Throw Another Vege Skewer on the Barbie, Love

For the non-Australian reader, believe me, that title is hilarious. Just so you know.

Ah, vegetarians: the barbeque pariahs. Centre stage at a good old Aussie bbq are fat pork sausages in bread with tomato sauce, chicken skewers with Moroccan seasoning and of course…the piece-de-resistance…the 400gm T-Bone. Well I for one intend to rally against it! Or at least at the next bbq eat my side salad very moodily.

For as long as I’ve been a vego I’ve always felt a little left out at bbqs. Vegetarian fare is often relegated to the ‘side dish’ space and it totally sucks because I have a weakness for all things char grilled (meat excluded of course).

This is where my amazingly wonderful family-away-from-family come in. And they never fail to embrace the vego and never ever fail to impress in the food department.

Dario and I have only been Canberra residents for a few years. It’s a pretty transient place with a notable portion of the population originating somewhere other than Canberra.

As we are away from home, for us and for many it means that you find yourselves adopting another family. And boy do we have a good one! Our feelings about this have become even stronger after having Raffaella – having people around to show your kid what love is all about is, in my books, essential.

So what does this have to do with bbqs? For me, bbqs are synonymous with family gatherings. As kids, the Sunday arvo barbie on the beach or in the park was as common for us as a commoner in Commonsville. On a side note, it’s fascinating too that you can pretty much arrive at any public park across Australia and there will be a 95 percent chance that it will be equipped with one or more free or very low cost public bbqs. We have just come to expect it.

And our most recent bbq was an example of why I love our Canberra family so much. When I sent the email invite out I considered requesting a meat-free event – let the revolution begin! According to Dario this was apparently ridiculous, so instead we went with ‘a minimal amount of animal-origin fare’.  But that part of the email was super-moody I swear. The result was a table lovingly donned with all things plant-based. Quinoa salad, zucchini and funnel chanterelles, chocolate cake, satay on vege skewers, and strawberry tart. God I love these people.

And one member of the family has so generously shared their own recipe. And let me tell you, we are in the presence of greatness. I’m in the process of getting this guy to work with me on a more extravagant post but for now you will have to be content with this totally delicious teaser.

Chargrilled Vege Skewers with Mango Satay

2 tsp toasted Cumin seeds

1 tsp toasted Coriander seeds

1 – 2 sticks of lemongrass

350g raw peanuts

a good handful of coriander leaves

3  small dried chillis

3 – 8  large fresh red chillis

1 inch knob of ginger

1 spring onion

3 cloves of garlic

juice and zest of 3 limes

½ a french (red) shallot

¼ white onion

2 tomatoes (peeled is best, but with skins is fine if you can’t be bothered)

½ a mango

1 270ml tin coconut cream

2 – 4 tsp of soy sauce

You can really go two ways with this, you can take the traditional route and use a mortar and pestle or you can put it all in a blender or food processor. Using a mortar and pestle will take longer and make lots of mess but will give you a better flavour in the end.  Crushing and grinding will usually get you quite a bit more flavour as it releases a lot more of the juicy, oily goodness from ingredients like these.  You will also end up with a slightly different, perhaps more rustic texture in the finished product.  Using a food processor will also give a great flavour, however and is much quicker and easier.  Both methods give wonderful results, it just comes down to how much time you have and how messy you want it to get.

If using a mortar and pestle, add the ingredients one at a time in the order they’re listed, grinding them before adding the next.  The idea is to start with the driest ingredients moving onto the more fibrous.  This works really well as the dry ingredients are rough and course and help you tear up the fibres in the next lot.  Keep adding the rest one at a time, progressively moving through to the wettest ingredients.  You want to end up with a slightly crunchy, fairly liquid paste.

If you’re using a food processor or blender, just throw all the ingredients in and pulse slowly.  The key here is to keep an eye on the consistency.  You don’t want it pureed as the small chunks give it its satisfying texture.  You also want to make sure it doesn’t turn into peanut butter, so add some water if it’s getting too gluggy and thick.

Heat a large frying pan at a low-medium heat with just a dash of peanut oil, and when warm add the paste.  You want to slowly fry the paste which will draw out all the oil in the peanuts and develop the flavours.  Fry until all the paste has changed colour into a darker, more shiny brown.  You should also start to see a film of ‘flavour’ start to form on the top.  Depending on your pan this could take from 10 – 30 minutes.

