Everyone loves lasagne, but let’s face it, most store bought and even homemade versions are loaded with refined carbohydrates, saturated fat and salt.  Don’t despair… I have something very exciting to share with you!  Last week I set to creating a low-fat, vegetarian version of this well-loved, traditional Italian dish.  The result, a decadent pumpkin & sage lasagne that has few of the nasties listed above and still tastes amazing!  You can have your lasagne and eat it too!

Pumpkins are currently in season in Queensland, and you should be able to find few different varieties at your local fruit & veg shop.  Butternut and Jap pumpkin will work best in this recipe as they have a rich, creamy flavour and a velvety texture when roasted. Pumpkins are rich in vitamins C which helps to strengthen the immune system, this is very important coming into winter.  Tomatoes, which are used in the sweet, aromatic sauce are rich in antioxidants.  Antioxidants have a number of known health benefits including caner protection.

There is nothing more satisfying than making your own pasta, which I have done for this dish.  If you are time poor, never fear, you can achieve excellent results in a very short amount of time using a food processor.  I have used a very small amount of mozzarella  cheese to finish of the lasagne, but this is completely optional, you could also add ricotta cheese, infused with lemon zest between each layer if you wanted to.

Pumpkin & Sage Lasagne

Pumpkin Filling:

• 1 whole large Jap pumpkin or 2-3 medium sized Butternut pumpkins, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt + pepper
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch nutmeg

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 x 420gm can diced tomatoes
• salt + pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 onion, chopped
•  clove garlic, crushed
• 1 cup natural vegetable stock

Pasta:

• 500gm stone-ground wholemeal flour (you can use plain white flour if you prefer)
• 5 large free-range eggs
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

To finish:

•  1 cup mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup pepitas
• Extra sage leaves to garnish

1.    Make the Pasta

Place the flour on a clean work surface and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the well and add the oil and salt.  Use your fingers to gently mix the eggs, bringing in the flour from the sides.  Continue to stir and knead the dough until the flour is incorporated.  At this point, if you wish, you can place the mixture into a food processor a pulse repeatedly for 2 minutes, alternatively, knead the dough with your hands on a floured surface for 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic, you will notice a change in the texture – see the image below.  Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.

Once rested, divide the dough into small, workable portions and carefully run each portion through a pasta machine, starting on the widest setting and working your way down through each.

Note: My pasta machines widest setting is 0, and thinnest is 9, I like my pasta sheets a little thicker when I make lasagne so I stopped at 7. 

Cut pasta sheets to size and sprinkle flour between each sheet, gently layering them on top of each other.  Cover and set aside until ready to use.

2.     Roast the Pumpkin

Preheat oven to 180°c.

In a bowl combine rosemary, thyme, sage, olive oil, salt, pepper, maple syrup, garlic and nutmeg.  Add chopped pumpkin and toss to coat.  Place in a baking tray and roast for 40 minutes or until golden and tender.  When ready, remove from oven and allow to cool.

3.      Make the Sauce

Place a deep pan over a medium heat, add olive oil, chopped onions and garlic.  Fry gently until aromatic and translucent.  Add tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, oregano and vegetable stock and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, the sauce should thicken and reduce by about half.  When ready, remove from heat and allow to cool.  Place the sauce into a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.

4.      Assemble and Bake the Lasagne

Lightly grease a large lasagne tray with olive oil.  Place a layer of roasted pumpkin on the bottom of the tray, cover with tomato sauce and a lasagne sheet.  Repeat this process until you have used all of the pumpkin and tomato sauce, finish with tomato sauce.  You should have at least four layers - this will depend on the size of your lasagne dish.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, sage leaves and pepitas and bake in a 160° oven for 30-40 minutes.

Serve with a beautiful, fresh garden salad and fresh, crusty bread rolls.

