Holy Guacamole!

"I don't know what to eat today" I hear you say.  Well, stress no longer because this guacamole is not only delicious and nutritious, but can pretty much be eaten at any time of day.  Win.  Oh and it is super easy to make.  Double win.  This recipe makes enough for a decent amount of guacamole.  How big is one serving of guacamole? I don't know! Let's just go with this was enough for 4 people to have for dinner with nachos. 

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados

60ml of fresh lime/lemon juice

2 tomatoes, de-seeded and finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped (if you leave the seeds in or not is up to you - how spicy do you like your guac?)

5 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp paprika

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 pinch salt

1.  Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork.

2.  Season to taste.

3.  That's it.

Serve this up with fresh corn chips, nachos, with crudités, some freshly baked bread...whatever you like really! Just make sure you leave some coriander (cilantro) leaves to sprinkle on top before you serve it.

Enjoy!

Yummy & Healthy Vegan Summer Rolls with Two Dips

This is one of my absolutely favourite meals! I recently came up with a new sauce recipe, and got the tofu marination down pat, so had to share it with all you lovely people.

By the way, you have to excuse the incredibly small amount of peanut dipping sauce in the pictures...my family got hold of it before I got a chance to take photos.

So, this is enough to make about 8 rolls, but obviously feel free to play around with the amounts of veggies and noodles depending on your taste.

Ingredients:

Rolls

1 block extra firm tofu, drained (wrap in a paper towel for about 30 minutes to remove any extra moisture)

60ml soy sauce or mushroom soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Olive oil for the pan

1 package cooked glass noodles (or rice noodles)

8 - 10 lettuce leaves (or kale leaves)

10 - 12 leaves of thai basil and/or coriander

1/2 cucumber 

1 carrot

1 red pepper

1 avocado

Rice paper

Peanut Sauce

2 minced garlic cloves

2 tbsp maple syrup

3 - 4 tbsp fresh lime juice

3 - 4 tbsp sriracha sauce

120ml hoisin sauce

Chilli powder, to taste

120g peanut butter

100ml water

Soy Sauce with a Twist

100ml soy sauce

100ml hoisin sauce

2 tbsp sriracha sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

Now, I know that is a mighty long list of ingredients! If you're making these just for yourself I'd recommend chopping up all your ingredients and making 2 or 3 of these depending on your hunger levels, then making the rest the next day.  Alternatively, if you're making these for lots of people just double the amount. Everyone's happy.

1.  To make the tofu, cut the drained tofy into thin slices and then pat dry with paper towels and leave for 30 minutes.  

2.  In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, salt, sugar, sugar, chilli flakes, garlic powder, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Pop in the tofu and let is marinate for between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

3.  In a lightly oiled pan, fry the tofu until it is golden brown and slightly crispy from the outside.  Then set aside and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

4.  Cut all your veggies into thin strips.

5.  Dip your rice paper sheets into warm water (or just hold them under the tap) for a few seconds so that they become soft and pliable, then arrange your fillings in the middle.  Do this one at a time!  I like to put the lettuce leaf on the outside, pop in my carrot, cucumber, red pepper, thai basil and noodles, then roll it once so that those ingredients are covered.  Then I put 2 slices of tofu and some avocado on the rice paper and roll the rest up.  Make these as tight as possible, and don't worry if it takes a few tries for you to get them right!

6.  For the peanut sauce - blend together all the ingredients and then season to taste.  I like mine a bit spicier and so put in more chilli and sriracha sauce. Garnish with some crushed peanuts to serve.

7.  For the soy sauce with a twist - you guessed it, mix together all ingredients! Voila.

Deeeelicious!

Devilishly Tasty Vegan Peanut Butter & Choc Chip Cookies

YUM!

These bad boys are the perfect combination of gooey on the inside and crunchy on the outside. I made these the other day, and they were demolished in no time at all by the rest of my family.  Oh and did I mention that they are incredibly easy to make?

This recipe makes about 20 medium sized cookies.

Ingredients:

180g peanut butter

80g margarine

180g brown sugar

120ml unsweetened almond milk

1/2tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

240g plain flour

120g vegan chocolate chips (I used more)

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.

2. In a nice, big bowl whip up your peanut butter with the sugar and margarine, and then add your vanilla extract and the almond milk.  Mix it all up together until you have a creamy mixture.

3. Pop in the baking powder and then sift in the flour. Add in your pinch of salt and mix it all up.

4.  Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips. Use as many as you want!

5.  Place a piece of baking paper on a tray so that your delicious cookies don't stick. Roll your mixture into little balls, using approximately a tablespoon sized dollop each time.

6.  Stick the bad boys in the oven for about 10 minutes.

7.  Take them out, and using a fork push down on each cookie until its flat. Then put them back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes.

8.  Remove them from the baking tray and place them on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.

9.  Voila!

These cookies make the perfection addition to basically everything from office treat days to birthdays to afternoon tea to a midnight snack to a cup of tea and a biscuit with friends.  You get the picture.

Enjoy! (And let me know of any tweaks you come up with to make them more delicious!)

Deliciously Naughty Ice Cream Cake

So my grandma makes a mean ice cream cake, and in true grandma fashion, it is about as unhealthy as can be.  Full of ice cream, cream, meringue, chocolate and raspberry sauce, I'm about to share the recipe for this beauty with you. 

Oh yes!

This recipe is incredibly simple, and all you'll need is:

A decent sized tub of vanilla ice cream

4 cups of whipped cream, and whip it well

100g of chocolate sprinkles or shavings

Approximately 200g of meringue

50g sugar

50g almond meal

2 - 3 tablespoons of cherry or raspberry liqueur

Aprroxmiately 300ml raspberry sauce 

A decent amount of ice cream magic/magic shell chocolate sauce

At this stage I have to point out that quantities do not need to be exact.  My grandma, being a grandma, doubles the amount of chocolate and sugar in this easily.  It is completely up to you how you want to tweak it, this is just the basic recipe which we use. Now the next bit is the really challenging part - mix all your ingredients (except for the rasberry sauce) together and pop it in a springform cake tin (grease that up a bit beforehand to make your life easier later) and voila!

Crush up the meringue before you mix it all together.  I just mashed them up in their little bags.

 

Found this guy in the kitchen, ready to whip some cream!

This is the mixture of meringue, chocolate, almond meal and sugar, with the ice cream just going in.

This is what the mixture should look like once you've mixed everything together well.

Now for the last part - drizzle the entire cake with raspberry sauce.  It doesn't really matter how you do this, so don't worry about being careful.

Once you've done all this, pop it in the freezer overnight, or at least for quite a few hours.

For the finishing touch, just add some of that chocolate sauce that freezes when it goes on ice cream in any pattern you wish.  And then it's done done done and you're ready to tuck in! 

Best enjoyed outside in the sunshine and with friends and family!  Oh who are we kidding, also enjoyed inside and with anyone you trust not to eat too much of it.