Raw Avocado Lime Pudding

You wont believe how amazing avocado pudding can be! Other flavours easily mask the avocado taste, but the avocado itself produces such a rich creamy smooth texture, its a real treat. Try this slightly sweet, slightly tart pudding for a quick but filling breakfast, as a easy snack during the day or as a delicious and healthy dessert! I found the recipe on this website http://wholefoodeater.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/raw-key-lime-pudding/ though of course I would not recommend using honey.


The recipe is so easy:

- one avocado
- one bannana
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- 1 tablespoon of agave syrup (you could also try rice syrup or maple syrup perhaps)

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth and creamy. Chill in refrigerator for a little while. You can decorate the top with fruit or I like to sprinkle on some coconut.

Breakfast Bars

These  cereal bars are very addictive and much nicer than any packaged store broaught bars. They make a great snack of breakfast to munch on the run. The recipe comes from "THe Everything Vegan Cookbook" by Jolinda Hackett and Lorena Novak Bull, RD.

3 cups breakfast cereal, any kind (i used rice bubbles)

1 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup tahini

1 cup maple syrup ( i used rice syrup as the cheaper option)

1/2 t vanilla

2 cups muesli

1/2 cup flax meal or wheat germ

1/2 cup diced dried fruit or raisins

1. Place creal in a sealable bag and crush partially with a rolling pin but you can skip this step if you are usuing smaller cereal. Set aside.

2. Combine peanut butter, tahini, and maple syrup in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring well to combine.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool a bit so that the cereal wont go soggy and then mix in the cereal, muesli, flax meal or wheat germ and dreid fruit or raisins.

4. Press firmly into a baking/casorol dish and chill for about 45 min before cutting into bars.

* After making this a few times I have found sometimes the bars come out dryer and more crumbly than others and don't hold together and I think it may depend on the brand of peanut butter you use and how dry or oily it is and also perhaps on the tahini. So you may want to add just a little  extra peanut butter to reach desired moistness. The moistness/dryness of the bar will also depend on the cereal you use. The first time I used rice bubbles and later I used the larger sultana bran and found that rice bubbles are better. 

Tofu in Blackbean Sauce with Rice Noodles

Here is a recipe from the book "Vegetarian 30 minute Thai cookbook" by Sarah Beattie. The dish goes particularly well with the wide flat rice noodles that are commonly used for pad thai. You can add an extra crunch by scattering a tablespoon of chopped peanuts or cashews over the top before serving if you like. 

Serves 4-6

2 T vegetable oil 

250g/9oz/ 1 1/2 cups cubed firm beancurd(tofu) 

3 medium onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 t grated root ginger

1 fresh chilli, crushed and finely chopped

1 t shredded lemongrass (if you are using the leaf rather than the stalk it's easiest to do this with a pair of clean scissors - i used the leaves because I have lemongrass in my garden and its easier to get to than the stalk) 

3 medium carrots,sliced

125g/4oz/1cup mangetout (snow peas) (I used broccoli instead)

140g/5oz/ 3/4 cup blackbean sauce

90ml/ 3fl oz/ 1/3 cup water

1. heat the oil. Pat the beancurd dry and fry in batches in the oil until nicely browned. Drain. (I like to heat under the grill with no oil for a oil-free version.)

2. Fry the onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and lemongrass for 1 min. Stir in the carrots and cook for a further minute.

3. Add the mangetout and cook for a further minute. 

4. Add back the fried beancurd. Stir in the blackbean sauce and water. Allow to simmer briefly, then serve. 

(if you are serving with noodles you can add them to the pan at this point and fry for a further 2 minutes or so.)

Couscous Aromatique

I love this recipe because of the special way you steam the coucous over the vegetables which influes the coucous with lots of flavour! Also its one of those recipies where you dont have to dice the vegetables up finaly because they are steamed for a long time. Very delicious way to eat lots of vegetables with a Moroccan twist :) It is from the book "Vegetarian Cooking: A complete guide to ingredients and techniques, with over 300 delicious steb-by-step recipes" by Roz Denny and Christine Ingram.