Finally pour over chargrilled skewers of mushroom and zucchini, or a fresh salad of tofu, fresh carrots, green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Garnish with beansprouts and sprigs of coriander.

 

A Wedding, a Birthday and a Cheesecake

April, I love you. I mean, well, sometimes I don’t like you but well, ok I do really love you. As far as April weather goes…well that’s the reason why I sometimes don’t like you but I’m open to negotiation. I’ve grown to love like put up with manage be ok with the cold. And I guess there are some nice things about the changing of the season (yes, April is the beginning of the cold weather for us folks down here). Dusting off my winter swing coat, catching the eye of the person passing me who is grimacing from an unusually brisk wind and knowing you’re both in it together, nipping quickly outside to grab what’s left of the basil to grind up and freeze as pesto, reacquainting myself with soups and hardy frost-surviving herbs (thank you God for rosemary), immune boosting citrus (it’s as if we were meant to eat it..) and a little plate of decadent dessert and a tea while curled up under a blanket reading a mag. And winter farmers markets. I don’t know why I find them so awesome as they are the same markets that we go to all year round…I guess maybe I give kudos to every person who is willing to be out in negative degree temperatures because they believe it’s important to be there.

Also this April, I was also fortunate to be featured in Mint Design Blog for which I was absolutely tickled pink. You can get the recipe to my Rosewater and Yoghurt Cheesecake right here. Thanks so much to Ellie for waiting patiently while I negotiated my way juggling two assignments, Easter holidays and an increasingly independent 20 month old.

And finally, I love April the most for two reasons. Three years ago in April I married the love of my life. May we have many more wonderful years together my darling. And twenty-eight years ago in April, Dario’s mother and father celebrated the birth of the youngest of their four children. Wishing you a wonderful birthday this week D.

I’m yours always my love, and thank you God for April.

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle – Dante Alighieri

 

Ps. Like the wedding photos? Yeah I thought you might. Check out Matt and Katie – it’s these talented people who get the credit for making this post look so good!

Shoo Fly Buns

Welcome to south west Queensland, Australia. Some of my most treasured memories of childhood holidays are here and we were here again this Easter. This time we stayed with my aunt and uncle. You know how you hear about those brave souls who pack up their lives living in funky terrace townhouses in the inner suburbs and move a zillion miles away to a small place in the country to find a quieter lifestyle making woodfired artisan breads? Well these guys did, and staying here is like a retreat.

You get to wake up from the best, quietest sleep you’ll ever have to fresh sourdough, tomatoes, eggs and silverbeet from the dewy autumn garden. You hit on every pastoral cliche really…cutting flowers to put inside or watching your child frolicking (well, thumping) through the garden to visit the cows or pick herbs for lunch. If you need nuts or millet or raw cocoa you just head out to the industrial-sized pantry out near the big rain water tank. And while I am most definitely a coastal girl at heart, it’s just my kind of place. Maybe it’s because you can’t beat fresh baked bread or waking up to a big breath of country air. Or perhaps the microbakery that is now in full swing is run by two of my favourite people.

I would give the bakery, Chalala a plug and claim that I don’t receive anything in return for doing so but that isn’t entirely true. Every time we leave we drive away with a boot full of granola, several loaves of bread and an assortment of nuts and crackers. The eating begins before we even reach home.

As this was the first time I had stayed since starting the blog I couldn’t help but take some photos. And for Easter, Laurie has given me his beloved bun recipe. This is heavy folks…this kind of stuff doesn’t happen every day. Make them and you’ll realise just how lucky we all are that these guys did the whole sea (country) change thing. Also, you may notice that with white sugar and flour this recipe doesn’t necessarily sync with the whole Rubadubdub theme. But hey, it’s Easter. And throw in some whole Spelt flour and coconut sugar with honey instead of sugar in the glaze and it may not be Laurie’s Shoo Fly Buns but you might be able to justify having a few more….

Ps. I was fortunate to be able to contribute to the super cool The Post Social last month. Great ideas, great design and such kind and friendly people to work for. Check it out!

I’ll hand it over.

