Tag: plant based diet

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

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roasted red pepper hummus

Growing up, my cooking influences came predominantly from the Middle East / Mediterranean (Morocco and Israel) so we ate a lot of hummus! The staples of any of our meals were parsley, garlic, olive oil, coriander and paprika with lots of tomatoes and red peppers. So when I started roasting the peppers to make this dish, the nostalgia took me right back to my grandmother’s kitchen in Israel when I was a kid. Topped off with the parsley at the end, I may as well have been in 1988 for those few minutes! I closed my eyes and inhaled the beautiful nostalgic smells.

I just love hummus. It’s always been in my fridge and I like to try and make variations of it, whilst keeping to the original Vaknine family recipe – simple and healthy.

Chickpeas are an AMAZING source of protein so this is great as a post-workout snack or just as a mid-morning snack when you get a bit peckish, perhaps with some carrots, celery or some homemade crackers!

Ingredients

2 cups chickpeas (I use raw organic ones, in which case you need to soak them overnight, then cook them in a saucepan for about two hours. If you are using tinned, you simply need to drain them and you’re good to go)

1 red pepper
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tahini paste
Quarter cup of water
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
Half tsp garlic salt
Half tsp Himalayan salt

To serve:
Drizzle of olive oil
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Sprinkle of paprika or sumac

Method

Start by pre-heating your oven to 180. Cut the pepper up (removing all the seeds) into smallish pieces then place on a baking tray and roast for about fifteen minutes or until quite soft. Once ready, leave to cool for five minutes.

While this is cooling, place all the other ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until super smooth. Taste it, and add more cumin, garlic, lemon or salt if needed. Trust your instincts and your taste buds.

Add red pepper to blender and blend again until completely smooth.

Lastly, add to a bowl, drizzle a little olive oil, some parsley and a sprinkle of paprika or sumac on top. Serve, and enjoy!

Love,

Lauren

Garlicky Green Beans

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green beans

You may not think so because of their vibrant green colour, but green beans (or string beans) are very high in carotenoids (what you usually expect from orange or red veggies like carrots and tomatoes.) The expected orange or red is hidden by exceptionally high levels of chlorophyll. Carotenoids help to prevent cancer and are also important for heart health. Chlorophyll has many benefits, one of which is promoting iron levels. Green beans are also rich in silicon, which is important for bone health and the formation of connective tissue.

Health benefits aside, they are one of my favourite vegetables and can be prepared in many different ways. This is one of the quickest (and most delicious!) ways I know to prepare beans. I made this as an accompaniment to my Creamy Porcini Pasta last night.

Ingredients

75ml olive oil

juice of half to a whole lemon

4 big cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Himalayan crystal salt and black pepper to taste

350g green beans

Method

Combine the olive oil, juice of half a lemon and garlic to make a dressing. Blanch the beans in rapidly boiling water for just a few minutes until they turn a vibrant green. Don’t over cook them! They must still have a bit of a bite. Strain the water off the beans and then immediately toss them in the dressing. Season to taste and add more lemon juice if necessary (I like a lot of lemon.) These can be served hot or left to marinate and served at room temperature.

Love,

Raine

Creamy Porcini Pasta with Crispy Sage

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photo 2

Who doesn’t love a good creamy pasta? You may think that when you switch to a healthy lifestyle it’s something you’ll have to give up permanently. But I’ve got good news… you CAN enjoy a delicious and satisfying bowl of pasta, and know that you’ve nourished your body with the good stuff!

Mushrooms have many medicinal properties and make a great substitute for meat.

This recipe is dairy-free, wheat- and gluten-free and vegan. I use raw cashew nuts to make my “cream” for this sauce and nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavour. You could use any gluten and wheat-free pasta, such as buckwheat, brown rice or amaranth pasta.

Ingredients

2/3 cup of raw cashews

1 1/4 cup of water

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp Himalayan crystal salt

a handful of fresh sage

250g quinoa pasta

Organic and virgin coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil for frying

250g porcini mushrooms

120g shiitake mushrooms

3 big cloves of garlic, finely chopped

truffle oil and fresh lemon to finish

Method

Place the cashews, water, nutritional yeast and salt in a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

Slice the mushrooms and saute them in coconut or olive oil. Once they start to brown nicely, add the garlic and continue to fry for a few minutes. 

In a separate pan, fry the sage in some oil for a few minutes until it turns crispy.

Season the sauce to taste with black pepper and salt if necessary. Toss the pasta and sauce together and serve topped with a few crispy sage leaves. Finish with a drizzle of truffle oil and a squeeze of lemon if desired.

Enjoy!

Love,

Raine

Plain Buckwheat Pancakes

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plain buckwheat pancakes

I’ve always had an obsession with pancakes, even, I’m ashamed to say, the super unhealthy stacks of American style pancakes. So recently, I’ve set about trying to make the perfect healthy pancakes using buckwheat flour and I think I’ve perfected them! Buckwheat flour is amazing because, although you may think buckwheat is a grain, it is in fact a fruit seed so it’s great for people who are sensitive to grains, and really, we should all try and substitute other grains with buckwheat. Buckwheat also helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and contains lots of phytonutrients that act as anti-oxidants and fight disease.