Serves four to six

450g/1lb couscous grains

60ml/ 4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, cut in chunks

2 carrots, cut in thick slices

4 baby turnips, halved

8 small new potatoes, halved

1 green pepper, cut in chunks

115g/4oz green beans, halved

1 small fennel bulb, sliced thickly ( i have never actually used the fennel bulbs it tastes fine without it but not sure how much of a difference it makes)

2.5cm/1in cube fresh root ginger

2 garlic cloves, crushed

5ml/1 tsp ground tumeric

15ml/1 tbsp ground coriander

5ml/1 tsp cumin seeds

5 ml/1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

45ml/3 tbsp red lentils

1x400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes

1 litre/ 13/4 pints/4 1/2 cups stock

60ml/4 tbsp raisins

salt and ground black pepper

rind and juice of 1 lemon

harissa paste, to serve (optional)

 1. Cover the couscous with cold water and soak for 10 minutes. Draina nd spread out on a tray for 20 minutes, stirring it occasionally with your fingers.

2. Meanwhile, in a large suacepan, heat the oil and fry the vegetabes for about 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

3. Add the grated ginger, garlic and spices, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the lentils, tomatoes, stock and raisins, and add seasoning.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. By this time, the couscous should be ready for steaming. Place in a steamer and fit this on top of the stew.

5. Cover and steam gently for about 20 minutes. The grains should be swollen and soft. Fork through and season well. Spoon into a serving dish.

6. Add the lemon rind and juice to the stew and chekc the seasoing. If liked add harissa paste to taste - but its quite hot. Spoon the couscous onto a plate and ladle the stew on top.

Nile River Soup

 This soup is from a highly recommanded site which has many authentic recipes from all aroudn the world, the International Vegetarian Union  http://www.ivu.org

This recipe is very quick to make, perfect for when you don't have many ingredients or you wnat something to warm yourself up on a winter night. The blending of the soup gives it a differnt texture and flavour from other lentil soups.

From roussea

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 2 t ground ginger (I used minced fresh ginger)
• 2 t ground cumin
• 2 t ground coriander
• 4 c water or vegetable stock
• 2 slices of lemon (1/4 inch thick or so)
• 1/2 cup canned (or fresh) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cayenne or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 T finely chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)

Heat oil in heavy pot on medium high heat.
Saute onion and garlic until softened.
Stir in lentils, ginger, cumin and coriander and coat with onion/garlic mixture.
Add lemon slices, stock, tomatoes, cayenne, salt and pepper
(you can add salt and pepper later, but like to put it in now).

Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer for about 45 minutes (it may only take 30 minutes) or until lentils are tender.
If you like your soup thin, add more stock.
Take the pot off the burner, discard lemon slices, and puree soup in blender or food processor.
Season if you have not already added the salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with coriander (cilantro leaves).
Alternatively, you can add the cilantro before you put the soup in the food processor.
Serves 4.

Garam Masala Tofu Stir-fry

This is one of my own recipes that I came up with, based on a recipe my mother makes. I love the idea of the Indian spice mix Garam Masala with the tofu, its an unexpected mixture that is surprisingly tasty and different, however if you haven’t tasted Garam masala before, you might not like this recipe – its quite strong as garam masla is usually used quite sparingly. Because it is my own recipe the measurements are quite approximate and you may need to adjust to taste.

Serves 2 (approx)

Ingredients

1 t garam masala spice * (see note)

3 T (Australian so 1 T = 4 teaspoons) soy sauce

½ pound of tofu

Mix the soy sauce and garam masala and then toss through tofu. Marinate for 30 min or so.

Other ingredients:

1 onion, sliced

1 garlic, sliced thinly

1 t ginger

1 stick cinnamon

1 red chili, sliced or chopped

1 large carrot, sliced

2 stalks celery – cut in large sections diagonally

1 red capsicum chopped

1zucchini julienne

1 t cornflower

(You can off course substitute for whatever vegetables you have on hand that would taste good in a stir fry. My mother usually puts shitake mushrooms in her version of this recipe.)

1.      Either fry the tofu till crisp or grill the tofu (no need for oil if grilling). Reserve the soysauce mixture.

2.      Meanwhile either fry in a bit of oil or water simmer the onion until almost soft, then add the garlic, ginger, chili and cinnamon stick with a bit more water. Simmer for a few minutes.

