Yes Equality Celebration Juice!

23 Saturday May 2015

Posted by Aissa in juice, Natural Health, Superfoods, Vegan

Tags

Juice, Superfoods, Vegan, water kefir, Wheatgrass

Any one who follows me on twitter will know how passionate I have felt over the Irish Marriage Equality Referendum. Voting was yesterday. When I was a young teenager in Ireland it was illegal to be gay, it was only 1993 when it was de-criminalised. I remember friends having such a hard time coming out in small town Ireland. I am very proud that my country is the first to pass marriage equality by popular vote 🙂 a huge turn out with over 60% saying YES!!

This is my Green, White & Gold Celebration Juice! (well orange as it is a carrot!) – just incase those are the colours of the Irish flag! Though most will be celebrating with a fermented drink, perhaps this would be good for the nation’s party hangover tomorrow!! 😉

Green white and gold (orange) ingredients

Celebration Juice!

A two inch in diameter bundle of wheatgrass
A ripe unwaxed green pear
A medium carrot
One stalk of celery
A few mint leaves
A few oregano leaves
Optional: Double shot of water kefir.
A few lettuce leaves- which did not wish to be photographed

You will have to have a masticating juicer for the wheatgrass, but you can always juice the rest and add a spoon of your favourite green superfood powder to enhance it!

Makes two small juices – so you can share with your significant other!!

Xs and much ❤ Aissa

P.S

Seasonal Rhubarb & Orange Crumble Cake, Gluten Free & Vegan (of course!)

17 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Aissa in Cake, Gluten Free, Traditional, Vegan

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Cake, Gluten free, rhubarb patch, Traditional, Vegan

Finally it is Rhubarb Season! The first of the Irish stuff is out and about at Organic Farmer’s Markets now, get it while it is ruby pink and fabulous! My nana grew rhubarb in her garden, her rhubarb patch with it’s big deep green leaves seemed like the perfect hiding place for faeries. My sister now has a rhubarb patch, turns out it is a perfect hiding place for kittens too! I haven’t quite figured out how to grow rhubarb in my flat so I depend on organic farmers for mine 🙂

I like crumble-ness, rhubarb and orange-ness and who doesn’t like cake? Seems like a great combo. The mix of textures and sweet and tart flavours worked out great- if I don’t say so myself. So I decided to share!

Seasonal Rhubarb & Orange Crumble Cake

Rhubarb & Orange

Six stalks of rhubarb, topped and tailed and cut to 1cm/ half inch pieces
A third of VERY thinly sliced of a ripe pear
Zest of half a large organic unwaxed orange
Juice of half a large orange
Optional:Zest of half a lime
Two scant dessertspoons of xylitol
Half a teaspoon of organic vanilla powder/ 1 pod / one tsp of extract

Put it all in a bowl and mix it all together. Leave to macerate while you prepare the rest of the yumminess!

Looks like lots ‘cos it is double the recipe here! I made regular crumble at the same time

Crumble layer

One generous spoon of raw organic coconut oil- melted
A third of a cup of rapadura / sucucant / cocount blossom sugar
A third of a cup of ground almonds
Three dessertspoons of chopped walnuts
One teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Less than an eighth of a teaspoon of himalayan pink salt / sea salt

Add your sugar of choice to your melted coconut oil and mix. I use real sugar in the crumble because it caramelises. I mix my salt and cinnamon into the ground almonds and then add these. Finally mix in the walnuts. Leave the bowl to one side while you prepare the cake.

Crumble!

Cake! Hmmm Cake!

Three and a half dessertspoons of coconut oil melted
A quarter cup of xylitol
A cup of room temperature unsweetened apple puree
A quarter cup of hot water- this to be added just before combining the wet and dry ingredients
A third of a cup of buckwheat flour
Two thirds of a cup of fine maize meal
A half a cup of ground almonds
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder/ one pod/ one tsp of extract
An eighth of a tsp of himalayan pink salt or sea salt
One teaspoon of aluminium free baking powder
Half a teaspoon of aluminium free baking soda
One teaspoon of cornflour

Method:

Pre heat your oven to 170C / 330F fan or 180C / 350F normal. And prepare a 20cm/ 7.5inc cake tin, a springform one might be nice! You will need some foil or baking paper to cover the cake half way through baking.

