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Passion/Mango Chia Pudding

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Since chia pudding is one of my favourite quick and simple breakfasts at the moment, it’s always nice to have some variations, so not every single morning is the same. During summer I like to eat tropical and summer fruits, and since I got an awesome deal on some passion fruit and mangoes at my local market the only natural thing to do was to turn them into a delicious pudding, which I topped of with some summer berries  which are in season right now! 

I’m trying to eat more seasonal and local foods but sometimes you get an offer you can’t refuse and for me that came in the form of…

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Roasted Baby Artichoke

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Artichoke

 

I love edible flowers, they make a perfect decoration for smoothie bowls or any other dish you want to give a floral touch to, plus some of them taste as amazing as they look! Now artichokes aren’t really decorative foods, but when it comes to edible flowers they are my favourite, baby artichokes, big artichokes, they are all equal to me and I could eat them for days.

Normally I just cut off the tops of the leaves and throw them in a pot of boiling water and eat them with a little dip on the side, but roasting them takes them to a whole other level of awesomeness. This way you can add even more flavour to the already delicious flowers!

Tip: Whenever you buy an artichoke make sure to eat it as soon as possible! you can keep them for a couple of days but the quality of the product will quickly decrease, so don’t let them sit out too long.

One thing to keep in mind if you’ve never had artichokes is that you will not get a complete meal, this is an appetizer or snack. It takes a bit of preparation and might seem anti climatic, but it’s all about the taste, remember it’s about quality, not quantity. 

 

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I made a little dip to go along with the artichokes, but honestly you don’t need it! They are perfect as is, but if you do want to make a dip, I mixed a little bit of mustard with some hot sauce, added a little squeeze of lime juice and bam! Just the way I like it, hot and spicy.

As for spices I used cayenne, dried basil and garlic chips. You can use garlic powder if you’d like, but dried garlic chips add a nice crunch to the final dish, yum!

 

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If you like this recipe or have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave a comment below and tag me in your recreations on Instagram.

Now let’s get cooking!

Enjoy.

Roasted Baby Artichoke

Perfectly roasted garlic baby artichokes.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Vegan
Servings 3 artichokes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 baby artichokes
  • drizzle extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp dried garlic chips or garlic powder
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
  • to taste salt + pepper

Instructions
 

  • Start by preparing the artichoke and preheat the oven to 200 celcius or 400 farenheit. Snap of the bottom most outer leaves (about 2 layers). Now cut to remove the upper part of the artichoke (I use a serrated knife) cut away about an inch from the top. Now cut the artichoke from bottom to top into half and quickly squeeze some lemon or lime juice over the exposed parts of the artichoke to prevent browning. with a little spoon remove the fuzzy part of the artichoke also known as the choke.
  • Place the artichokes in a baking dish (leaves down) and sprinkle the garlic chips (or powder), dried basil, cayenne and salt an pepper and divide it over the artichokes. Now drizzle some extra virgin olive oil to coat the artichokes and place them into the oven for about 25 minutes (depending on the size of your oven). You can check if they are done by poking the core aka the heart of the artichoke with a skewer, to see if it will easily go through, if so it is done.

Raw Raspberry Açai Jam – Refined Sugar Free Jelly

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Raw JellyAs I’m trying to cut out as many processed foods from my diet as possible, I’ll be experimenting to make healthy whole food and/or raw versions of these dishes. One thing that I can tell you is that processed jellies are out of my diet, this raw raspberry/açai jelly is just as perfect, if not better! And besides being a whole food and raw dish it only takes a few minutes to whip up and they are free of any refined sugars!

You can use this jelly to eat with raw crackers, pancakes, on…

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Rainbow Noodle Bowl – With Satay Sauce (refined sugar free)

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RN

 

You might have noticed that I have a thing for rainbow foods, and especially when they are done with natural food colourings and aren’t only a pleasure for the eye but also nourishing to the body and soul. 

When I first went vegan it was mainly motivated by health and spiritual growth, and the more it became motivated by the ethical and environmental side of the vegan spectrum the more I stared to move away from my “healthy” approach and started eating everything as long as it was vegan. I’ll do a post on that whole subject on the near future and how my body did not agree with me on this approach, but for now I’ve come to the conclusion to focus on nourishing dishes to once more feed my body and soul, with some lifestyle tweaks here and there. Of course keeping in mind that thins should be balanced so some vegan “junk” every now and then in special occasions, why not!? 

