Vanilla Berry Summer Sponge Cake, Strawberry Mint Sorbet- Vegan & Gluten Free

01 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by Aissa in Cake, Cupcakes, Gluten Free, No bake/ Raw, Superfoods, Vegan

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Cake, Gluten free, No bake, Superfoods, Vegan

I made Seasonal Rhubarb & Orange Crumble Cake a little while ago. I was quiet happy with it, especially the texture. So I thought I could adapt it for further use! I have to apologise though- there are pics of the sorbet but the cake pictures are not up to par. I thought I took a picture of my berries- nope. I thought I took a picture of the cut cake- showing the crumb and melted berries in it- nope…I just ate it. So I will put a pic of the Rhubarb cake in so you get an idea of the cakes texture at least! 😦

It has a creamy caramel colour due to the coconut blossom sugar.* It has a lovely fruity flavour, as one would expect, what with it having berries in it. It is the fruit puree that gives it an overall … fruity almost summery taste. I used some defrosted organic mixed berries I had, but fresh ones would of course be great too. Lots are in season here now, we had such a lovely spring there seems to be a bounty crop this year! This cake would make lovely faery cakes (cupcakes). Just reduce your cooking time by five or six minutes.

Dark Vanilla Berry Summer Sponge Cake

I cup of apple and strawberry puree (200g)
Three and a half dessertspoons of melted coconut oil
A quarter cup of xylitol
A quarter cup of coconut blossom sugar
A third of a cup of hot water- for right near the end
A third of a cup of buckwheat flour
Half a cup of ground almonds
Two thirds of a cup of fine maize meal
An eighth of a teaspoon of himalayan pink salt or sea salt
One teaspoon of vanilla powder- two pods/ teaspoons of extract
One teaspoon of gf & aluminium free baking powder
Half a teaspoon of gf & aluminium free baking / bread soda
One teaspoon of gf cornstarch
Two/ three dessertspoons of defrosted or fresh berries
I used a mix and chopped the strawberries so everything was the same size

* If you would prefer it the more traditional pale colour you can use all xylitol or replace the coconut sugar with agave and increase the dry ingredients by a few dessertspoons.

Method:

You will need a 7.5inch/ 20cm cake tin, if using a metal one be sure to line the base.

Preheat your oven to 170C/340F/ or 180C/350F if not a fan oven.

There are lovely sugar free mixed organic fruit purees you can get here by Clearspring. If you cannot get your hands on something similar then just sugar free apple puree will do.

Grab a perspex bowl and pop in your fruit puree and coconut oil. Put them into your preheating oven, this is so your coconut oil melts and your puree warms. Add in the xylitol and coconut blossom, stir stir stir and you will find the sweet stuff melts into the mixture.

In another bowl and throw in your flours, salt and vanilla powder. Sieve in the baking powder, soda and cornstarch. Mix and make sure there are no lumps.

Now for the fast bit. Ensure your cake tin is at hand. Add your hot water to the wet ingredients, mix through and pour into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until there are no dry lumpy bits and toss in your berries and give a quick stir. Pour into your cake tin and put straight in the oven. The hot water starts to react with the soda so it can’t be left sitting about the place.

The batter

It takes about 25 minutes. It is done when coming away from the sides of the tin, the top has little cracks and if you stick a skewer or knife in it comes out dry.

Under exposed cooked cake!

Rhubarb Crumble Cake on the windowsill!

Enjoy with vegan vanilla ice-cream (suggestion not an order). OR with….

Strawberry Mint Sorbet… melting on my windowsill.

Strawberry Mint Sorbet

About two and half cups or 250g of frozen strawberries
Two dessertspoons of organic dark raw agave
Four big mint leaves

Soo I took the leaves off my Irish strawberries, washed them and popped them in the freezer over night. I advice chopping the berries before freezing, as even in the crazy strong jug blender the whole ones were like little rocks bopping about the place. They took ages to blend.

Frozen strawberry rocks

This is so easy. Put the CHOPPED frozen berries, agave and mint in your blender/ food processor and blend them to a liquid. Put in a freezer safe container and put in the freezer for at least three hours. Or use an ice-cream sorbet maker!

Blended nearly sorbet- what a colour!

If you are good at quenelle-ing you can do that..or pop it in a ramekin like I did!