This is my favourite bun recipe!  It’s from “Baker” by Dean Brettschneider and Laurine Jacobs.  This recipe comes from the Babka Bakery Café in Fitzroy Melbourne.  I usually make it with sourdough leaven as well as some bakers yeast and include candied kumquat.

Shoo Fly Buns

Dough
500g strong flour (higher protein e.g. OO flour)
10g salt
50g sugar
25g milk powder
50 g unsalted butter
8g dried yeast
250g whole oranges, seeded and peeled for pureeing
150 g water (varies depending on how juicy the oranges are)
250 g currants

Glaze
100g sugar
60ml water
Zest of half an orange

Directions

Wash and puree oranges. Place the flour, salt, sugar, milk powder and butter on your work bench and make a well. Add the yeast, water and pureed orange. Combine into a dough which should be soft and not too firm (This is a similar technique to when you make pasta). Add the currants and knead in gently.

Place in a bowl and set aside. The dough should sit at about 26 degrees Celsius. Allow to double in size (approx 1.5 hours). Knock back* and leave for another 30 minutes. Tip the dough onto a clean and lightly floured bench. Cut into approximately 100g pieces and roll each piece into a ball.

Place on a tray for another hour or so under some plastic to prevent skinning**.  They should be nice and plump and puffy.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 15-20 minutes

Once cooked, place sugar and water in saucepan and bring to the boil (don’t stir) to melt the sugar. Remove and glaze the buns.

If you aren’t confident with yeast bakery make two batches.  Put one batch in when you think they are proved and put one batch in a little bit later.  In my experience people tend to underprove dough rather than overprove.

*Knock back means to punch the air out of the risen dough. It will rise again stronger.

**Skinning is when the outer layer of the dough dries. The less it skins, the nicer the top of the bun.

As I mentioned above, our family celebrated Easter last week. Regardless of whether you did too I hope you had a wonderful, safe and blessed weekend.

MamaBake

Sometimes you just need a break. And sometimes you just don’t get one. And sometimes you have to choose whether what you are doing is going to be a break for you or not. Everything can be difficult if you make it.

I think that’s where MamaBake get it right – cooking isn’t always easy or quick (in fact I often prefer it most when it’s neither of those) and cooking wholesome and beautiful food for a family (no matter how big or small it is) isn’t always easy either. But cooking and eating food with loved ones usually is. Maybe if you’re a mum and you need a break go check out what they are about – I think it’s a wonderful idea.

Ps. Rub a Dub Dub’s first original contribution has now been published on Mamabake. Check it out here! Thanks to the lovely Michelle for making it happen.

Coconut Icecream with Apple, Lime and Coriander Granita

A lifetime ago my grandparents ran a kiosk at the entrance to a national park in North Queensland. My memories of the kiosk itself are hazy, but the homemade choc chip ice cream that grandad made during their time there has never left me. Years after his death I asked my nana if she had the recipe and to this day it reminds me of him every time I make it. They made a few different versions all of which had a fair bit of processed sugar in them so I have altered his original recipe to make it healthier. I hope he approves of this one. I think he would, he approved of most things his grand kids did.

This particular version is relatively new in my own repertoire and turned out to be a really beautiful, highly nutritious dessert. It is also raw and gluten free and replace the yoghurt with almond milk and it can be dairy free also. Am I missing anything? Oh it’s loaded with omegas, antioxidants calcium and good fats. Tick in all boxes. Bam.

It’s also a version of icecream I am finally happy to give to Raff. And she was beside herself (have you noticed how kids start hyperventilating when they are really excited about stuff? So funny.). For us I added an apple, lime and coriander granita and some crushed dry roasted almonds. And for some reason it was just perfect on a cool and rainy February afternoon. Maybe it was the national park calling.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

400ml coconut milk

350 ml natural greek style yoghurt

1 cup rice malt syrup

4 eggs

3/4 cup flaked coconut

Beat all ingredients together for 5 minutes in a stand mixer and pour into a loaf tin or your preferred mold. Freeze for at least 8 hours, stirring every hour for the first 2 hours then every 30 minutes until you couldn’t be bothered any more (to break up the ice crystals). Obviously you would omit the stirring business if you were making this in an ice cream machine (you lucky thing). Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before serving.

