Pad Thai.

If you're an avid follower of The Orange Kitchen (as I imagine everyone is), then you might just be pursing your lips right at this moment and thinking that I already have a Pad Thai recipe on this site, so why in the world am I 'wasting' my time in making another one.

Well. Here's the thing. I am a firm believer that you cannot ever have too much of a good thing. And, Pad Thai absolutely makes the criteria for a good thing, so for all you know this post could be the second of many, many more.

There's also a second part to this two-part Pad Thai story which is a bit of a personal sore point but perhaps important in understanding the Pad Thai excess (which is by no means a bad thing!). Let me tell you a sad little story about my mum. I love her dearly, but my mother has an overwhelming hatred of peanut butter. As you can probably well imagine, this is definitely a point of disagreement in our family because if there were ever a true peanut butter enthusiast, then that person would undoubtedly be me. Do not ask me how someone can hate peanut butter because I do not, and will never understand, but for what ever reasons, my mum and the PB are not friends. The sole upside of this situation is that I get to eat more peanut butter because there is less demand for it in the house.

As you might have noted, I do not love peanut butter. No, no. I live for peanut butter. I am 105% unashamedly addicted to peanut butter. In my mind it is the culmination of all good things, and quite possibly the meaning of life itself. I put peanut butter in effectively everything. I'm talking on bread, in noodles, on top of salads, on a spoon with a beeline to my mouth, in chocolate, on celery. You name it and I almost guarantee that I will eat peanut butter with it. This obviously causes a significant problem for my mum. Since learning to cook, and subsequently falling in love with the kitchen and making things, I do most of the cooking when I'm at home. The fall out of this is that my family either learn to share in my peanut butter addiction, or make their own dinner! My mum is quite a busy person and frequently finds herself with not a whole lot of time to make dinner, so it is quite the convenient blessing when I gladly offer to do it instead, especially when I mention that I am making the holy grail of all foods - Pad Thai.

Mum and I looooooooooove Pad Thai. Actually, we love Pad Thai so much that we took a trip to Thailand in 2015 which was primarily motivated by a desire to eat actual Thai Pad Thai. It was, one might say, a delightful trip with maximum culinary satisfaction.

Because I love peanut butter, and I love Pad Thai, I of course consider it entirely acceptable to put peanut butter in my Pad Thai. This combination is perhaps a little lacking on the authenticity front, but heck does it taste good. If you ask my mum though, she would disagree. Now, because I love a challenge, and also Pad Thai, I decided that I would create mum's favourite dish, sans PB. So, this one is for you mum and I hope you enjoy it and all its peanut butter-free goodness!

(P.S. If you do love peanut butter though, my Raw Vegan Pad Thai is also the bomb diggity! Why have one Pad Thai when you could have two?!)

Ingredients;

1 packet rice noodles
1 brown onion
1 tbsp sesame oil
Approx. 10 pieces broccolini/1 head of broccoli
1/2 carrot, julianne sliced, or cut into very thin strips, kind of like spaghetti
1/4 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 shallots (spring onions)
1 cup bean shoots
125gm marinated tofu (I do mine overnight in tamari)

1. Cook the rice noodles as per packet instructions.
2. Dice the onion and cook with the sesame oil in a large fry pan until lightly browned.
3. While the onion is cooking, prepare the sauce as per the instructions below!
4. Chop the broccolini into rough thirds and add to the fry pan when the onion is browned. Cook for a few minutes, then add in the sliced carrot, red cabbage, bean shoots and sliced shallots.
5. In a separate pan, heat some sesame seed oil over high heat. I like crispy tofu, so I coat my marinated tofu in cornflower before cooking, but that's an entirely optional step! Add the tofu into the pan and cook for a few minutes on both sides. When cooked, pat down with paper towel to get rid of any excess oil, chop and add to the larger pan along with the noodles and veggies.

The Sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced chilli
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp coconut sugar
6 tbsp tamari (or reduced salt soy sauce if gluten isn't an issue)
Juice of 1 lime

1. Add all the sauce ingredients to a small bowl and mix well using a fork.
2. Drain the now cooked rice noodles, and add to the pan along with the sauce. Give everything a good mix around to make sure the sauce spreads evenly throughout and then serve garnished with some fresh herbs and nuts (optional). Enjoy your handiwork!

To Serve (optional)
Handful of fresh coriander leaves
Handful fresh Thai basil leaves
Roughly chopped cashews/peanuts

(N.B. This recipe serves 2-3 people)

Raw Vegan Caramel Slice.

