Chocolate-Almond Chia Pudding.

I've long been a fan of chia pudding, but I must confess, in the past I've strictly eaten it as a breakfast food. It also kind of bothers me that the texture of chia pudding turns many people away from trying or eating it. I guess I somewhat can understand given traditional chia pudding does sort of look and feel like fish eggs, which is obviously mildly unappetising. So, I set out to solve those two problems with the objective of making a nutritious chia pudding dessert that didn't look like a glass full of fish eggs.

It came to me in a dream that I should try blending the chia pudding, and oh my, what a stroke of genius! By blending the chia pudding, it becomes creamy, smooth and delicious, especially so when completed with some almond butter and cacao. You can really use any nut butter you wish, though if you've been here a while, you'll know that chocolate and almond is, and will always be, my all-time fav, so here's yet another recipe that we can file under 'choc-almond obsession'!

Ingredients;
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp almond butter
2 tsp raw cacao powder
2 tbsp maple syrup

1. In a bowl, mix the chia seeds and almond milk together. Place in the fridge overnight to set.
2. The following day, remove the chia pudding from the fridge and mix well. Scoop the pudding out into a blender and add in the almond butter, cacao powder and maple syrup. Blend together well (approx. 2 minutes).
3. To serve, scoop the choc-almond pudding out into the bottom of a glass/jar. Sprinkle with some crunchy granola and fresh berries. Enjoy!

Middle Eastern Mixed Grain Salad.

My new addiction in life is salads made with quinoa as the base. Quinoa is perhaps an unconventional ingredient for the base of a salad, with many people opting for something drab like lettuce, but here at The Orange Kitchen I'm all about doing the strange, wonderful and different, and after some experimentation, I'm delighted to announce that quinoa is now my go-to salad ingredient.

Quinoa is very fun. It's a grain that was originally grown in South America by the Ancient Andean civilisations and their descendants, and nowadays it is an 'it' food (mostly still grown in South America). Despite most commonly being used as a grain or grain substitute, quinoa actually belongs to the same family as beets, chard and spinach, which is totally wild and mildly bizarre. Quinoa has twice the protein content of rice or barley, as well as lots of calcium, magnesium and manganese plus some B vitamins, vitamin E and oodles of fibre, which essentially means that nutritionally, it is GOOOOOOOOOOOOD stuff. It's also wheat-free, so great for all the gluten intolerant people and their friends out there and it contains all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein!

This salad has some particularly special inspiration; I owe a big thank you to my dear friend Katie for bringing the concept for this salad into my life. This particular recipe was inspired by a salad Katie introduced me to, the link to which you can find here - which I then adapted to my personal tastes and preferences, using my experiences whilst travelling in the Middle East, namely Jordan, in August 2016 as further inspiration to keep things mostly authentic!

Anyway. Now you've got your nutrition fun facts, I'll just leave you with one final comment.

This salad is delicious, perfect for sharing (good to bring along to a dinner party!!!) and you should make it ASAP!

Ingredients;
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
425gm can lentils, drained and rinsed well with cold water
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (approx. 1 cup packed)
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped (approx. 1 cup packed)
Seeds from 1 pomegranate*
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup pecan nuts
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp chilli flakes (optional, though highly recommended)
Cracked black pepper

Dressing
1 lemon, juiced
1 avocado
2 tbsp rice malt syrup
2 tsp tahini

(*see notes at bottom of recipe for tips on how to cut a pomegranate to get the seeds)