Now this brought me to this dish, its fast and easy and all round good food! As a rainbow food fanatic this bowl is one of the most comforting foods I’ve had this week. A prefect dish to feed those chakras, am I right!? I added a simple and fast peanut satay sauce to the bowl and it was a feast! 

 

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The fact that the corn, broccoli and noodles all go in one pot already makes this one dish I’ll be revisiting many times I wont feel like cooking. The mushrooms were also very simple, they are cooked with some sweet soy sauce and Sriracha, thats it. 

You can choose what type of veggies you’d like to include, maybe you are craving cauliflower or spinach, just add them to the bowl, and if you don’t like corn or anything else you can also choose to leave it out. One thing I wouldn’t skip on is the satay sauce, it will put a smile on your face, oh and did I already mention that the sauce is sweetened with dates, bye bye refined sugar! 

It’s absolutely optional to colour your noodles, but when you do decide, don’t be afraid of spending extra time, I just threw some natural food colourings on the finished noodles and they were done. And the blue one is simply made by soaking it in water boiled with purple cabbage, this is a no fuss kinda dish. 

Tip: Make the satay sauce while the noodles are soaking this way you’ll safe even more time!

 

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If you like this recipe or have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave a comment below and tag me in your recreations on Instagram.

Now lets get cooking!

Enjoy.

Rainbow Noodle Bowl - With Satay Sauce

A colourful bowl to nourish your mind, body and soul. Within 30 minutes you can have this no fuss dish all for yourself.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Indigo, Vegan
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

Satay Sauce

  • 5 tbsp peanut butter I used unsweetened 100% peanut butter
  • 2 dates pitted
  • 1 Chille Pepper
  • 2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
  • 1/2 lime Juice
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 3 tbsp water

Rainbow Bowl

  • 200 grams rice noodles
  • Broccoli
  • carrot
  • purple cabbage
  • corn

Instructions
 

Satay Sauce

  • to make the satay sauce add everything to a blender (I used a bullet) and blend until the garlic and chilli pepper are nicely incorporated, you might want to add some water for a more thinner sauce.

Noodle Bowl

  • To make the blue noodle I took some purple cabbage and boiled it in some water for about 10 minutes, turned off the heat and added the rice noodles to get soft and absorb the colour from the water. To make the pink and green noodles I brought a pot of water (with the corn) to a boiled the corn for about 5 minutes, now I turned the heat off and added the broccoli and noodles until the noodles get soft. I like my broccoli to have some bite so if you want them a bit softer just boil them with the corn. After the noodles turned soft I removed them from the pot and added spirulina powder to the green noodles and beet powder to the pink ones and stirred them around to incorporate the powders.
  • To assemble I added the noodles to a bowl topped with the corn, carrot, broccoli, mushroom I cooked with sweet soy sauce and Sriracha, purple cabbage, lime and finally topped it off with some satay sauce. Enjoy.

Green Vegetable Curry

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GC2

 

I love greens and I love curry, why not marry these together into a nice delicious sauce to eat over rice, with some bread, roti or whatever else your heart desires. This is not a traditional curry recipe, but instead inspired by the delicious indian/surinamese dishes I loved to eat. One thing that makes this dish so great is that it will take about 20 minutes to create, nothing fancy, just good food! 

There will be lots more simple and easy dishes appearing on the blog because we all can use some simplicity. Of course you can still expect crazy rainbow dishes like this recipe for rainbow sushi or this recipe for unicorn dumplings.

 

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I used green bell pepper, peas, cilantro and sugar snaps, but for an even greener curry you can add spinach or ever kale, use whatever your heart desires. The heat in this dish is mild so if you like it spicy your can add a chilli pepper or another tablespoon of chilli flakes (gochugaru), and if you don’t like any heat at all you can skip the peppers.

And of course you can spot my bowl, which has pink rice (coloured with beet powder), because why have white rice when you can have any other colour? I never skip an opportunity to feed my chakras!

 

GC

 

Hope you’ll love this recipe, feel free to let me know if you made it or made a variation of this dish!

Enjoy!

Green Vegetable Curry

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Course Main Dish, quick meal
Cuisine Vegan
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 red onion chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 125 grams mushrooms chopped
  • 100 grams sugar snaps
  • 1 1/2 cup peas
  • 1 green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 handful cilantro
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp gochugaru or chilli flakes (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Start by sauteeing the onion and garlic over medium/low for about 3 minutes with a pinch of salt. After this you add the mushrooms, sugar snaps, bell pepper and peas, curry powder, cumin and gochugaru (or chilli flakes) Cook these for about 5 minutes before adding about 3/4 cup of water and cook for another 5 minutes to make it nice and saucy. Sprinkle some cilantro on top of the final dish. I had it with rice but you can have it with roti, or some bread, or whatever else you like. Enjoy.