I love to cook and I love to grow my own food, nothing is more satisfying than preparing a meal with fresh ingredients picked straight from the garden.  I spent the Easter weekend in a beautiful, untouched part of this country, a place I couldn’t even find on a map! We travelled for an hour through the burbs, then three hours through ever-changing landscapes – rolling mountains, rainforest and grassy plains before finally arriving at our destination, Ewingar.

My husband’s gorgeous cousin (and fellow foodie!) lives here with her husband and three beautiful children.   They source their power from solar panels, natural gas and a generator. Free-range chickens dig happily for grubs, wild birds feed on the native plants and fruit trees grow in abundance – macadamia nuts, mangoes, custard apples, cherries, mangoes, apples, kaffir lime, lemonades, birdeye chillies and coffee Arabica… it is paradise.

I was inspired to say the least, this style of sustainable living is one that I aspire to.  There is still a lot of work to be done on the property and we hope to spend a month or so there at the end of the year helping out.  One of the most memorable features of the property was a stone bath house with a claw foot bath – I can’t even begin to image how beautiful this would be if restored to its former glory.

I couldn’t leave without filling a bag with kaffir limes leaves and chillies and a day hasn’t passed since I left that I haven’t used one or both of these ingredients in a recipe.  Tonight I recreated a dish that we had this Chinese New Year at one of my favourite Asia fusion restaurants – salt + pepper mushrooms, enjoy xx

Salt + Pepper Mushrooms w/Birdeye Chillies

Ingredients:

• 500gms Button Mushrooms
• 1 egg
• ½ cup cornflour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 3 birdseye chillies, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1cm piece ginger, finely grated
• ¼ cup oil (coconut, rice bran or grape seed)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Coriander and extra chillies for garnish

Method:

Crack egg into a large bowl and whisk lightly.  Cut mushrooms in half and add to egg, coat well.  Transfer mushrooms to a separate bowl with cornflour and toss gently to coat.

Heat oils in a wok until just smoking and add salt, pepper, thyme leaves, chillies, garlic and ginger, fry for 30 seconds.  Add mushrooms and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until crispy on the outside.  Transfer to a bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and extra chillies.  Serve with steamed rice and Asian greens.

This could quite possibly be the shortest post I’ve ever written!  I think I over-committed today… this is becoming a habit!  On the Facebook page this morning I promised you all a St Patty’s post with Guinness Pie and staying true to my word I have delivered…  The photo’s are not fabulous (I had to shoot in artificial light), but the pie is delish!  Serve with lashings of piping hot potato mash and blanched green beans for a vegetarian friendly St Patty’s treat.

Please note the title above – ‘not’ Guinness Pie.  I had intended to make a Guinness Pie, much like the traditional version however discovered that Guinness is not veg friendly, luckily I sourced two stouts that are, Cascade Stout and Coopers – both very tasty. Enjoy, Happy St Patty’s Day xx

‘not’ Guinness Pie

• Ingredients:
• 1 pack prepared puff pastry (yes I cheated!)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 50gm butter or vegan substitue
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 200gms mushrooms
• 1 cup brown lentils (soaked for 2 hours or overnight)
• 375m stout beer
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• fresh parsley
• salt & pepper
• egg & milk to glaze (whisk together 1 egg & 1 tablespoon milk)

Method:

Heat a large saute pan to medium heat, add the oil and butter and stir gently until the butter has melted.  Add chopped onions and leeks and cook until translucent.  Add mushrooms and cook for five minutes before stirring in the plain flour.  Add stout, stock, lentils and tomato paste and mix well.  Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  When lentils are tender add the fresh parsley and season with salt & pepper.

Preheat oven to 180°c.  Turn a large pie dish upside down onto a sheet of puff pastry and trace around the edges of the dish with a knife to make the pie lid.  Turn the pie dish right way up and use a pastry brush to coat it with a small amount of oil, then lay a separate sheet of pastry over the base.  Trim around the edges so as not to leave overhang.  Take the prepared pie mix and pour into the pie dish, gently place the top on and seal the edges.  Trim any unsightly pastry from the edge of the dish.  Use a fork or a sharp knife to pierce a few air holes into the top of the pie, then brush over the egg wash  and pop it into the preheated oven.  Cook for 30 minutes, or until golden.