This is a many bowled affair, you will need four! I used heat proof ones for the crumbly bit and the wet ingredients for the cake as I popped them in the pre-heating oven to melt the coconut oil first.

For the wet ingredients mix your xyitol into the coconut oil. Add in the room temperature apple puree. This is important, as if the apple puree is cold the coconut oil will re-solidfy. I forgot to take mine out of the fridge so I melted the coconut oil and apple puree together. Boil the kettle so you have the quarter cup of hot water ready for later!

Next sieve the buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and cornflour into a bowl. Add in the salt, maize meal, ground almonds and vanilla. Stir everything together, pressing out any lumps of ground almonds.

Dry stuff!

The fast bit!

Grab your wet ingredients and add in the quarter cup of hot water. Give it a quick stir and with haste pour the mixture into the dry stuff. Fold the ingredients together to make your cake batter. Once combined- just so there is no streaks of dry. Over mixing is not good for the texture of the cake.

The cake bit!

With a high pitched “Now” grab your well rested rhubarb and quite speedily spoon the mixture over the top- try not to include too much of the liquid, don’t worry about it being on the spoon but leave what is left over in the bowl.

With a sharply said “Next!” pick up your crumble and spoon this on top of your rhubarb evenly. Make sure the rhubarb is hidden so it doesn’t burn.

Put it into the middle of your oven- or with mine slightly to the right because the left side is hotter. Sigh.

I get to bowl washing at this stage 🙂 After twenty five minutes cover your Rhubarb & Orange Crumble cake with foil or baking paper. This will stop the top from burning.

I was a little nervous about cooking the rhubarb on the cake! I therefor peeked a lot and actually left it in the oven a little long. I baked mine for 1hr 10mins- in a fan oven! Eek I am lucky it wasn’t charcoal – so I am saying 55mins – 60mins, it is a wet batter and the water from the rhubarb cooking makes it wetter so it does take that long. But it makes for a lovely moist cake, I also find using coconut oil gives it a lovely bouncy texture!

Summery Cake on the windowsill!

Leave to cake to cool for at least twenty minutes before removing from the tin. This gives the cake a chance to settle down and firm up! Hope you try it out ! Xs Aissa

After Dinner Mint Pie or Torte! Vegan, No bake & Gluten Free

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by Aissa in Chocolate, Gluten Free, No bake/ Raw, Superfoods, Tart, Vegan

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Cacao, Cacao Butter, Chocolate, Gluten free, No bake, Pie, Superfoods, Tart, Vegan

Chocolate, Coconut, almonds and mint, they are such a lovely combination! Pre my launch into an imformed healthy veggism* and then veganism I used to be fond of a after dinner mint chocolate. Who says I can’t have one??? and I’ll make it better too, added uber antioxidants from the cacao and minus the nasty processed sugar and artifical stuff! Ta-da! Vegan After Dinner Mint Pie!

Chocolatey goodness

Though there are three layers to make, really all you are doing is mushing stuff together, blending bits to something and melting a whole lot of things and pouring them ontop of eachother. What I am saying is- it is easy!! 🙂

After Dinner Mint Pie / Torte

Almond Base

Two and a half dessertspoons of raw organic coconut oil
Four dessertspoons of raw dark agave
A quarter teaspoon of natural almond extract or five ground apricot kernals
A quarter teaspoon of sea salt or himalayan pink salt
One and two third cups of ground almonds
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder or one pod
One or two dessertspoons of fresh lemon juice

Coconut Peppermint Filling

One cup of dessicated/ shredded coconut
One and a half dessertspoons of raw organic coconut oil
Nine drops of food grade peppermint oil or a teaspoon of natural extract
This is an odd measure- 15 dessertspoons of non dairy milk

Raw Chocolate Layer

Three dessertspoons of chopped cacao paste
Two dessertspoons of chopped cacao butter
One dessertspoon of cacao powder
One and a half dessertspoons of raw organic coconut oil
A quarter teaspoon of himlayan pink salt or fine sea salt
A quarter teaspoon of vanilla powder or half a pod
Four dessertspoons of raw dark agave
Five dessertspoons of non dairy milk

Base Method:

Grab your 7.5 inc or 20cm tart tin/ pie dish!! Rub it with a little coconut oil or if using a spring form one line with grease proof paper.

