Thai red lentil and carrot soup

I'm still being inspired by the delicious Thai ingredients I tried on my holiday last month. I wanted to make a healthy soup with a nice Thai flavour and I'm very happy with this recipe.

1 tblsp coconut oil

3/4 cup shallots, chopped

2 sticks of celery, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 red chillies, chopped
1 lemon grass stalk, crushed slightly
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp finely grated galangal
roots and stalks from 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
3/4 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 Massel chicken style stock cube
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 tin of reduced fat coconut milk

Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan over a medium low heat. Saute the shallots for 1 minute, add the celery and carrots and saute for 3 minutes. Add the chillies, garlic, coriander, tumeric and lentils. Stir together. Add the crumbled stock cube and enough water to just cover everything. Add the galangal and  lemon grass and simmer until the lentils are cooked and all vegetables are tender. Remove the lemon grass and the lime leaves. Puree the soup once slightly cooled and add coconut milk until desired consistency is reached . Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with coriander leaves.

Spicy, creamy chickpea soup

Autumn has arrived in Australia though it is still pretty warm over here in Perth. Still, what better way to welcome the new season than with a hearty bowl of autumn coloured soup. This recipe is seriously easy and delicious, not to mention healthy and vegan! I was inspired by the chickpea and greens curry soup in the March issue of Vegetarian Times magazine, but of course I had to put my own spin on it :) It also gets the tick of approval from my meat loving bf which is high praise indeed!

You could leave it chunky as I did, or blend up half and stir back in for a thicker soup.

Here is my version:

1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground tumeric
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1-2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup of light coconut milk
4 cups vegetable stock (or 4 cups of hot water and 1 stock cube)
chopped parsley or coriander and Greek yoghurt (optional) to serve

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Fry the onion, celery and shallot for 5 mins, then add all of the spices and cook for a further 2 mins. Add the garlic, tomato and spinach and stir through. Add the chickpeas, vegetable stock and coconut milk. Reduce heat to low and simmer for an hour. Add salt to taste and serve with a small dollop of yoghurt if desired and a sprinkling of parsley or coriander leaves.

Avocado basil pasta

I whipped this up for lunch the other day, the avocados make it so yummy and creamy. I got the recipe from one of my favourite blogs Oh She Glows.

I used spelt pasta and threw in quite a bit more basil because we have lots in our garden at the moment :)

Relish

This red capsicum relish went down a treat with some toasted sourdough bread last night for a quick dinner. This is another recipe from Color Me Vegan. The ingredients include roasted red capsicums, kalamata olives, garlic, shallot, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fresh parsley and basil from our garden. I might try adding some fresh chilli next time!

Blueberry, apple & walnut bread

Another tuesday off, another loaf of bread! This is a variation of my earlier fruit spelt bread. I think this is my new favourite fruit bread :)

I swapped 1 cup of chopped dried apple and 1/2 a cup of dried bluberries for the mixed dried fruit. If you don't like walnuts I would suggest slivered almonds as a substitute. I also glazed this one with some watered down agave syrup.

Here is Sarge, always hopeful of a dropped crust!

Baking bread

I love baking bread! It's not as hard as I had imagined and it is very satisfying to take that first bite, knowing that there are no preservatives or other nasties, just wholesome ingredients and lots of love. First up I made a fruit, nut and seed wholemeal spelt loaf.

I chose to go with a rustic freeform style loaf, mainly because I have no bread loaf tins :)

Then I made another wholemeal spelt loaf, this time a savoury version with fresh basil, sundried tomatoes, onions, walnuts and seeds.

Once cooled, I sliced them both up into nice thick pieces and popped them into the freezer in bags of 2, giving me easy breakfasts and lunches for the next week.

I adapted the basic recipe from the Feb issue of Super Food Ideas magazine. Here is my version:

7g sachet dry yeast

1 tblsp caster sugar

1+1/2 cups warm water

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour

1 cup plain white flour

1 tsp sea salt

1 tblsp coconut oil

1 cup of mixed nuts and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseed, rolled oats, walnuts etc.)

Fruit loaf: 1 cup of chopped assorted dried fruits, 1 tblsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice and 1 tsp vanilla. 

Savoury loaf: 1/2 cup dried onion flakes, handful of fresh basil shredded, 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes.

Mix yeast and sugar with the warm water and sit in a warm place for 10 mins or until quite frothy. Meanwhile, sift your flours into a large bowl and mix with the salt, seeds, oil and any fruit or other flavourings. 

Make a well in the centre and add the yeast when it's ready, mixing to a sticky dough. 

Knead the dough on a floured bench for about 5 mins, adding more flour as necessary to stop it from sticking. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover and put somewhere warm for an hour so it can double in size.

Punch down the dough and knead it again for around 5 mins. Shape it into a log and place gently on a lined and oiled baking tray. Cover with clingwrap and put it somewhere warm again for 40 mins while preheating your oven to 200 degrees C (400 F) or 180 if you have a fan-forced oven.

Brush the loaf with milk (any variety) and sprinkle with oats and seeds if desired. Bake for 30 to 35 mins. You will know it's done by tapping the bottom of the loaf and hearing a hollow sound. 

Cool on a wire rack.