Caramel slice is typically one of the most unhealthy desserts that you can get. In actual fact, my mother deemed it so unhealthy that I only made caramel slice once throughout my childhood and that was only after much pleading and begging. It was a bit disappointing really because even though I could see why that caramel slice might have tasted delicious should it have had slightly less sugar, I personally found it overwhelmingly sweet to the point that it was almost sickly. Lucky for mum this meant I never asked to make caramel slice again, so she won that battle!

Fast forward a few years and I have a lot better understanding of food and health, my own kitchen, and an insatiable desire to create. So, rather gleefully I decided to take upon the challenge of giving caramel slice a healthy facelift, and, in my opinion, achieved great success!

This slice has it all. Its got a delicious biscuit-like base, gooey and smooth caramel centre and - the literal icing on the cake - is a raw chocolate topping. Most importantly, this slice has no refined sugar, is mostly oil free (apart from the chocolate topping), dairy free, gluten free and absolutely loaded with nutritious nuts, dates and coconut. This is absolutely one of my personal favourites from the desserts that I have created which is really saying something because I love them all so much! I have no doubt that this slice will become a frequent creation in my kitchen! As always with desserts, this one isn't a 'health food' when you eat the whole thing at once, and moderation is key! (This is very much testing my personal constraint right now FYI.)

Ingredients;

The Base
1 cup raw (natural) almonds
10 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup shredded/desiccated coconut
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean pod

1. Put all the ingredients above in a blender and blend until well combined. This will require persistence, however eventually you will end up with a cookie dough like consistency. Basically blend until the almonds are no longer chunky!
2. Take a bread loaf dish (you could also use any kind of regular cake dish, just depends on what shape you want the end product to be!) and line it with parchment (baking paper). Use a spoon to get the base mixture out of the blender and then spread it evenly across the bottom of the lined tin. Use a spoon to make sure the base is really well pressed in, especially in the corners! Place in the freezer while you make the filling.

The Filling
1 cup cashew nuts, soaked overnight
10 medjool dates, pitted
400ml coconut cream (full-fat version - the low-fat one won't be as creamy)
4 tbsp rice malt syrup
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean pod
3 tbsp maple syrup

1. Drain the cashew nuts, and then add all the filling ingredients into a blender and absolutely blend the heck out of them! I blended mine for about 8 minutes - you want a really smooth mixture that isn't gritty from the nuts at all, so keep on blending away until it literally resembles gooey, melted caramel!
2. Remove the mould with the base from the freezer and pour the filling in over the top. Place in the fridge overnight to firm up.

The Chocolate Topping 
6 tbsp coconut oil (melted/in liquid form)
7 tbsp pure maple syrup
5 tbsp raw cacao powder
*N.B. these amounts may require some adjustment, and I personally often base my mixture from these amounts and slightly add either more cacao powder or maple syrup depending on the consistency I get.

1. In a bowl, combine all the chocolate ingredients. You might need to adjust things slightly - for example I added in a little more raw cacao powder to thicken the chocolate a little. If you do need to thicken or thin it, only add small amounts at a time otherwise you'll kinda just end up with a bit of a mess!
2. Remove the caramel slice from the fridge and spread the chocolate topping over the top. Be gently because the slice won't be hard so if you press down on it you'll create a mess!
3. Place the slice in the freezer overnight to fully set.
4. When serving, remove from the freezer 30 mins prior and allow to soften slightly. Slice with a sharp knife and then eat your heart out on this caramel goodness!

Raw Vegan Pad Thai.

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Pad Thai. This love extends to the point that if I were stranded on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and there was a singular food dish that I could have, it would without a doubt be Pad Thai. My obsession with Pad Thai actually extends to the point that it frequently drives my friends insane because if I'm ever out for dinner with them, I will inevitably suggest and be 100% in favour of a Thai restaurant. I mean, who the heck wants to go out and pay money for a meal and not eat their favourite thing?!

But one very, very sad day something happened that forever changed Pad Thai for me. One of my friends linked me an article that listed the top ten nutritionally 'bad' restaurant dishes. Guess who took out the number one position? You guessed it, my baby, Pad Thai. Looking into things a bit further (I was not going to accept that it was nutritionally terrible without a fight!), a generic restaurant Pad Thai is actually loaded with calories which predominately come from processed salts, oils and sugars. However, the main issue with a standard restaurant Pad Thai is the serving size. In general, your average plate of Pad Thai is actually intended for two, but realistically who the heck ever thinks about that?! If you put a plate of yum in front of me, I'm damn well going to eat that entire plate.

