Roasted Lemon, Sweet Potato & Corn Salad

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Roasted Lemon, Sweet Potato & Corn Salald

I recently posted my recipe for Roasted Lemon Ice Cream. The roasted lemons also work beautifully in savoury dishes, especially when combined with Mediterranean or Middle Eastern flavours. This salad is filling enough to have as a meal on its own, or it makes a great side for a family braai (South African BBQ) or picnic.

Ingredients

2 lemons, quartered lengthways
475g sweet potato, sliced into 2cm rounds
2 tsp chilli flakes
extra virgin olive oil
3 cobs of corn
250g mini rosa tomatoes
200g black olives
a big handful of fresh coriander
5 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp organic maple syrup
Salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Place the lemons in an ovenproof dish and roast until soft and slightly caramelised, about 45 minutes to an hour.
Toss the sweet potatoes and chilli flakes together, along with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt. Roast until tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Boil the corn in a pot of water until done, about 20 minutes. Cut the kernels off the cob.

Whisk together the 2 tbsp olive oil, vinegar and maple syrup.

In a large salad bowl combine the sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, olives, spring onion and coriander. Remove the pips from the lemons and then scrape the soft, juicy flesh into the salad, discarding the skins. Add the dressing, and salt and pepper to taste, and toss everything together.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Garlicky Citrus Carrot Salad

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Carrot Salad

A great accompaniment to any meal, or as a meze starter…

Ingredients

3 carrots, grated
Handful sultanas
Half a clove of garlic, crushed
Juice of one orange
Drizzle of olive oil
Himalayan salt & black pepper

Method

Grate your carrots into a bowl, then crush your garlic into it. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, then serve.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Israeli Salad

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Israeli Salad

Simple, but oh so effective! The good old trusted Israeli salad. Full of yummy fresh veggies, colourful and delicious…

Ingredients 

2 tomatoes
Half a large cucumber
1 yellow pepper
2 spring onions
Extra virgin olive oil
White vinegar
Himalayan salt & black pepper

Method

Chop all your veggies up into really small pieces and put them all in a bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil, a little vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Mix, and serve! Voila!

Enjoy

Love,
Lauren

Goji and Baobab Bars

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Goji & Baobab Bars

For those of you who have been saying that some of our recipes are a bit intimidating, here’s the perfect place to start. These energy bars are so simple to make, all you need is a food processor, no other techniques required!

Ingredients

1 cup goji berries
1/2 cup raw brazil nuts
6 – 8 fresh medjool dates (about 125g)
2 tbsp baobab powder
1/2 tsp Oryx Desert Salt
4 tbsp ground flax
1/3 cup organic virgin coconut oil
2 tbsp raw honey

Method

Place the goji berries and brazil nuts in a food processor and process into a rough crumb. Add the dates, making sure to remove the pips and process again. Add the baobab powder, salt, and ground flax and process to combine. Finally add the coconut oil and honey and process until everything is well combined and sticky but with a rough texture.

Spread evenly in a loaf tin lined with clingfilm (for easy removal) and refrigerate until set. Cut into bars and keep refrigerated.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Lauren’s Favourite Avocado Salad

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Avocado Salad

Avocados are one of my favourite foods. They’re so rich in fibre and mono-unsaturated fatty acids that keep the heart healthy and you can do so much with them… I have them on their own, cut in half with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and scoop it out with a spoon, or spread on Biona gluten free bread with some lime juice and salt or in a salad like this…

Ingredients

2 ripe organic avocados
1 hard-boiled egg
2 spring onions
Juice of one lemon
Drizzle of olive oil
Himalayan salt & black pepper to taste

Method

Make sure you pre boil your egg so it’s ready. Get a medium sized bowl as it’s quite messy so you don’t want to prepare this in the same bowl that you will be serving it from and mash your egg into really small pieces with a fork.

Then add the avocado and mash that too, followed by the rest of the ingredients until it’s all mashed in together. Serve with other salads or with a bread or cracker of your choice.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Tahini / Tchina (depending on where you’re from!)