My beautiful husband celebrated his 34^th birthday yesterday and I made him this delicious raw chocolate mousse cake with raspberry cream.  This was my first attempt at an original raw dessert and I was super excited with the result.  I have a new found love for raw food following my 30 day raw food detox in early 2012 which I didn’t complete, lasting only 10 days (still a pretty good effort for a first timer).  Since then I have educated myself and started experimenting more with raw food recipes – primarily, sweet ones!  I am amazed at the flavours and textures that can be achieved with raw ingredients and I have been stocking my pantry with super healthy ingredients like coconut oil, agave nectar (an ingredient I have always been afraid of), dried fruits, nuts and seeds.   This week I have made Raw Chocolate Dipped Caramel Cookies, Raw Energy Bars and this scrumptious cake – raw foodie heaven.

On a different note it has been quiet a stressful week in my house (for a variety of reasons) and I have been working very hard to keep my focus on all of the positives.  I am a Piscean and am somewhat emotional, nevertheless I have always considered myself an optimist, seeing the light in the darkest of situations.  Thursday’s full moon knocked me for six and I ended up an emotional mess, sobbing uncontrollably on my lounge room floor overcome with feelings of hopelessness (thank you to my beautiful sister for your support during this awful time).  I have been through tough times before throughout my life and have never really felt as terrible as I did earlier this week, upon reflection I could only tie my emotional breakdown with the power of the full moon.  For me, this experience reinforced the importance of daily spiritual practice as a means of staying grounded, I believe as living beings we are connected to all of the energy in the universe and beyond.   I meditate on almost a daily basis and attend Yoga classes regularly – I could not function without either.  I think everyone should practice meditation, even if only for ten minutes a day – it can help reduce stress and anxiety, heighten spiritual awareness and increase our ability to control and banish negative thoughts.

A few weeks ago I was given some guided meditation CDs by a beautiful friend of mine Joanne Mensforth Ph.D.  Jo recently relocated to Mackay from Brisbane and hopes to establish regular guided meditation classes on Brisbane’s Northside later this year.  She has two CDs, The Waterfall and Golden Orb, they are fabulous!  You can purchase them from her website.  I am very excited to announce that I have one to giveaway to one of you!    To win, all you have to do is leave a comment below.  I will announce winners on Friday March 8.  Jah bless xx

Raw Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Cream

Base

• ¾ cup walnuts
• ¾ cup almonds
• ½ cup dried, shredded coconut
• 10 Medjool dates, pitted
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup cacao powder

Chocolate Mousse

• 4 avocados
• ½ cup agave nectar
• 1 ½ cup cashews
• ½ cup cacao powder

Raspberry Cream Filling

• 1 ½ cup frozen raspberries (thawed)
• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
• ¼ cup coconut oil

plus 1 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries to garnish.

To make base: Place nuts into a food processor and process until fine (don’t over process or you will get nut butter!).  Add coconut, dates, sea salt and cacao powder and process until well combined.  Press the mixture into a 20cm spring form tin.

Chocolate mousse: Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, use a spatula to spread half of the mixture over the base.

Raspberry cream:  Place  all of the ingredients into a food processor and process until combined, spread evenly over the first layer of chocolate mousse.

To finish, gently spread the remaining chocolate mousse mixture over the raspberry cream and top with fresh/frozen raspberries.  Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.

It has been months since I posted an In the Kitchen interview, but it was worth the wait!