Hope you enjoyed the berry fest! Xs Aissa

Red Pepper Hummus & Wacky Wasabi Poppy Seed Dressing Vegan & Gluten Free

17 Friday Jul 2015

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

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Gluten free, Red Pepper Hummus, Savoury, sweet red pepper, Traditional, Vegan

I seem to be going through a dip, sauce and spread phase. The one in my last post kicked it off I think. The “Sweet Red Pepper Hummus” I just enjoyed with my salad-y dinner. I accidentally lashed an overpowering amount of black pepper powder in it at the end…I ate some of the hummus that I had to fish out because of the pepper and my eyes are still watering! Got my circulation going at least 🙂 So I would just stick to using your sense both taste and common and not looking away as you pour said peppery pepper.

The “Wasabi Poppy Seed Dressing” is made extra yummy by some cooked shiitake. It almost tastes mustard like with the hot wasabi and brown rice vinegar. It was lovely with the aduki chicory salad that night. But first…..

Sweet Red Pepper Hummus

One large pointed sweet red pepper
A cup or 240g of cooked or sprouted chickpeas
Two dessertspoons of whole dark tahini
One clove of garlic – two if using a less powerful hand blender
A squeeze of lemon juice
Three or four dessertspoons of water
Three dessertspoons of extra virgin olive oil
A third of a spoon of powdered black pepper
A third of a teaspoon of smoked paprika
A bare half of a teaspoon of ground cumin
A teaspoon of sweet raw miso paste*
A pinch of sea salt or a tsp of nutritional yeast flakes

*no miso? use a half teaspoon of tamari for an unami flavour

Roughly chop your pepper and garlic. Throw everything into your blender/ food processor and blend. Or use a hand blender in a bowl- you may need a little more water. If using a can of organic chickpeas with no added ingredients in it you can use some of the water from the can- as it has a chickpea flavour.

That is it super simple sweet and spicy red pepper hummus. Adding naturally colourful foods where you can = bonus nutrients and antioxidants! Serve in a pretty bowl with a sprig of parsley!

The red pepper hummus seems to have brought the sun out... or maybe it is a coincidence

The red pepper hummus seems to have brought the sun out…perhaps just a coincidence!

And now… next!

“Wacky Wasabi Poppy Seed Dressing”

Cooked bit:

Approx. five or six or so organic shiitake mushroom
A dessertspoon of coconut oil
A teaspoon of nigella seeds
About ten twists of black pepper
Three cloves of garlic- finely chopped

Throw in the blender bit:

Quarter cup of a vinegar mix
I used brown rice and apple cyder vinegar*
A quarter a small onion chopped – approx. two dessertspoons
Four dessertspoons of poppy seeds
Third of a teaspoon of wasabi powder**
Eighth of a teaspoon of sea salt- but check if it needs more
A teaspoon of maple syrup
Three/ Four dessertspoons of extra virgin olive oil

*real vinegars traditionally fermented

**if wasabi is unavailable you could grate a teaspoon of horseradish

Method

So wash your shiitake and slice. Put a pan/ wok on a medium high heat. Melt the coconut oil and leave for a minute. Put in your nigella seeds and let them sizzle. Add in your pepper and chopped garlic. After leaving the garlic cook and soften add in your shiitake. Reduce the heat to medium. Keep an eye, give them the odd stir. The mushies will be done when they have shrunk and are nice and shiny. Take off the heat and let the mix cool.

Uncooked Mushrooms. Looking mushroom-y.

Put all the “throw in the blender bits” in the blender and add in the “cooked” bits. Blend! I have a setting on my jug blender for dip type things. It basically blitzes for a few seconds on and off at the start and then blends at a high speed for 30 second. It should start to thicken and emulsify. I gave a couple of five seconds blitz-iseses at the end.

Wacky wasabi poppy seed dressing..on my windowsill

It was lovely with the aduki wilted wild chicory yoke I made. Also great on the spiralized side salad. Really mustard like! Got your dose of fermented food, and antioxidants with fabulous poppy seeds too!

