Inspiration of the cheesy variety.
I was never a big cheese fan. I liked it OK, back in the day of dairy-eating, but was never crazy for the stuff. I suppose that little factor made my transition into being a vegan relatively simple; cheese is the one thing that holds a lot of people back. I have dabbled a few times in the art of nut “cheese,” using soaked cashews or macadamias to produce a cheese-like substance. True (dairy) cheese lovers will never be fooled by a vegan substitute (or may even be totally weirded out by them = Viper) but they are quite yummy in their own right.
Recently, the lovely Sara from Fit To Blog (who I have had the pleasure of meeting in person, on my last junket to New Zealand) posted about her adventures in almond cheese making. She used probiotic capsules to culture her nut cheese (whenever I hear the term “cultured food,” I imagine a sandwich in opera glasses drinking an aged marzemio, Ha) – I am always up for adding a little “culture” to my food, and this sounded a whole lot more fun than just swallowing a tablet. You can follow Sara’s instructions here – I basically stuck to her method, with a few tweaks, naturally.
Basic Cultured Almond “Cheese”
Adapted/Inspired by the recipe/method from Fit To Blog
- 2C raw almonds (or cashews/macadamias)
- 1/2C water
- 1/4C nutritional yeast
- Powder from 2 probiotic capsules
- 1/2t sea salt
- Any flavourings you like – fresh/dried herbs/sun dried tomatoes etc.
- First you need to soak your almonds overnight or until they get a little white tip (pictured below).
- Peeling the nuts is optional, but the end result will be much prettier and smoother if you do.
3. Whizz nuts in a food processor nuts with all other ingredients (folding through things like chopped fresh herbs/sun dried tomato after blending) until very smooth.
4. Pour mixture into a bowl, and leave overnight to “culture-up.” Be aware that this stage could take longer if you are in a colder climate – it’s very warm where I live (over 30 degrees celsius most days) so if you are in a colder climate this could take anywhere from 12-36 hours. Trust your nose – as is the key with all fermenting ventures!
5. Place mixture in some cheese cloth, and squeeze out all excess liquid. (Hint – save this liquid – mix it with some tahini, whole grain mustard and apple cider vinegar and it makes a yummy, creamy salad dressing).
6.Pat into small individual “rounds” and dehydrate at 90 degrees C, flipping over once, until you achieve your ideal cheesy consistency.
After dehydrating, the “cheese” has a delicate outer crust, with a soft centre – in between a dry cottage cheese and a crumbly feta? It’s really up to you – if you dehydrated it long enough, it would become dry and crumbly – the perfect parmesan substitute!
No, it’s not CHEESE….. BUT it does contain essential bacteria for a healthy gut, plus all the goodness from almonds, and it has quite a sharp, cheesy flavour thanks to the nutritional yeast. Brilliant on salads, and I can see a vegan cheese-board with home made crackers in my very near future, that’s for sure. Frankly, the vegan cheese substitutes I have tried from the supermarket resemble AND taste like chemical-laden-plastic, so to have a straight forward, whole food recipe for one is quite exciting. Thank you, Sara!
Are you a cheese lover? If you are vegan – do you miss cheese? What’s your favourite alternative?
birthday treats and chilli eats
It’s so good to finally have a decent yoga mat – not a “Slip & Slide.” Super sweaty hands and feet + shitty yoga mat = Lou looking pretty stupid most of the time. Thanks, Viper, you’re a star.
Also, Misty loves Chaturanga.
Birthday cake (?) Tasted good (to me) looked terrible (to everyone else) needs tweaking (a lot). Potential? Yes. Especially good looking presented in tupperware.
Mother in Law to the rescue with dessert.
Slightly obsessed with chillies in a jar. I just ate about 6 whole ones while making the following recipe. They are definitely NOT “hot” though. It’s either false advertising, or my sense of taste has gone thanks to the boogie-illness Misty kindly gifted me. These chillies have a nice heat, but don’t burn your taste buds off; the water/vinegar salt mix that they are marinated in is great to add to dips/spreads like the following for an extra flavour punch. Chose a variety of chilli that suits your heat-preference.
Sweet Potato Chilli Spread:
(Vegan, gluten/wheat/corn/soy/nut/seed/refined sugar free)
- 1 + 1/4C cooked sweet potato
- 1/4C nutritional yeast
- 1/2t sea salt
- 3t apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 large avocado
- 1T olive oil
- 2T chopped marinated chilli + 2T chilli water (marinating liquid) – you can add more if you like chillies (like me) I added about 4T chopped chillies in total.
