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.
You have 15 min, crave for a super moist “healthy” chocolate cookie, I have got the recipe for you just below. 5 ingredients, gluten free and guilt free (if you don’t eat the whole tray :), what’s not to love in those ?
Recipe for 14 cookies
- 175 grs almond flour
- 1 tsp psyllium husk
- 3,5 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1,5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp chopped rosemary
- Vegan chocolate droplets
Mix all ingredients in a bowl except the chocolate and make small balls. Put them in your baking tray covered with baking paper and press gently while adding 2 chocolate droplets in the middle of each ball.
Put in preheated oven at 160°C fan forced, for 15/16 min (wait for a little golden color appearing on the sides). Take them out, sprinkle with madden sea salt flakes and let them cool down before eating.
Store in airtight container and refresh before eating if you want to get them a little crispy again as they get super chewy super quickly, especially in SG.
If you are looking for a great topping that can be sprinkled on almost any dish, brings crunchy addictive texture and middle eastern flavors, then Dukkah is for you !
Discovered it for the first time in Australia at some friends place. They had pan seared some salmon and just topped it with store-bought Dukkah. The next day I rushed into the shop where they had bought it and started using it on almost anything.. to the point my buddy started to be fed up with it 🙂 So unlike me, as usually I hate eating the same thing twice.
Anyway, after sometime, I used it with more balance 🙂 and more importantly started making my own, as it is such an easy treat you can bulk bake and flavor as you like. Super easy, the only thing is that you have to toast and grind your seeds (really worth the efforts, trust me )
Recipe for this variation using pistachios just below (if you don’t find pistachios, you can swap for hazelnuts). Enjoy and let me know what you ate it with !
Pistachios Dukkah recipe
INGREDIENTS (1 CUP)
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1,5 tbsp cumin seeds
- 60 grs pistachio nuts unsalted
- 40 grs almonds
- 40 grs white sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut (omit if you don’t like but gives a nice twist)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Cracked black pepper according to taste
- Toast cumin and coriander seeds over medium heat until fragrant. Put aside until cold. Grind them using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
- Roast nuts until golden in a small pan. Once cooled chop and set aside. Toast the sesame seeds until golden, and finish doing the same for the coconut.
- Put toasted nuts, seeds and grinded spices in a bowl, add salt, and pepper and adjust according to taste.
Enjoy with extra-virgin olive oil on sourdough bread, wholewheat pita, …. sprinkle your salads, or pasta dishes and if not vegan top your grilled fish.
Will keep for several weeks in airtight container
Did my first “official” catering event today (ie not for a friend 🙂 ) so feeling a bit overwhelmed and exhausted and too tired to bake after that 🙂
So I thought it was a good time to update my blog, at last ! I had promise to post the recipe of this really delicious gluten free lime and almond banana loaf I posted on IG a few days ago. Here it comes ! I increased a little the quantity of lime vs the original recipe from Golden door Australia. Also I put a little less maple syrup, to get it less sweet but you can always increase that by adding a syrup if you have a sweeter tooth than me. The recipe is ridiculously easy and turns out to be very yummy for breakfast or afternoon snacks. Also it is really nutritionally balanced with the healthy fat and proteins coming from the almonds and absence of any refined sugar. Follow the link below and share any comments you have after. Enjoy this beautiful week end start wherever you are on planet earth (here I am literally melting !! soo hot !)
http://chickpeaandberries.com/lime-and-almond-banana-loaf/
New granola trial today 🙂
Super crunchy, nutty, without fruits and very lightly sweetened with maple syrup.
The twist comes from the use of sesame and tahini to binds the oats altogether, so you get a subtle sesame flavor in every bite !
Gluten free, baked in 30 min … why do you hesitate any longer ? Recipe is below !
Tahini, almonds Granola (makes 500grs granola)
Ingredients:
1,5 cups GF rolled oats
1 cup almonds roughly chopped
1 cup coconut flakes (sub with hazelnuts if you don’t like coconut)
0,5 cup pumpkin seeds (or sunflower)
2,5 to 3 tbsp tahini (if you use unhulled tahini which is stronger, 2,5 is enough)
2 tbsp sesame (I used black which is slightly stronger and to get a nicer contrast in my granola)
3 to 4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 pinch of sea salt
Mix all dry ingredients together (except coconut flakes) and do the same with wet ones in another bowl.
Mix the all the ingredients all together and stir thoroughly to ensure everything is well coated.
Transfer it on a baking tray layered with baking paper and put in the oven preheat fan forced at 145°C.
Ensure it is a thin uniform layer to get a consistent baking time.
After 15 min stir and put it back for 10 min. Add the coconut flakes and let it for the last 5 min.
Take it out from the oven and let it cool totally before you transfer it to an airtight container.
Keep it for 2 weeks or freeze it if not eaten before 🙂 Freezing granola ensure you can keep it longer and crisp 🙂
My kids are super happy at the moment !
I have a project I can not share yet… but that requires me to try many cakes and cookies recipes.
So they are always excited to come home and discover what I have been up to !
Some days are better than others according to them 🙂 and it is also funny to see how different their tastes are and evolve.
Leopold is in love with blueberries currently. So I opted for a vegan blueberry cookies trial this time.
Funny enough, he loves them, but Rose is not so inclined. I think she was more expecting something like chocolate cookies 🙂
Anyway, those are quite good indeed. Their texture is between a cookie and a shortbread, quite crumbly, as I used almond and coconut flour.
I let you try and make up your mind !
Recipe just below
I am a granola lover ! and so is Rose 🙂
Whenever I bake a new one, my daughter is around, trying to grab a bite, even before it has cooled down 🙂
I can only understand as I have always found it best when it is just a few min out of the oven, crispy but still a little hot. YUM !
I thought she might like less this variation which is made with raw cacao and not sweet at all. But she did ! and I am happy to see kids can love unsweetened granolas too. Why wouldn’t they though ? It is crunchy, nutty and fun to eat 🙂
If you want to try this one which has super big clusters and is really healthy, follow the recipe below.
Enjoy 🙂
When Rose and Leopold first saw the cake, they told me: “Mum you forgot to remove the pears stem” :))))
But no, my loves, it was done on purpose. It is my friend Bridget, who recently showed me some beautiful cakes featuring entire fruits and veggies. And as I am always in the mood to try something new I thought I would give it a go.
So today I baked a fruit loaf with this technique, using fresh pears I had and lots of nuts and spices.
I adapted some recipes I had found but did not dare for the first trial to make a vegan loaf.
Will be for the next variation.
If you want to make this pretty loaf, follow the link below 🙂
When your buddy has a sweet tooth and used to eat homemade real buttery and sugary lemon curd straight from the jar every week-end at his mum’s place 🙂 ….. you have to find the perfect healthy lemon curd recipe to get him addicted to yours 🙂
I have tried many variations, but I think this one is among the best, especially to be used in a pie.
Would love to hear your thoughts if you try it.
Recipe link below, enjoy !