Vegan, Chocolate Flapjacks

No sugar, no dairy, high protein and packed with vitamins…

Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-15 minutes

Makes about 20 flapjacks

Ingredients

• 360g oats
• 30g raw cocao powder
• 2 bananas
• 6 tbsp maple syrup
• 6 tbsp cashew, almond or smooth peanut butter (use organic)
• 4 tbsp coconut oil. plus extra for greasing

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C).
2. In a saucepan, mash the bananas with a fork then add the maple syrup (or honey), nut butter and coconut oil. Allow to simmer until a smooth paste forms.
3. Add the oats and stir well so that they’re fully covered.
4. Grease a baking tray with coconut oil and transfer the flapjack mix into the baking tray, pressing it down firmly with a spatula so that it’s very compact.
5. Bake for 15-20 mins until the top starts to brown.
6. Once it’s cooked, remove the tray from the oven and leave it to fully cool before slicing the flapjacks.
7. Serve with a nice cup of chai tea!

Qing bu liang

Qing bu liang [清補涼] is a real Hainan summer evening speciality. Commonly sold from small carts on blisteringly hot Hainanese evenings. You can choose the ingredients you’d like in your soup. Common options include dates, mung beans, barley, taro, watermelon, quail eggs, and glutinous rice balls. These are made together and then added to a base of either iced coconut milk or sweetened ice water.

This is my recipe that can be created using UK ingredients…:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Coconut Milk (the kind you buy as milk, not the cream in the can) [ye nai 椰奶]
• 3 dates [Hai Zao 海枣]
• 1 tablespoons of cooked barley [da mai 大麦 ]
• 1 tablespoon watermelon [Xi gua 西瓜]
• 1 tablespoon raisins or sultanas [Pútáogān 葡萄干]
• 1 tablespoon mung beans (other beans such as azuki are acceptable!) [Lǜdòu 绿豆 ]
• 1/2 avocado (I am not a massive fan of this addition, however, it is becoming more popular) [È lí 鳄梨 ]

Method:

1. If you are having your dish cold, make sure you chill your coconut milk and ingredients. If you are having your meal warm, gently warm the coconut milk until a good drinking temperature.
2. Chop and add all of the other ingredients
3. Enjoy!

It really is as simple as that, what might seem a rather odd, mishmash of ingredients really is a truly delectable dish.

Best wishes – yílùshùnfēng – 路顺风

 

Buddha Bowls

The Buddha Bowl is filled with pure simple food and  is all about gratitude and nourishment.

Firstly, it is important to find the perfect bowl, that to you can grow accustomed to to appreciate the food within.  You might even want to use chop sticks for the ‘mood’.

There are four key components to the Buddha Bowl:

1. Raw Organic Greens
   • (e.g. Kale, Arugula, Watercress, Avocado)
2. Raw or Steamed Vegetables
   • (e.g. Asparagus, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Butternut Squash)
3. Vegan Source of Protein
   • (e.g. Garbanzo, Black or Kidney Beans. Quinoa, Brown Rice. Walnuts, Pumpkin Seeds, Chia Seeds )
4. Dressing the Buddha Bowl
   • This can be as varied from a edible flower arrangement to dressings.
   • (Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar, Lemon Juice and Sea Salt, Hot Pepper, Garlic and Olive Oil are a few of my favourites)

Pick two from each section and combine. You will soon begin to learn what you do and do not like!

Eating out Vegan – Friska, Bristol

With my hour to kill before work in the morning I decided to take it upon myself to try out the coffee places around Clifton so expect an update as I discover new places!

Today’s adventure was Friska on Queen’s Rd. The amount of times I have walked past this place, or gone to the alternative random shop above it is countless. I bit the bullet and went in to have a look around.

• I’d give the coffee a solid 6 out of 10. Nothing special, but I only had an Americano.

 

• The place is amazing, great ambiance and comfy chairs – I actually lost track of time and we almost late for work.

 

• The Spiced Sweet Potato and Coconut Korma is vegan as is the Vietnamese pho noodle soup and their daily veggie soups too.

 

• Friska is known for using fresh, local ingredients that is cooked as it it ordered, and you can see it being cooked! The do Breakfast and lunch, with all different menus and choices

I will definitely be going back to try out the meals – and will mention an update below!

Have you eaten there before and could recommend something?

 

UPDATE:

So I just came back from lunch at Friska ….. AMAZING.

I think I have found my favourite lunching spot! I have the Sweet potato Korma which was incredible. Others at the table had the vegetable noodle soup, chicken and chorizo hot box and a halloumi wrap. All of which everybody loved – vegan vegetarian or not! 

I fully recommend this place for food, drinks and snacks 9 /10!