Other great ingredients in these pancakes are flax seeds and lucuma. Flax seeds are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids or ‘good fats’, they are also an anti-oxidant and they contain plenty of fibre. If you don’t have flax seeds around you could use chia seeds instead and use the same method to create a vegan ‘egg’. (It doesn’t look or taste like an egg but acts in the same way when baking.) Lucuma has tons of nutrients, acts as an anti-inflammatory, and is also excellent for the skin for anti-ageing!

You can top with fruit, nuts, seeds, maple – anything you like, have a play around!

Ingredients (makes about 6 pancakes)

4 flax ‘eggs’ (make by mixing 4 tbsp ground flax seeds with 10 tbsp water and put into the fridge for 30 mins)
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 heaped tbsp lucuma powder
1 ½ ripe bananas
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 cup of almond milk (or any nut milk of choice)
Coconut oil for cooking

Method

Sift flour, baking powder and lucuma into a bowl. Add mashed banana, agave and milk, then add the flax eggs and mix well.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and once hot, add a ladle full of the mixture and spoon into a pancake shape. Cook for one minute then flip, the other side should take quicker than a minute.

You can add a tbsp. cacao to the mix or blueberries and top with anything you like! Here I have made acai coconut cream by taking the creamy top part from a tin of coconut milk and opened an acai capsule into it and blended.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Green Goddess Spirulina Smoothie Bowl

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green goddess

‘How do you get protein if you’re a vegetarian?’ That is the question I am asked on a daily basis. And I love giving the answer! I get so much plant-based protein, protein that gets absorbed instantly and is bioavailable, that I’m sure I actually get more protein that my meat-loving husband! Plant-based wonders like chia seeds, hemp seeds, quinoa, nut butters, chickpeas and the wonderful spirulina contain all the protein I need. Spirulina is around 50-70% protein, a complete protein. To explain it in simpler terms, 100g of spirulina contains 57g protein, where100g of chicken, in comparison, contains only 16g protein! So I try to get it in my diet a couple of times a week and the best way to do that is in a smoothie or a juice. This is a great pre or post workout smoothie!

Ingredients

1 avocado
Handful spinach
2 dates
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp spirulina powder (I use Organic Burst)
1 tsb maca powder (I use Organic Burst)
Half cup frozen pineapple (cut up and frozen the night before)
1 frozen banana (cut in slices and frozen the night before)
Splash of almond milk

Method

Simply put all ingredients into a blender or food processor (I use the Vitamix) in the exact order listed above. Start on a low speed and increase slowly. Once it’s nice and creamy, pour it into a bowl and add your choice of topping. Here I used some homemade granola, poppy seeds, desiccated coconut and some fruit.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Acai Berry Smoothie Bowl

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xAcai bowl

Oh hello breakfast! I don’t know about you guys, but breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. I’ve never been the person who can go out the house without breakfast and wait until lunch. Since I started eating plant-based, unprocessed, wholefoods, breakfast has become a lot more fun! Because nothing I cook has any refined sugar, I can actually have dessert for breakfast! (Parfaits, nana ice cream etc).

I’m mad about the acai berry so today I decided to make a totally scrumptious acai bowl. Acai berries have been tested to hold more polyphenols and antioxidants than pretty much any other food. You get polyphenols from other berries, especially blueberries, but acai berries have them in an abundance never seen before. They are indigenous to the Amazon in Brazil and have only recently become public knowledge – great for us! Polyphenols make us happy and also help us prevent and beat degenerative diseases such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. Polyphenols also make your skin look and feel incredible so including them in your diet as well as using them as a beauty product will help not only your inner health, but your outer health too! (I will post a recipe for a face mask using acai capsules soon). Acai berries are also rich in fatty acids omegas 3, 6 & 9 which is all you need for that anti-inflammatory boost and also makes it great for babies as they need their omegas in high amounts. Your babies will just love the sweet, creaminess of this – mine did!

I wanted to make this bowl really thick and creamy. It’s almost like a smoothie in a bowl but creamier, so a bit like dessert! I hope you love it as much as I do…

Ingredients

½ cup raspberries
½ cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries
2 dates
1 tbsp almond butter (you can use any nut butter)
2 tbsp almond milk
4 Organic Burst acai capsules, opened and sprinkled in
1 probiotic capsule (optional) (opened and sprinkled in)
1 frozen banana (chopped and frozen the night before)

Method

Simply put all the ingredients into your food processor or blender, in the exact order as they appear, and start blender on a low speed and increase gradually. Once creamy pour into a bowl and top with anything you like such as nuts, seeds, goji berries, fruit, granola – the world is your acai bowl!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren