Tali's Tomatoes

I stumbled upon these Vietnamese pancakes, called Banh Xeo which literally means 'sizzling cake', when going through my Yotam Ottolenghi vegetarian book  which I bought on a whim about a year ago. Some of his recipes are a little too cheesy (as in too much cheese in the recipe!) for my liking but these pancakes resonated with me with all of the fresh flavours in the sauce and herbs plus a tonne of crunchy vegies (I added a lot more than the original and authentic recipes).


 
What you need to serve four lucky people:

Pancakes:

Dressing:
40 ml lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp seasame oil
1 tbsp brown sugar (optional - I used organic molasses sugar)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) or fish sauce
2tsp freshly grated ginger
1 frsh red chilli, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp salt

Vegetables:
Bok choy stems and leaves thinly sliced
1 large green chilli, sliced (optional)
2 carrots thinly sliced
Tips from my friend Y-Linh: add some chopped spring onions to pancake mixture and cook some sliced brown onions in the pan before adding the pancake mixture.

How to cook them:

Prepare all of the vegetables (and meat if you are using meat) and set aside.

Variations - add meat, wrap the pancake in a crispy lettuce leaf or rice paper.

Make it naughty - add some poached pork belly

My partner and I found the most wonderful Syrian restaurant in Shepherds Bush during our brief stint living in London where we gorged on cheap, filling mezzes.

Having only ever bought tabouli pre-made from Coles along with my regular dolmades (lazy I know), I decided to make it myself when I got back to Australia. Tabouli (tabouleh) is a Levantine Arab salad traditionally made with bulgur, tomato, parsley and mint, seasoned with olive oil and lemon juice.

I have made a few different varieties of tabouli because you can make it with non-traditional ingredients like couscous, quinoa and coriander, but in my opinion the recipe below is the best I have tried. Soaking the bulgur in ground cumin makes such a difference.

If you want to try something different or want to beef it up to make a large salad, toss in some cooked beans or lentils (such as adzuki beans or chickpeas), try quinoa instead of the bulgar to be gluten free, coriander instead of the parsley or mint (or any combination you like), try cherry tomatoes instead of tomatoes, add other vegetables like lettuce and red cabbage, add some cooked free range roasted chicken and top with a nut medely, goji berries, crumbled falafel or some roast sweet potato.

I like to eat mine as part of a mezze with other dips and some flat bread, or as part of a wrap or salad for lunch with some home made baked falafel drizzled in yoghurt.


Nutritional Benefits: Parsley contains fibre, vitamins and minerals like potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium. It is also rich in many antioxidant vitamins including vitamin-A, beta-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-E, zea-xanthin, lutein, and cryptoxanthins. The herb is also an excellent source of vitamin-K and folate. Bulgur wheat does contain gluten, but offers similar amounts of nutrients as quinoa per calorie. Bulgur contains a high amounts of fibre.


What you need to serve a group as a mezze or delicious kebab:
1 big bunch of parsley (I prefer curly for tabouli), large stems removed and the rest finely chopped
1 small bunch of mint, leaves removed and finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1/3 cup fine cracked bulgur
2 tsp ground cumin
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

How to make it:
Mix the bulgur and cumin in a bowl and cover generously with water. Let sit for 45 minutes and add more water if necessary as the bulgur expands. While the bulgur is resting, add parsley, mint, tomatoes and spring onion to a large bowl. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper then add to the parsley mixture. Drain the bulgur, add to the parsley mixture and mix well. Set aside to allow the flavours to develop while you prepare the rest of your mezze.

Make it naughty: enjoy it with some grilled halloumi - yum!

Sources: 1, 2, 3

Our team at work received an invite to attend Australia's Biggest Morning Tea at our previous office to raise money for the Cancer Council. Following this I decided to host my own ABMT at our office, and then I had a panic attack... I can't bake! I tried to make my partner some scones one day and they turned out more like pretzels. I have no idea how it happened!

So, following my original freak out I decided that I would make something healthy. There are so many amazing bloggers out there who are making vegan, gluten free and sugar free treats. During my search I came across Lee from Supercharged Foods and saw a recipe for a gluten free, sugar free, dairy free carrot cake. Following this I did a quick google search for a regular carrot cake recipe only to be shocked to discover the recipes have two cups of sugar in the cake, let alone the icing!

I ended up adding raisins to the recipe and made two healthy carrot cakes. The result was wonderful, everyone raved about it. Best of all we ended up raising $120 for the Cancer Council, who provide such a wonderful service for people with cancer and those who are close to someone who has/had cancer. I know my mum has called the helpline on a couple of occassions.

What you need to make one cake:

• 1 1/2 cups of gluten free flour of your choice i.e. almond flour (you can use regular flour if you are not avoiding gluten)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup dried raisins, soaked for half an hour until plump
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon stevia powder (or 9 drops of stevia liquid)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 4 tablespoons coconut cream
• 1 1/2 cups (200 g) grated carrot

Creamy coconut and cashew icing:

• 3/4 cup of raw or dry roasted cashews
• 250 g coconut cream
• The zest of one lemon, finely grated
• The juice of half a lemon
• 5 or 6 drops of stevia (to taste)

How to cook it:

• Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease a round cake tin with grapeseed oil. 
• In a bowl sift the flower, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, add the walnuts, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia (if powdered), and stir to combine. 
• Put the eggs, grapeseed oil and coconut cream in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add with the raisins to the dry ingredients and fold through.
• Squeeze the excess water out of the carrots with your hands and add them to the bowl. Fold in lightly. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed in the centre. Take out of tin and place on a wire rack to cool.
• For the icing, place all ingredients minus the stevia, including just half of the coconut cream into a food processor or blender and turn on and off for a few minutes, slowly adding more coconut cream until the consistency is like crème fraiche (not runny, but not like thickened cream- you will see when I took the photo above it was a little bit runny, once I added some more cashews it thickened up significantly). Add the liquid stevia once you have the desired consistency and give it one last quick blend. Place the icing into the coldest section of your fridge (or freezer) to thicken.
• When the cake has cooled, spoon the icing all over the top.

Make it naughty: there is no need it is tasty enough! You can add more stevia to the icing to make it sweeter.

To host your own Biggest Morning Tea or donate to the Cancer Council go to http://www.biggestmorningtea.com.au/?gclid=CIe3qcDSpLACFU1spAodyywuWg

How to cook it
Thoroughly rinse the barley and set aside (soak up to 12 hours if you have time). Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat then add the leek, onion and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes stirring occasional until soft. Add the white wine or stock and the barley and simmer until the liquid has been almost completely absorbed, around 5 minutes. Add the stock, pumpkin and carrot, pop the lid on and simmer for around 30 minutes stirring occasionally to stop it from burning until the stock has been absorbed and the barley is cooked but still a little bit chewy. If there is too much liquid take the lid off and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Stir the risotto vigorously so that the pumpkin is mashed and thoroughly coating the barley.

Note: if you are using organic barley it may need some additional liquid and cooking time as I have found it to be less processed than the supermarket variety

Season with salt and pepper, stir through the parmesan cheese or butter (optional), sprinkle on some freshly chopped parsley and goats fetta cheese (optional) and plate it up. I like to serve it with a spinach and green bean salad.

Be naughty
Sprinkle some fried bacon or prosciutto over the top when plating it up.

Dinner party tip
Serve the risotto on a roasted round of pumpkin (this will be in addition to the pumpkin you use for the risotto).

Variations
Use rice instead of pearl barley if you are gluten intolerant. If you don't like pumpkin use cauliflower instead.




*Note re Pearl Barley: This grain is packed with fiber, contains important vitamins and minerals, is slim on fat, is cholesterol-free and contains antioxidants ("aunty-who?" for those of you who remember that the advert trying to get people to drink more coffee). Barley contains several vitamins and minerals including niacin (Vitamin B3), thiamine (Vitamin B1), selenium, iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and copper. Source 1, 2.

I first discovered there was more to life than regular peanut butter last year at the Ekka (Brisbane's Royal Show). This was Steve's (my partner) first trip to the Ekka so of course Steve indulged in dagwood dogs (a battered sausage on a stick covered in tomato sauce), I made him watch horses, we drank some wine and patted small furry animals.

Whilst in the wine pavilion tasting all of the regional goodness, we stumbled along the Macro wholefoods stand. Because it was the last day of the show they were basically giving away raw nibble mix and different types of nut butters - almond, almond cashew & brazil nut etc. We were immediately excited by the prospect of other types of nut butter and have never bought peanut butter since.

What I didn't realise at this time was how easy it actually was to make nut butter and have seen it pop up on lots of the blogs I follow lately. You literally just roast or soak the nuts (for raw nut butter) and then blend. Obviously you can make your nut butter as fancy as you would like by adding things like extra virgin coconut oil for a silky texture, cashews, almonds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, hemp seeds, maple syrup, agave nectar, honey, cinnamon, cocoa... yummmmmm.


Some quick nutritional facts - peanuts are not quite as good for you as say almonds. Both nuts contain similar nutritional benefits such as monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, protein and manganese. However peanuts are linked to allergies and may contain added sugars and oils. There is also some concern that peanuts contain levels of aflatoxin, a toxin that has been linked to cancer.

• 2 cups made up of any type of shelled/raw nuts and seeds - cashews, almonds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, hemp seeds
• 1 tsp of sweeter if desired - agave nectar, honey, honey, cinnamon, cocoa, vanilla essence, salt (optional)
• 1 tsp extra-virgin coconut oil (optional)

How to make it

• preheat the oven to 150°C (fan forced, 170°C conventional). Scatter the nuts across some baking paper on an oven tray. Roast for approximately 10 minutes or until the nuts are a caramel colour on the inside. if you have smaller nuts/seeds add them in towards the end. Keep an eye on the nuts after 8 minutes, they burn quickly. Once the nuts are ready take them out of the oven and let them cool (this should take around 5 minutes).
• once the nuts have cooled completely put all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and whizz until it forms a powder and then a paste (should take around 10 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl every once in a while. You can tell it is ready when the oil starts to separate from the nuts.
• spoon out into a sterilised jar*.