February’s guest is the gorgeous Lisa Morris!  Lisa is an artist from Cooroy currently studying at CQU to become a secondary Visual Arts & English Teacher.  Lisa loves to learn!   She is a self confessed nerd who loves National Geographic (tv channel & magazine) and the History Channel. She has also just started a ceramics class focussing on the wheel and throwing bowls, which she loves!  When she isn’t throwing clay or creating artistic masterpieces, Lisa is at the markets or in thrift shops searching for bargains, her most recent purchase… a gorgeous Country Road dress for just $10! She enjoys lazy Sunday morning breakfasts with her boyfriend at the Noosa Farmers Market.  If you are interested in seeing some of Lisa’s work you can contact her via Facebook.

How long have you been a vegetarian and what influenced your choice to become one?

I’ve been vegetarian now for about 5 years, but I’ve never really been a big meat eater. I remember being around 8 years old and telling my mum I didn’t want to eat meat anymore. I think this might have scared her a bit as we were a meat and three veg family, but my beautiful mum stocked the cupboard with lentils and chickpeas and set about making making sure I was eating well.

Do you believe that a vegetarian diet is beneficial to your health?

Absolutely. I’m not up on the science of it but I know how much better I felt in myself when I gave meat away for good.

Have you travelled overseas? If so, what are your most memorable international culinary experiences and your favourite cuisine?

I’ve been to Ireland, Thailand, South America and Indonesia. I loved the food everywhere I went. I had some pretty incredible food at a bull fight in Mexico; My favourite was corn on the cob with amazing spices with lots of Sol to wash it down. I also had an incredible tempeh burger at uluwatu in Bali, again washed down with Bintang.

Which five ingredients can you not live without?

Tell us what your most favourite dish/food is and why?

I love Indian food because of the amazing flavour and the various ingredients. My boyfriend makes incredible authentic indian dishes.

What is the weirdest question you have been asked regarding your choice to be vegetarian?

“You’re a vegetarian? If you don’t eat meat then what the hell do you eat?”, seems to be the most common. I think it’s weird that carnivores believe there is nothing else to eat aside from meat.

 What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about becoming a vegetarian?

Maybe to ease into it and do your research. It’s important that you have a balanced diet and to get the most out of the food you eat, so get yourself some yummy recipes.

Do you enjoy cooking? What influences have contributed to your cooking style?

Not really to be honest. There are a few quick favourites that I’ll whip up but I prefer having someone else cook for me. I really like quick and tasty food, and this would be my major influence. I make salads generally: pasta salad, couscous salad, lentil salad etc.

Have you ever had a culinary disaster in the kitchen?

All the time. My biggest though was when I attempted to make a green chilli salsa. I was desperate to make it after i tried it at my friends house. Her mum was visiting from mexico and she is an amazing cook. I begged for the recipe and gave it a go. It ended in tears, literally. I had raw chilli all over my fingers and I rubbed my eyes- amateur! My eyes were burning, my fingers were burning and it was a mess. I binned it and never tried again it was such a disaster.

Will you share with us your favourite recipe?

Lentil & Haloumi salad

Ingredients:

• 200g Haloumi cheese
• 1 tin of lentils, drained and washed
• 1 lemon
• 1 Lebanese cucumber
• 1 pun net cherry tomatoes
• 1 bunch each of coriander & parsley *I use curly parsley from my garden but any variety will do.

Method:

Drain the lentils in a colander and rinse. Add these to a medium sized bowl.

Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and season with some salt- this makes the tomatoes juicier. Then slice the cucumber into pieces around the same size as the tomatoes and add these to the lentils.

Finely chop the coriander and parsley and add to the bowl. *I do the whole bunch but its upto you how much flavour you want.

The haloumi is usually in a thick slab (around 2cm). i like to Cut into slabs, down the centre of the block, and then halve the slabs down the sides to make them thinner. You should end up with 4 slabs about 1cm thick. Grill or fry them on a dry pan, trust me you won’t need oil, until they are golden on each side. Cut the slabs into small cubes (2cm x2cm) and add to the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top and mix the salad around. Serve straight away.