Mash your coconut oil together with the dark agave first. Mix your ground almonds, salt and vanilla and add these into the wet. Mix and then get in there with your fingers and start pressing the mix together. It will remain a little crumbly. Sprinkle one spoon of your lemon juice in and press the mix again. You may or may not need another spoon. You just want to wet the ingredients enough that it will hold together when pressed between your fingers.

from another base recipe- but this gives you an ides

from another base recipe- but this gives you an idea- the base for this will be darker

Now press into your tart/pie dish. Attempt to do so evenly- it will look prettier when cutting it later! 🙂 Cover it up and put in the fridge.

Coconut Peppermint Filling Method

You will need your blender or food processor for this bit. I imagine an immersion blender would do fine if you can figure out away to stop the coconut from flying all over the room!

Start with your coconut, coconut oil, peppermint and half the non dairy milk ( I used a light coconut one designed for use in cereals or coffee). Give this a blitz with your preferred pre-mentioned electric contraption. Gradually add more non dairy milk until you get the desired snow like consitancy.

Peppermint coconut snow! With very planned soft focus- really…

Take your base out of the fridge and gently press the peppermint coconut snow ontop. Again try and keep it even. Cover up again and put back into the fridge.

Coconut moon!

Raw Chocolate Topping-hmmm

Chop your raw cacao paste and cacao butter. I use an Irish brand called Nua Naturals- it is where I get my vanilla powder and agave too!

The raw fabulousness

Put some water on to simmer and find the right sized a heat proof bowl (e.g perspex ) to place ontop. The water should not touch the bowl or it will be too hot. Pop in your cacao paste, cacao butter and coconut oil. Once melted add the agave, gently stir in the cacao powder, salt, vanilla and non dairy milk of choice. The milk helps the chocolate layer be a little bit softer so that it possible to cut the torte / pie.

Take your nearly finished pie out of the fridge. Use a towel or oven mitt to pick your perspex bowl and pour the yummy gooey chocolate goodness over the snowy coconut layer. It looks so lovely as it coats it. I find it easiest to pick the pie dish up and gently tilt it this way and that until the chocolate has coated it all in a pretty swirling manner. I like to make a tent or tee-pee for my pie out of paper. This keeps it hidden and also reduces the risk of the top of the pie being marked by a collapsing cover.

Leave to chill for a couple of hours at least. You can keep it in the fridge but it really does need to be out at room temprature for a half an hour before serving. I find the the coconut layer goes so solid when refridgerated it will actually separate from the base upon slicing. At room temprature it softens and it all holds together like pies should!

The after dinner mint pie !

Though rich and chocolatey the peppermint adds a freshness that keeps it from being too heavy! Hope you try it out . Xs Aissa

* I was ten when I turned veggie first, so my eduaction re ingredients was a gradual process!

Raw/No bake “Intensely Dark Decadent Cacao Fudge”- Vegan & Gluten Free

03 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Aissa in Chocolate, Gluten Free, No bake/ Raw, Superfoods, Sweets, Vegan

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cacao, Chocolate, chocolate fudge, Gluten free, No bake, Superfoods, Sweets, Vegan

Fair warning- this is a decadently intense chocolate experience. That said a little spoon of this dark fudgey goo hits the the chocolate/cacao craving nail right on the head! You will need a food processor or blender to make it as is. You could use ready prepared ground almonds chop some walnuts to a dust like consistency but you will get a lighter more of cake like version.

Anyone thinking that person spelled cocoa wrong? Cacao is raw cocoa, it has a slightly more complex flavour and a lighter colour. In it’s raw form more of the nutrients survive (esp antioxidants & magnesium) so you get all the fabulousness of cocoa with an extra health kick!