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Blend all ingredients in a food processor until silky and smooth, season with freshly ground black pepper.
Creamy, tangy, spicy. If you use mild chillies, this is a great smooshy dip for toddlers… plus it gets them used to a tiny bit of heat in their food.
I’m feeling good… another birthday, another year – more adventures to come I just know it…hopefully starting things off right tomorrow night with a few sparkly cocktails and a little break from my tiny yogini friend.
feeding my 3 brains with salad
Apparently, there are a few Aboriginal (Indigenous Australian) paintings that depict humans with 3 brains (minds). The largest brain is in the stomach, the second biggest in the heart, and the smallest in your head.
‘Go with your gut,’ seems to be the message here…. trust that intuition.
You know when you are so upset you can’t eat? I get that all the time… particularly when I’m anxious – possibly the body’s way of saying ‘I can’t cope with all of this emotional stuff AND digestion; deal with the emotional issues and then I will be in the mood for nourishment.’
Makes sense, no?
I’ve started to think about “nourishment” as a holistic thing. Feed the mind and heart with positivity… then the belly feels good and ready to digest and absorb the proper nutrients it needs. Feed the belly with good, whole food and the mind is able to think clearly, the body able to move well. You can’t just feed one; even if you feed it good things- ignoring one of the others will result in the whole being starving.
There you go, my deep thoughts/feelings for Friday. Woah Nelly. Tracking back to yesterday’s Savoury Seasoning, I thought I’d show you how I used it today:
Super Seasoned Green Salad:
(Vegan, gluten/wheat/corn/grain/refined sugar free)
Serves 2 (or 1 Mama and 2 Misty meals)
Avocado Salad Cream (Basically, it’s a runny guacamole)
- 2 small avocados
- 3t lime juice
- 3t water (or more if you want to thin it out)
- 1/4t sea salt (the rest of the salt will come from your sprinkle)
- Lots of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 clove crushed garlic (optional)
- A good handful of fresh herbs (think cilantro, chives, parsley)
- 1/4t dried chilli flakes (optional, just adds a tiny touch of heat)
- 2C thawed, shelled edamame
- I added some finely sliced Spanish onion, but a lot of people are not into this raw, up to you… I love it. Misty loves my garlic/onion breath.
- 2C fresh leafy greens… massaged kale or just a nice salad mix – I actually shred mine up finely.
- Savoury Seasoning… I would use around 2T per serving, but up to you how strong you like it.
- Whizz all your Salad Cream ingredients together in a food processor/blender or magic bullet type thing… taste and adjust seasoning as you see fit.
- Toss cream with Salad Components and then sprinkle with a little additional seasoning if you like.
This salad is delicious served inside a baked sweet potato. New favourite meal? Yip. Misty enjoyed some tossed through whole wheat pasta…. Boosty enjoyed the spoils from the floor.
Look out for the Virtual Vegan Potluck TOMORROW (well, I’m kind of ahead of most of you, it’s my Friday night right now)… I’m bringing a dessert!
self compassion, and a sprinkle for your salad
I’m still going strong with my little Positive Psychology Project.
One of my favourite tasks from the series has been the gratitude part… I chose to write a letter to Viper, thanking him (for being him). I left it in some clean washing, so he would get a little surprise. I think he was pretty stoked; I tend to express myself a lot better through written word anyhow. If you ever meet me in person you will realise this (try bouts of word-vomit, anxious mindless chatter and sometimes even a stutter or two. Yeah, give me a pen any day).
Anyway, it was a win-win situation… I got to reflect on the amazing people in my life, and share my gratitude for them with them.
I’m not going to go too in depth into the daily tasks, because that would just ruin it… so far I would highly recommend the project – a little self reflection and discovery is always a good thing. Whatever else it may stir up.
It’s also made me realise how positive blogging has been for me so far. I was so curious about the whole “world” of blogging for ages; it took me awhile to grasp enough confidence to actually put myself out there. I pretty much have little to nil self confidence… lack of which coupled with pretty intense anxiety isn’t ideal. My blog is a little haven for me – a place to express, create, share and connect. Just having a physical record of all my creative ventures has boosted my confidence greatly… I can actually see myself improving and growing artistically.
Anyway, on this positive note, I just want to thank you all who take the time to read – there are a bazillion blogs out there, and you have no idea how much it means to me that you are here.