Apple, Lime and Coriander Granita

Granita can be served very smooth iwith a sorbet-like consistency or in shards of sweet icy goodness. We prefer the latter. So let it freeze over before you start to scrape it into shards – see below.

500ml fresh apple juice, clarified

juice of 9 limes

1 cup rice malt syrup

one bunch fresh coriander

Bring all ingredients except the coriander to boil in a pan over high heat. Reduce to medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes until it reduces a touch. Remove from heat and cool. Strain through a cheesecloth to clarify further and pour into a shallow metal tray and freeze. Scrape frequently with a fork until the granita is completely frozen.

Post Script. Thanks to my seven little guinea pigs for bravely trying my tester version of this one on Saturday night. You were all terribly light on constructive criticism but I’ll take it.

Also I once heard Ross Noble question why the guinea pig was decided on as the animal that was always volunteered for everything. He’s got a point – we had guinea pigs when we were little and none of them seemed adventurous at all.

Two Pizzas

I’ve spoken before about the Italian heritage in Dario’s family. The irony is, his dad rarely makes pizza. Pasta will always be a mainstay however for some reason, pizza is just not something he cooks often. The tradition has, however, been well and truly revived by Dario’s generation as he and his three siblings can all make an insanely good dough.

I’d like to think that Dario and my relationship with making and eating pizza has really flourished over the years (I’m not sure Dario sees it this way – I don’t think he thinks about it much really except that he eats it and it tastes really really good). I like to think that early on, like any young relationship it started off adventurous and fresh, albeit sometimes treacherous. Back in the early days we couldn’t get enough of it – sometimes homemade sometimes not – even sometimes venturing into the depths of depravity by sneaking down to the local Dominos on a uni night only to wake up desperately thirsty at 3am reminding ourselves never to go there again. Yeah it happened, stop judging me I know you’ve all done it.

Within a few years, we had got the bases down to an art – beautifully thin with a little bit of airiness, slightly oily dough with our standard pesto and potato, margherita or anchovy and parmesan. Yet, as we all know but don’t want to admit, honeymoon periods never last and a good relationship needs a bit of spice every now and then. So inevitably the humdrum of everyday pizza led to experimentation and even a few forays into *gasp* gluten free bases.

Eventually though, I’d like to think it has blossomed into a rock-solid, long lasting and beautiful partnership. It knows it’s place and we know ours. It’s a match made in heaven.

And let’s be honest – it’s all in the dough and everyone likes it different. Personally, I prefer it flat and woodfired if possible, bianco (with no tomato sauce base) and with simple toppings. I have been using spelt and sometimes kamut flour lately but have had success with combinations of spelt, rice, millet and potato flour. We still haven’t found a decent base recipe without gluten in it so if you have any ideas please let me know!

Pizza base

Makes 3 large pizzas

One 7gm sachet dry yeast

500ml warm water (not boiling)

3 cups spelt flour (1-1 1/2 cups per pizza base)

Mix the sachet of yeast with the warm water and let stand until it froths, about 10 minutes. Place flour onto a bench or table in a mound and make a large well in the centre (similar to when making pasta). Combine the flour and water bit by bit until it forms a dough that is light and soft but not sticky. You can also do this in a bowl. Cover and leave the dough to prove in a warm place for about 30 minutes*.

Divide the dough into three equal portions. Knead it lightly (preferably like this. Just joking. But seriously how insanely good is that guy?!) then roll each one out onto an oiled and floured pizza tray. Top with your favourite ingredients.

*If you like fluffier pizzas you can leave the dough to prove for longer than this. You can also leave it once you have rolled it out onto the pizza trays for another 30 minutes or so – just cover it with a damp tea towel to prevent it drying out.

These pizzas were: fresh tomato, capsicum, olives, salt and thyme and zucchini with a combined ricotta, the zest and juice of one lemon, a clove of crushed garlic and fresh thyme.

Cook for 18-20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius or until brown around the edges. Eat a lot of it. Maybe all of it.

Ps. Happy birthday to my dear mum and sister. I love you both so much xxxxx

I never wanted to be a blogger

I’ve done a bit of soul searching about the blog recently. I thought it was high time I tried to arrive at a real answer around why I am doing it (I know…heavy, right?! Just this once, I promise).

