Whay can’t more food be bright pink? Well it can just add beetroot! Brighten up your crackers with antioxidant rich colourful food.
Beetroot Blush Hummus
240g/ one cup (and a bit) of cooked chickpeas or sprouted ones!
If you want it even pinker you could use aduki beans instead of chickpeas!
Two dessertspoons of a natural dark tahini
One small bright beetroot
Two cloves of garlic
A teaspoon of whole cumin or half a teaspoon of ground
Two dessertspoons of fresh lemon juice
Two dessertspoons of organic cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Three dessertspoons of water
A lovely optional: A quarter teaspoon of umi plum puree
An eighth of a teaspoon of sea salt or pink himalayan salt
About six twist of black pepper
A spinach leaf for decoration!!
If you have a jug blender you can just pop the lot in and pulse it a bit and then blend. If you are using an immersion hand blender you may need an extra spoon of water, also I would mash the chickpeas with a fork and stir the ingredients first.
This is a bright green light super yummy soup. Simple and fast to make. Just a matter of cooking off your onion, garlic and spices and then blending the lot! You can use homemade stock*, or get cubes- just watch out there is no hydrolysed vegetable protein in them (acts like MSG).
Lettuce Pea & Avocado Soup
Almost a whole head of a large organic oakleaf or batavia lettuce
Two cups of organic peas fresh or frozen peas
One red onion
Three cloves of garlic
Half a ripe avocado
One teaspoon of yellow mustard
Half a teaspoon of nigella seeds
A teaspoon of english style mustard
Two and a half cups of home made stock* or water plus a good quality stock cube
Twenty fresh mint leaves
Lots of black pepper ( to your personal taste )
An eight of a teaspoon of sea salt (less if using salty stock cubes!)
A scant dessertspoon of organic coconut oil
Sooo put your saucepan on a medium high heat and melt the coconut oil. Add in your mustard seeds and nigella seeds- once the oil has heated a little. Finely chop your red onion and add it too. Cook until it is getting transparent and add in your garlic. Add your salt and a little of the pepper. Add your stock. Add your peas and the mustard, give it a stir. Reduce the heat to medium.
Like a sesame street lettuce- looks like it might sing! “let-tuce be!” 🙂
Now… wash your lettuce and chop it. If you have an immersion hand blender you will need to chop it quite finely. If using a jug blender it can be roughly chopped. Wash your mint and get your avocado ready. If using a jug blender you pour in the stock and peas- add more pepper and pop in the mint avocado and lettuce and blend. Immersion blender add everything to the pot and blend it in there- off the heat of course!!!
Ta-da! cCreamy satisfying bright green soup!!!
Green! Creamy! Pea-y minty!!
Serve with your favourite vegan bread… I actually just ate it on its own ‘cos it was scrummy, if I don’t say so myself!! Xs Aissa
My little hand held emersion blender died 😦 It is an ex-blender. I have a jug one now. The other evening after work, having drunk little water and feeling the lack of veggies, I made this. I upped the nutrient factor with green food powder. For good live bacteria, good yeasts and enzymes I popped in some homemade water kefir.
raw green goodness
Raw Electrolyte Smoothies
A full mug and a half of organic coconut water
A double shot of water kefir – you could use kombucha if you like
A tablespoon of chia seeds (for the good fats)
A thin inch long slice of organic ginger
Two stalks of celery
One small carrot
A teaspoon of a green superfood powder of your choice
One kiwi
Optional: A spoon of natural peanut butter or almond butter
Peel the kiwi and chop the carrot and celery. Put your water kefir and coconut water in the jug first and add in everything else and blend. The ginger gives it a nice lift.
Filled me up too and stopped me just eating spoon after spoon of natural peanut butter while I cooked dinner! xs Aissa
These are filling, sweet, a little fruity and they melt in your mouth. I added some exotic treats to enhance the nutrition factor. I’ve included the antioxidant packed acai powder and the wonderful ashwagandha powder which is said to have adaptogenic properties amongst other things. I added a couple of teaspoons of vanilla rice protein to make them more substantial. If all these goodies are not normally on your shopping list you can leave them out, they will still taste just good, just up your ground almonds a little!
