Step By Step Vegan Curry Cashew Cabbage

Cabbage is like tahini, once you’ve used it for hummus, it sits in your fridge forever. Seriously though, how many of you have had to let a half, or a quarter head of cabbage rot after you’ve made your coleslaw or whatever? Living in the countryside has been difficult but it’s also had its perks. For one, I am constantly gifted vegetables. And not just any vegetables but ones grown with much love and care. Any-who, what to do with all these cabbage heads? Pinterest! Where I got the idea for this simple curry cashew cabbage thingamajig that I slightly adapted (since that one used butter and much ginger). Enjoy!

STEP ONE: gather your ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/2 smallish cabbage head
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
STEP TWO: melt coconut oil in a pan (med heat), add cashews and cumin and stir until both are fragrant and golden.

STEP THREE: add cabbage, add turmeric, stir. 

STEP FOUR: tis not really a step but just keep stirring for a further 5 or so minutes then nomnomnom away!

 

Banana berry and coconut okara cake.

Cake:
3 free-range eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup okara (soy pulp or any nut pulp left over from making nut milk will also work)
1 cup wholemeal flour (use GF variety if GF)
1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4 cup mixed frozen berries

Preheat oven to 160C

Mix all cake ingredients together then pour into a greased cake tin

Top with berries

Bake for 35-40 min or until the fork comes out clean

PS What’s that in Emma’s hand? That’s right, my cake!

Mini vegan cheesecakes

Spot the bear!


There she is!!!

Finally, I made my first vegan cheesecakes in Japan and since I don’t have a food processor here, I used my $20 blender (slowly/cautiously) and guess what? It worked…wonders!

crust:
1 cup of raisins (cos dates are expensive as shizz)
2 cups of raw walnuts

“cheese”:
1 1/2 cups of raw cashews (soaked for 4 hours)
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 tsp pure vanilla essence
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

topping:
Whatever your little (sorry, BIG) heart desires – I used homemade blueberry syrup

First, blitz crust ingredients together in a food processor or, if you’re feeling lucky, a shitty blender until mixture starts coming together.

Using your fingers, carefully smoosh crust mixture evenly into a greased silicon 6 slot muffin tray.

Wash your food processor then process all of the filling ingredients together for about 5ish minutes or until mixture becomes nice and creamy, then distribute evenly on top of crust mixture.

That’s it! Cooking time finished! Now all you have to do is pop em into a freezer.

For best results, freeze overnight or for those of you that just can’t wait, 4-5 hours should do the trick.

To finish, top with fresh fruit or something equally instagramable/delicious.

Allow 10-12 minutes of thawing time or eat frozen if you just can’t wait!

Fig, almond and cacao balls

3/4 cup almond meal
3 soft dried figs (or alternatively, 3 soaked hard dried figs)
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tsp raw honey
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp shredded coconut (plus a little more for coating)
1 heaped tsp all-natural peanut butter (I used crunchy)
pinch of cinnamon
a few drops of natural vanilla essence

Whizz all ingredients together in a food processor.

Using your hands, roll into balls then coat in coconut.

Das it!

Enjoy with your fave hot bevy.

Sweet and HEALTHY! 

I walked 21.2km for this gelato

There are as many ice-cream/gelato places in Auckland as there are people and there are a lot of people here, especially in comparison to CHCH. Fortunately, Mother Nature has been in a delightful mood during my little Auckland adventure, kindly turning up the dial on ‘ice cream weather’ to maximum. Now, I’m not the type of gal to indulge in any old ice-cream. Yes, there’s several Kapiti joints around but I can get that back home from the supermarket and the same goes for the million Movenpick outlets. But the homemade gelato from St. Heliers Bay Cafe & Bistro, now that’s worth walking 21.2km for (round-trip). Yesterday, my best friend Natasha who resides in the City of Sails (Auckland) and I walked from the CBD to St Heliers Bay. The journey was tedious. Our legs were sore, our chests were sun-burnt and our throats were dry but we eventually made it and oh boy was it worth it. Sorry, I already said that didn’t I? Natasha ordered two scoops of coconut which for the life of me I.just.could.not.comprehend – I mean, who the hell orders two of the same flavour?! Nevertheless, she reasoned she had never come across coconut ice-cream, always sorbet and because it was just that delicious. I chose peanut butter gelato and berry sorbet after literally trialing every single flavour (I hope you accept my sincerest apologies dear lovely lady behind counter) which tasted exactly like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich except cold, creamy and smooth! Ahhh my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The Gelato at St Heliers Bay Cafe & Bistro is made daily from fresh and wholesome ingredients which completely reflects in the way it tastes. No other words are needed. Just go smoosh your faces into it! X

Raw Apricot Orange and Coconut Bars

Making your own bars is surprisingly easy. In fact, this recipe took less than 10 minutes to prepare (not including the soaking of ze apricots).

1 cup dried apricots
1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut plus a little extra for dusting
1  1/2 cup almond meal
1 tsp honey (or maple syrup if you’re vegan)
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one orange
juice of half an orange

Chocolate topping (optional):
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 heaped tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Soak the apricots in lukewarm water for 15 minutes then drain

Add all ingredients to a food processor and whizz away until the mixture starts to come together like a dough

Line a small tray with baking paper, and press the mixture in evenly

Dust with extra desiccated coconut then place in freezer for 1/2 hour

Using a sharp knife, cut the bars into 2cm by 4 cm rectangles

For the chocolate topping, melt together the coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat

Once the oil and honey have melted, add the cacao and vanilla, and whisk until smooth

Remove saucepan from heat and leave chocolate sauce to cool slightly (this will allow the sauce to thicken a little bit)

Using a spoon, drizzle the sauce over the bars

Place the bars in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes to harden before nom nom.