Keep it in the fridge for at least 1 month. Keeping it in the fridge will stop it from going off and stop the oil from separating from the ground nuts.

Tip - If you want chunky nut butter, remove 1/4  cup of the chopped nuts from the food processor before it turns into a powder. Set aside. Fold it to the creamy nut butter before storing.

Make it naughty: by eating too much of it!!

*The easiest way I have found to sterilise a jar is to clean it out thoroughly and boil it a saucepan of water for 5 minutes.

Sources of info re the nuts:1, 2, 3

Breakfast has always been a difficult meal for me. I love it but don't generally like cow products such as milk and yoghurt due to the pasteurisation/homogenisation process used in those products. I do, however, absolutely love goats cheese fetta.

The fetta, sweet omelette, creamy avocado and crunchy spinach inside the wrap is my idea of a perfect brekkie for the weekend, or even a weekday when I have time.

Although I usually like my eggs runny to get all of the possible goodness out of the egg (particularly the yolk), I know some people who don't, which is why this is such a versatile recipe - I can't think of anyone who wouldn't like it.

I have put the ingredients for one person below. Feel free to double, triple or quadruple if you are making breakfast for more than just yourself.

The original idea for this wrap is from Janella Purcell.


What you need to serve one lucky person:

• One egg
• 1/2 tsp agave nectar, honey, raw sugar or other sweetener
• Handful of baby spinach leaves
• Small handful goats cheese feta, crumbled
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1 wrap (I used wheat/rye)
• 1/2 tsp extra-virgin  cold pressed organic coconut oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp water

How to make it:

• Prepare the wraps by mashing and spreading the avocado over the wrap bread.
• Crack the egg into a cup and add the sweetener, salt and water, stir with a fork until combined.
• Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add the coconut oil.
• Once the oil has heated up add the egg and swirl it around the pan until you have an omelette.
• Take the pan off the heat just before the omelette has completely cooked.
• Slide the omelette onto the wrap bread, followed by the fetta and spinach.
• Fold one side of the wrap over 1/3 of the way, fold the bottom up and then continue to roll until you have a wrap which stays together (this can take some practice and may be more difficult if you have small wrap bread).
• Enjoy while it's warm!

Make it naughty: add a thin layer of bacon or ham to the wrap when adding the omelette.

Variation: use any other kind of fetta instead of goat's cheese fetta.

What you need to serve four lucky people:

• 1 cup chana dal 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1/2 cup of celery, diced
• 1 heaped tbsp each of ground cumin, turmeric and garam masala
• 700 ml vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf 
• 1 cup chopped coriander leaves to garnish
• 1 lemon quartered, to serve
• 2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup natural yoghurt
• 1 cup brown rice

Make it naughty: It is pretty much impossible to make this dish naughty, it is too healthy. Maybe if you had it with some butter chicken on the side, then it would be.

Make it healthier:  Add vegetables like carrot, pumpkin, eggplant or sweet potato in with the onions.

Variations: You can use fresh grated turmeric and cumin seeds instead of the ground powder.


*Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentil; http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-reasons-to-love-lentils-the-mightly-little-powerfood.html

The soba noodles you can normally find in the supermarket

• two bunches fresh coriander, roots removed and chopped including the stems
• 1 bunch asparagus, wooden ends removed, cut into thirds and then halved length ways
• 250g snow peas, trimmed
• 4 anchovies - optional to make vegetarian replace anchovies with  nori or an extra 1 tbsp of shoyu.
• 1 cup roasted macadamia or cashew nuts*
• 1 small red chillies, chopped - or 1/2 tbs chili powder
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp tamari or shoyu
• 1 packet uncooked soba noodles

• Place the coriander, nuts, anchovies, tamari, lime juice, chili, olive oil and garlic in a processor and process until blended into a paste, season with some pepper.
• Cook the soba noodles as per packet directions - about 4 to 6 minutes.
• Heat the coconut oil in a wok or frying pan.
• Toss the red onion and asparagus constantly on a medium-high heat until the onion is soft and the vegetables are bright green (about 1-2 minutes), add the pesto to coat the vegetables. Take off the heat.
• Drain the soba noodles once just cooked and rinse thoroughly with cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Add the soba noodles to the pan - mix to combine the noodles and pesto.
• Divide among 4 plates or bowls and serve with chopsticks.
• Yum!

• 1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and diced into 2 cm pieces
• 300g green beans, tops and tails removed and chopped into 2cm pieces
• 3 red chillies, chopped (use the small chillies if you like it spicy)
• 1 brown onion diced
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped and extra for garnish
• 1/2 bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced spring onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp ketjap manis (sweet soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp  tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1tbsp water

• 2 cups of uncooked brown rice, thoroughly rinsed
• 1 cup of light coconut milk
• 2 cups of water
• 1cm grated fresh turmeric (1tsb dried if you don't have fresh)
• 1 kaffir lime leaf cut into thin slices (can use dried or from a jar if you don't have fresh)