15 LichField Road556835 Singapore
I don’t know for you, but when I am tired and don’t feel like cooking but still want something healthy, stews and curries are my go to food. Coconut milk based stews are so indulgent and flavourful ! And then they are sooo easy to make and twist. Once you have the base (onions, garlic, ginger, a few spices and lots of coconut milk :)) you just have to throw in there different veggies, a protein source like tofu or beans, some herbs and let it simmer, right ? And the magic of these is that they taste even better the next day, so make more and keep in the fridge of freeze for those lazy days ! My kids love them with naan of buckwheat pancakes to dip the sauce. Quinoa, millet or red rice are also super great to eat with them with and make a complete and nutritious meal. My super basic recipe below in case you don’t have already yours or want to revamp it a little. Happy cooking !
Ingredients
1,2 kg veggies: I would usually used pumpkin or sweet potato cut in dices, brocoli and or cauliflower florets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, or even some potatoes
250 g protein: either chickpeas, or pat dried firm tofu cut in cubes
3 handfuls fresh green leaves preferably organic
2,5 tbsp coconut oil
2 medium red onions minced
4 fat garlic cloves crushed
5 cm grated fresh ginger (don’t hesitate to put more if your love ginger like me 🙂
800 ml canned coconut milk
3 tbsp lemon juice + 0,5 tbsp lemon zest
1,5 tsp ground turmeric , 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste), cracked pepper, pinch of chili flakes (optional).
To serve: thai basil or fresh coriander, roasted cashews or pepitas, toasted coconut flakes
Directions
Add your coconut oil to a large sauce pan on medium heat.
Once hot, add your onions and leave to saute for 6/9 min until translucents
Add your garlic and ginger and saute for 1 min
Add your spices, stir and cook for a few minutes
Add the starchy vegetables to your pan if using any (potatoes, pumpkin, …) and sauté for 10 min
Add your other veggies, and protein source, sauté for 2 min, then add the coconut milk and cook for 10/15 min (starchy veggies should be cooked but not mushy:)
Finish, by adding your green leave and, lemon juice. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon or even spices if needed. Add your fresh herbs, some roasted nuts or seeds and serve !
I could live only eating fruits and veggies (don’t do it though it’s not balanced 🙂 ! And we are spoilt here, especially when it is the mango season ! My kids love fruits too, but sometimes find it a bit boring when I tell them their afternoon snack will always feature a fruit. Smoothies are a great way to shake it up and make it much more fun for them to have their dose of real natural sugar, vitamins and fibers ! And yes smoothies are much better in my opinion than juices. I have a cold pressed juicer at home and do use it, especially to make veggies juices. But compared to a smoothie you lose all fibers when you juice. And for that reason too, smoothies are much more filling and Leo will always be satisfied with a smoothie whereas he ll ask for more after a big cold pressed juice 🙂
Adjust the recipe below to get the consistency you like and either drink or eat it. In case you make a smoothie bowl, top with goji berries, extra banana or mango slices, hemp seeds, pomegranate, raw cacao nibs, quinoa flakes or coconut flakes.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
- 1 +1/4 cup frozen mangoes
- 1 cup frozen bananas
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 5/6 ice cubes (adjust to consistency you like)
- Optional 1/4 tsp real vanilla extract
Instruction
Put everything in your high speed blender, blend until smooth.
This is the kind of soup we love at home: full of flavor, nourishing and enough as a main meal as it contains a nice amount of protein using red lentils. I will usually add some kind of flat bread and a side leafy green salad to make a complete meal, and if we don’t go vegan, top the soup with some goat cheese instead of coconut yogurt . Even when you live in a tropical country it is so nice to have a warm hearty soup some days ! Hope you try and like it 🙂
INGREDIENTS (Serves 6 large bowls)
- 400 grs chopped pumpkin
- 200 grs red lentils
- 175 grs chopped carrots
- 3 chopped celery stalks
- 1 chopped large yellow onion
- 9 cm piece ginger roughly chopped
- 3 chopped garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 650 ml vegetable stock (ideally homemade or low sodium). Adjust according to consistency desired
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
- Put vegetables, onions and ginger drizzled with olive oil and a little salt on a baking tray in preheated oven at 200°C.
- Bake for 30 minutes (check after 25 min it doesn’t get to brown)
- In the meantime, cook the rinsed red lentils in your thermomix or in a large pot covered with a lid, with the stock, garlic, spices and vegetable stock.
- Cook for 20 minutes, then add half of the coconut milk and mix.
- Add the roasted vegetables (start with only half of the ginger and try before adding the rest, as I love ginger but you might want a bit less 🙂 and the rest of the coconut milk and top with some more stock or water until you reach the consistency you want. Adjust seasoning (salt, pepper and maybe ginger)
- Blend until smooth texture and serve in bowls topped with coconut yogurt, fresh herbs (cilantro, thai basil, ..) roasted seeds, chili flakes, a drizle of olive oil….