I didn’t want to be a food blogger. I felt it was completely unnecessary – there already are plenty of food blogs out there..and some pretty darn good ones to put it mildly. And I’m not a writer. Writing doesn’t come easily to me and I don’t think it ever will. And sometimes, when I have picked one too many muffin remnants out of the bookshelf/underwear drawer/couch/bed, I don’t even feel like cooking.

So why am I here sitting in front of the computer writing this post? Well I’ll come clean, I did this for myself. I wanted to take photos of food and make up recipes and share all of this with the cooking, health seeking, parenting cosmos. I’m sure a lot of people who set up a site such as this one do it in part for themselves – whether that be as a creative outlet or a way to promote a business or a million other reasons really. And after several months of this pursuit, of ups and downs, of epically crappy photos, of forcing inedible sugar-free muffins and other random culinary fails on my family, of being totally pumped when each new person signs up to receive emails and totally devastated when someone unfollows me on Twitter my soul searching has led to this realisation (not a profound one, but a realisation nonetheless). I AM another food blogger. And what’s more, I love it! And it’s the busting-out-photographs-and-a-post-after-cleaning-out-the-tenth-muffin-in-the-couch moments that I enjoy the most.

Rub a Dub Dub has become so much more for me now and I’m sure that’s what keeps most bloggers going. I have already been in contact with some astoundingly generous people who have helped focus my techniques, my approach and my goals (with a very special mention to Kristine from Thank Heavens – The Gluten Free Lifesaver…what a legend!). And since beginning this blog I have cooked more creatively, taken more risks, been featured in The Post Social (yay! Thanks guys!), been forced to be open to criticism (eek!) and to embrace and learn from disappointment. All in a few short months.

Once I had accepted who I was with the blog and why I was doing it, I realised that so much about food and eating is about trust. You trust your favourite cookbook or restaurant, you trust the meals served up by loved ones to nourish and sustain you. My daughter is learning to trust Dario and I to put food in front of her that she’ll like (I repeat, learning). And so I feel I must extend the opportunity to you, the readers, to trust me too. And so much about trust is about knowing something about the perspectives of the person you are dealing with.

Initially I had deliberately left my About page quite sparse as I wanted to generate interest in the food and the photos rather than my story (not that it’s a particularly interesting one!). Similarly I had also committed to having rather small posts…light on words and heavy on food and photos (I’ve blown that one out of the water with this post haven’t I!). So in keeping with this approach but for anyone who wants to know a little more about me and how Rub a Dub Dub began (instead of adding more to the body of this post), I have included a little post script at the end of this recipe. And don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to me too!

So there it is…to celebrate my blogmancipation here is a salad. Thanks for reading, following, liking, sharing and commenting. It genuinely makes my day!

Roasted Carrot and Pomegranate Salad with Honey Cumin Dressing

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main

 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 bunches of small dutch carrots

2 cups baby spinach

1 1/2 cups parsley, roughly chopped

1 cucumber, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 zucchini, shaved into ribbons

120gm goats cheese

Seeds from 2 pomegranates

 

Dressing

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp raw honey

5 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Trim carrots and place in a bowl with the olive oil, cumin and fennel seeds. Mix until the carrots are coated and spread over a baking tray. Roast for 35-45 minutes or until just tender. Remove and leave to cool while preparing the salad.

In a large bowl combine spinach leaves, parsley, cucumber, red onion, pomegranate seeds and zucchini. Slice each carrot in half lengthways and combine with the salad mix.

To make the dressing, combine the vinegar, mustard, cumin and honey well in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil slowly until well combined. Add seasoning to taste. Serve the salad dressed, with the carrots slightly warm still and a round or two of goat’s cheese on top.

Post Script. Hi! I’m Zoe. I find it difficult to describe myself but I do have some strong feelings and philosophies about life that I hope I adhere to. Here is the simplified version that particularly relates to the creation of Rub a Dub Dub.

A defining factor in my life is my approach to healthy living (or at least the pursuit of it). For me, well being is determined by diet, physical and mental fitness, being kind to our planet and each other, as well as the pursuit of faith and spirituality. I aim to eat a healthy vegetarian diet (low in processing, seasonally produced wholefoods) and have been a vegetarian for about 7 years. I am not gluten intolerant (thank goodness because I have an unhealthy love of bread) and I don’t necessarily have an aversion to cooking with gluten although I think diversity is important. Together, Dario and I have made the decision to raise Raff a vegetarian too – why? Well maybe that’s for another post.