Lately, I’ve been missing my favourite rice/stir fry seasoning from my non-vegan days… this little Japanese number:
- 4 sheets of sushi nori
- 1/2C nutritional yeast
- 1/2t sea salt
- 1/2C sesame seeds
- Whizz everything together in a food processor, and store in a jar/air tight container.
Don’t be freaked out by the seaweed… it doesn’t give the sprinkle a “fishy” flavour or anything – more like a delicious savoury salty earthy quality. Get what I mean? Sprinkle on salad, stir fry, steamed veggies… stir through rice, soup – the possibilities are endless.
Misty and I have been enjoying it on all sorts of creations… more on them tomorrow.
it’s not cheese, and cheese doesn’t have a Z in it.
I’m not really pushing the limits of culinary creativity with this recipe… similar things are very common, particularly in the vegan realm. Why is there always the need to make pretend “cheeze”? I hate the “z” too, it’s just annoying. I suppose my twist on the following recipe is that I’m not trying to replicate cheese. It’s just a nice tasting sauce. It’s not a cheese replacement, nor does it have a “z” in it’s name.
Feta and goats cheese I once loved, and do still miss on occasion. Probably because they had the mega salty factor in their favour. Yellow cheese? No thanks. I just can’t handle the “cheese grease,” that comes out of yellow cheese when you heat it. Viper reckons that’s the best bit. Ick.
If you asked pregnant Lou what she though on this topic, she would most likely disagree as she tended to only want to eat cheese, potatoes and bread for quite some time. Also Viper’s home made cheese, pineapple and ham pizzas, but let’s not get into that today.
I know a lot of people are afraid of tofu too. To try and pass tofu off as cheese is just asking for trouble. To try and pass tofu off as cheese, and feed it to a cheese lover is just plain ridiculous. The trick is, not to mention what is in the sauce.. don’t go shouting from the rooftops that it contains tofu, or is vegan… you’ll scare them off quicker than you imagine. If they ask, just say it’s a creamy pumpkin sauce. Ha, fools.
Creamy Pumpkin Protein Sauce
(vegan, gluten, wheat, refined sugar free)
- 400g silken tofu, drained
- 1/3C tahini
- 2 cloves garlic (cut this down if you wish… I love garlic)
- 1/2C nutritional yeast
- 1 + 1/2C cooked pumpkin
- 2t apple cider vinegar
- 1/2t sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste… lots.
- Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until very smooth.
- Store in the fridge*
* I doubled this recipe as an experiment, and froze half… worked a treat.
The beauty of this sauce not being a “cheeze” sauce, is you are not limited to using it only where “cheeze” is appropriate. OK, I’ll stop saying “cheeze” now as I am annoying myself. I used it as a “Salad Sauce,” in the photo above… grated zuccinni, peas and avocado. Awesome.
Of course, it is also delicious served warmed over say, wholemeal pasta with some green veggies on the side. I casually asked Viper is he would like to try some of my ‘yummy sauce,’ with some roasted brussel sprouts (!) and he declared not only the sauce ‘amazing,’ but me as well. Win and win. That previous sentence is quite incredible really… Viper not only eating brussel sprouts with tofu sauce, but loving it? Wicked knickers indeed.
If you take away anything from this post… please nab these points:
- A tofu sauce trying to be cheese is like me dressing up as Barbie, we ain’t fooling no body.
- The key to covering up the “soy” taste in tofu based sauces is tahini/nut butter… the richness really hides that flavour. You could even do a curried version by adding peanut butter in the place of tahini, and a teaspoon or so of a mild curry powder.
- If you haven’t tried it yet, nutritional yeast is a must. It makes everything taste better. For my Aussie/NZ friends, I use the Lotus brand which is stocked at most health food stores.
- Don’t limit yourself to traditional ways of using sauces… cold and on a salad is even better than hot on pasta I reckon. I am a weirdo though, so be warned.
pizza ?
Yeah, I know. Pizza is not the same without cheese. I’ve never been the biggest fan of cheese… vegan or not. Goat and feta were my favourites (salty)… along with super high quality buffalo mozzarella which is so expensive I only had it once in a blue moon anyway. Otherwise it’s just not my thing.
Viper on the other hand is a cheese freak. Him and Misty go through about a kilogram of the yellow stuff every week. Cheese on bread, cheese on potatoes, cheese cheese and just cheese by the slice.