Sweet Coconut Wonders!
Two dessertspoons of cashew nut butter- raw if you like
One dessertspoon of organic raw coconut oil
Three and a half dessertspoons of good quality maple syrup
The zest of half a lime
A cup of ground almonds
Two dessertspoons of desiccated coconut- for in them
And Three dessertspoons of desiccated coconut- for rolling them in
A little under an eighth of a teaspoon of himalayan pink salt or sea salt
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder or inside of one pod
A quarter teaspoon of ashwagandha powder
Half a teaspoon of acai powder
Two teaspoons of vanilla rice protein
Mash your cashew nut butter, coconut oil and lime zest together make sure they are well combined- no lumpy coconut oil bits! Add in the maple syrup and mix again.
cashew coconut lime
Mix all your dry ingredients- except the three spoons of coconut that you will be rolling them in! Add the dry to the wet, begin by mixing with a spoon. Once it is a bread crumb texture get in there with your hands. Press the mix together until it forms a ball.
dry stuff!
Get a plate and put your three spoons of desiccated coconut on it. By the teaspoonful roll the mixture into little balls and roll them in the coconut. That is all you have to do. Fast and simple to make!
It is Pancake Tuesday- let the crepe craziness commence! Oddly in my family we actually only ended up eating pancakes once a year! As a grown up I may even partake bi-annually! OooOOo. Having concocted this simple recipe I may do so more often. I made these a couple of weeks ago with the idea of keeping them as wraps- but I just ate them all with tons of maple syrup and lemon instead!!!
Easy Peasy Buckwheat Pancakes!
One tablespoon of ground flaxseed
Three tablespoons of water
One cup of buckwheat flour
A eighth teaspoon of sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
Two teaspoons of sieved arrowroot powder
Half a teaspoon of baking powder-sieved
A cup and a quarter of unsweetened almond milk- have some spare incase the batter thickens too much
Organic coconut oil for frying
Topping Suggestions
Organic banana with peanut butter
Maple syrup
Vanilla powder
Cinnamon
Tahini
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Vegan ice-cream…yum!
Fresh berries and coconut yogurt
Melted vegan chocolate on that vegan ice-cream!!!
Go crazy with savoury have hummus and salad-y bits!
Treat it like a tortilla and fill with a bean chilli sauce!
Method!
Mix your tablespoon of ground flax/ linseed with the three spoons of water. Leave to one side to thicken. This is called a flax egg- as it replaces an egg gelling capacity in a recipe.
Mix your dry stuff- I always sieve my arrowroot and baking powder incase of lumps.
Add your “flax egg” to your almond milk and give a stir.
Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients, pour in the almond milk flax mix and gently whisk it all together.
Put some coconut oil in your pan, set to a medium high heat. I actually did mine in a wok. Let it melt so it coats the pan. Pour in a ladle full of your pancake batter, swirl the pan a little so it is evenly spread. Leave it alone for a minute or two so it cooks. Peep under a corner to see if it browning, only then attempt The Flipping!!
Buckwheat pancake – the first flip!
They cook quite fast as they are not thick- like a pancake crepe hybrid!
Tasty enough to have with just maple syrup!! Num num num
So I made these chocolate brownies during the week. Super fast and supremely easy! Mint, vanilla and chocolate such a delectable combination…that said if you are not a paid up member of the “Mint Lovers Club” you can always add orange zest and a splash of juice for chocolate brownies with a fruity twist!
You will need a 9inch (22cm) squared cake pan, you can use smaller for a higher rise. I like them bite size- what make it more complicated to eat?!!