1. Cook the quinoa as per packet instructions. When cooked, drain and rinse with cold water.
2. Add the cooked quinoa, washed lentils, finely chopped parsley and coriander plus the chilli flakes and a generous helping of cracked black pepper to a large bowl and mix through until well combined.
3. Turn the grill of your oven on. Spread the pine nuts, pecans and roughly chopped pistachio nuts over a baking tray and lightly grill (only a minute or so, being VERY careful not to burn them), until the pine nuts just start to lightly brown. Warning; the nuts will cook quickly under a hot grill, so when I say be careful, I really do mean BE CAREFUL.
4. When the nuts are lightly cooked, add them to the bowl along with the other mixed ingredients. Add in the pomegranate seeds and dried cranberries plus the olive oil and juice from one lemon, then mix everything through well so it's all fully combined and delicious-looking!
5. Take a blender and add in the flesh from an avocado, the juice of a lemon, the rice malt syrup and tahini. Blend until well combined. I like my dressing to be a little more on the liquid side, so at this stage I add in some water, approx. 2-3 tbsp (depending on the size of the avocado), in very small amounts until I achieve the consistency I want. Adding water is entirely optional.

To serve, put the salad in a big, fun bowl and the dressing in a smaller bowl alongside so people can help themselves to the dressing. The salad tastes delicious on it's own, so dressing is entirely optional, though definitely tastes 11/10 too! Enjoy!

* to get the seeds from a pomegranate, I recommend following these steps;
Take the pomegranate in one hand and a sharp knife in the other. With particular care, carefully cut around the pomegranate at the widest point, ONLY through the skin of the fruit (approx. 2-3mm deep).
When the skin is fully cut through, carefully twist the separate sides of the fruit away from each other, and the pomegranate should come apart.
Pick the individual seeds away from the white flesh of the fruit, only keeping the red kernels and discarding any white bits.

Thai Pumpkin Soup.

As a child, I hated pumpkin soup. Try as my parents and nan would, pumpkin soup never made it's way anywhere close to my mouth. Truth be told, I wasn't a fan of soup of any variety very much at all, with the exception of tomato soup when I was really young, but after a while that too went on the list of 'eww' foods. Did I have any valid or justifiable reason for hating soup? Absolutely not. But hey - when you're a kid, having legitimate reasons for your actions isn't important.

Anyhow. I then moved to Canberra (a very cold place in the winter), and later on London, UK and Berlin, Germany (especially cold places, particularly Berlin) and low-and-behold, I came to love soup. I mean, it doesn't take much logic thought to put together that when it's cold, as in snow-on-ground/frost-in-air/still-in-pajamas-at-lunchtime weather, hot soup definitely hits the spot.

I'm also a big fan of chilli, which is particularly fortune given when you're a little heavy handed on the red stuff, that in itself will generate a fair amount of heat. Perhaps chilli isn't to everyone's fancy, and if you're not keen, simply reduce the amount I suggest in this recipe, but I personally think the chilli adds a beautiful flavour to the pumpkin soup and it's heat is definitely softened by the use of coconut milk. On that - perhaps it sounds mildly insane to put coconut milk in your soup, but TRUST ME, it is a life-changing addition. A stroke a genius one might say, and the absolutely perfect thing to add in a delightful creaminess and wholesomeness to an already wholesome recipe!

Ingredients;
1kg pumpkin (approx. half butternut pumpkin)
3 tbsp olive oil
Mixed dried herbs
2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 tsp minced chilli

1 onion, diced
4 stalks celery, leaves removed and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup coconut milk

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Dice the pumpkin into smallish cube-sized pieces (approx. 2cm x 2cm). Spread the pumpkin over a lined baking tray, then drizzle with olive oil, mixed herbs, minced garlic and minced chilli. Mix through well, making sure that the pumpkin is fully and evenly coated, then roast for approx. 40 minutes, turning halfway through.
3. In a large pot, cook the diced onion and celery with some olive oil until cooked through/the onion begins to become transparent. When cooked, add in the roasted pumpkin, vegetable stock and coconut milk. Use a stick blender to mix until completely smooth (no lumpy bits!) Alternatively, if you don't have a stick blender, after cooking the onion and celery, transfer them to a regular blender, add in the pumpkin, stock and coconut milk and blend that way.
4. Serve piping hot with some fresh coyo (recipe here), sprouts, fresh coriander leaves, sliced shallots, cracked black pepper and some extra chilli (if you're game!). Enjoy!