So, that little debacle in the back of my mind, I set out to create a Pad Thai that was foremost delicious, but also full of fresh, colourful vegetables, would be a light and refreshing meal for a hot summer night and, very importantly, a dish that I could eat as much as I wanted of and have no need for guilt. That's where this recipe comes in. Instead of using oils and salts and other unnecessary and unhealthy ingredients, my raw vegan version of this dish uses a whole heap of fresh vegetables, herbs, and beans along with a downright delicious sauce that is flavoured only with natural ingredients.

This dish has absolutely become one of my all time favourites. Like, you know you've made something damn well when you're still thinking about how good it was five days after you finished eating the leftovers! Actually that's a lie. There's rarely five days between me finishing the leftovers and me having made another batch entirely!!!!

Ingredients;

1 zucchini (courgette)
1 carrot
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup green cabbage
1/2 red capsicum(pepper)
1 cup bean shoots
3 shallots
Handful fresh mint
Handful fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 cup edamame beans
1 corn cob (raw)
Sesame seeds

1. Use a Julianne peeler to turn the carrot and zucchini into long, thin, noodle like strips. When you've sliced all the carrot and zucchini, put them in a big bowl. If you don't own a Julianne slicer, you can use a sharp knife to cut the vegetables up, however I would really recommend a slicer. I personally use mine all the time - almost every day - and a good peeler is less than $20 at most homewares shops!
2. Slice the cabbage and capsicum up into thin strips and add to the bowl with the carrot and zucchini along with the bean shoots.
3. Slice the kernels away from the corn cob, and slice the shallots up. Add to the bowl with the other vegetables as well as the coriander and mint.
4. If your edamame beans need to be peeled to get the individual beans out, then peel away.
5. Use some tongs (or clean hands) to mix the vegetables up and then serve up into bowls. Top with the edamame beans and a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds. This will serve 2 - 3 people depending on how hungry you are! The, make the sauce, as below.

Dressing
2 tbsp pure peanut butter
2 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce
Rind of 1/2 lime
1 lime, juiced
2 tbsp water
1/2 small red chilli

1. Take a small container that has a tight fitting lid. Put all the ingredients listed above, except for the chilli, into said container. Put the lid on and shake that container like its the last thing you'll ever do! You want to make sure that the peanut butter has fully mixed in with the other ingredients and there are no chunky bits!
2. Thinly slice the chilli.
3. When ready to serve, pour the sauce over the raw vegetables and garnish with the sliced chilli.
4. EAT YOUR HEART OUT ON ALL THAT VEGETABLE GOODNESS!!!!

Raw Vegan Coconut and Raspberry Slice.

I kinda maybe just perhaps have an addiction to raspberries. By this, what I mean to say is that I can easily eat 1.5kgs of fresh or frozen raspberries a week. Because of this, I have discovered a multitude of ways in which raspberries can be eaten (in smoothies, on cakes, on overnight oats, in porridge, by themselves, and the list continues) but quite possibly my favourite way to eat raspberries is with coconut because coconut is delicious and raspberries are delicious and everybody knows that when you take two delicious things and put them together you get WOWZA.

Ingredients;

The Base.
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw macadamias
8 medjool dates, pitted
2 tbsp rice malt syrup (this can be omitted, although I personally prefer it in the mix)

1. Put all the above ingredients in a blender and whizz the heck out of that until you get a crumbly mixture that, if you rolled it into a small ball between your palms, would hold its shape. Do not over blend because you'll kinda end up with a strange nutty butter that will taste good but not necessarily work well as a base.
2. When blended to the perfect slice base consistency, take a square/rectangle cake tin and line it with some baking paper/parchment. Then, spoon the base mixture out of the blender and spread it in the tin, using a spoon to press down the corners and edges particularly well. You want an entirely flat base!
3. Put the tin in the freezer while you make the filling!

The Filling.
3 cups shredded coconut (desiccated also works)
1 cup organic coconut cream (full fat)
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 vanilla bean pods (or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste)

1. In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients together. 
2. Remove the tin with the base from the freezer and spoon the filling in over the top. Use a spoon or spatula to spread it evenly, again making sure its smooth. 
3. Return the slice to the freezer overnight. 

The Raspberry Topping.
1 1/2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen work)
2 tbsp rice malt syrup
2 tbsp chia seeds

1. Blend up the above ingredients. Remove the slice from the freezer and spread the raspberry 'jam' on top. Put back in the freezer for a few hours and then, approx. 30 minutes before you want to serve, remove from the freezer to allow to thaw somewhat. Slice up, top withs one extra raspberries and coconut and enjoy the fruits of your hard work!