Minty Chocolate Brownies Vegan & Gluten free
Two generous dessertspoons of organic coconut oil
Two teaspoons of cashew nut butter
Half a teaspoon of peppermint extract or four drops of culinary peppermint oil
Half a cup of unsweetened almond milk
A third of a cup of a good quality raw agave
Two teaspoons of vanilla powder or extract or two pods
A scant third of a cup of rapadura /sucucant sugar
A third of a cup of pure cocoa powder
A rounded teaspoon of arrowroot powder
One and a half teaspoons of baking powder
Half a cup of ground almonds
Half a cup plus three dessertspoons of fine maize meal
A quarter teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt or good sea salt
35g(1.25oz) of chopped up 70% dark chocolate
A quarter cup of warm water (boiled and left to cool a bit)
Method
Preheat your oven to 170C (fan) or 340F. Line your tin with paper and lightly grease with some coconut oil.
Grab a medium sized bowl and put in your vanilla powder/ pod (if using extract add it to the wet instead), sugar, ground almonds, maize meal and salt. Press out any lumps. Get a sieve and sieve in your cocoa powder, arrowroot and baking powder. Mix them all together evenly. Set to one side.
Chop your chocolate, it does not have to be super finely chopped as coming across the odd chunk is an extra treat! I used an organic one that has some wild harvest beans in it too..swanky. This is to be sprinkled on top of the brownie batter. Measure out your warm water.
Yummy chopped chocolate-
You will need to melt the wet ingredients, so get a perspex bowl and put over a saucepan of lightly simmering water, it should fit safely and the water should not be touching the base of the bowl. Pop in your coconut oil and cashew nut butter first and once they have melted add in your peppermint extract, agave and almond milk. Once it is all melted together and your kitchen smells minty fresh take it off the heat.
golden melted gooey goodness
Use an oven glove or towel to pick the bowl up and pour the lot into the middle of your dry ingredients. Fold the gooey mixture together –  gently does it. You don’t want to knock air out, we are making brownies not bread! 🙂 When combined (no big lumpy flourier bits and a uniform colour) Pour the (quite runny) batter into the cake tin. Quickly now- no dilly dallying- sprinkle your chopped chocolate ontop and press in ever so slightly. Pour your water over the top and put into the middle of your preheated oven.
Upside down chocolate brownie slab…is it just me or is that an upside down face?
It takes twenty five minutes, fast…but you have to wait a good ten minute before removing it from your tin. I was impatient and as you can see by the picture it stuck a little. Gluten free equals handle with care. Once cooled a bit you cut it into bite sized chunks! Ta-Da! Brownies.
HmmmMmm rich minty chocolate brownie
O and here is the Yin Yoga I did this evening. Lovely gentle Yoga practice for the start of the week. Not crazy push yourself advanced- but is in the holding of even the most simple pose that you find the beauty of a yin practice.
Hey there! I wanted to share the Yoga practice I followed to-day. I have a bit of a head cold and woke up stiff and sniffly. So a crazy cardio intense flow really was the last thing I wanted. I did a little of my own warm up, some vinyasa flow with sun salutes and hamstring stretches. Though if you did not wake up feeling like an un-oiled version of the Tin-man, you could probably just head straight into the video. I especially enjoyed the counter poses. I am feeling flexible, floppy and actually quite rested after my routine. Hope you enjoy it too. I am off to make a wheatgrass shot with ginger, lemon and cayenne pepper. I’m going to kick this head cold’s gluteus maximus!
Hour later Edit!
So I decided to add said juice! Calling it The Cold Buster which may be a little optimistic… to say the least. This will make three decent little juices (half a cup each), I will have another juice later, and be good and give one to my partner too!
The cold buster! Note Tiny sprinkle of cayenne.
You will need…
A four inch in diameter bundle of organic whestgrass
A third of an organic unwaxed lemon
Half an organic pear (I ate the other half ‘cos it was so ripe and delicious)
An organic unwaxed apple
A nub of organic ginger (about the top of your baby finger)*
One small organic carrot
A tablespoon of organic apple cyder vinegar
A double shot glass measure of water kefir (you could use raw kombucha too)
A pixie dust TINY sprinkle of cayenne pepper
You may well use cayenne all the time in cooking, but is a different matter when drinking it. You really feel the heat- a little goes along way, great for the sinuses. It  has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
*organic is especially important with ginger as sometimes it is irradiated.
VeganEtcetera 