Tag: vegan

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

Raw Chocolate Tart

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Raw Chocolate Tart

This is a favourite with my family and friends, and no one can ever believe what the main ingredient is… avocado! Don’t let that put you off – it is rich, creamy and delicious; everything you want from a chocolate tart. And it’s so simple and easy to make.

This year I made it for Pesach dinner (we don’t eat wheat during Pesach and our desserts always have to be dairy-free as we don’t mix meat and milk.)
Word of advice: don’t tell people that there’s avo in it until they’ve tried it!

Ingredients

Crust:
2 cups whole raw almonds
60ml raw cacao powder
1/4 tsp himalayan salt
150g fresh medjool dates
2 tbsp organic virgin coconut oil

Filling:
500g ripe avo flesh (about 4 or 5 avos)
180ml raw cacao powder
60ml organic virgin coconut oil
40g raw cacao butter, gently melted
180ml organic maple syrup
1/4 tsp himalayan salt
1/4 tsp organic stevia leaf powder
1 tsp organic vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder

Method

Remove the pits from the dates and chop them up. Place all the ingredients for the crust in a food processor and blend until you have a fine crumb that sticks together when pressed. If the mixture seems dry just keep processing until it’s sticky. Turn it out into a 23cm loose-bottom flan tin or glass serving dish. Press the crumb evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the tin, making sure that the top edges are straight and even. Refrigerate.

Place all the ingredients for the filling in a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth, but be careful not to blend for so long that the mixture heats up.
Pour into the set crust and use a spatula to make swirly patterns on top or just smooth it out, as you prefer. Refrigerate overnight or minimum 4 hours.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Peanut Butter Oats, Acai Chia Pudding & Puffed Rice Breakfast Parfait

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IMG_0240 (3)

I love a breakfast parfait, as you probably already know. This was a pre-workout breakfast and really kept me going until lunch, it is just packed with energy.

Ingredients

Acai Chia Pudding:
Quarter cup chia seeds
1 and quarter cup almond milk
2 tbsp pure organic maple syrup
2 acai berry capsules opened and sprinkled in

Peanut Butter Maca Overnight Oats:
1 cup organic gluten free oats
2 cups almond milk (add more if needed)
1 tsp maca powder
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp maple syrup

Handful puffed brown rice
1 banana

Method

The night before you want to eat this for breakfast, make both the chia pudding and overnight oats (separately), cover with cling-film and put them in the fridge. Do gauge whether either of them need more almond milk and add if they do.

The next morning simply layer them up and finish it off with sliced banana and the breakfast rice puffs.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Chocolate Acai Cups

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acai cups

Chocolate, and pink! What more could a girl want?! The contrast in the textures of the chocolate and the frozen acai smoothie is a bit strange, but the tastes go so well together. The raw cacao gives you heaps of plant-based protein and the acai, of course, is full of beautiful pink energy-boosting, anti-oxidant wonderfulness.

Ingredients

1 x chocolate sauce recipe
1 x acai berry smoothie bowl recipe

Method

Firstly, I would suggest making these on a day when you’ve made the smoothie bowl to have for breakfast and just keep half a cup of the smoothie back for these cakes as a whole smoothie bowl is way too much.

Simply make the chocolate sauce, then add about a spoonful of it to the bottom of each muffin case (which should be placed in a cupcake baking tray) and freeze for 30 minutes.

Once frozen, add a spoonful of the smoothie as the next layer, and freeze for a further 30 minutes.

Once this layer is frozen, add one more layer of chocolate to the top and freeze again.

Once ready remove from the muffin cases and place in a container. I would advise keeping them in the freezer instead of the fridge as the smoothie layer will melt otherwise.

Enjoy the yummy flavours!

Love,
Lauren

Overnight Chia Oats with Strawberry Compote

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Overnight Oats with Strawberry Compote

Overnight oats is this easiest thing to make and it makes such a nice change from the usual breakfast. You can also do all sorts of flavours and toppings so it never gets boring. Get a good batch of organic, gluten free oats, some almond milk, and some fruit and nuts and you’re ready to go! The chia seeds give extra goodness and protein.