This Fudge is Filled with Filling nuts so is almost like protein chocolate fudge, if the richness doesn’t get you the amino acids will 😉

Intensely Dark Decadent Cacao Fudge

One cup of whole almonds
Half a cup of walnuts
Half a cup of cacao powder
Four dessertspoons of dark raisins*
Two and a half dessertspoons of raw coconut oil
A quarter teaspoon of good quality sea salt
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder/ a pod
One dessertspoon of pure maple syrup
One dessertspoon of water kefir/ water**
Zest of an unwaxed organic orange- hold half a teaspoon back
Five walnuts chopped
A dessertspoon of desiccated/ shredded coconut

Method:

Ready your machinery and pop in the nuts with half the raisins and the coconut oil. Blend / pulse until they are chopped a bit. Add in the rest of your ingredients bar the last three.

Nearly raw fudge!

It may seem like it it is not going to come together, gradually add in the water kefir/water. The texture will begin to change, you will prob just be pulsing it a bit at this stage. Transfer the fudgey-ness to a bowl add in the orange zest and mix it through. Keep half a teaspoon of the orange zest back, as you will be putting it on top later.

OOooOoo look how dark it is!

I used a 15cmx15cm (5.9inc x5.9inch!) perspex container. I gave it a little wipe with coconut oil to make it easier to remove the fudge. No-one wants delayed access! Plop half the goo in the middle and spread evenly. Add on your chopped walnuts and gently layer more of the fudge on top. Decorate with your orange zest next. Finally sprinkle on your desiccated coconut, press this into the fudge so it can’t go anywhere. Cover and put in the fridge for ten minutes. Take it out and use a knife to cut your little squares of dark delight! Pop back in the fridge and leave to set for another forty five minutes or so.

Intensely dark fudge 🙂

It is fast and easy to make and will keep fantastically in the fridge or freezer. So can be made well in advance or be an emergency chocolate store! Xs Aissa

*Footnotes*

* I used these fab organic Black Beauty raisins from Uzbekistan! I was gifted them 🙂 they had no oil and were really juicy. I think a good substitute would be Jumbo Chilean Black raisins or Muscatels

**Water kefir, why not get some live bacteria, good yeasts and enzymes in your fudge? Kombucha might work too…

Seasonal Iron Rich Vegan Dinner- gluten free too!

29 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Aissa in Gluten Free, Natural Health, Savoury, Vegan

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Dinner, Gluten free, Natural Health, purple sprouting broccoli, salad dressing, Savoury, Vegan

So I love my green foods, have them until they come out my ears! Lately though I have found myself having less dark leafy salads because of the cold weather and less seaweed as I have it in my salad! Veggie people are no more likely to suffer from an iron deficiency than meat eaters but is something we should all not be lackadaisical about.

So here is a delicious dinner packed with iron and the vitamin c that will help you absorb it! I picked up the organic leafy greens and herbs at my local organic farmers market and the rest in the health shop I work in. It makes me happy when purple sprouting broccoli comes back into season. 🙂

Yummmm colours

Seasonal Iron Rich Vegan Dinner for two!

Roughly 4 cups of Purple Sprouting Broccoli it doesn’t fit in a cup!
240g or a cup and a half of cooked Pinto Beans
A salad bowl of toren leaves:
Organic Watercress
Organic Rocket
Organic Mustard Leaves
A third of a cup of chopped parsley
A quarter cup of chopped chives
A small red onion- finely chopped
Three cloves of purple garlic- finely chopped
Half a teaspoon of nigella seeds
A quarter teaspoon of chilli flakes
A dessertspoon of organic raw coconut oil
A dessertspoon of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper to taste- I like lots
A quarter teaspoon of good quality sea salt
A squeeze/ teaspoon of fresh lemon juice.
Half a teaspoon of powdered dillisk/dulse seaweed & more for sprinkling
Optional:teaspoon of basil paste or some fresh basil
An avocado
Some alfalfa sprouts
A red pepper- diced
A carrot chopped as you like
A few black olives that refused to be photographed
A sheet of nori seaweed- to use like a wrap!

Miso Salad Dressing

A clove of purple garlic – finely chopped
A teaspoon of raw sweet miso paste
A teaspoon of chopped parsley
A teaspoon of chopped chives
Lots of black pepper
Half a teaspoon of apple cyder vinegar
A dash of mirin (gives a note of sweetness)
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Half a cup of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Grab your broccoli and cut off a tiny bit of the tough stem. Leave the leaves, they all part of the goodness! Give them a rinse and pop them on to steam for roughly eight to ten minutes. Chop your onion and garlic including the garlic for your salad dressing. Melt your coconut oil in a wok or pan on a medium high heat. Once it is heated a bit throw in your nigella seeds, chilli flakes, and a bit of black pepper.

