15 LichField Road556835 Singapore
If you follow me you know that I am mostly vegan but do enjoy the occasional really good dairy product. I guess I was raised in a dairy culture country, and it was already hard to fight meat and be a vegetarian ! but cheese and yogurts have been all around my entire life. And I did enjoy them for a long time of my life. Especially cheese….Being more educated on their nutritional value, + and – health benefits, I have become quite savvy about when and how to eat those. And I also rely a lot on what’s my gut feeling ! If you can digest dairy and eat in moderation some organic, real yogurt or cheese, I believe you can actually benefit from their nutrients (calcium, protein) But this is so personal, right ? And having said that I know that I ‘ll always feel better when I skip those for sometime in my diet. So finding something that can replace the texture and flavor cheese bring to dishes is really important for me. On the other hand I don’t want to claim my “vegan feta” is anything to compare with traditional feta. I have said it before, but it scares me that some people eat now lots of processed vegan food and truly believe it is healthy ! We should not try to eat the same, but learn how to make new ingredients combinations that bring us the same level of yum 🙂 and are at the same time good for our health. Anyway, that’s my personal view on the current vegan trend, and even if you disagree with me, you can still give a try to recipe below. It’s sour, tangy, crumbly, and can definitely play a similar part in the flavors building of a salad / soup/ … as feta would do. Give it a go and let me know.
Ingredients
- 135 g blanched almonds
- 4,5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3,5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 fat crushed garlic cloves (don’t omit)
- 115 ml d’eau
- 1,5 tbsp of fresh shredded thyme, oregano or rosemary (my favorite is rosemary)
- 1,5 tsp sea salt (adjust to taste)
Directions
- Soak your almonds in 500 ml of water the night before
- In the morning, drain them and rinse them well
- Transfer them to your high speed blender, adding all the other ingredients and blend until you get a creamy texture.
- Transfer your batter in your milk bag and make a tight knot to get a ball you’ll strain for min 8 hours in your fridge
- Once it has strained, transfer your batter in your greased mold (I use olive oil, or baking paper if you don’t want to add any oil).
- Put in your preheated oven at 175°C fan forced for 35/40 min (check, it should have get some golden color on the top and have some cracks, but should still be soft under the firm top)
- Leave it to cool down in your mold and once cool, transfer in a container in your fridge
- When ready to eat, add a drizzle of olive oil, some cracked pepper and fresh herbs, even honey if you’d like (but not vegan). Can keep for up to 5 days in your fridge.
- Enjoy on sourdough toasts, crumbled in salads or to top soups, in wraps, or on pizzas.
So I am French ! And considering living a life without eating any bread seems impossible to me ! I am attending nutrition courses and we had recently a lecture about grains. Some diets recommend not to eat any and it seems some people are really reactive to the proteins they contain (not only the wheat gluten). This scared me a little and I turned grain free for a few days… But actually as rightly explained in my course, food is bio individual and we all react differently to what we eat. In my case, I have figured that eating less gluten definitely helps me digest better and feel better, but I can not imagine skipping bread for the rest of my life, or at least at this stage of my life 🙂 However I try to enjoy only the best, eating sourdough organic bread when I chose to eat real bread. And of course I have banned white loaves or baguettes and any industrial baked stuffed. And when I decide to go gluten and / or flour free I bake myself some loaves like this one, which are super yum and so nutritionally good ! Of course it doesn’t taste like bread (no yeast or levain, and no flour) but it’s got a crust, a dense moist inside with some chunky seeds bites so it definitely recalls some nordic bread loaves and works really well with savory or sweet toppings. Don’t mention to your kids it’s made with lentils, they won’t taste them 🙂 and play with the different grains ratio if you want to have more / less buckwheat or quinoa, or millet flavor. You can also add a little spices like cinnamon, and some nuts or raisins if you want to twist it a little. Recipe below, super basic, just remember to prepare it the day before to soak your legumes, grains and seeds. This is actually super beneficial from a nutrition standpoint as it activates them by removing their physic acid external coating. Phytic acid prevents them from germinating and has been proven to diminish nutrients assimilation ! So don’t skip this part !
Ingredients for one loaf
- 100 g coral lentils
- 140 g buckwheat or millet or quinoa (or combination of all those, which I prefer)
- 70 g Sunflower seeds
- 70 g Pumpkin seeds
- 10 g chia seeds
- 10 g Hemp seeds
- 4 tbsp Psyllium powder
- 250 ml water
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Soak all your seeds and grains the day before in filtered water.
- In the morning, rinse them well and drain them
- Preheat your oven to 160°C fan forced
- Mix your psyllium with 125 ml water and let it rest for a few minutes
- Transfer your seeds and grains to your high speed blender and add your psyllium and all the other ingredients.