It’s that time of year again – the day we are supposed to spend big dollars on that special someone to show them just how much we love them – pfft!  I am a romantic at heart, but the growing commercial hype of Valentines Day is slowly killing it for me.  Why can’t we do something nice for the one we love everyday?… I’m sure there are plenty of you out there that do

All gripes aside, I have not yet become a complete Valentines scrooge.  This year however I am saving my pennies and cooking for my love – I love to cook, he loves to eat.  Last year at the Enrich Food and Wine show Anna Gare made some gorgeous heart shaped sushi rolls, they were so cute and I have been dying for the opportunity to make them.  It was a little bit of trial and error (it has been so long since the food show and I couldn’t remember exactly how Anna made them), but after a few obscure, semi oblong shaped pieces – success!

Happy Valentines Day xo

Heart Shaped Sushi for Valentines Day w/Fingerlime Pearls & Wasabi Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

• Nori rolls (I used 4)
• 3 cups sushi rice
• 3 cups water
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• vegetables of choice (I used carrot, red cabbage, avocado, cucumber and capsicum)
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (vegan)
• 1 teaspoon wasabi
• 1 fingerlime
• sushi mat

To make the rice, first wash it thoroughly, then leave to drain for one hour before cooking.  Place rice into a large, heavy-based saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes (alternatively, you can use a rice cooker).  Mix together the rice vinegar and sugar.  Pour cooked rice out into a wide (preferably wooden) bowl, and gently pour over the vinegar mixture using the back of a spoon to evenly distribute over the top of the rice.  Next, use a small fan to cool the rice as you gently mix through the vinegar/sugar using a slicing/chopping motion.  When the rice has completely cooled, it is time to assemble the sushi.

Slice your vegetables into evenly sized pieces.  Place a nori roll onto a sushi mat, take a handful of rice and using wet hands slowly cover the nori leaving a 1 inch gap at the end.  The sushi rice should be about 1cm thick.  Line your vegetables across the middle of the rice, taking care not to overfill.  Place your fingers at the rice covered end of the sushi roll, and your thumbs under the mat, slowly lift the mat and roll the sushi up, using your fingers to gently push against the roll to keep it tight as you go.  When you get to the end, use your fingers and some water to gently wet the exposed nori and use it to seal the sushi roll.  Next, keeping the sushi inside the mat for support use your curved palms to gently push down on sushi roll, flattening one edge against the bench top or table, use your thumbs to push down on the end of the roll and form a point.  Peek through the open end of the mat, the sushi should look like half a heart, or a teardrop shape.  When you are happy with the shape, remove the sushi roll. Use a wet, serrated knife to cut off the untidy ends.  Slice the sushi into 1 – 1.5cm pieces.  Take two pieces, wet the flat side of the nori and stick the flat edges together to form a heart (you can fiddle a little bit at this stage until you are happy with the shape). Repeat this process until you have used up all of the ingredients.

To make the wasabi mayonnaise, mix together mayonnaise and wasabi.  Serve rolls with wasabi mayonnaise, fingerlime pearls, pickled ginger, extra wasabi and lots of love!

xo

What a day! I had reserved today for all the things still lingering on my to-do list, but managed to cross off none of them!…  My three hour shift at work ended up being a six hour shift (which is actually a good thing) – I then spent an hour during school pick-up helping pack-up, spent the afternoon cleaning my house and cooking popcorn and pikelets for four very hungry little girls, got completely engrossed in a very pleasant conversation with a friend whilst dropping home one of the aforementioned girls, got home late and finished cooking dinner (beanie enchilladas!), followed by showers for all, a quick meditation session and finally here I am!  I must say, although I crossed nothing off my list I feel quite accomplished this evening.

Now, finally…. I am very excited to announce Tofudie’s very first giveaway!  The super generous and lovely folk from Curry Traders have generously donated two of their beautiful rubs (Asian & BBQ) and a vegetable korma curry kit (featured here on Tofudie’s pages in April last year) for someone to win! These curry kits are great, you can make authentic, delicious curry in your own kitchen in just a few simple steps.  For you chance to win this awesome little sample pack all you need to do is leave a comment below and share this post on Facebook – best comment wins!

