
  3. while they are cooking, slice the veggies and grate the cheese
  4. when done, rinse the lasagna sheets and one by one, on a plate or any non-sticky surface, place 2 slices of vegan cheese on the end away from you, and on the end close to you arrange the veggies and walnuts
  5. roll up and place in oven dish
  6. when all are done, pour tomato sauce over the top so all rolls are covered, then top with grated cheese
  7. place in oven and bake for 35 minutes
  8. place portions on plates, dress with some aioli and serve 🙂

 

Filed Under: All, Main Dishes, Pasta & Legumes · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rice Paper Rolls w Green Tea Kelp Noodles

August 19, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Rice Paper Rolls w Green Tea Kelp Noodles
How much of each ingredient you put in these rolls is really up to you, but I'll roughly write down how much we needed for about 8 rolls.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan, almost raw
Recipe type: snack or meal
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • half a pack of Green Tea Kelp Noodles
  • 1 medium to large carrot, julienne
  • lots of coriander, mint and dill, chopped and mixed
  • about ½ tbsp hemp seeds per roll
  • spinach, a few leafs per roll
  • 8 sheets of rice paper
  • a tsp sesame oil, a dash of apple cider vinegar, a bit of agave nectar and about 2 tbsp Tamari for dipping sauce
To do
  1. use a skillet to warm water (not too hot, you need to be able to stick your fingers in there)
  2. slide a sheet of rice paper in the water, leave it for a minute then pull it out with two hands, as not to fold it
  3. place on a plate and start arranging bits of all ingredients on top, on the side closest to you
  4. roll up; first from the front, then fold the two sides in, then roll up further
  5. mix the ingredients for the dipping sauce, put in a small bowl
  6. place rolls, cut in halves or leave as a whole, on a plate, together with dipping sauce. Add a second bowl with another dipping sauce if you like 🙂

 

Filed Under: All, Light meals, Main Dishes, Raw & Almost Raw, Snacks & Entrées · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Spinach Tomato Pastries

July 18, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Spinach Tomato Pastries
Ewwww, did I make these? ;-D Yummy packages of goodness. OK, pastry is maybe not the best health food, but what's inside, is 🙂 For dinner we had 3 of these each, with a side salad, but they would make excellent cocktails bites too!
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: main, snack, side
Serves: 8
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 pack of frozen spinach (about 1.5 cup), defrosted
  • 6 tbsp tomato sauce (in this case, home made sauce)
  • ½ tbsp minced garlic
  • ½ tsp Chilli powder
  • 100gr vegan cheeze (I used Vegusto), grated
  • salt to taste
  • 2 sheets of vegan pastry
  • a little bit of oil
  • 1 tbsp of sesame seeds
To do
  1. preheat oven to 200C
  2. drain the spinach, squeeze moisture out
  3. on an oven tray, defrost the pastry sheets
  4. mix the spinach with the tomato sauce, garlic and Chilli powder
  5. cut each pastry sheet in four, and place a few table spoons of the spinach mixture in the middle of each square
  6. fold the corners all to the middle, squeeze the edges together, but leave a hole in the middle for air to escape
  7. brush or spray some oil on each of them, and sprinkle with sesame seeds
  8. place in oven and bake for 20 minutes, check. When they're nice and golden brown they're done.
Notes
Serve with other wonderful things on the side 🙂

 

Filed Under: All, Light meals, Main Dishes, Snacks & Entrées, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: ,

Spinach & Tempeh Dumplings

July 10, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Spinach & Tempeh Dumplings
This recipe made 28 dumplings, which sounds like a lot, but they are very light.
Prepared by:
Recipe type: Vegan
You need
  • 150gr of (unflavoured) tempeh
  • 250gr frozen spinach, defrosted
  • 1 generous tspn of minced garlic
  • 1-1.5 tbsp capers
  • 3 tbsp of pine nuts
  • ½ tsp of Chilli powder (or more, have a taste)
  • Himalayan rock salt & pepper, to taste
  • Wonton wrappers - I used store bought (I admit, haven't found these organic yet)
To do
  1. whizz the tempeh in the blender till it's rather fine
  2. add the spinach, salt and pepper, blend again for 5-7 seconds
  3. texture should now almost be like a thick paste, but still a bit chunky
  4. add capers, give a quick blend
  5. stir in pine nuts
  6. lightly moisten your wonton wrappers with water (I use a small spray bottle), place a tbsp of the spinach mixture in the middle and scrunch up the sides
  7. place in your steamer, making sure they don't touch each other as they will stick
  8. when all dumplings are folded, steam for about 10 minutes.
Notes
Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice (I mixed sweet soy sauce with a tad of toasted sesame oil and a little bit of apple cider vinegar). Great as a snack, or as part of a meal 🙂

 

 

Spinach & Tempeh Dumplings sauna :-)

Spinach & Tempeh Dumplings sauna 🙂

Filed Under: All, Light meals, Snacks & Entrées, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: , , ,

Raw Green Veggies Soup w Semi Dried Tomatoes

June 24, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

 

Raw Green Veggies Soup w Semi Dried Tomatoes

Raw Green Veggies Soup w Semi Dried Tomatoes

Just veggies and all raw 🙂

You need:

2 hands of fresh coriander
1 large spring onion
2 hands of spinach leaves
120gr fennel
1 hand of snow pea sprouts
1/3 cup coconut milk
120gr cucumber
1.5 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp Bragg liquid aminos
2 tsp mild curry powder
semi dried tomatoes, chopped and rehydrated a little, as much as you like

To do:

– rehydrate the tomatoes if you like
– add everything except for the tomatoes to your blender and blend till smooth
– if you like it slightly warmed, either run for longer in your blender or place in dehydrator at 46C for 2 hours
– serve and top with tomatoes and some sprouts

Filed Under: All, Gluten free, Raw & Almost Raw, Soup · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Garlic & Tarragon Gnocchi w Roasted Tomatoes, Wilted Spinach & Walnuts

May 12, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Garlic & Tarragon Gnocchi w Roasted Tomatoes, Wilted Spinach & Walnuts
For this meal I used home made spelt gnocchi with tarragon, but you can also use pre fab gnocchi, if you want. Fresh gnocchi actually keep quite well in the freezer, so I like to make a double batch and freeze them. (Unless you have big strong hands, don't make much more, because then making the dough becomes quite a chore).
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: main dish
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 2 cups of gnocchi
  • 6 or more small tomatoes
  • a bunch of fresh spinach
  • fresh thyme sprigs, 4 or more
  • a few cloves of garlic
  • olive oil
  • dried Italian or Provençal herbs
  • salt & plenty of pepper
  • handful of walnuts, chopped
To do
  1. preheat oven to 200C
  2. half your tomatoes, put them in a dish with baking paper, sprinkle each half with a little bit of oil, the dried herbs, salt & pepper
  3. bake until done, about 25 minutes - depending on your oven and how soft you want them
  4. squeeze or chop the garlic, and strip leafs of thyme sprigs
  5. heat oil in skillet (don't be skimpy), add garlic & thyme, stir fry for a little. Don't let it go brown.
  6. roughly chop your spinach and add to skillet
  7. let slightly wilt over medium heat, stirring regularly
  8. switch off heat
  9. boil your gnocchi, which should not take more than 5 minutes
  10. then place your gnocchi on a plate, spinach and roasted tomatoes on top and sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Add a dash of olive oil if you want, and done 🙂

 

 

Filed Under: All, Complete Meal Ideas, Main Dishes, Potato & Grains · Tagged: , , , , ,