Incase you would like to see..here’s the salad.

cucumber, carrot and onion and lemon juice…on my windowsill.

i would like to point out that I do not keep all my food on my windowsill. I do actually bring it inside and eat off a plate at the table. Hope you like my foray into dips sauces and spreads. Think I will be back to my usual healthy sweet stuff next time. Xs Aissa

Vibrant Green Thai inspired Dinner- Vegan & Gluten Free

13 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by Aissa in Gluten Free, Savoury, Vegan

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Gluten free, Savoury, Vegan

Last week I was sick of all my dinners, I am always happy to have a big salad and veggies, but sauce wise I felt like I had been eating variations of the same thing for weeks! Though most of my vegan cookbooks lean towards the sweet I have a precious few that vary. I was gifted a fab book called “Fresh” from the Canadian veggie restaurants of the same name. The wonderful Denise gave it too me, she also improved my life by sharing her water kefir babies when mine died in a tragic accident.

The recipe here is a blend inspired by two of the recipes. One is their “Tiger Noodles” and the other is their “Peanut Lime Dressing”. So here is my..

As green as the grass

Vibrant Green Thai Inspired Dinner

Dressing/ Sauce- the cooked bit

One big dessertspoon of organic raw coconut oil
Half a teaspoon of nigella seeds
One medium yellow onion finely chopped
Three cloves of finely chopped garlic ( I used purple )
One de-seeded medium hot chilli pepper chopped
A baby finger tip of organic chopped ginger *
A baby finger tip of organic chopped turmeric**
A few dessertspoons of chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
A teaspoon of coconut blossom sugar
Five twists of black pepper
Less than an eight teaspoon of sea salt

*org as it can have been irradiated otherwise

**if unavailable you can use a half teaspoon of org ground

Dressing/ sauce-the bits you blend with the cooked bit

Two handfuls of de-stemmed coriander
A dessertspoon of brown rice vinegar (the proper fermented no sugar stuff)
Two dessertspoons of fresh lime juice- one tiny lime in my case
One dessertspoon of tamari (again the real fermented stuff, gluten free too!)
Two dessertspoons of natural unsalted peanut butter
Another finger tip of chopped org ginger
Two dessertspoons of soft coconut milk from the top of a can***
Scant quarter cup of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Scant half cup of cold pressed sunflower oil

***do not do the whole can of coconut milk in the fridge thing, you want it soft. I had a curry tonight with the rest of the coconut milk. you can do the hard creamed coconut just soften it with a little warm water.

Noodles and veg bit!

Enough buckwheat soba noodles for two people or your appetite****
125g/ 3 cups of organic baby spinach
A cup of organic frozen peas
Two dessertspoons of toasted cashews
Some chopped coriander/cilantro for sprinkling when serving

**** I actually used sweet potato and buckwheat noodles- very nice

Method:

Get a wok on a medium high heat and add your coconut oil. Let it melt and heat for a minute. Add in your nigella seeds and black pepper and let them sizzle. Add in your onions, salt, ginger and turmeric. Cook until onions are softening add in your coconut sugar. Keep stirring until sugar melts and everything is coated. Add in your garlic. When onions are transparent add in your chopped coriander/cilantro. Set these aside to cool. Once cooled bung in your blender/ food processor.

Now boil a kettle and get water on for your noodles.

Using the same ring but a different pot, obviously! Let the dry pan warm for a minute. Toast your cashews until they just start to turn golden- don’t stray they burn easily… I speak from the experience as someone with no attention span. Set to one side.

Put your noodles on to cook. Mine only take 5-6 minutes.

Put all the ingredients for your dressing in the blender- put the sunflower oil in too. BUT NOT THE OLIVE OIL. Start blending and drizzle in the olive oil as it blends. If you can’t pour into your blender/ food processor then just put it in at the start. Blend and watch it turn a beautiful vibrant green!

GREEEEENNNNN!

Put your wok that you cooked your ingredients in earlier back on a medium heat. Rinse your fresh baby spinach and the peas ( to get the ice off). And throw into the wok to cook and wilt. Throw your cooked noodles into the spinach and peas and fry for a few minutes. Take off the heat, add your cashews and pour half of your scrumm-y yummy vibrant green dressing over the noodles and stir through. Check for seasoning- add more black pepper or salt if needed. Serve with a sprinkle of coriander/cilantro and with more of the dressing on the side!

Tasty, green and healthy.. and not another tomato sauce!! 🙂 Hope you try it out!!

Here is evidence of what a tidy cook I am….

healthy debris

Xs Aissa

No Bake Nutty Banoffe Pie – Vegan & Gluten Free

26 Friday Jun 2015

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

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Banoffe Pie, Gluten free, No bake, Pie, recipe, Tart, Vegan

We have been having a bit of (lowers voice to a whisper) “summer weather” here recently- shh or we might scare it away! Warm weather = ripe bananas calling out to be dessertified. Hence Banoffe!

