Pasta sauce with eggplant, red capsicum & currants

Here is a twist on the usual Italian style pasta sauce, this one has exotic Persian flavours of eggplant, currants and cumin and is from the book "East to live"by Sue Radd and Dr Kenneth Setchell

Serves 4

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium eggplant, cut into strips
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g bottled tomato pasta sauce
1/4 cup currants
pinch of salt, optional
pinch hot paprika, optional
12 pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons coriander, finely chopped

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the capsicum until it softens.

2. Add the eggplant strips to the pan and mix with the capsicum. Cover the pan and sauté for about 10 min or until the eggplant strips soften and start turning golden brown.

3. Add the cumin and garlic and fry for 1 min.  Mix in the tomato pasta sauce, currants, pinch of salt, pinch of hot paprika and an extra 1/2 cup of water. Allow the sauce to simmer, half-covered for another 10 minutes, until flavours cook through.

4. Toss in the olives and coriander and serve the sauce piping hot on top of cooked pasta. Both spirali and penne pasta work well.

BBQ Pineapple Pizza

Another delicious recipe from Chloe's Kitchen - Chloe Coscarelli and a great alternative for when you feel like a change from the standard pizza.

1 14 ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained
2 cups bbq sauce (it pays to get a really good quality one, or make your own)
2 large onions, sliced (i used red onions)
pizza dough 1 to 1 1/2 pounds or buy the base
1 cup diced pinapple
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander/cilantro

1. Press the tofu, cut into  cubes and toss with 1 cup bbq sauce. Bake in an oven at 325 degrees for 45 minutes turning a couple of times throughout. (Alternatively, to save time just grill the tofu which should only take about 10-15 min.

2. Turn oven up to 450 degrees F.

3. Saute onions until tender and caramelized about 20 to 30 min. Season generously with salt and black pepper.

4. Spoon remaining 1 cup of bbq sauce onto the pizza and spread, leaving a border along the sides, you may not want to use all the sauce, just enough to coat the dough.
layer the Tofu, caramelized onions, pineapple and cilantro.

5. Bake for about 15 to 20 min, until the crust is slightly browned or golden.

Date and Almond Butter Smoothie

This recipe is from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and has a lovely rich depth of flavour. 
Play around with the ingredients and amounts. I used only 1 tablespoon of almond butter (as that was all I had) and yet found it very strong so 3 T might have been too much (i was using roasted almond butter though which tasted devine). I also used a little less maple syrup so adjust sweetness accordingly. 


2 cups (470ml) non diary milk
1 or 2 ripe bananas, cut into chunks and previously frozen
2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of almond butter (32 to 48 g)
1 tsp cinnamon
3 dates, chopped
1 T pure maple syrup (20 g)
tsp vanilla extract

If you do not have a very strong blender, try soaking the dates first or add the dates and bananas to the blender first and pureee separately before remaining ingredients.
If you have a strong blender such as vitamix then combine all the ingredients and blend until a creamy smoothy.

yields: 2 servings

Immunity Boosting Muesli

A healthy and filling breakfast recipe I got from the April/May 2012 edition of Oxygen magazine.
I like it because you can prepare it the night before and then its ready by the morning, its a bit differnt from just having muslie iwth dried fruit.

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup plain vegan yoghurt (i couldnt find any plain so i usually use berry flavoured and skip adding the maple syrup as it is already sweet enough)
1 tablespoong round flaxseeds
1 tablespoon crushed almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup fresh mixed berries
1 T 100% pure maple syrup

1. stir oats into yoghurt
2. mix in ground flaxseeds and crushed almonds
3. stir in cinnamon and mix
4. toss in berries and stir in syrup. Refrigerate overnight.

Heavenly Fettuccine Alfredo

This masterpiece s from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli and is hands down the best Fettucine Alfredo I've ever had, and more! It is bursting with flavour, and while being comforting and filling doesen;t leave you with the heavy feeling cream does. I have not tried it iwth almonds yet and have a feeling they wouldnt blend up as easily as cashews.

TIPS: I made a few small changes to the recipe.
1. a less health version, I used Nuttlex to cook the onion and garlic, to give a more authentic taste (as the original is in butter
2. I added an extra clove of garlic
3. I added the full 2 cups of water but would suggest trying 1.5 first and then slowly adding the rest till you get the desired thickenss.
4. the tip about the blender is also very important! luckily i have a vitamix, but i know from past experience that a good blender can make a huge difference to the overall quality of the sauce. I also recomand grinding the nuts up in a coffee grinder before blending everything if you don't have a a blender with a lot of power.

SERVES 4 TO 6
1 pound fettuccine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup raw cashews or blanched almonds*
2 cups water
2 teaspoons white miso paste, optional
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and let cook until soft. Add garlic and let cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat.
In a blender, combine onions and garlic, cashews, water, miso paste if desired, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Process on high until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
Toss hot pasta with sauce until noodles are evenly coated. Adjust seasoning to taste. If sauce gets too thick, add a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Garnish with parsley and serve.
*If you are not using a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix, soak cashews or almonds overnight or boil for 10 minutes and drain. This will soften them and ensure a silky smooth cream.