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Tehini

Sorry for the strange title… in the west, this is called Tahini (the paste itself is called that) but in the Middle East, where this originated, it’s called Tchina. Whatever it’s called, it’s yummy, easy to make and is one of the best sources of calcium out there. So if you read our article about why to stay away from milk and you are wondering where to get your calcium, tahini is one of the best places to find it.

Ingredients

3 tbsp tahini paste
Quarter cup purified water
5 tbsp lemon juice
Half tsp Himalayan salt
Half tsp garlic salt
Quarter tsb paprika
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil

Method

Spoon the tahini paste into a medium size bowl (it gets quite messy so you want to make it in a separate bowl to the one you’ll be serving it in), then add the water and mix really well. You will see it go from a weird texture to smooth quite quickly and it will become much more pale. If it still seems quite thick (it should be relatively runny) then add some more water; gauge it for yourself. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Taste to see if it needs more of anything and add to your taste. Transfer to a smaller bowl.

Great with other dips and salads (have a look on both those pages on our website for more ideas) and with bread or crackers.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Roasted Lemon Ice Cream

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Roasted Lemon Ice Cream

My new favourite thing to do with lemons is to roast them. The natural sugar in the lemons caramelises, giving it a beautiful flavour somewhat similar to preserved lemons. This egg-based (but dairy-free) ice cream is packed full of an intense lemon flavour, the slight bitterness of which is off set by the honey. It pairs beautifully with my Raw Chocolate Tart, or just some shavings of raw chocolate.

Ingredients

380g whole lemons (about 3)
125ml raw honey
125ml organic virgin coconut oil
250ml almond or coconut milk
1/2 tsp organic stevia leaf powder
1/2 tsp organic vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of himalayan salt
4 egg yolks
2 whole eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Cut the knobbly end off the lemons and slice into quarters lengthways. Cut off the pithy white membrane which runs through the middle of the lemon and remove all pips.

Lemon Ice Cream 2

Place the lemons in an ovenproof dish and roast for about 1 hour, until the lemons are soft and slightly caramelised. Double check that there are no pips as adding these to the blender could ruin the flavour.

Place all the ingredients in the blender, adding the eggs last so that they don’t start to cook when they come into contact with the hot lemons. Blend until completely smooth. Ice cream is traditionally made with raw eggs, but if you’re put off by the thought of raw egg, continue blending until the mixture heats up to 65 C. You can measure this with a thermometer if you’re really worried, but basically if there is steam coming off the mixture the egg is cooked. You can also taste the difference when the egg is cooked.

Place the mixture in the fridge until cooled, and then put it into an ice cream machine to churn until frozen. If you don’t have an ice cream machine you can simply put it in the freezer and mix with a whisk every 30 minutes to break up crystals, until almost frozen, at which point you can leave it to freeze till set.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Moroccan Salad

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Moroccan Salad

This is a really delicious way of having all the spices of Moroccan food but having the benefit of having raw veggies in it. I whipped this up today for a Friday night dinner party I’m hosting tomorrow and it’s really delicious…

Ingredients

2 carrots
1 beetroot
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp organic runny honey

Method

Gently heat the vinegar and honey together in a saucepan then set aside.

Peel and grate the carrots and beetroot into a bowl, then add the vinegar and honey mix, followed by the spices and mix really well.

Serve straight away or keep in an airtight container for 5 days.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Moroccan Matbucha

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Matbucha

Matbucha… the absolute staple in every Moroccan’s fridge, and at its best when it has just been made and is still warm. It’s something I grew up eating. My mum would make it every single Friday and we’d have massive spoonfuls of it on big chunks of hot bread. Now I tend to favour healthier breads but the matbucha stays the same! This is my mum’s original recipe (thanks Marge!) I hope you all love it…

Ingredients (this makes enough for a couple of people. If making for a dinner party, double the ingredients)

1 tin organic chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cloves garlic, sliced in half
Half a red chilli, chopped (add the whole thing if you like it really hot!)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt (I use Himalayan salt)
1 tsp sugar

Method

Chuck it all into a smallish saucepan and simmer on a low heat for about an hour. Yes, it really is that easy! Do taste along the way to see if it needs more paprika, cumin, salt or chilli.

Enjoy your taste of Morocco!

Love,
Lauren