Strawberries and Cream Smoothie Bowl.

In Australia right now, spring is just starting to show it's long-waited-for face and, DELIGHTFULLY, the weather is starting to get slightly warmer, the days are getting longer, there are flowers everywhere and the berries are insanely delicious, all of which makes me incredibly happy!

I don't hate the winter per say, though this year I definitely feel like I've had enough of the cold. I've essentially had 2 winters in one go, albeit with a few short weeks of late summer in between, having returned to Australia from Europe in February. This means I've had winter now for the better part of a year. You could say I've over it, which is why I think I'm particularly thrilled for spring this year and a bit more excited than usual.

Right now I am absolutely in love with all the beautiful, soft pink cherry blossoms all over the place. Ornamental cherry trees are super popular in gardens across south-eastern Australia, so the streets are quite literally lined with pretty pink flowers right now and I have not one single objection to this being the case! Feeling very much inspired by the beautiful pink blooms, as well as the plentiful supply of early-season strawberries available right now, I created this Strawberries and Cream Smoothie Bowl, which in my opinion, very much tastes and looks like spring! It's super simple to whip up, packed full of fruit, so wins the nutrition game and, arguably most importantly, taste's delightful, making it the full package really!

Ingredients; 
3 bananas, peeled and frozen
1/2 cup coconut yoghurt (or coconut milk, though the latter will make the end product less thick and creamy)
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 large handful fresh/frozen strawberries
Pulp from 1 passionfruit (optional)

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and combine until everything is totally mixed in, thick and creamy. (Using a tamper will help, otherwise scrape the sides down until desired consistency is achieved).
2. Scoop out into a bowl and top with some crunchy granola, fresh passionfruit and some extra berries! Enjoy!

(I told you it was super simple!!!)

Pear and Strawberry Summer Salad.

Fact #1; it is not currently summer in Australia, rather it is July, and therefore the middle of winter in the southern hemisphere.

Fact #2; I do not care for the realities of the seasons, and I will make myself a summer salad whenever I so happen to feel like it.

And that friends, is precisely how this particular salad came to be. Right now, I'm 'enjoying' the freezing cold surrounds of Canberra in the depths of winter, very much wishing I was sunning myself on the beaches of Europe like three-quarters of my more fortunate friends seem to be doing. Not me though - I'm working away (making cash monies) in Canberra, being a hermit and watching Netflix. Despite that physical reality though, I've been busy transporting myself to more exotic locations culinarily, experimenting with new flavours, inspired by the things I'm missing most about the warmer weather and foreign adventures. Conveniently, the strawberries in Australia right now also taste spectacular, and being one of my very favourite things about the European summer, I decided to use them to create what I feel, is the flavour of summer in salad form.

Most importantly, this salad is super quick and super easy to put together, which also reminds me of summer because usually in the warmer months I like to spend the absolute minimum amount of time indoors prepping food and maximum time outdoors absorbing all of the sun and basking in the warmth. (Can you tell I miss actual warmth? No? Well I do. Very much so.)

Ingredients;
1 large head fresh green lettuce
1 cucumber
1 pear
1 red onion
1/2 avocado
2 generous handfuls fresh strawberries
4 spring onions/shallots
Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup lightly roasted pine nuts
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Finely slice the cucumber, pear, spring onions and red onion into thin strips. For the cucumber, doing this diagonally works best!
2. Take a large bowl, roughly tear the lettuce leaves up and chuck them in. Add in the finely sliced pear, onion, spring onion and cucumber. Roughly chop the parsley leaves and add them in too, along with the pine nuts.
3. Slice the strawberries and avocado up (for the strawberries, any way works, I like them done in thin slices personally, though quartered also works, and for the avocado, thin slices work best) and add those in too. Mix everything through.
4. Finally, drizzle with balsamic and a teensy-bit of olive oil. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks for Booking Flights.

Somewhere over the ocean between Chiang Mai and Phuket - Thailand (2015).

I like to think that I'm a bit of a guru when it comes to flight booking - a plane ninja if you will.