Mocha Almond Fudge Cake

This delicious cake didn't last long in my household! A choclety fudge cake base is complimented by a creamy, thick, rich coffee flavoured icing, and made extra special by the addition of roasted almonds. Definiently worth making again!

The recipe makes 2 9 inch-round cakes and is designed to be layered with filling on the top and middle, however i halved the recipe and made just one cake, and iced the sides as well as the top.

The recipe is from Chloe's Kitchen - Chloe Coscarelli

Chocolate Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups cold coffee or water

1 cup canola oil

1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar

1 T pure vanilla extract

Mocha Frosting

1 cup nonhydrogenated begetable shortening

3 cups powdered sugar

1 t pure vanilla extract

3 T instant expresso powder dissolved in 1/4 cup water (i used one tablespoon (australian) of normal coffee for half the recipe and found it plenty strong enough)

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup canned coconut milk, mixed well before measuring

2 T canola oil

To make the chocolate cake:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degees. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whist together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a seperate bowl whisk together coffee, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined, do not overmix.

4. Fill each prepared cake pan evenly with batter. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out almost clean, with a few crumbs clinging to it. Rotate the cakes halfway through the baking time. Cool the cakes compleately before assembly. (Note: i had to cook the cake for about 40 minutes)

To make mocha frosting:

1. using a handheld or stand mixter, beat the shortening until smooth. With the mixer running on low, add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat to incorporate. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso liquid at a time as needed until it reaches desired frosting consistency and espresso flavour. Beat on high for 2 more minutes until light and fluffy.

to make the chocolate fudge sauce:

melt the chocolate chips and coconut milk in a double boiler or microwave. whisk in oil until smooth.

1/2 cup almonds, toasted and rouchly chopped for garnish

Moroccan lentils and sweet-potato shepherd's pie

Found this recipe in Tiffany Hall's Weight-loss warrior book. Its quite different (and more interesting I think) from the traditional Shepherds pie most would be familiar with.

serves 4

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons harissa (I just added some chili flakes as I didn't have harissa)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
250g (1 cup) French-style green lentils
750ml (3 cups) vegie stock
125ml (1/2 cup) tomato puree (or try a few tablespoons of tomato paste with a bit of water)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves (or try some fresh parsley)
600g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1. Heat oil in medium sized saucepan over a medium-high heat and saute the onion for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the garlic, harissa, coriander and cumin, and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the lentils, stock and tomato puree, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked and the sauce is reduced.
Season to taste and stir through the coriander leaves at the end.

4. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

5.To prepare topping, simmer the sweet potatoes in a saucepan of water until tender, for about 10 min. Drain and mash then season with salt and pepper.

6. Pour the lentil mixture into a 2-litre deep baking dish. Cover with the mashed sweet potato and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown on top.

Thai Salad

This is a fantastic tasting and filling noodle/salad dish that is from the January 2012 edition of Australian Women's Health.

makes 2 servings

- 110g extra-firm tofu drained and cut into 2cm cubes
- 110g buckwheat soba noodles
- 1/2 cup shredded carrot
- 1/2 red capsicum, sliced into 3cm strips
- 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, microwaved for 1 minute and cooled
- 2 tbs chopped coriander
- 2 tsp black seasme seeds ( i just toasted white ones)

Dressing

- 1 tbs creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbs reduced-salt soy sauce
- 2 tbs fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp brown sugar

1.combine all dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor or whisk together until smooth.

2. Toss 1 tablespoon dressing with tofu and set aside to marinate. Reseve rest of dressing.

3. Cook noodles according to package directions then drain and rinse.

4. In a large bowl, toss cooked noodles with remaining dressing.

5. Add carrot, red capsicum, edamame, coriander and mairnated tofu. Toss gently.

6. Sprinkle with seasame seeds. Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight.

"Honey" and Mustard Tofu Penne

This is a veganised version of a recipe from Women's fitness magazine.

serves 2

50g wholewheat penne pasta
140g tofu
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
50 mushrooms, sliced
3-5 cherry tomatos, halved
1/4 tablespoon light mayonnaise (soy)
1 tsp wholegrain mustart
1/4 tablespoon agave syrup

1. cook the penne pasta according to the instructions on the packet, then drain.

2. Meanwhile cook the tofu under a grill until cooked, turned halfway, then cut into bit-sized chunks.

3, heat oil in large frying pan, add onion and garlic, cook for 3 min or until onion softens. Add the celery, mushrooms and tomatos and cook for 5 min or until the mushrooms soften.

4. Mix the mayonnaise, mustard and agave syrup in a separate bowl. Then add the sauce to the pan, along with the penne and tofu. Stir well and serve.