Nutrition, fitness and health occupy an absurd amount of my headspace – I don’t really know why, it just always has. I strongly believe that we have an obligation to educate our children about healthy living and provide them with food that is as close to how it is in nature as possible without compromising the enjoyment that we human beings get out of eating. As this has become a real passion for me I am about to embark on a nutritional medicine course (I currently have undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in International Development) so watch this space I suppose!

I take all the photos on the blog myself. I’m using the blog as both a creative outlet and a ‘test kitchen’ (pardon the pun) to develop my photography skills. I want to get much better. In fact I must confess, I want to get really, really good at it. I would be stoked if I could get even half as good as this.

And finally…I don’t know where any of this will take me but I’m going to keep at it for now.

Happyolks and their beautiful Breakfast Cake

There are a handful of blogs that have had a direct influence on the creation of Rub a Dub Dub. Over the course of this year I’d love to recognise the role each one of them has played.

(And in case you were wondering you did indeed read the title correctly. The post is about a cake. And yes, it’s for breakfast).

So before I launch into the recipe for the cake that you eat for breakfast (had I mentioned that already?) I wanted to begin by introducing you to Happyolks.

One of my very first blog crushes was Happyolks. Full of food and stories about Kelsey and Shaun’s life and times living in Denver, this blog is thoughtful and humble. Every post provides me with a quiet insight into their approach to love, life and nutrition and is accompanied by stunning photographs. Happyolks has inspired me most with their respect for health and food with each recipe being unique, flavoursome and beautifully presented. Each and every post connects with some part of me – in particular their quest for good living, healthy and loving relationships and social responsibility as well as the inevitable struggles that arise from those pursuits.

I chose to adapt the breakfast Beet, Seed and Blood Orange Cake because it seemed to epitomise their love for good food with a twist. I had to make a few changes to it as I have just missed the blood orange season (by only a few weeks!) and although beetroots are still in, they seem to be lacking a bit of that earthy flavour and dark colour by this time of the year. I recommend you head over and check out a few of my other favourites of theirs such as the Shaved Brussels Sprouts, Lentils, Bacon and Pear Salad (while the bacon is not my forté, Dario will be the first to attest that you can never have too much of the stuff…) and the newly posted Kale, Apple, Ancho and Chilli Tamales.

Anyway, enough with the introductions, head over to see Happyolks. It will make your day – it regularly makes mine.

On another note…these days we are beginning to relax a tiny bit and give Raffaella foods that have some unprocessed sugars in them. This cake is one of them. She is 17 months old now and we are beginning to see her eyeing off people’s ice creams while we are on holidays (not that this is a good reason to give a child sugar, just that she is going to encounter it at some point and I’d rather it be on our terms for now…wow, writing that down makes even me think we are being pretty strict!). The addition of almond meal and crushed walnuts instead of seeds and raisins was so that her little gums could manage it better. Note that the introduction of nuts into a child’s diet is a personal choice – if you need advice I recommend you speak with a health professional.

Carrot, Walnut and Orange Cake 

Adapted from Happyolks Beet, Seed Cake with Blood Orange

1 3/4 cups gluten free flour blend

1/2 tsp baking soda

scant tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup olive oil

1 cup brown rice syrup

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups raw carrots, grated

juice of 2 oranges

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

12 dried dates, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius and prepare a loaf pan with oil and line with parchment. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the oil and brown rice syrup. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Fold the grated carrots into the mixture, adding the orange juice, dates, and walnuts accordingly. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add the almond meal, combine well. Gently fold into the wet ingredients. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes. Test with a toothpick for whether it is cooked. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.*

* Once I had had this version for brekky a few times I made some cream cheese icing like the one mentioned at the bottom of this post and had it for morning tea instead!

Better late than never at all….

I had every intention to do a quick Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year post a few days before we went away and of course that never happened. I hope your Christmases and New Years were everything you wanted them to be!