Spicy “Asian” style Rice Pizza

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RP1

 

I’ve been wanting to make a gluten free pizza for the longest time now, but always got turned off by the thought of all the work it would take for me to make a perfect gluten free crust, so I let the idea rest. Then again I was planning to make an attempt this week and it just came to me, a crust made out of sticky rice, it sounded easy and delicious so I went for it! I still want to make a proper gluten free crust though, but until then these will do, and trust me this pizza will hold its own, it is a winner!

Forget about that delicious dough crust and make a rice crust, its nice and crips on the edges and deliciously soft but firm in underneath the toppings. The trick it to pre bake the crust and to make it not to thin but about 1 centimeter or 0,4 inches thick. I love a traditional pizza crust, but this one is just as amazing in its own rights.

Because of the pizza is made with rice I decided to keep the asian theme going and used spring onions, gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes) and oyster mushrooms sautéed with soy sauce, you can use shiitake to make it even more “asian”. Keep in mind that I have a very high tolerance for spicy foods so if you prefer a more mild heat or non just use less or non of the chilli flakes. As usual you can customize it to your own liking so feel free to top this pizza with whatever you’d like such as tomatoes, onion, vegan cheese and any other topping you love!

 

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If you make this dish leave a comment below to let me know how you liked them, or tag me in your creations on my social media accounts.

One Love,

A.J.

 

Rice Pizza

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Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian, Indigo, Vegan
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

Crust

  • 1 1/2 cup uncooked rice short grain
  • 2 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp sugar (optional)
  • 1 tbsp chilli flakes I used gochugaru (optional
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)

Sauce

  • 1/2 cup passata tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1 tbsp chilli flakes I used gochugaru
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 tsp garlic and onion powder

Toppings

  • 150 grams oyster mushrooms
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 scallion
  • 1 chilli pepper
  • baby corn

Instructions
 

Asian Style Pizza

  • Wash and rinse the rice about 4 times. Bring the rice to a boil with a about 2 1/2 cups of water. Once the water starts to boil turn down the heat and cover the pot and let it simmer for about 12 minutes. Turn of the heat and remove the rice from the pot and place it in a bowl. Add the garlic powder, chilli flakes and sugar to the rice and mix it well. let it cool down before making the crust.
  • preheat your oven to 175 Celcius or 350 Farenheit. Place the rice on a piece of parchment paper, wet your hands and shape the rice into the shape of a pizza or if you're feeling adventurous you can form it into a rectangle, or square even, just make sure the crust isn't to thin and the edges a little thicker. Place the crust in a oven and cook it for about 20 minutes. While this is happening were gonna prepare the toppings.
  • After about 35 minutes remove the crust from the oven and add a layer of the sauce and Add the toppings. Put the pizza back in the oven for about 15 minutes and its done. you can cut it with a pizza cutter. and your pizza is done. Enjoy!

Oyster Mushrooms

  • Sauté the mushrooms in a pan with some oil over medium/low heat. After about 3 minutes add the soy sauce, sugar and chilli pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

Notes

  • This will not work with long grain rice.

Raw Berry Bars

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Raw Bar

 

There are all types of dietary restrictions, wether it is gluten, refined sugars, gmo’s, processed foods or oils, it always comes as a nice surprise when you find dishes that fit your dietary needs at a party, restaurant or any other occasion where there is food. Since I’m celebrating my one year anniversary I wanted everyone to celebrate it with me, I’ve already uploaded a recipe for blackberry bars but for those who are gluten and/or refined sugar free I’ve made another recipe for blueberry/raspberry coconut bars, oh and did I mention they are raw as well! Whenever it comes to food I want everyone to enjoy, and yes even if you’re not vegan I’ll make you enjoy these vegan treats with me, because they are just as tasty!

 

Raw Bar

 

These bars are quite simple to make, the only time consuming thing is soaking the cashew nuts (this will make them nice and soft) and letting it all solidify in the freezer, but all of this won’t cost you any effort, the making of the recipe though takes about 10 to 20 minutes depending on how fast you work. Minimum effort, maximum reward, these are the types of recipes are the most convenient, of course I like spending hours in the kitchen and don’t mind getting my hands dirty, but not everyone has the time, or patience, so this one is for you!