The hardest part of being pregnant for a girlfriend of mine was giving up blue cheese. She dreamt of towering cheese platters for the 10 months she was with child. I just don’t understand it… especially cheeses like brie or camembert – ew just the thought makes me feel ill. I remember once I was going to a cocktail party with another friend, and we were in charge of bringing the cheese platter. We left said cheese platter in my car, in the sun for slightly too long… by the time we arrived at the party the cheese selection was a little worse for wear. This night was the birth place of “leaky cheese,” when the camembert was cut into, it literally leaked goo out over everything. Disgust. Cheese enthusiasts would love this, I bet. Sickening.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand… Pizza. Viper loves pizza. Probably because pizza is all about the cheese.
I just had this conversation with Viper:
Me: What do you love more? Pizza or cheese?
Viper: What do you mean?
Me: What do you love more, PIZZA or CHEESE?
Viper: That doesn’t make sense.
Me: Why not?
Viper: Because pizza has cheese on it. That’s a trick question.
I rest my case.
Viper: What do you love more – doughnuts or sprinkles?
Me: *groan
Viper:Do you want to get married?
Me:*grunt.
Today was an experimental vegan pizza extravaganza. Not really. I was using up scraps, or as they are known in these parts… fridge scrapings. The last little bit of tofu, the tail end of the bag of nutritional yeast, and 1/2C brown rice flour I had no idea what I was going to use it for. It was all pretty successful, I might add.
Vegan Pizza Topper: (no, it’s NOT cheese but it’s tasty)
- 3/4C drained, pressed for 2 hours + crumbled extra firm tofu (or chopped finely)
- 1/4C nutritional yeast
- 1T red wine vinegar
- 1/4t sea salt
- 1/8C chopped fresh herbs (I used coriander, chives and oregano)
- Mix all ingredients well and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour so the flavours develop.
Vegan Pizza Cracker:
(Vegan, gluten/wheat/soy/nut/corn/cane sugar free)
I called this a “cracker” as it’s definitely more crunchy than a doughy pizza base. I liked it though. It got crunchy on the edges, but under the toppings it was soft and chewy. I liked it, but I’m a bit strange. For a fridge scraping recipe it is definitely one I will repeat.
- 1/2C brown rice flour
- 2T ground flax seed
- 4T milk (I used almond but any will do)
- 1t apple cider vinegar
- 1/4t sea salt
- 1t coconut oil
- Mix all ingredients together well. It will seem quite crumbly.
- Squish together into a ball with your hands, roll in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Flatten out with your hands (it doesn’t really roll out) until it is no more than 5mm thick.
- Top with your favourite pizza sauce (or if you’re game, Viper’s recipe below) plus the Pizza Topper recipe above.
- Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees C or until golden and crunchy (or however you like it… it’s vegan no chance of getting sick from it being under done, hurrah).
- Season with black pepper and top with avocado chunks.
Viper’s Pizza Sauce:
- 1+1/2T tomato paste
- 1/2C chopped tinned tomatoes (chunks only, squeeze off the watery stuff)
- 2 roasted red peppers (from a jar, which are marinated in vinegar, salt, sugar and garlic) chopped finely
- Handful of fresh basil, shredded roughly
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Attack with knife…or mush together with a fork (Viper says you gotta keep it chunky) and spread on dough.
My pizza… not ridiculously aesthetically pleasing, but who cares if it’s tasty? Deliciously ugly. Yes, I have an unbalanced toppings to base ratio, I am aware of this….the base smooshed out to about 15cm in diameter, whereas I had quite a bit of the tofu topping. This is not a bad thing; too much topping is not a disaster in my book (or belly).
The tofu topper got crispy and crunchy on the top, and stayed gooey inside. It was actually rather cheesy. Surprising. Viper thought it was good, he actually described it as “cheesey.” Not bad, not bad.
Avocado is a must on this. As is freshly ground black pepper.
Viper’s meaty cheesy monstrosity. Yes, he ate the whole thing. Viper made a more traditional plain flour and dry yeast dough, kneaded by our trusty bread machine. He was not game for my brown rice creation. No hippie pizzas for Viper thankyouverymuch.
easy… too easy.
These days, we live in an “easy” world. I know it may not seem it at times, but really, we have things pretty sweet. Technology is an amazing thing… the internet, all these crazy smart phones, it blows my mind. The extent to which we are consumers in this day in age actually scares me a bit… there’s just so much stuff you need these days.