Please don’t despair if you don’t win this week’s giveaway there will be more.  If you want to sample these gorgeous curries pop over to the Curry Traders website, they have loads of different curries and rubs to choose from and you can buy online.  I made the Sri Lankan kit this week using pumpkin & eggplant – check out the recipes below, they really make it simple to cook delicious curry at home.

Sri Lankan Curry

A tomato based full-bodied curry with depth.

Shopping List

• 1 Curry Traders Sri Lankan Curry Kit
• 1kg chopped pumpkin & eggplant (or veggies of your choice)
• ½ tablespoon ginger
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 6 small onions
• 6 large tomatoes or 2 x 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ¼ cup stock (I used organic vegetable stock)
• 1 tablespoon sugar boi
• Bunch fresh coriander

Preparation

Dice vegetables, grate ginger, crush garlic, squeeze lemon, dice onions, roughly chop tomatoes.

How to Make

In a heavy saucepan heat oil over low-medium heat.  Add onions and salt.  Cook for 20 minutes.

Grind contents of Bag 1 in a mortar & pestle.

Add Bag2, garlic and ginger and mix to form a paste.

Stir paste into onions and Bag 3.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Stir in vegetables and cook for a few more minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and sugar.  Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for 45 minutes to an hour, until vegetables are soft.

Stir in lemon juice.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with basmati rice.

I can’t believe it has been a whole year since my very first post!  I am so very excited to have reached such an epic milestone!  I have read so many articles about blogging – most of which say that if you make it through the first year, you are well on your way to success – yippee!  Thank you so much to my newsletter subscriber and to my 175 followers on Facebook – this blog wouldn’t be the same without fans, so I am very grateful and hope that you continue to read my posts and experiment with my recipes.  This year I will be focusing more on the food styling and photography aspect to my blog which means more frequent posts, maybe with a few less words – but for those of you out there that are visual people like me, hopefully you will enjoy it even more now.  I still promise to post one food story a week and In the Kitchen will continue (I have an exciting interview with a guest veggie this week, which I will post later).

To celebrate such an exciting day I baked a delicious lemon, basil and poppy seed cake that I know you will all love.  This cake is super moist, and the subtle basil flavour really takes the traditional old lemon & poppy seed cake to a new level.  Enjoy xo

Lemon, Basil & Poppy Seed Cake

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
• ¾ cup of milk
• ¾ cup fresh basil leaves
• water
• 220g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 185g unsalted butter, softened
• rind from one lemon
• 20cm round cake tin or loaf pan

Icing

• 120g cream cheese, softened
• 60g butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½  cup icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Lightly grease cake tin and line with baking paper.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, blanch basil leaves for a few seconds then transfer to an ice bath.  Place basil and milk into a blender and process until the milk has changed to a beautiful lime green colour, pour through a fine sieve.

Warm the milk slightly, then combine the poppy seeds and milk in a bowl and set aside for 15 minutes.

Use an electric mixer to beat the caster sugar and butter until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Sift the flour and gently fold into the butter mixture gradually, alternate with the poppy seed and milk mix. Finally stir in lemon rind.  Pour the mixture into cake tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, combine cheese, butter and vanilla in a bowl and mix with an electric beater until pale.  Gradually add icing sugar, beating until combined.

