Maca & Mesquite fudge with goji & cranberries

Gifts of food can be so special at this time of year especially when it is something as sweet and pretty as this Maca & Mesquite fudge. When everyone is ALWAYS so busy at the best of times, this time of year can get cranked up a knotch and quite easily turn into madness! Not everyone gets time to create sweet treats such as

Whole red lentil salad with char-grilled tempeh & citrus avocado mayo

Lentils make a great meal. They are filling and satisfying but light especially when you add lots of spring veggies with them. I regularly make salads with lentils. The rule as far as I’m concerned is two thirds of vegetables to one third of lentils. I like crunch in a meal, especially if it’s a salad. The snow peas & green beans are just blanched until they turn bright green but retain their crisp texture and nutrition. Add in the tempeh and you get a smokey balsamic

Asian Kelp noodle salad with a macadamia & kaffir lime satay

Wanna serve something different, something new to your family and friends? Try this recipe using kelp noodles! I discovered these noodles about a year ago. They are light, clear and slightly salt but a little tasteless really. I like them for their crunchy texture and there lightness when you eat them. With lots of Asian veggies and this super delicious macadamia satay sauce they are a tasty little winner.

Kelp noodles are a food made from

Goji berry bliss balls

I’m doing my best to eat more goji berries after I discovered how good they are for you. Unique among fruits because they contain all essential amino acids, goji berries also have the highest concentration of protein of any fruit. They are also loaded with vitamin C, contain more carotenoids than any other food, have twenty-one trace minerals, and are high in fiber. Amazingly they contain 15 times the amount of iron found in spinach, as well as calcium, zinc, selenium and many other important trace minerals, there is no doubt that goji berries are

Pink velvet smoothie

Electric colour! Isn’t it gorgeous? When I first made this smooth and drank it, I felt this warm fuzzy glow in my heart, the colour alone just lifted my spirits!

The thing I loved the most about this smoothie was the beetroot and purple cabbage! It’s filled with such goodness and rich nutrition but without the ‘veggie’ taste. The flavor was like nothing

Sang Chow Bow - vegan style!

 We are so lucky to have two farmers in our region (Northern NSW - Australia) who grown dry-land rice. That means they grow a variety of rice that doesn’t require a lot of water in the growing process. Which in our country of little water is a good thing! It’s lovely rice too.

This dish was inspired by

Tiramisu

A little bit of coffee never killed anyone, and this is one of those dessert that is truly wicked. I know it’s a pretty classic Italian dessert but this vegan, gluten free version is just as much a match! Not an inferior substitute.

Choc-chip banana power smoothie

The older and wiser I get I realise how important nutrient rich food is. That is food that has high levels of vitamins & mineral. I’ve always love healthy fresh food but now I see that each mouthful needs to be full of nutritional goodness.

I still let slip some pure comfort foods but

Hearty lentil, fennel & tomato soup

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I sit here in my office looking out of my arch window and watch the rain stream on. I can hear the cars driving by through showery puddles and the trickling of water coming down the pipes of my house and into little ponds. It's a peaceful sound and perfect hot soup weather.

This soup is a beauty. When I think of cooked tomatoes I think of tasty comfort food. This combination of lentils, tomato & fennel is homey Italian food at its simplist and best. What I adore about soups, aside from the fact that they warm up any wintery day, is that you throw everything in a pot and once it has come to the boil, you simply reduce the heat and get on with something around the house or computer.

Everybody knows lentils are good for you: high in protein, iron & B vitamins (particularly B3). Fennel is good for digestion and tummy troubles. So we know this soup is good for you, and nourishing on a comfort level, but food isn't just about that for me; it's also about passion and it's about the story that the ingredients tell when paired together. It's a romance, a friendship, and chance meeting of minds or bodies.

The flavours of the fennel, tomato & herbs are so complimentary they wrap their arms around each other in a love filled moment of joy. You have the sweet rich fruity notes of cooked tomato then the earthy almost sandy texture of the full bodied lentils and along comes the aniseed-y fennel notes that freshen and lighten up this soup as it does this little dance on your palette. It's so perfectly balanced it’s an old love affair rich in history!

If you haven't played with this combination, then do, it's good, it will become a winter staple, something you pull out of your hat on those cold, drizzly days to cheer up friends and family. I love it with fresh olive bread & herby pesto.  

Makes = 4 medium bowls 

1 cup puy lentils (or beluga or green)

2 small fennel bulbs, chopped finely include feathery tips

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped

1 tbs Italian herbs

1 tps good salt

add pepper to taste

3 cups filtered water, and more as needed

Put the lentils, onion, fennel & garlic in a medium size saucepan and cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer.

Add the Italian herbs and pepper but not the salt (it prevents lentils from cooking).