This is my second version of this pie. In the first version I did a base with medjool dates and I just found the fudge-y gooey-ness of the dates just a bit too fudge-y and gooey! Also the taste a little too strong. That said it went down well with my work mates so feel free to blend up four medjool dates instead of using the maple and agave syrup in this one. There will be a lot of either ors in this e.g. I blended cashews but I will give the measure in the recipe for substituting cashew butter if you would prefer to use that.

No Bake Nutty Banoffe Pie

Half a cup of cashews soaked over night

Drain the cashews and blend with two dessertspoons of the soaking liquid. I did not blend it completely smooth as I wanted the odd chunk.

Press in Crust

One and a half generous cups of ground almonds
Three dessertspoons of chopped toasted almonds /almond flakes
Two dessertspoons of desiccated / shredded coconut
An eighth of a teaspoon of pink himalayan salt or sea salt
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder / insides of one pod
Three ground apricot kernels
OR a quarter teaspoon of natural almond extract
One dessertspoon of organic raw coconut oil
Two dessertspoons of the blended cashews
OR one and a half dessertspoons of cashew nut butter
Two dessertspoons of maple syrup
Two dessertspoons of raw agave syrup

Banana Bananas Banana-y topping

The rest of the blended cashews
OR One and a half dessertspoons of cashew nut butter plus two dessertspoons of non dairy milk
Three large ripe bananas or four medium ones*
One dessertspoon of organic cold pressed coconut oil
Half a teaspoon of runny tahini paste
Two dessertspoons of the set coconut from the top of a can of coconut milk**
OR two dessertspoons of hard creamed coconut mixed to a tick paste with some warm water
Two dessertspoons of chia seeds
Optional: one dessertspoon of roughly ground cacao nibs
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder/ insides of one pod
A square of dark chocolate for grating on top

*when I say ripe I mean mostly brown skinned. If just ripe you could add a teaspoon of maple syrup to the mix.

** the rest to be used in a curry

Crust Method

So you need a 20cm or 7.5 inch pie tin. Rub it with a little raw coconut oil so you can get the pie out afterwards.

First chop and toast your almonds/ almond flakes and set to one side.

toasted almonds

Mash your coconut oil with the blended cashews. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients.

Mix your dry ingredients- except the toasted almonds. Add the dry to the wet mashing it together really well. It should be sticky but not sloppy- like a slightly wet drop cookie mix. It should be holding together 🙂 Now add in your toasted almonds and stir through evenly.

Crust mixture pre the toasted almonds

Press the crust into the pie tin as evenly as you can. It will make a thin crust. Cover and pop in the fridge while you make the topping.

Press in crust

Banana Bananas Banana-y Topping Method

Get the rest of the blended cashews (or cashew butter and some non dairy milk) add in the coconut oil, the tahini, the creamy coconut (or the creamed one you’ve made into a paste) and either one large banana or two medium ones and blend together- or really really really really mash LOTS!

Next roughly mash in another banana- the reason for doing them separately is to give different textures. Add in the vanilla, chia seeds and ground cacao nibs.

The topping- pre the pretty

Now so, take the crust out from the fridge. Pour your mix on top and spread evenly. Get your last banana and slice really thinly- like a few mm thick. Decorate your pie with the slices. Next grab your square of dark vegan chocolate and grate it over the top. Cover it up again and leave to set in the fridge. I didn’t decorate it with banana the last time- I think the banana decorating should probably wait until you are serving it it incase they turn black.

Banoffe in (shh) Sunshine! I actually nearly threw it out the window instead of gently placing it… oops, flying banoffe pie.. ? Or maybe it just wants to fly- I ramble.

There you have it – Nutty No bake Banoffe Pie! Hope you try it out! Xs Aissa

Homemade Oat & Cashew Milk! Vegan ( gluten free if you use the right oats! )

07 Sunday Jun 2015

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

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energy smoothie, Gluten free, Homemade, medjool date, oats, Sweets, Traditional, Vegan

I was out and about yesterday and bought lots of organic salad leaves and yummy stuff at the farmers’s market. Walked home on a warm but extremely windy June day. All sorted for a my big salad for dinner. All my food shopping sorted, until I realised I forgot to get dairy free milk! Which would be okay but I really wanted it for my forever evolving Not so smooth energy smoothie for breakfast! Necessity is the mother of invention, or prevention of procrastination, as I have intended to make my own for ages.