Now add almost all your onion (you are keeping a bit to put in your salad later).Add your sea salt. Leave cook for a few minutes- the onion will go transparent pretty fast. Add in the garlic- let this cook. Next throw in your pinto beans (also a good source of iron).

While the pinto beans heat through rinse and chop your herbs. Put about half in with the pinto beans and keep half for the salad and salad dressing. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the dillisk/dulse and basil if using. Your purple sprouting broccoli should be ready at this stage. Add this to the pinto beans. Mix everything together and add in your extra virgin olive oil. Taste and see if it needs more seasoning. Remember you will be having it with the salad dressing so be cautious with the salt. I now turn the heat off but leave it on the ring.

Prepare your salad dressing. I make a little jar full as it will of course keep. It is even better the next day as the garlic infuses into the oil and the miso starts working on everything! Having right now on tonights dinner! Put your garlic, herbs, miso and black pepper in a jar- that you have a lid for (you want to be able to shake it!). Add your oil. Now add your mirin, apple cyder vinegar and lemon juice. Put the lid on and give it a good shake. The vinegar and lemon juice help emulsify the dressing.

Throw all your washed dark leafy greens in a bowl. I like to tear mine rather than chop. Mix in your herbs. Chop your red pepper and carrot and either serve on the plate or add to the salad. I prefer to put the salad dressing on the table and let people take as much as they like. Chop your avocado in two and put alfalfa on it!

Go back to your purple sprouting broccoli dish and squeeze your lemon juice over it and give it a mix. I find the sharp fruity lemon juice really helps bring all the flavours together.

Ready to serve! Delicious and nutritious !Xs Aissa

P.s In tonight’s dinner I discovered that freshly cooked brown lentils are made even more addictive by the addition of half a teaspoon of ume plum puree!!! And that my water kefir looks like pee in this photo! 😉 Though not photogenic it is full of good bacteria, yeasts and enzymes that will help with my digestion.

Tonight’s dinner! Xs

Cacao Nut Bites – Vegan & Gluten Free

13 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Aissa in Chocolate, Gluten Free, No bake/ Raw, Superfoods, Sweets, Vegan

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Cacao Butter, Chocolate, Gluten free, No bake, organic coconut oil, Superfoods, Sweets, Vegan

These are mainly nuts and seeds, as a result they are high in protein, healthy fats and are super filling. Be great to bring if you were going on a big hike, mine was mainly from the kitchen to the couch while going back and forth for more! People think making your own raw chocolate is some complex mystery. It is actually really easy and it means you can control the flavour, sugar content and get all those lovely antioxidants and minerals in the cacao too! Hmmm chocolate.

You will need a strong food processor or blender to follow the recipe exactly, I will give alternatives in the footnotes if you are with out these contraptions. I used a 15cm x 15cm (almost 6inc x 6inc ) perspex dish, so it made nine good sized Cacao Nut Bites. They are very fast to make and the joy of raw vegan baking is you can taste everything along the way. 🙂

Cacao Nut Bites

The Base*

125g/ three quarters of a cup of whole almonds
Twelve whole brazil nuts
One flat dessertspoon of organic coconut oil
One teaspoon of vanilla powder
An eighth of a teaspoon of fine Himalayan pink salt or good sea salt
One dessertspoon of good quality maple syrup

The Sprinkle layer

Three dessertspoons of sunflower seeds
Approx. twenty organic dried mulberries

The Topping

One dessertspoon of organic coconut oil
Roughly one and a half dessertspoons of organic cacao butter
Roughly three dessertspoons of organic cacao paste
One teaspoon of organic cacao powder
Less than an eighth of a teaspoon of good fine sea salt
Two dessertspoons of good quality maple syrup

The very simple Method

Starting with the base, through everything into your food processor and blend until it starts to get a bit sticky. I find you still need to work it a bit with your hands, in order to help it all stick together. Just press it into your container- as evenly as possible.