Some lentils can be thirstier than others, so if needed, add a little more water. Be sure to keep the lentils and fennel covered in water but not too much. You want to cook them not drown them and we want this soup to be thick and hearty.

Once the lentils and fennel are soft, add the tomatoes and salt and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Season the soup to your taste if needed.

I like to blend a little of the soup with a stick blender (barmix), not too much as I love the body of the lentils and the soft fennel pieces falling apart in my mouth.

Garnish with pepper, olive oil & herb pesto if desired.

Custard apple and vanilla mouse (raw)

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How fascinating are these little green nobly fruits! I love the texture of their white silky flesh. When you get one that is perfect, soft to touch but not too soft and squishy, it's a real treat. It has a really unique flavour I can't fully describe. It has a soft creamy texture and some say it taste something like pineapple, papaya and banana combined. I couldn't really say that. It's very unique. 

I've promised myself that

Lentil & roast pumpkin lettuce cups

  

While making my breakie, I'll often cook up a cup of puy lentils or some rice or other grain or legume, without knowing what I'm actually going to do with them. I just cook them and think when lunch time comes I'll go to the garden, see what's growing, add some veggies and salad bits 'n pieces and I have a pretty instant delicious lunch. It's these kind of habits that keep me

Mixed seed bars topped with raw chocolate

Goodness, goodness goodness! These treats are jam packed full of it. If you are looking for something nutritious for the kids lunches or your own lunch time treats, then you might like this mixed seed bar topped with raw chocolate. I'm in love with the texture (and flavour) of these little treats. Crunching into the raw cacao nibs (uncooked cocoa bean for those who aren't sure what they are) is texture heaven! These little bitter nibs among the sweet fruity flavours of

Lemon, coconut & goji berry slice

After discovering how good goji berries are for you, I wanted to incorporate them more into my diet.  I must mention here that I'm not a big fan of their very distinctive flavour so I wanted to disguise them and I thought what better way than to hide them under one of my favourite flavours, lemons.
I also thought lemons and goji berries have a bit of a synergy and would work well together. So I searched for the very tasty lemon slice I once used to make and

Broccoli and leek arancini (Rissotto) balls

Eating broccoli in season is so different to when it's not! The heads of the broccoli are usually much darker green, the florets are usually firmer and crisper. Broccoli is traditionally a winter food, this is when the price comes down and all things broccoli begin to appear on dinner tables everywhere.  It's such a wonderful versatile food. Some of my favourite dishes are broccoli soup, broccoli, roasted garlic & black olive risotto and I love putting it in any dish that is filled with vegetables, like

Homemade toasted muesli

Our toasted muesli is something that people love on retreats. I guess there's a lot of really boring muesli's out there which makes our muesli all the more delicious and scrumptious. Making your own muesli can be so rewarding. Just another area that we can

Green Smoothie

I remember when the green smoothie 'movement' emerged, I was loving my green juices at the time and couldn't see what all the fuss was about.
Until a good friend of mine, Guy, said it's all about the fibre, which you loose when you juice your greens. Eventually I discovered them and nothing satisfies me more than a

Rawsome Muesli - dehydrated raw muesli

I actually find normal muesli too hard for me to digest. I always get a heavy, tight feeling in my stomach when I eat it, so I don't eat it much at all these days, if ever. I have missed eating muesli with fresh fruit and some sort of milk for breakfast over the years, since I realised how it made me feel. Then I came across raw muesli about 6-7 years ago. Wow! What a difference on my digestion. Then combined with a refreshing nut milk, and a little fruit (red papaya's are my favourite), I was in breakfast heaven, seriously.

When I make this I make it in large quantise,

Fermented macadamia cheeze (raw)

This doesn't really taste like cheese to me but is eaten in the way that you would eat normal dairy cheese. In that it is served like you would a normal cheese, it has a deeply savoury flavour, almost cheese-like, and it goes with some

Chocolate Prune Tart

 Soft, sticky prunes have a tangy yet deep flavour. Married with chocolate they perfectly contrast the sweet and bitter notes of cacao. With a hint of nutmeg it adds a spicy earthiness  and you find yourself tasting something quite different. Familiar chocolate flavours glide over your tongue and the soft mousse-like textures dissolves in your mouth but

Simple green salad with crispy tempeh chips

Like many people my first taste of tempeh was not a pleasant experience. It took me a few years of being vegetarian to psych myself up to taste it again. The next time I braved it, I quite enjoyed it and since then it has grown on me and become a somewhat regular part of my diet. 

Tasting it in Indonesian, where tempeh originates from,

Kale coleslaw with a lemon and macadamia mayo topped with a mango & cucumber salsa

Kale is a wonderful vegetable, so good for you but so many people don't know how to cook or prepare it! This is a simple recipe, that is tasty and nutritious. It makes a wonderful little starter or side dish or lunch time salad.

Watch the video to see how easy