Vegan milk on my windowsill!

You will you need to leave to stuff soak over night if you want it for your break-ie !

Homemade Oat & Cashew Milk – makes over : 600ml / a pint / 2.5cups

Half a cup of organic fine rolled oats (Gluten free if you like!)
Three dessertspoons of cashews / cashew pieces
Less than an eight of a teaspoon of pink himalayan salt or sea salt
Generous Two and a half cups of boiled water- leave to cool for a minute
Half a medjool date
Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder
Some extra water to so you can have it thinner if you like
Optional: I think a pinch of cinnamon could be lovely too!

So put your oats in a sieve and give them a rinse. I put them a big jug but you could soak them in a bowl. Add in your cashews and salt and stir them together. Add in the hot water. Leave to sit over night.

Next day.

You will notice everything will have swelled up. Now you want to pour it all through a sieve. Over a bowl or straight into your blending contraption. I blended mine in a jug blender, would work in a food processor and as long as you don’t leave lots of cashews in a hand blender would work too.

Use a spatula to press the mixture in the sieve. You will see thick creamy liquid coming through. Keep pressing until you are bored or it looks like you have gotten as much out as you can. I picked out the cashews as I went and threw them into the liquid to make the milk extra fabulous. If you are having porridge for breakfast you can cook the soaked oats up with the rest! Soaking your oats pre cooking is a good idea anyway as it helps break the phytates down and makes the oats more digestable.

Onwards!

Add in your halve medjool date and half a teaspoon of vanilla powder. Blend as if you are making a smoothie. I tasted it and found it lovely and creamy but a little rich for me ,so I added in another third of a cup of water. I gave it another blitz just to mix it up. Et Volia! Ta-Da! Homemade oat and cashew milk!

Ready to be smoothie-d! 🙂 Breakfast is saved!!!

Hope you try it! It was super easy! Xs Aissa

Quick and Zesty Pickled Cucumber Salad! Vegan & Gluten Free

01 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Aissa in Gluten Free, No bake/ Raw, Savoury, Vegan

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Gluten free, Raw, recipe, Savoury, Vegan

My wonderful partner was, yet again, cooking me dinner and said it would be lovely to have pickled cucumber with it. Just to give a refreshing acidic side to our onion-y, lentil tomato sauce. My task was set. Had I a few days notice as opposed to forty-five minutes, I could have actually pickled, fermentation style, some cucumber, but this is healthy next best. I imagine it would get yummier if you have the time leave it for a couple of hours!

I used a spiralizer but you could use a potato peeler to get thin strips, or if you are the daring type and like to risk your fingertips you could use a mandolin (shivers all over 😉 )

Quick and Zesty Pickled Cucumber Salad

One organic cucumber- spiralized
One small organic carrot- spiralized
A quarter cup of proper fermented brown rice vinegar
A tablespoon of real fermented tamari (gluten free )
Two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil/ sesame oil
A teaspoon of grated ginger
A dash of mirin
Juice of half a lemon
Five or six twists of black pepper
A third cup mix of lightly toasted sunflower & poppy seeds
Toast the seeds with an eighth teaspoon or pinch of himalayan pink salt/ sea salt

Grab a salad bowl. Whisk together your vinegar, tamari, oil, mirin, pepper, ginger and lemon. Add in your cucumber and carrot, mix so that it is all covered in the liquid.

Everything in the bowl

Press mixture down so it is covered and leave to macerate for thirty minutes.

The toasted seeds

Toast the seeds with the salt, in a dry pan on a high heat for about a minute. The sunflower seeds should be barely changing colour. Add in the seeds when you are about to serve – so they are still crunchy!

Quick and zesty pickled cucumber salad!!

There you have it Quick and easy zesty pickled cucumber salad! Hope you like it. Xs Aissa

Seasonal Greens & Nettle Soup! Vegan & Gluten Free

24 Sunday May 2015

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

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Dinner, Gluten free, Natural Health, Nettles, Savoury, Traditional, Vegan

This is the brightest greenest soup I have ever made, I just feel healthier in the glow of it! It only took 45 minutes from start to finish including taking photos! Nettles come in to season in spring and that season lasts until the end of May. They become to old tough and stingy after that! That said they still sting a bit- so handle with care! Traditionally they would be picked in the countryside or out of your own garden. It is the shocking reality of city life that I bought mine, but I am grateful that the McNally organic farm stall realised that urban dwellers would also like nettles! My Dad grew up having this iron and silica rich food in his diet, but my first attempt at cooking them went terribly wrong. I simply over cooked them and the soup became incredibly sour. If cooked for only a minute or so they lend the soup a lovely lemon fruity and green flavour.