We are so lucky to have many great cooks amongst our friends and family. So our holiday involved lots of incredible food made with lots of love. Dario even used these beautiful miniature plums which line the streets around here to make a plum pie à la the Silver Spoon. Amazing!

So now here we are, holidays over and wandering blissfully into a new year. Here’s to a safe, fun filled and enriching 2013. And  for the first post of this year I’m going to do exactly what I said I would never do and give you a recipe with corn in it. I’m told it was delicious…

This recipe comes from my gorgeous friend Jo who I am most grateful to for letting me post her recipe.

Jo’s Corn Salsa

Serves 3-4 as a side dish

3 tbsp coriander, finely chopped

2 corn cobs, husks on

1 lime, juiced

1 large fresh chilli (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place whole corn cobs on a baking tray and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.  Combine coriander, salt, chilli and lime juice in a medium sized bowl. When the corn is pretty much cool, remove the husks, silk and ends of each cob. Hold each cob on its end and slice downwards to remove the kernels. Mix the kernels with the rest of the ingredients and adjust lime juice and salt to taste.

As a post-script, apologies for such a short post which is photo-heavy – such is the nature of being around so much beautiful food and away from your own kitchen.

To give you a flavour of what to expect from me in 2013, I’m hoping each post will continue to reflect how I feel about photography and vegetarian food as well as raising kids and yourself in an enjoyably healthy way. And mostly I hope it will provide something meaningful to you too! If you have any requests for recipes or ideas for the blog please pass them on!

Raffi’s Green Day

So, it’s finally happened. The child that once ate everything has finally turned. I knew it was coming but somewhere deep inside I was holding out hope that she was going to be this unquestioning, obey-everything type of child who would just sit and eat all of the crazy things I placed in front of her. I think it’s probably called insanity on my part…and growing up on her part.

So I’m having to be creative. At this stage this means mixing things that she does like with things that she likes less in order to encourage her to eat them. So in yesterday’s case that meant blending up the steamed veges that she hadn’t eaten for lunch into a green smoothie because I know she will always drink one of those. While I’ve never liked the idea of ‘hiding’ veges in kids’ meals (I think it’s important that they grow up knowing and liking the different tastes that veges have to offer), I have to remember that even adults have different tastes (hence the reason why I will never have any corn in any recipe on this blog. Ever.) and so I have forced myself to have the attitude that if I can provide her with healthy food prepared in a way that is more pleasing to her little tastebuds, then I will.

So to get to the point of today’s post – whenever I am worried about whether she has had enough greens (like I was this week) I give her (and me) a Green Day.

Here is this week’s Green Day lunch for both of us – eventually I would like to do a whole day’s worth of green meals for parent/s and baby however with the lead up to Christmas being so busy this one meal will have to do for now. In the meantime, if you are looking for other great green meals you could try this with some pasta or stuffed in mushrooms, or maybe even this.

Quinoa, Mixed Greens, Daikon and Apple

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup quinoa

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup daikon, grated

1 granny smith apple, grated

1-2 cups mixed leafy greens eg. silverbeet, english spinach, kale, chard, beetroot leaves etc

1/2 zucchini, grated

a few squeezes of lemon juice

feta cheese (optional)

olives (optional)

Rinse the quinoa and place in a saucepan with the coconut milk (or half coconut milk, half vegetable stock or milk if you prefer the taste). Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly. Once the quinoa has developed little tails on it, remove from the heat and put in a bowl to the side. In the same pan heat the olive oil with a pinch of sea salt and gently fry the greens, daikon and zucchini until just soft. Remove from heat and stir into the quinoa. Fold through the feta and olives. Serve with a few squeezes of lemon juice and grated apple on top to you and your little one and put the leftovers in the freezer for another few meals!

Green Smoothie

Serves 2

There are many fantastic green smoothie recipes out there – mine is quite simple – however some of these are also really worth checking out. Sarah Britton’s Mojito smoothie, Golubka’s Glass of Emerald (and while you’re there check out how beautiful the photography is on this site) and Whole Promise’s green smoothie are all wonderful options.

2 cups kale/silverbeet/english spinach

3/4 cup filtered water

a few ice cubes

1 orange peeled and chopped

1 kiwifruit peeled and chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tsp super greens powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more water if you like a thinner consistency. Serve immediately.