3ish weeks of a dodgy internet connection, and the whole world is crumbling… can’t pay bills, keep in touch or get the latest news. Shows how dependant we have become. Now I’m not knocking the internet, man I love the web (obviously)… I think my trouble lies with the laziness living in such a consumer-driven, “easy” society creates.
I get looked at like a weirdo, because I try and DIY a few things… natural skin care for example. Simple household cleaners. Making food from scratch (!)
‘Oh you could just buy that.’
Yes, yes I could… but I want some sort of control over what goes in my mouth, on my skin, around my home. Now I’m not talking the extremes here; I just want to feel as if I am not a complete slave the these scarily huge companies which produce everything from bleach to body moisturiser. Creepy.
‘Oh, you can get that for like 80c from the store.’
Yes, yes I could, but I’m talking about quality…. knowing what is going into whatever I’m making. Knowing the process. Realising the impact on not just my wallet, but on the earth.
Ok ok, I didn’t want to get all high and mighty here – that’s not my intent, I was just pondering the effects of the high-paced (no time) convenience-based (easy, no questions asked) time we are living in. It’s interesting, that’s all. I think it’s on the brain for me (how easy and disposable everything has become) as we’ve just been through a period of one thing after the other breaking down/dying. These days, it’s cheaper and easier to just buy again, brand spanking new. Nothing is built to last…. getting it repaired, why bother?
Anyway, in the spirit of slowing down, and trying to do something from scratch… I made this dip. I soaked and cooked the beans from dry, and used fresh cilantro (coriander) from my veggie patch…. hooray! I know it’s silly, but it made me feel somewhat good rather than just slapping down $3 for a store bought plastic tub of goo.
Coconut Black Bean Dip:
(Vegan, gluten, wheat, soy, nut and cane sugar free)
- 1C cooked black beans
- 1/4C nutritional yeast
- 2T tahini
- The juice and zest from 1/2 a lime
- 2 cloves of crushed garlic… use less if you like. I like garlic.
- 1/4C coconut milk
- 1/2t salt
- 1/3C fresh cilantro (I always use the stems too, so much flavour… just wash well as cilantro tends to be sandy/gritty)
- Black pepper to taste
- 1/4C dried chilli flakes
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
Tis good, tis good.
On the subject of being a weirdo and doing things not quite the “norm”…. can anyone guess what my latest favourite snack is?
MIMIIT
Wondering about the title of this post?
I suppose healthy eating and a generally healthy lifestyle go hand in hand. Most healthy food blogs contain some sort of exercise component… maybe I’m the exception to the rule.
Honestly? I can’t stand exercising, which is a real shame, as I love the idea of it. Viper bought me a treadmill at the end of my pregnancy because :
- He was afraid I was going to walk too far away from home, go into labour and not be able to get back.
- I really wanted to start running.
- Feeding Misty Breakfast (standing, constantly bobbing up, down, up wiping floor, back to sink to rinse wash cloth, up, down up, and now back to the sink… repeat times 1 bazillion) while also making rice milk, and doing yoga in the kitchen. I know this is not the most appropriate time/place/head space to be in while practising, but I take what I can get.
- Grizzly Misty (just want to be held constantly) = multiple sets of Misty Squats (bending down and then jumping up, shooting Misty in the air so he almost soils himself in excitement and squealing). Repeat or Misty will surely cry. Interchange with Misty Lunges (same as the Misty Squat, but lunging while walking and making growling and oinking noises).
- 10 minutes of the Misty Dance = his favourite move of running really fast on the spot while sqeaking and throwing arms in air. Do this while pegging out wet washing, and folding clean washing.
- Crazy fast Stroller Mission (Misty only likes it when you go fast, and the bumpier the better) while on phone trying to sort out internet connection with evil phone company. 30 minutes of being on hold while doing some serious power strolling.
- Get in some forward folds and down dogs while Misty gets his dose of The Wiggles (seriously, it’s like Valium for toddlers, he just lies watching it all wide-eyed and mesmerised).
(RAW, vegan, gluten, nut and cane sugar free)
- 3/4C sprouted sunflower seeds (if you can’t be bothered sprouting them, simply soak for 8 hours, and drain)
- 1/2C nutritional yeast
- 1/2t sea salt
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- 2t apple cider vinegar
- 1t lemon juice + 1/4t grated zest
- 1/2t brown rice syrup
- 3t extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8c water
- 1/4C fresh basil
- A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Blend all ingredients together.