Note: if you don’t plan to eat it all, pour in a container and keep in fridge for up to 3 days or in freezer for 2/3 months.
Have you ever tried cauliflower couscous ? If not, you are missing something, especially if you like carbs and are trying to minimize their intake : )
If you don’t like cauliflower, I defy you to taste it in this recipe and the texture is so nice ! Recipe is below and if you make it, double quantities of the cauliflower couscous so you can enjoy and accommodate for a few meals !
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 800 grs cauliflower florets (only the florets)
- 1 finely diced yellow onion
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice and its zest (ideally organic)
- 2 to 3 tbsp grated fresh ginger (adjust to taste)
- 2 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (or coconut aminos for GF option)
- To top: 1,5 tbsp grated coconut + 1 kafir lime finely shredded and salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Pulse your cauliflower florets in your thermomix until you get a texture similar to couscous.
- Steam it for 7 min, and drain thoroughly (I use a cheese cloth) when cooled down, to remove all water.
- Heat at medium heat your pan, add the coconut oil, then the onions, and after 5 min your garlic, ginger and turmeric. Stir well all along for an extra min.
- Add the cauliflower, cook for 1/2 min, and finish with the soy sauce, lime and sesame oil, and stir again.
- Transfer to a bowl and top with your grated coconut and kafir lime and serve
Note: you can add a few chili flakes when you add the ginger and turmeric, if you want it a little spicy
You can eat it warm of cold and add some pomegranate, roasted almond flakes, diced cucumber and feta (or marinated tofu if vegan) to have it as a salad.
If you are a banana bread lover like me, but want to change… sometimes… you should try this coconut loaf.
I hear you say: “I don’t like coconut flavor”, “I don’t like coconut texture”, ….
Well this loaf is super moist, has the perfect crust and does not taste like coconut at all 🙂
I eat it for breakfast or as a treat for snacking. It is not fat free for sure 🙂 uses no refined sugar (an very low in sugar actually), made with ancient wholegrain spelt that has more nutrient and fibres than wholewheat flour. And most importantly it is really delicious.
Recipe can be accessed using the link below.
If you are reading this post, it probably means you have seen my Insta post today an are craving for some seriously creamy Thai flavored carrot soup !
100 vegan, gluten free, flavorful and done in 20 min in your Thermomix or high speed blender !
Add some flatbread toasts with bean houmous or some spiced grilled tofu and you have a perfectly balanced meal !
Why would you consider having anything else for lunch 🙂 ?
I put the recipe just below for you to try it when you feel like it.
As always, share any feedbacks. Makes me happy to read you 🙂 !
Recipe: for 4 pax
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup white onion
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 450 grs chopped carrots
- 1 to 1,5 cup vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 to 2 tbsp red curry paste (adjust depending on how spiced you like you it 🙂
- 1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp sriracha sauce (or more depending how sensitive you are to spices 🙂
- 1/2 tsp lime zest
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Directions:
-
Heat up medium low a large pan, add the coconut oil, then the onions. Cook until translucent (roughly 7/8 minutes). Then add, spices and garlic. Cook for 1 min, then add salt and cook for 1 more min
-
Add the carrots and cook for 1 minute.
-
Add the broth (1 cup only at this stage) and sesame oil, bring to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Blend everything
- Add the peanut butter and blend until super smooth. Add more broth to adjust the texture as you like it. Taste and adjust spices, and salt if needed.
- Serve hot in bowls, topped with crushed peanuts, coconut yogurt, chili flakes and shirasha sauce and some cilantro and thai basil.
Enjoy ! (can be kept for 2 days on fridge or frozen once totally cooled down)
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 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 🙂
Yesterday I realized I hadn’t baked granola for such a long time !
As I had just dehydrated some pineapple and mangoes I thought I’d change and make a sunny roasted granola using those beauties and lots of seeds !
Granola is so easy. Once you have the basic recipe you can make any kind of variation. And it is so much healthier as you know what you have put inside and in this case, use almost no additional sweetener and only 2 tbsp coconut oil !
This granola ended up being super crusty and full of exotic vibes.
Try it for yourself and enjoy it as a snack or with your yogurt / fruits 🙂
A little tired today and feeling I need to fix my sugar cravings with healthy snacks. Bliss balls are my go to treat in that case. Energy packed and sweet, they are so satisfying…
I opted to make this variation which is date free and full of various seeds to maximise good nutritious elements from seeds and nut butter vs carb from dates.
Are you in the mood for crumbly crunchy chewy nutty bliss balls ? Follow the link below and enjoy 🙂