 

www.friskafood.com

70 Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1QU
36 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6BY
Bath Road Studios, 470 Bath Road, Bristol BS4 3HG
Bristol & Bath Science Park, Dirac Crescent, Emersons Green, Bristol BS16 7AJ

 

Lentil & Sweet Potato Shepherd’s pie

An Absolutely delightful meal that I can recommend fully.

 

Ingredients (Makes a big-un!)

• 4 Sweet potatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 stick of celery
• 2 carrots
• 4 cups of lentils
• 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• basil
• 1/2 cup of spinach
• 2 tbs soy / almond / rice milk
• seasonings

 

Method

1. Peal and chop the potatoes into chunks and boil for about 15 minutes until soft
2. Chop the carrots, celery and onion then fry with some water to soften
3. Add the lentil to the soft vegetables and cook for a few minutes, stiring
4. Add the chopped tomatos, basil soy sauce and spinach – simmer for 15 minutes
5. Mash the potato with the non dairy milk and season
6. Add the lentil mix to a large baking pot dolloping the mash on top – cook in the oven at 200’c for 20 minutes
7. Eat!

Source: http://www.oneingredientchef.com/sweet-potato-shepherds-pie/

Iced Banana Coffee (Vegan)

 

After a week of 20 something degrees Celsius, the dream is over. It’s raining, not quiet pouring, and Sophie wishes that she was snoring.

Temperamental weather is not something I am impressed with. England is rainy, I get that, it rains, all the time. But trick me with a week of sun, and choruses of  ‘The summers here’, ‘Grab the sun cream’, ‘I’m wearing shorts!’ and ‘There is an alien invasion going on’, okay the last one is another story for another time, and then take it all away and leave me with the dreariness that is Potsdam today.

Enough of my complains, we have been very lucky to have the sun, and even luckier to have had a week of thee babies:

Iced Banana Coffee’s.

 

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 1-2 Bananas (freezer for 30 minutes)
• 1 of VERY  strong frozen coffee (using granules is fine)
• 2-3 cup of Soy / Rice / Almond milk (Soy yoghurt too if you have some) Oooo and some coconut milk, I’m getting excited now.
• Handfuls of ice (or more frozen banana, or other fruit, chunks!)

Method

1. 1-2 hours before, make 1/2 a cup of VERY  strong coffee, granules is fine, and put in the freezer (I use a wide/long dish to freeze it quicker, cause I am really impatient)
2. Chop the banana into manageable chunks and freeze them for about 30 minutes
3. Whack it all in a blender add all the vegan milk (add some soy yoghurt if you’ve got some!) and blllenndddddd
4. Serve! And make the world jealous.

 

 

Sweet Potato Soup + Salad

I do love the sweet potato! But it is also the only thing I have left to eat in the fridge.. as it is Easter Monday and nothing is open. I find it quite invigorating having very little food as you end up making things you otherwise wouldn’t have tried!

Anyway I won’t talk much about the soup as it is literally boiled sweet potato blended (baked would have been much nicer, but I am far too impatient for that today)

BUT the sweet potato chips (not crisps, wedges to you Americans) were a pretty jazzy last addition. Now I bought this lettuce a few days ago from a stall on a whim, and I don’t really like it, but with these sweet potato babies, it is heavenly!

They are just boiled, then fried in garlic, chili flakes, bit of curry powder and pepper.  YUMMMYYY

Now let’s just take a moment to realise the cheapness of this meal…. 1 sweet potato, a handful of lettuce, say whaatttt. Yep that’s right.

---

 

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet potato
• Lettuce
• Seasonings (chili, garlic, pepper etc)

Method

1. Cut and boil all sweet potato in chunks
2. Put as much as you want in the blender, leaving some to make the wedges
3. Fry the wedges in the seasonings and whack on top of some salad
4. Blend the blendy mix (if not vegan, add some butter, marg, milk etc, I just put in water as I am out of soy milk, but do that!)
5. Serve and eat!

Raw-Vegan Chocolate Pudding – HAPPY EASTER!

Now its Easter…. a holiday previously seen with me stuffing my face with copious amounts of chocolate that my parents had hidden from me, this time for my own pleasure, but sillyly enough left me clues as to where to find it. But say goodbye to the ‘unhealthy’ chocolate / pudding myth! Easter CAN and WILL be healthy, and not without chocolate!

I crave chocolate, like most people, but there is absolutely no need to blow the calorie bank whilst doing it! Being vegan, on a massive budget, restricts me from buying all these vegan chocolates and such, and buying stuff…. where’s the fun in that!