Base ingredients

Sprinkle your sunflower seeds and mulberries on top and put it all in the fridge while you make your raw chocolate!

Put a saucepan half filled with water on to your hob. Bring it to a simmer and pop a perspex bowl (that will fit ) on top. The water should not touch the base, or it will be too hot and burn the precious chocolate. Melt the cacao paste and butter and coconut oil, take off the heat for maybe thirty seconds (something about cacao crystals realigning) . Put back on the heat and add in the cacao powder, salt and maple syrup. Mix and melt together.

Take your base out of the fridge. Using a oven glove or tea-towel grab your bowl of melted goodness and pour it over everything. You may have to move your mulberries a bit after to make sure they are evenly spread. Put back in the fridge to set. It would probably be a good idea to take it out after five minutes and score the top in the way you plan to cut it. The chocolate sets quite hard!

hmm melted chocolate

Hope you try them, I found the brazil nuts bring something more interesting to the flavour. Who knew sunflower seeds and chocolate would be such a good combination?

Xs Aissa

*Footnotes

No machine? No fear! You can use ground almonds instead of the whole ones. You can use a big dessertspoon of brazil nut butter or cashew nut butter instead of the other nuts. Finally add barely an eighth of a teaspoon of natural almond extract to your coconut oil. Mash the oil, nut butters, maple syrup, almond and vanilla extract together first. Add in the ground almonds and salt, mix and press it altogether.

Restorative Pillow Yoga, love your body

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Aissa in Natural Health, yoga

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Tags

Natural Health, Women's Day, Yoga

I feel so on trend with my post! It is Women’s Day today, which is a day for reflecting on Women’s rights, how far some places have come and how far some places have to go. I have come back and edited this post as I did actually reflect today. I feel less light hearted about now. I have thought about women’s rights in Ireland and the recent history we are still dealing with. I have come across some uplifting stories from friends online, people praising women they love. Posts of women lead action around the world past and present, and some saddening stories and statistics. It makes me want to be more active, I hope that feeling doesn’t wain with the day.

This post is a restorative yoga one, all about being gentle and loving to your body. It seems my womb was even more in tune with Women’s Day than my mind! I have trawled the interweb many times searching for a good practice for during menstruation. Finally I found one, you just need pillows. I used cushions too. Though a gentle and almost comforting routine I still felt I was getting the most out of the poses. I am sure it would be a lovely practice for bedtime, or if you are just not in a place for a more rigorous routine. I think it would be good for guys too, though Adriene does address us viewers as women!

Xs Aissa (actually smiley face) 🙂

Beetroot Blush Hummus- Vegan Gluten free friendly!

27 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Aissa in Gluten Free, Savoury, Traditional, Vegan

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Gluten free, Savoury, Traditional, Vegan

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.

Fast and easy tasty pink beetroot hummus!

PINK!!

Xs Aissa

Lettuce Pea & Avocado Soup Vegan Gluten Free

26 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Aissa in Gluten Free, Savoury, Traditional, Vegan

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Gluten free, Savoury, Traditional, Vegan

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

Footnotes:

*see my French Onion Stew-oup footnotes for a home made stock recipe!

Raw Electrolyte Smoothie

22 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by Aissa in juice, Natural Health, No bake/ Raw, Superfoods, Vegan, Vegan Smoothie

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Gluten free, Juice, Natural Health, Raw, Superfoods, Vegan, Vegan Smoothie, water kefir

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

VeganEtcetera

~ Eating healthily easily

Yes Equality Celebration Juice!

Seasonal Rhubarb & Orange Crumble Cake, Gluten Free & Vegan (of course!)

After Dinner Mint Pie or Torte! Vegan, No bake & Gluten Free

Raw/No bake “Intensely Dark Decadent Cacao Fudge”- Vegan & Gluten Free

Seasonal Iron Rich Vegan Dinner- gluten free too!

Cacao Nut Bites – Vegan & Gluten Free

Restorative Pillow Yoga, love your body

Beetroot Blush Hummus- Vegan Gluten free friendly!

Lettuce Pea & Avocado Soup Vegan Gluten Free

Raw Electrolyte Smoothie