Pea and Corn Quinoa Salad

This is a lovely salad hot or cold, as a main or side.

Ingredients:

- can of peas, liquid drained

- can of corn, liquid drained

- small bunch of coriander ( or as much as you like) chopped finely

- small bunch of mint ( or as much as you like) chopped finely

- 4 Shallots, chopped
- 2 cups cooked quinoa

- Juice of 1 lemon

- cracked pepper and rock salt.

Method:

It's simple really, cook your quinoa and place into a bowl with your can of peas, corn, mint, coriander and shallots and mix together. Then drizzle all of your lemon juice on top with enough salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly together.

Strawberry Rice Milk Smoothie

Not all food on my blog has to be unhealthy, I have a favourite Strawberry smoothie recipe. 

It it light on the dairy side, but if you are lactose intolerant you can leave the yoghurt out and top it up with some more rice milk or chia seeds.  

Ingredients:

- 1 tsp chia Seeds

- 3 tbsp yoghurt

- 1 punnet strawberries

- 1 tsp honey

- 1 cup rice milk

Blend all together and enjoy xoxo

Allspice Pumpkin Soup

This is a lovely healthy pumpkin soup recipe. Add some brown rice to it and it gets very filling very quick.

Ingredients:

- 1kg pumpkin
- 2 tablespoons organic pumpkin seed oil
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 cube beef stock or beef flavoured stock ( you can get these vegan friendly)
- 1 tablespoon rice bran oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper

Method: 

Boil kettle with at least 3 cups of water. In a medium pot, add chopped onion and sauté until brown and caramelised in rice bran oil. Turn off once done. Once kettle has boiled add 2 cups of water to your beef stock cube. Stir until dissolved. Add chopped pumpkin to onion and add stock, then add more water until covered over pumpkin. Cover with a lid and cook until pumpkin is falling away from skin and can be mashed with spoon in pot.

Turn off and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then add to blender with 2 tablespoons organic pumpkin seed oil, ground paprika, ground all spice and mixed spice. Blend together until completely smooth.

Add to bowls with some brown rice if desired, enjoy.

LEMON CAKE!

This is one of my favourite cakes to make. I used the basic recipe I found for a Lemon Tea Cake in an old recipe book. The book was called 'Wonderful ways to prepare Cakes and sweets' -  by Ayers and James, and is still one of my favourite books to go to for a cake recipe.

However the original recipe was not lemony enough, and was a lot more moist in a way that didn't give it the best texture for that kind of cake.

The only way to describe this cake is pure lemony joy. If your a fan of lemon curd, lemon tarts and lemon meringue, then you'll LOVE this.

Please note that although the cake itself has no dairy, there is butter in the icing sugar. There are plenty of dairy free icing recipes you could use, as long as you add the lemon juice. You could use non stick baking paper to line the tin too!

Ingredients:

- 3 eggs
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 small good lemons, make sure they are juicy when you squeeze them and have a good yellow rind and  
   not too much pith.
- 1 1/2 cup of flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Tablespoon of butter
- 500g Icing Sugar

Utensils: 

- fine grater
- electric beaters
- cake tin
- oven set at 180'C Fan Forced

Method:

Cake:
Take your 5 lemons, wash them and chop of the end and the tops, this make it easier to grate.
Grate your lemons, making sure you get all that good yellow rind, but be careful to not grate for too long in one spot, or you will start grating white pith. Once you have done this set aside your lemon rind. Begin squeezing the juice of 4 of your lemons and set aside another lemon as you will need the juice later to make the icing sugar. Set aside the juice of your 4 lemons, making sure there are no seeds and pulp.

In a mixing bowl big enough for your cake batter, take your eggs and beat them until properly combined and thick. Add the sugar gradually. Now sift your flour and baking soda over your lemon egg mixture and mix together. Butter and flour a non stick cake tin and pour in your batter.

Place in the oven until cake has risen and is golden brown, you should also be able to stick in a skewer and not have batter on the end. Once this is done take out of the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes, then turn upside down to release from tin. Let cool on  a wire rack, then turn it back over so the flat side is on the bottom.

Icing: 
Take the lemon you put aside and squeeze the juice from it. In bowl add your butter and lemon juice,then slowly start adding the icing sugar a few tablespoons at a time and mix until there are no lumps. You may not have to use all your icing sugar, you may have to use a little more. It all depends on how much juice is in your lemon, but you basically want a nice smooth consistency that isn't going to drip and run of your cake.

Once you have this with no lumps, and your cake is fully cooled, ice your cake.

This cake is best left out for the first 48 hours NOT in the fridge, as it may be to moist. Make sure you cover it in foil though.

Yum Yum !

Cous Cous Salad - Vegan

This makes a great side dish with a salad or veggies, or even if you want to eat it with meat.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of Cous Cous
- 4 dried Bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- cracked whole pepper
- 1 teaspoon tumeric
- small pinch saffron
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable salt  the kind you get from the health food shop)
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 1 baby zuchini
- 1 small carrot
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil

Method:

Place the cous cous into a bowl. Add Bay leaves, paprika, oregano, cracked pepper and tumeric. Mix dry ingredients together until the spices have evenly coloured the dry cous cous. Pour 1 cup of boiling water into a measuring jug with a small pinch of saffron and 1/2 a teaspoon vegetable salt.

Add to cous cous and stir, then leave to absorb.

In another small saucepan add chopped zuchini and carrot with 1/2 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil. Stir fry until nicely sautéed.

After or while your veggies are sauting, fluff cous cous ( add a little more water if needed, say another tablespoon or so) and add chopped cherry tomatoes. Add Sauted veggies and stir into cous cous.

Enjoy!

Smoked Paprika and Dill Fish

This Fish is lightly flavoured and fantastic with whatever kind of salad you want to put with it, but I personally love to eat my fish    
   with paypaya.

Serves 2 




Ingredients:

- Whole cracked black pepper - as much as you like
- 1 Teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 Teaspoon dried crushed onion
- 1 Tablespoon rice bran oil ( or grape seed oil, as both have high smoke points and are therefore better for  
   you for cooking)
- 3 Fresh sprigs ( long stems) Dill, chopped
- 4 Pieces of small fish fillets or 2 normal sized pieces of fish.
- 8 Cherry tomatoes - 4 per person  (optional)

Method:

1. Add 1 Tablespoon of Rice Bran oil into pan, but don't turn it on yet.


2. In a big bowl large enough for your pieces of fish, add teaspoon smoked paprika, dried crushed onion and chopped dill. mix together and evenly spread over your plate.

3. Add your fish flesh side down and skin side up to your spice and herb mic, then turn over so it is coated both sides.

4. Turn on your pan to high heat and while it is heating up add your cherry tomatoes.

5. When oil is just starting to sizzle add your fish with the cherry tomatoes, skin side down and allow to cook until you see about a cm up the sides of the fish is starting to cook, Jamie Oliver says its best if your fish cooks for about 80% of its time on the skin side.




6. When the skin of fish is looking crispy and you can see flesh starting to cook, then you can turn the fish and turn off the heat, allowing the rest of the fleshy side of the fish to cook slowly in the pan.

7. When fish is cooked all the way through, serve onto plate with cooked cherry tomatoes and add Murray River salt flakes and whole cracked pepper.

Enjoy