You can even get in two of your five a day with this recipe, or even more if you are really pushing the boat out! You could add blueberries (they don’t blend too well through so could be a bit grainy!) Raspberries would be divine in this recipe. When I try it out I’ll add it to the recipe if needs be!

Nuts can also be added to this recipe bumping up the cals and fat, but they’re good cals and fat, nothing better than a new nuts!

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• 3 strawberries
• 2 tbs raw cocoa powder
• (some kind of sweetener if you want, but it really doesn’t need it!)

Method

1. Blend the strawberries and banana till a thick paste
2. Add the cocoa powder and blend in well
3. Serve!

 

You’ll never go back!

Easter Salad!

Lettuce, Dandelion leaves, sweet potato, cucumber, apple, peas, millet = YUM

Read on for benefits and nutrition of Dandelion leaves…

 

There isn’t much point in me telling you the ingredients list and how I made it as it is rather simple. cook the sweet potato, put it on salady things!

So instead I will give you 10 reasons to go and pick some Dandelion leaves!  (make sure they will not have weed poison on them, and stay away from ones near roads! Go as rural as possible.)

#1 – High in Calcium: Dandelion greens are loaded with calcium. Just one cup of chopped dandelion greens has 103 milligrams (10% of the recommended daily value) of calcium! That’s slightly more than kale! Add two to three cups of dandelion to a smoothie with calcium-rich fruits like orange, kiwi, fig or papaya and you’ll have a green smoothie that has more calcium than any dairy product!

#2 – Rich in Iron: Next to fresh parsley, dandelion greens have a high iron content. One cup contains 1.7 milligrams of iron.

#3 – Low Calories: Like all leafy greens, dandelions are low in calories. One cup of chopped dandelion greens has only 25 calories. While leafy greens are a low calorie food, I actually prefer to use dandelions because they have more calories than other greens. Since I try to get as many calories as I can into my morning smoothies, I add up to 4 cups of dandelion which adds 100 calories of nutrient-rich food!

#4 – Loaded With Antioxidants: Dandelion greens are high in vitamin A in the form of antioxidant carotenoid (beta-carotene) and vitamin C. Vitamin C also helps facilitate iron absorption.

#5 – The Ultimate Detox & Cleansing Green: If your goal is detoxification and cleansing, dandelion greens should be the ones you use in green smoothies! They are said to help cleanse the liver and many detox recipes call for them.

#6 – Lots Of Minerals: Dandelion greens are rich in minerals. Besides calcium and iron, they are a good source of copper (10% RDA), manganese (8% RDA), phosphorus (5% RDA), potassium (5% RDA) and magnesium (5% RDA).

#7 – 14% Protein: Dandelion greens have more protein per serving than spinach. The greens themselves are 14% protein and contain all essential amino acids so it’s a complete protein. One chopped cup contains 1.5 grams of protein.

#8 – Multivitamin Green: Besides vitamin A as beta-carotene (186% RDA) and vitamin C (21% RDA), each cup of chopped dandelion greens are also good sources of vitamins B1 (9% RDA), B2 (11% RDA) and B6 (11% RDA), vitamin E (13% RDA) and especially abundant in vitamin K (357% RDA).

#10 – Health Benefits of Dandelion Greens: The nutrients in dandelion greens may help reduce the risk of cancer, multiple sclerosis, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and stroke. Dandelion contains anti-inflammatory properties which may provide benefit to those with asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

Nettle soup

People seriously underestimate stuff that is free. We are always told; nothing’s for free, if it’s too good to be true, it is. Well, shove your cliche’s up your.. chimney, and go foraging!

So it is Easter, and being in Germany that means everything is closed. But my stomach definitely is not closed for business today. I was going into Berlin and just before I got on the train, I decided that I did not want to go anyway. So I walked back out of the station and decided to go on a nice long walk home through the park. In said park, things got interesting…

Not only are nettles free, they are a super food! High in potassium, iron, sulphur, vitamin C, vitamin A and B complex vitamins nettles provide a high amount of dense nutrition with very little calories. The sulphur makes them great for the hair, skin, and nails. In addition, the tiny hairs, besides emitting histamine, also release serotonin and acetylcholine, two neurotransmitters that help to suppress appetite and also settle mood. Finally, nettles have gentle diuretic properties, which help relieve water weight gain, flush the body of toxins, and purify the blood. 1

Ingredients

• 3 cups of nettle leaves
• Vegetable stock
• 1 potato (I used half a sweet potato… as it’s what I had)
• Could add some peas and such if you want to

Method

1. Boiling the nettles for about 1 minute should remove all of the sting.
2. Pull off all the leaves and boil them in stock water with a chopped potato
3. Boil until potato is cooked
4. Blend!
5. Add peas before or after blending, up to you!