 

Raw Bar

 

 

 

 

 

You can have these bars with a cup of tea, on a smoothie bowl like I did or just eat them as they are. 

You could also try adding toppings before they are solid like fresh fruits, such as berries, figs or mango, or maybe you want some hemp seeds on top!? They are your bars so make them however you like.

These bars will stay good for a while if stored in the freezer, which is what I would recommend. If you want to have one just take it out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature a little. Or take some out and keep them in the fridge, this way you’ll never have to wait for them to get soft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you make this dish leave a comment below to let me know how you liked them, or tag me in your creations on my social media accounts.

One Love,

A.J.

Raw Berry Slices

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Course Dessert/Snack, Pies and cakes, Rawfood
Cuisine Indigo, Vegan
Servings 12 slices

Ingredients
  

Base

  • 1 cup soft dates
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 3/4 cup desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup oats
  • 2 tbsp cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp flax seed

Filling

  • 2 cups soaked cashews
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2 dates
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 4 tbsp non dairy milk
  • 1 cup raspberries
  • 1 cup blueberries

Instructions
 

Base

  • Add everything to a food processor and pulse it until everything gets together and you can form a ball. Line a baking or pie dish with parchment paper and divide the dough evenly while flattening it out.

Filling

  • Soak the cashews for at least 3 hours but I always leave them overnight. In two separate bowls mash the blueberries and raspberries with a fork until they are all mashed up. Drain your soaked cashews and add them to a high speeds blender or food processor with the coconut oil, dates, lemon juice and non dairy milk. Blend this until you get a nice creamy texture. Now add 1/2 of the cream to the mashed blueberries and the other half to the raspberries and mix them well.
  • Add both of the mixtures to the base and you can cover it with parchment paper to freeze in the freezer for about 3 hours or overnight. After it all has solidified you can remove them from the freezer, cut them in bars and store in the freezer, when your want to have a piece let it come to room temperature or if you can't wait you can risk breaking a tooth on a frozen piece like I do most of the time. Enjoy!

Blackberry Crumble Bars

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BC

 

To celebrate the one year anniversary of this blog I’ll be sharing some indulgent and some healthy dishes so we can all celebrate together! This recipe will be a little more on the indulgent side of the spectre, but sometimes I just need a little
junk. After a tiring week I felt like indulging myself with something scrumptious (I’ll make up for it with some juices), and for a while I’ve been craving something fruity and baked, so the second it was Friday afternoon I decided to use my off time to do just that. As my fruit of choice I went with blackberries, because I’ve been craving a baked blackberry treat for a while now, I am very specific when it comes to my craving!

These bars are the first of many celebratory dishes that I will be sharing this month, and of course I’ll wont be letting anyone out of the festivities, if you are gluten intolerant to don’t want any added sugar or fat, or maybe enjoy living a raw vegan lifestyle, there will be a recipe for you as well, so keep your eyes peeled for those. 

 

Recipe Blackberry Bars

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar (try using raw cane sugar or coconut palm sugar)
  • 1 tsp spirulina and turmeric (optional to add colour)
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract (or vanilla if you’d prefer that)
  • 8 tbsp vegan butter or coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter 
  • 250 gram blackberries (I used frozen)

Directions:

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  1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celcius or 350 Farenheit. 
  2. In a bowl mix the flour, sugar and optionally the spirulina and turmeric.
  3. To this add the vegan butter, almond extract and peanut butter and mix it (with your hands) until you get a crumbly dough.
  4. Cover a baking dish with parchment paper and use about 3/4 of the dough to make the crust, raise the edges a bit and place the blackberries on top of the crust, now crumble the remaining dough on top of the blackberries and place the dish in the oven.
  5. After about 45 minutes you can remove it from the oven and let it cool down completely, cut them in bars before they are completely cooled down. Keep in mind that the blackberries I used were half frozen the moment I placed it in the oven so if you’re using fresh blackberries check your dish after about 35 minutes and take it out when the crust gets a bit golden on the edges.

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Now warm up your oven and lets share some blackberry goodness! You also might notice that the format of this and the post before are a bit different. I’m experimenting with different styles, but I think I’ll go back to the original recipe format. Let me know what you think about it in the comments below.

As usual feel free to customise these to your own liking by adding different kinds of fruits like raspberries and strawberries, or maybe you want to leave out the spirulina and turmeric and keep the dough white, there are no rules!

If you make this dish leave a comment below to let me know how you liked them, or tag me in your creations on my social media accounts.

One Love,

A.J.