3.      Add the chopped vegetables and stir fry until almost done – about 5-10 minutes depending what method you are using and your stove heat.

4.      Mix 1 teaspoon of cornflower into the reserved soysauce or into a little water. Add the tofu and the cornflower mixture to the pan with the vegetables. Cook for 1-2 more minutes until thickened.

5.      Remove the cinnamon stick and serve over jasmine rice.

What is Garam Masala?

Translated garam means “hot” and masala means “spices. The spice mix is common in the North Indian cuisine and is thought to create heat in the body in a different way from chilies. It gets bitterly cold in the winter in Northern Italy and whereas chillies cool the body by promoting perspiration, garam masala creates heat within, keeping it warm, and is why this spice is often preferred over using chilies in those parts of India.

There are a variety of garam masala available and you should try a few before deciding on one you like because a good garam masla is crucial to the flavor of a prepared dish.  

If you want to try making garam masala yourself here is a recipe I found from India’s Vegetarian cooking – by Monisha Bharadwaj, a highly recommended cookbook, it’s worth checking out just for beautiful the photos not only of recipes but all over India.

This makes enough for one curry for 4 people:

10 black peppercorns

1 t cumin seeds

Small stick of cinnamon

Seeds from 2-3 cardamom pods

3 cloves

Dry roast all the spices in a small saucepan for a couple of minutes until a delicious fragrance wafts up. Put the spices in a mortar and bash to a fine powder, or blitz in a coffee mill. Use at once.

Tofu Kebabs with Couscous

This recipe is one of my favourites, passed on to my from my mother. It smells delicious as the kebabs are grilling and tastes just as good. I like to make extra and eat more the next day as its very quick to grill them and prepare the couscous.
The only think you have to be really careful of is testing how hot the chili is before adding it to the blender because not only does the chili seem 10x stronger once pureed but the pineapple also brings out the heat mroe I think, and a few times I've made this almost too hot to eat (and I love chili).

serves 2-4 (depending on how much tofu you put on each skewer)

60mls lemon juice
60mls olive oil or 40ml pineapple juice and 20ml olive oil
60mls soy sauce
1 T tomato puree (not the paste) (This is Australian tablespoon so = 4 teaspoons)
1 green chilli, (seeded, chopped depending on heat)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp garam masala
pinch of fresh tyme

Combine all ingredients in good processor.

Marinate tofu for at least an hour or overnight.

Thread tofu onto skewers with vegetables and pineapple then grill.

Meanwhile heat remaining marinade and pour over cooked kebabs. Serve with couscous. (For extra flavour cook the couscous with vegie salt/stock.)

Egyptian Style Lentil Soup

This recipe is from Donna Klein's The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen." Apparently it has been a source of nourishment in Egypt since the beginning of history. I think you need to use a good quality vegetable broth for this, and she does not specify what type of lentils to use, but I used brown lentils. 

* this soup tastes great on its own, without the added lemon or the red onion, so its up to you to decide if you want the lemony taste or want to bother roasting the onion 

makes 6 servings

1 small red onion (about 4 ounces) sliced into very thin rings

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium yellow onions (about 6 ounces each) coarsely chopped

5 ounces (about 2 1/2 small) carrots, coarsely chopped

1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

4 cups vegetal broth (use the recipe posted above, or low sodium canned) 

4 cups of water 

1/2 cups of lentils, rinsed and picked over

1 small dried hot red chili pepper, left whole, or cayenne pepper to taste (optional) 

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

juice of 1/2 large lemon (about 2 tablespoons) 

lemon wedges (optional) 

 Prehead the oven to 425F (220C). Place the red onion in a pan and toss with 2 T oil. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 15 min or until  soften and fragrant. (For your health, i don't recommand using foil - use a lid instead) Remove from the oven an dlet stand, covered, until ready to use.

Meanwhile, in a large stockpot, heat the remaining oil over medium-low heat. Add the yellow onions, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin, and fennel seeds and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the broth, water, lentils and chili if using, season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce the heat partially cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Uncover and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally or until the lentils are very tender and the broth is slightly thickened. Remove and discard the chilie. Stir in the reserved red onion and the lemon juice. Season with additional salt and pepper as necessary. Serve hot, passing hte lemon wedges separately if desired.