Spinach, chard, nettles, chives & wet garlic

Mostly nettle soup would be made with a base of potato, I am not a fan of the starchy spud and I already have enough tomatoes in my diet to cover my nightshade consumption quota! I used a base of organic cauliflower and carrots, my extra seasonal goodies I have young spinach, rainbow chard, chives and wet garlic! If you cannot get your hands on nettles try some rocket, Persian cress or mustard greens!

Lovely spinach

Seasonal Greens & Nettle Soup

Three cloves of Wet garlic
A dessertspoon of raw coconut oil
A teaspoon of Yellow mustard seeds
A teaspoon of Nigella seeds
Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder*
Two bay leaves
Lots of Black pepper
A dash of Mirin – for sweetness
Two medium carrots chopped
Half a large head of Cauliflower- chopped
Two cups of vegan stock- homemade or bought**
Approx. 400g of young Spinach
I used half a bunch of the Rainbow Chard in the picture
Approx. 300g of Nettles ( I used two thirds of the nettles in the pic below)
A couple of dessertspoons of chopped chives
Half a cup or so of hot water for thinning soup a bit after blending
Optional: 100ml/ half a cup of vegan cream
Optional: A few dessertspoons of cashews or a ripe avocado instead of the vegan cream!
As an after thought I think it would be good with one diced onion
Extra chopped chives serving

*Not very Irish but very good for you

**I used half an organic onion stock cube to two cups of boiling water, cubes are of course hydrolysed veg protein free!

Fantastically spiky nettles!

Method

Start by melting your coconut oil in a deep saucepan on a medium heat. Add your mustard and nigella seeds and let sizzle for a minute. Add in your (onion if using) wet garlic and some black pepper. Let cook for another minute or two, don’t leave the garlic burn or it will be bitter.

Add in your chopped carrots and cauliflower. Pour in your stock. Add your bay leaves and turmeric. Let these simmer and cook for about seven minute, just until the cauliflower is cooked. Meanwhile while you wash your spinach – very well. Throw in your chives and washed spinach. Give it a few stirs, leaving the spinach wilt.

Steamy Soup base

Next is the hide and seek game with the bay leaves! Try and find them and take them out before you get to blending. Take the mixture off the heat and then get to blending! A hand blender should be fine. I used a jug one, be careful ladling the mixture into your blender, it will be piping hot!

Pre first blend

Now magically green!

If using a jug blender pour the soup back into the saucepan and back onto a medium heat. Add your half a cup of hot water to thin out the soup a little. Add your mirin. Taste to check for seasoning. I added more black pepper, but it didn’t need any salt.

Wash your nettles, take your time, wash them well to avoid gritty bits later! Usually people chop off the tough ends of the stalks, if you are using a hand immersion blender you may want to do this. You would probably be best advised to use gloves, or be careful not to tip of the stinging leaf edges. I didn’t bother removing the stalk ends, I just threw them into the colander and rinsed them in the sink.

Pop them into the saucepan, stir them through so that the are covered by the soup. The leaves will begin to wilt quite quickly. Remember you are only cooking them for a minute or so. You are going to blend it all anyway so any tough stalks don’t matter.

Again with the blending! If using a jug blender and you decide to go for cashews or avocado blend them first with a ladle of the soup. If using an immersion blender use the avocado and just chop it and throw into the soup before blending. Alternatively whiz up your soup just until the nettles are blended and then add in your 100ml of vegan puoring cream of choice and blitz again just to mix it through.

Nettle Soup

Serve with a sprinkle of chives and a swirl of vegan cream or milk! TADA! Seasonal Nettle Soup! Hope you try this quite traditional green extravisganza! (ignoring the turmeric! 😉 ) Xs Aissa

P.S more stuff on nettles: Nettles Nutrition, Nettles in Herbalism

Yes Equality Celebration Juice!

23 Saturday May 2015

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

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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

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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!

VeganEtcetera

~ Eating healthily easily

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