- Serve on top of freshly cooked pasta, as a salad topping, or as a raw pate with crackers and veggie sticks… or follow my lead:
Oodles of sauce with grated zuccinni (no fancy veggie pasta makers here, sorry) cherry tomatoes, capers and black pepper.
So I may not have a gym membership or clock up the miles on a little beepy wristband thingy… but if lugging around a 13kg beast all day everyday, plus my routine above doesn’t count, then I don’t know what does.
savoury granola
Not another granola recipe… I know that’s what you’re thinking.
I’m over boring oats… let’s change things up a bit here, shall we? I’m on a roll after my re-make of the overnight variety, so let’s kick on, seeing it’s Australia Day and all, let’s go crazy.
Me at 6am with a sleepy bung eye and oats on my face. Seriously, try this and your face will be thanking you (or me, whatever).
- 1T oat flour
- 1/2t ground flax seed
- 1/2t raw, organic honey
- Splash of water to make a spreadable paste
- Mix into a goop, spread on face.
- Leave on your face for as long as you can handle it… maybe 10 minutes.
- Either lick off, or wash off with water.
- Rejoice in your amazingly vibrant and glowing appearance.
Savoury Granola:
(Vegan, nut, gluten and cane sugar free)
- 2T sunflower seeds
- 2T pepitas
- 2T raw buckwheat groats
- 2T chia seeds
- 2T raw quinoa
- 1/2C certified gluten free oats
- 2T tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1T brown rice syrup (or honey, agave or even sweet chilli sauce would be great)
- 1t apple cider vinegar
- 2t coconut oil (liquid)
- 1/4t sea salt
- 1/4t chilli flakes (optional)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Combine all ingredients together.
- Spread out on a lined baking tray.
- Bake at 150 degrees C for 20 minutes, lower oven to 130 degrees for a further 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the granola, stirring regularly to ensure even cooking.
- Turn oven down to 100 degrees C and cook for a final 30 miuntes (or until golden brown and crunchy).
- Store in an air tight container.
Vegan Sweet Potato ‘Pesto’
- 3/4C cooked sweet potato
- 1/2C fresh basil leaves
- 3/4C white beans
- 1/2C nutritional yeast
- 1 + 1/2T apple cider vinegar
- 2t lemon juice
- 3/4t sea salt
- 1/4c water
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 3/4t whole grain mustard
- 1/8C olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Blend everything together.
Today’s ‘Aussie Classic,’ for Australia Day (hooray!) is probably one of the best things in the world to eat after a long day of fishing, hiking, mission-ing around some beautiful part of Australia…. I’m talking about DAMPER.
Returning to your campsite, and after a few glasses of red, try this on for size:
Sitting around a camp fire, drinking vino, and eating hot ‘bread’ doused in butter, jam, honey, or all of the above. Yip, definitely a True Blue Aussie Classic right there.
the Hulk has a cousin
- Don’t knock musicals… there will be one out there that you like.
- Watch Priscilla Queen of the Dessert (the movie) as it will get you in the mood for this exciting news….
- The Queensland Parliament (the state in which I live in Australia) has just passed the same-sex civil union (marriage) bill which is so unbelievably fantastic. Love is love no matter what shape or form… I think in a few places in India you can legally marry your dog, or a tree if you really love them that much.
- 3/4C cooked or canned cannelini beans (chickpeas would be great too)
- 1/4C nutritional yeast
- 1-2 cloves crushed raw garlic (I put 2 but I LOVE raw garlic… feel free to cut this amount down)
- 1/4t salt
- 1/4t spirilina (I used a heap more than this, but if you are not used to the taste I would recommend going easy on it)
- 1/3C toasted pumpkin seeds (heat in a dry fry pan until they puff up, colour a little and start to POP… otherwsie raw is fine)
- Zest from 1/2 a lime plus 1T+ 1t of the juice
- 2t apple cider vinegar
- 1/2t wholegrain mustard
- A good handful of fresh herbs – if you want a more traditional tasting pesto go for basil, otherwise parsley, cilantro, rocket will all work well. I used cilantro which makes it a beautiful topping for any kind of Mexican dish.
- Teeny pinch of chilli powder (optional)
- Lots and lots of freshly ground black pepper
- Blend all ingredients until smooth in the food processor.
Vegan. Stay at home Mum of Misty. Yoga teacher in training. Passionate about REAL food - creating it, eating it, sharing it. I can never stick to a recipe.