- Mix to blend well and break some of your seeds but ensure you keep some bits and texture. Once done add additional spices / raisins / nuts if using any.
- Transfer to your prepared tin layered with baking paper and top with additional seeds
- Put in your oven for min 1h and 20 / 25 min. Check, it should be gently golden on the top and your toothpick will come clean when checking doneness.
- Let it cool down in the tin before transferring out and wait it’s totally cool to slice.
- Enjoy!
Saying goodbye to summer has always been so hard for me…. luckily I leave now in the country of eternal summer 🙂
These biscuits have been a treat for our early night drinks with friends back home last holidays (thank god I had brought my thermomix in my luggages 🙂 So sharing with you this super easy recipe: only 5 ingredients, and a good kitchen mixer (like thermomix, or magimix ideally)
They are really tasty and nourishing so unlike most aperitif snacks you keep on eating, those will fill you up quickly. But only good fats and proteins in those !
Recipe is here. Try it, taste it, and tell me how much you enjoyed it 🙂
VEGAN, GF, RSF
INGREDIENTS
- 300 grs cashews
- 3 large sundried tomatoes (in olive oil, drained from excess oil)
- 1 flaxseed egg (1 tbsp milled flax seeds, 2,5 tbsp water)
- 1,5 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
DIRECTIONS
- Blend the cashews and tomatoes in your high speed blender until you get a paste (but don’t over blend as it will get too oily after 🙂 If using dried tomatoes, add 1 tbsp water (no need if they were in oil)
- Add the vegan egg, nutritional yeast, salt, and stir to combine well everything.
- Transfer the dough to a baking sheet layered with baking paper. Top with another layer of paper and roll the dough to flatten it to 3 mm thickness.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds, cut in desired shape and bake in preheated oven at 195° C fan forced, for 12/15 min. Corners should be golden brown.
- Wait until it cools down and eat 🙂 or transfer to container and keep for up to 5 days.
Nb: can be seasoned with other herbs or spices (I like to use thyme, rosemary, basil or chili for a little twist)
If you follow me you must know that I spend some of my days at Microbakerykitchen, where Jas bakes amazing sourdough bread. When I go there I can not not eat bread. Anything she proposes me to try will be so good that I end up eating half a loaf of bread in a few hours 🙂 But at home we don’t have bread on our table everyday. First we live in Singapore and have adapted our diet to a more fusion Asian kind of diet, which does not imply bread .. and also from a health perspective I have banned white bread and promote some gluten free days even if we can all eat gluten. Just that we feel less bloated and a bit more balanced than when we had bread at any single meal in Paris !
When we want to make avocado toasts or eat some spreads I tend to bake my own GF bread and the one I share here is a great easy bake that will always satisfy your cravings for bread, especially if you like seeds and a nice crust.
I am sharing the recipe in the link below and would love to know what you ate your slice of seeded potato bread with.
Enjoy 🙂
http://chickpeaandberries.com/gluten-free-sweet-potato-seeded-bread-you-can-not-not-love/
Long time since I posted a Houmous or a dip recipe. As I was taking part to the launch project of a new cafe here in Singapore, we did some recipe testing and I proposed those vibrant flavorful dips during one of our meetings.
The pinky bubble gum colored one was not meant to be that color.. as I chose purple sweet potatoes by mistake… was meant to be rather orange… but everyone loved this playful colour 🙂
As for the yellow one, the curry powder gives it this colour and its flavored with coconut to get a very nice thai twisted flavor.
Both houmous (like the third spread which is baba ganoush) are of course vegan, GF and really nutritious.
Recipes super easy to follow are just below. Try it and let me know if you liked it !
Enjoy your food, enjoy your day 🙂
Thai spiced houmous
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 3 to 4 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp lime zest
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1,5 to 2 tbsp yellow curry paste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Pinch of Red chili flakes and grated coconut
Directions
- Place all dry ingredients in your high speed blender. Add 3 tbsp lime juice, half the coconut milk and blend at high speed.
- Add gradually the remaining coconut milk. Add the olive oil and a little water if too thick.
- Taste and add the remaining lime tbsp, more salt or some chili flakes if you like it really spicy.
- Transfer to a glass jar and store in the fridge for 2/3 days. Before eating, stir, top with a drizzle of olive oil, unsweetened grated coconut and some more chili flakes.
Sweet potato houmous aka “bubble gum houmous” 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (go for the Japanese purple one to get this pinkish color or golden ones for a more standard colour and a bit less sweet)
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (approx 1 lemon)
- zest a full lemon (start with 1/2 in the recipe and add more according to taste)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (start with 1/2 and add according to taste)
- Pinch of salt and cracked pepper according to taste
Directions
- Bake your sweet potatoes in preheated oven at 190°C for approx 50 min
- Put all your other ingredients in your high speed blender, except the olive oil, and add the chopped baked sweet potatoes (skin removed :). Add the olive oil gradually.