In early 2012 I discovered raw food, I set myself a challenge to eat raw for 30 days but didn’t complete it – I only lasted 10 days. I was really disappointed in myself at the time but I now know that moving from a normal diet (well, a vegetarian diet) to a raw vegan diet overnight is not easy, it is just like any other lifestyle change, something you must do gradually.  I have read many articles written by raw foodies, all of whom took a long time to transition from a normal diet to a raw vegan diet, and although I know I could never be exclusively raw, I love the idea of having a 50% raw diet.  I have been experimenting with raw foods now for some time (my favourite raw food bloggers are Amy over at Fragrant Vanilla Cake and Adele @ Vegie Head – both beautiful blogs with amazing food), and this year plan to post many new raw recipes which I am super excited about!  This recipe is my first attempt at my very own original raw recipe.  These little balls of goodness are delicious, and are very simple to make.  Many raw recipes call for ingredients that aren’t in the average household pantry or fridge, but I am confident that most of you will have these ingredients on hand (maybe with the exception of cacao powder, which you can pick up from your local health food shop).

Raw Choc-Orange & Cardamom Truffles

Ingredients (makes 10)

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 cup almonds
• ½ cup walnuts
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1 vanilla pod
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder (plus extra for dusting)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 4 cardamom pods
• pinch of Himalayan sea salt (optional)
• 10 extra almonds

Place dates into a bowl and pour over orange juice, soak for 30 minutes.  Remove seeds from cardamom pods and grind into a find powder using a mortar and pestle.  Put nuts into a food processor and process into a find powder then add dates, orange zest, scrapings from vanilla pod, cacao powder, cardamom spice, sea salt and chia seeds.  Gently pulse processor until all of the ingredients are combined.  If the mixture gets to sticky or bulky for the processor to mix, transfer to a bowl and use a wooden spoon, or better yet – your fingers!

Take 1 tablespoon of the mixture, place and almond in the centre and roll into a ball, gently roll in cacao powder until coated.  Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.

Well it’s taken just over a month, but finally a new post!  Christmas is always a hectic time of year for us – travelling, Christmas shopping, family events, loads of cooking and of course eating…   We spent a week farm-sitting for my Aunt and Uncle in Rathdowney with no internet access or mobile phone reception – it was bliss but needless to say, when we returned to the real world there were hundreds of emails and other technology reliant tasks needing our attention.  I have finally caught up and am back on board and I’m super excited to start the New Year with this sensation tagine recipe.

I bought my tagine from a second hand store a few months ago, and I am totally loving it!  I was a little hesitant to use it at first, learning that many tagines from overseas countries are prepared with lead based paints.  Luckily, mine was made in Portugal and I have confirmed that it is completely safe to cook with – phew!

Before using your tagine for the first time it must be seasoned, to do this submerge it in milk for at least one hour, then rinse, dry and rub the inside of the base and lid with olive oil.  Put the tagine into a cold oven, set the temperature to 150°c and leave it for two hours.  Remove the tagine from the oven and leave to cool.  When it is completely cool wash in warm soapy water – your tagine is now ready to use.

Back in early December I attempted to make preserved lemons for the first time, I am happy to say they were a success and the inspiration for this recipe.  You can serve this dish with rice or couscous, and it is absolutely delicious when topped with a big dollop of Greek yoghurt and fresh parsley.

Potato, Cauliflower & Chickpea Tagine with Olives & Preserved Lemon

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & crushed
• ½ kilo new baby potatoes, washed (skin on) and cut in half
• ½ a head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 420gm tin diced tomatoes
• 420gm tin chickpeas, drained
• ¼ cup green olives
• ½ a preserved lemon, sliced (pith removed)
• ½ cup dates
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh parsley to garnish

If you are new to tagine cooking, heed my warning… Do not please your tagine directly onto a hotplate, it will crack and you will end up with a big mess all over your stove top (ask me how I know this)….  Tagines are designed to be cooked over a slow flame, I don’t have a gas cooktop so I just use our camp cooker or the grill side of the BBQ.

Place your tagine onto an open flame on a low to medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent.  Add spices and potatoes and toss the potatoes gently until they are evenly coated.  Add the tomatoes and place the lid onto the tagine, cook for 15 minutes.  Remove the lid of the tagine (use a tea towel so as not to burn yourself) and add cauliflower, chickpeas, olives, preserved lemon and dates.  Replace the lid and cook for a further 4-45 minutes.