Ingredients

1 cup organic, gluten free oats
1.5 cups almond milk
2 tbsp pure organic maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tbsp chia seeds
A big handful of organic strawberries

Method

Mix your oats, milk, maple, chia seeds and cinnamon in a bowl, cover with cling-film and leave in the fridge overnight.

When you’re ready to eat it the next morning, make the compote by putting the strawberries in the food processor.

Layer both mixtures up in small cups or bowls, top with nuts or seeds of choice. Yummy and so great for the kids!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Lemon, Coconut & Baobab Bliss Balls

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Lemon Coconut Baobab Bliss Balls

I fancied having something in my fridge that is sweet but refreshing at the same time, and healthy of course, and I haven’t made any form of bliss balls for a while so I just made these. All the ingredients are natural, organic and raw and the Baobab adds extra superfood goodness for added energy and an immune boost.

Ingredients

1 cup organic medjool dates
Half cup hazelnuts
Half cup almonds
Juice of 2 lemons (I like it quite lemony but you can reduce if you like)
1 tsp baobab
About half a cup desiccated coconut, give or take

Method

First soak the nuts for at least 4 hours (you can soak them together in a bowl with purified water)

Add all the ingredients, including 4 tbsp of the coconut to the food processor and process until the nuts are totally ground into a butter and everything is well incorporated and soft.

Take about a spoonful out with your hands and roll into a ball and place on a large plate. Continue this until you have finished the mixture, leaving a gap in the middle of the plate. You may need to add a tiny bit of water to your hands to help roll the balls if they are too sticky.

Once they are all on the plate, sprinkle the rest of the coconut in a heap onto the middle of the plate and coat each one individually with the coconut.

Once they are ready you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for about a month.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Raw Caramel & Puffed Quinoa Krispie Treats

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Raw Caramel & Puffed Quinoa Krispie Treats

Yesterday I posted our Chocolate & Puffed Quinoa Krispie Treats and today I thought I’d try the recipe with caramel instead of chocolate, using our Raw Caramel Recipe, and they are divine! Again using quinoa instead of Rice Krispies for gluten free, organic, protein-filled goodness.

Ingredients

1 x Raw Caramel recipe
2 cups puffed quinoa pops

Method

Make the caramel as per the recipe above then put the puffed quinoa in a bowl and pour the caramel over. Mix it well, you might need to squish it all over with your hands – the kids will love it!

Arrange some muffin cases in a cupcake baking tin and add some of the mixture to each case, then put in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Once ready you can keep them in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Berry Fudge Cups

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cranberry and peanut fudge cups

It’s all about peanut butter for me! Not only is it so tasty and indulgent, it is also a great source of plant protein so I tend to make a lot of snacks with natural organic peanut butter. You can make your own but for this recipe you really need a runny consistency so I like the Meridian peanut butter – works really well. See how you get on, these really are so delicious…

Ingredients

2 handfuls cranberries (also works great with goji berries)
Half cup natural organic peanut butter
4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp organic natural maple syrup

Method

Mix all the ingredients other than the cranberries in a bowl until well combined.

Add empty muffin cases to a cupcake baking tray and sprinkle some cranberries at the bottom of each case then spoon in about 2 tbsp of the mixture on top.

Freeze for about an hour or until solid. I tried to keep them in the fridge but they went to soft so you should probably keep them in a container in the freezer once you’ve taken the cases off (that’s if you haven’t eaten them all straight away!)

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Homemade Coconut Yoghurt

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Coconut Yoghurt

When I first started cutting out dairy, yoghurt was the hardest thing to give up… in fact I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do it! I’ve spent a lot of time working on my coconut yoghurt recipe and have finally come up with the perfect one. I normally make my own coconut milk from fresh coconut but you can also use an organic tinned coconut milk or cream. No dairy, sugar, artificial colours or flavours, but still thick, creamy and delicious 🙂 Need I say more?