- Blend until it becomes smooth and the texture you want (might need to add a little water, lemon juice or zest, more spices or salt according to taste)
- Serve topped with some sesame seeds and chili flakes, chopped fresh cilantro and a good drizzle of olive oil.
I love chocolate, the real dark one. My buddy and my kids love white and milky one… and Nuttela…
So when I started to change our food habits, they were quite upset I stopped buying that terrible but so addictive spread.
However, one day I showed them that picture of a Nuttela container, which is mostly filled with white sugar and palm oil… and they all said they didn’t want to eat it ever again !
I love them, so I have been looking for some healthy yummy way to propose them an alternative.
And this one is definitely a very good one 🙂
Only 5 ingredients, no refined sugar, no oil, no bad stuff, just the goodness of wholefood.
Of course you don’t have exactly the same texture and flavor, but it contains so much toasted hazelnuts and good stuff that it turns out better 🙂
Have a go and you might become addicted. After all chocolate is definitely a feel good food and rich in Magnesium 🙂
Ingredients:
- 1,5 cups roasted hazelnuts (10 min in 180°C fan forced oven)
- 0,5 cup 75% dark vegan chocolate
- 0,5 cup coconut milk
- 0,25 cup apple syrup
- 0,5 tsp vanilla extract
- 0,25 tsp sea salt
Directions:
- Once the toasted hazelnuts have cooled down, finely grind them (if they had skin, remove it before grinding in high speed blender)
- Melt your chocolate mixed with the other ingredients (except the hazelnuts). Ensure it does not boil. Let it cool down a little
- Add the melted chocolate to the hazelnuts flour and mix it at high speed until you get a smooth and creamy texture.
Enjoy immediately or store in a glass container in your fridge for up to 1 week… if it can last so long 🙂
If you follow me you know I am addicted to green 🙂
So today I thought I would add more green to my avocado toast.. using crispy edamame that would also bring proteins to transform a yummy comforting avocado toast into a totally balanced main 🙂
Until I moved to Singapore I had only eaten edamame in Japanese restaurants, snacking on them before our meal.
Here I can find some fresh ones so easily, that we eat some every week.
Super easy to cook also: throw them just 5 min in salty boiling water after cuting their tips. Then place them in an ice bowl to keep their nice green colour and stop the cooking.
That’s as simple as that !
If you want to make the spread here it is :
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 2 cups cooked edaname
- 1/3 cup lime juice
- 1 tbsp coconut yogurt
- 1 small blanched garlic clove chopped
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- A good handful cilantro chopped
- A good pinch of salt and cracked pepper
- Olive oil to drizzle and lime wedges to top when serving
Put all ingredients in the blender keeping 1/4 cup edamame to serve. Pulse a few time ensuring you keep some texture.
Eat as a dip with raw veggies, on rye toasts, with your falafels …
Can keep for 1 day in glass container in your fridge.
Definitely in a super Green Mood today 🙂
But as my fridge is almost empty and I am a bit lazy to go out and pick up some fresh veggies…
I went for a green pea houmous 🙂
5 min to put together the ingredients and super simple as you just need a high speed blender after that !
Love sweet peas and mint combo. Eaten as a dip on pita bread or in a wrap it is delicious.
I also had it with vegan lentil patties and it was supper yummy.
See for yourself =)
- 3 cups of frozen peas, thawed (if you use fresh them cook them but keep them firm)
- 1 to 2 cloves of blanched garlic according to taste
- 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice (I prefer it a bit more tangy:)
- 1/2 cup mint leaves
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (you can omit it if you don’t like it spicy)
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground sea salt
Place peas, mint, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice in your high speed blender and puree it until you get a smooth texture.
Transfer it to your serving bowl and drizzle with additional extra-virgin olive oil, seeds (pumpkin, or black sesame), cracked pepper, a few peas and mint leaves.
Nb: if you are not vegan, it is very good with crumbled feta cheese on top !
I have always loved pesto. But I can still not figure out why I used to buy it !
It is so easy to make and so much healthier. In this one, only 5 ingredients and mostly herbs and nuts.. !
Also, since I have found out about vegan pesto, I rarely make the cheese version and use nuts and nutritional yeast to create great vibrant green spreads to eat on my toasts, rice or pasta.
If you have 5 min, a bunch of parsley and some nuts in your fridge you can make this one now !
Give it a try by following the link below, and let me know how you liked it 🙂