Ingredients

160g fresh mature coconut flesh
350ml hot water (or replace the coconut and water with 420ml organic coconut milk or cream)
1/3 tsp agar agar powder (flakes require different measurements so make sure you are using powder)
1/4 tsp himalayan salt
1/4 tsp organic stevia leaf powder or 1 tbsp organic maple or raw honey
20ml baobab powder
1 tbsp of a high quality liquid probiotic, or the contents of 2 probiotic capsules
A glass jar, a piece of netting or breathable cloth, and an elastic

A note on making yoghurt

Two things are very important when making yoghurt: Firstly, the quality of the probiotic you use and secondly, hygiene. If you do not have a good quality probiotic it will not culture into yoghurt and you will merely have a nice tasting coconut cream. On the other hand, if you don’t sterilise the glass jar and wash your hands properly, you may end up culturing other bacteria. This won’t taste good and may even make you sick!

I’ve tried a few different probiotics and have found the best result with a liquid probiotic. I use Sambiotica or Nature’s Choice Ultimate Probiotic, available at Dischem.  Alternatively you can use Biogen Pre- & Probiotic capsules also available at Dischem. If you’re not in South Africa, you may need to experiment a bit to find the one that works best.

Probiotic Probiotic2 Probiotic3

Method

Firstly make sure you have a sterilised glass jar for fermenting the yoghurt. The easiest is to put it in a dishwasher, otherwise you can boil it for 2 minutes. Turn it upside down on a rack to dry. Also make sure that your hands are thoroughly clean!

Blend the coconut and hot water for 30 to 60 seconds in a high speed blender and then strain through a nut milk bag or muslin. Place the resulting cream in a saucepan. Sprinkle the agar over the cream and use a whisk to thoroughly combine. Bring up to a gentle simmer, and simmer for 3 minutes exactly. Agar needs to be heated to activate it, but over heating will destroy it and it will not thicken. Remove from the heat.

Once the coconut cream has cooled down to body temperature, whisk in the remaining ingredients. If you add the probiotic while it is too hot, you will kill the cultures. Remember that bacteria are living things so treat them as such… they like to be warm and fed 🙂 Cover the jar with a cloth that breathes and use an elastic to secure it.

Coconut Yoghurt 2

Leave the jar in a warm place for about 24 hours. If it is particularly hot, 18 hours may be enough. If it’s very cold, gently warm your oven, turn it OFF and then place the jar inside. After a day the cream will have cultured into yoghurt and you can refrigerate it. In the fridge it may culture and thicken further. You should eat it within about a 10 days, if it lasts that long!

Health & happiness.

Love,
Raine

Lemon & Basil Truffles

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Lemon & Basil Truffles

I love to use savoury flavours in desserts, and in these truffles the basil compliments the lemon really well. They are perfect to finish off a dinner or to give as a gift. Put them in a pretty glass jar and tie a ribbon around the neck… people always appreciate something that you have made yourself!

Ingredients

200g creamed coconut (or coconut butter, not coconut oil)
zest of 3 lemons
30ml lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp organic stevia leaf powder
pinch of organic vanilla powder or 2 drops vanilla extract
1 tbsp baobab powder
pinch of himalayan salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
about 40g cacao butter
an empty egg carton and toothpicks

Method

Place all the ingredients except the basil and cacao butter into a food processor. Process until well combined. Then add the chopped basil and pulse to combine. If the mixture is very soft you can refrigerate it until it firms up. Take about a heaped teaspoon of mixture at a time and use your palms to roll it into a neat ball. Place on a plate as you go. You should get about 21 truffles. Place them in the freezer to harden.

In a small saucepan, gently melt the cacao butter (don’t be alarmed that it turns brown as it melts, this is normal.) You will need to melt more cacao butter than what you actually end up using – simply allow the remainder to set again and return to the packet. Spear a truffle onto a toothpick and then dip it into the melted cacao butter, swirling to remove any excess and ensure an even coating.

Lemon & Basil Truffles 2

Then stick the other end of the toothpick into an empty egg carton, allowing the cacao butter to set.

Lemon & Basil Truffles 3

Repeat with all the truffles. Once they have set you can give them a second coating if you like, and then keep them refrigerated. This is actually the first time I’ve made truffles in years and I really enjoyed the process, but if this seems like too much hard work for you, you can omit the last step of coating them in cacao butter!

Health & happiness 🙂

Love,
Raine