See, I've always loved planes. As in, I am that mildly strange, semi-nerd friend that will sit next to you on a flight and give you fun facts about the engines, or seating capacity, or list the flight routes that the particular aircraft you're seated on most commonly flies. I used to be somewhat embarrassed by my love of planes, because let's face it, an obsession with planes isn't exactly high up on the list of 'cool' things, but with time and age I've come to wholeheartedly embrace the plane love because a few years back I realised that my love of planes had one very, very beneficial consequence - it made me particularly brilliant at being able to plan and book flights for less money, with better flight times and connections.

I am now the person many friends come to for advice before they book their own holidays, so much so that I consider myself a bit of a pro-bono travel agent. I don't mind in the slightest though, because I not only get to vicariously live my wild and wanderlusting adventures through my friends who I help send off on awesome trips, but I also get to save people money and time, which just makes me feel great and warm and fuzzy inside.

So, without further ado, here are my tips for booking flights!

1. Research you arrival and departure airports.
I cannot stress enough how much research can help you save time, money and stress. I know it seems so obvious, but so many people skimp on actually researching their intended destination and it can mean you end up spending thousands more than you need to.
Wikipedia is my go-to. As most people realise, you can search for everything on Wikipedia, including airports. I always, ALWAYS search for my intended arrival and departure airports on Wikipedia because there's this utterly wonderful section that tells you all the airports you can connect to via flights from each airport. This means you can easily, all on the one site, have access to information about any potential direct flights and airlines you can fly. This information is so helpful, because sometimes individual airlines or flight-search engines will not direct you to the more direct or cheapest flight option available, so it always pays to know from a third-party, namely Wikipedia, what your options might be. Now, keeping in mind that Wikipedia isn't always correct, you may find some direct flights only happen on certain days at certain times of the year, but nevertheless, I recommend to always check the airport on Wikipedia regardless.
Researching your arrival/departure airports on Wikipedia can also provide you with mega-helpful information about accessing that airport and how one goes about that. Sometimes there are good public transport connections, like trains or buses, and sometimes not, which can be difficult to know beforehand, but alas, Wikipedia saves the day yet again. I have in the past, changed my arrival airports based on these onward public transport connections where there is more than one airport in a city, because sometimes despite a flight being cheaper into one airport, if your only viable onward travel option is an expensive taxi, it might pay to buy a slightly more expensive flight to another airport if it has better and cheaper onward connections.
Essentially, the more you know, the better, so never, ever underestimate the value of actually knowing more than just the name of your destination!

2. Utilise flight-search engines and platforms.
I have one word for you - SKYSCANNER - i.e. a gift to us all and one of, if not the best, invention when it comes to travel.
Until recently, I thought everyone knew about Skyscanner, but then a few months back my roommate was booking a trip to the USA and complaining about flight cost and I asked if he'd checked Skyscanner. He responded with a 'what's that'. WHAT EVEN?! I could not believe he didn't know about Skyscanner, so in the potential situation that others be equally as unaware and oblivious as he, let me very deliberately and outrightly tell you that Skyscanner is amazing, and you need it in your life.
Essentially it is a search engine that allows you to put in your departure city/country, arrival city/country and corresponding dates and then it searches most airlines and flight-booking sites to give you the cheapest options available - i.e. it takes all the hard work out of booking flights and saves you $$. Through Skyscanner you can also order results by total journey time, departure or arrival time, cost, etc. meaning you can access a quick and easy overview of flight options depending on what your constraints might be. Skyscanner then allows you to choose your preferred option and directs you through to the relevant booking page.
I have a very strong preference to book with an airline directly. I have on some occasions, booked through an individual third-party retailer, though only where the savings made by doing that were exceptionally good. Whilst I have not personally had an issue with any third-party booking, it is worth noting that booking directly with the airline often provides you with higher cover/priority in the case of a delay/cancellation that a booking with a third-party would grant you. Any reputable booking agent, and often insurance, should provide basic coverage, but nevertheless, I am strongly of the opinion that the fewer middle-men/parties involved, the better, so I usually always search Skyscanner for my flight options, then go directly to the best airline's page itself to complete my booking, though the choice on whether to do that is entirely up to you. I should note, I am yet to have an issue with booking through a third-party, so I don't advocate against third-party bookings entirely, though I recommend proceeding with caution only where you make substantial savings by doing so. I recently booked a flight via a third-party because it saved me over $1500AUD, which is a huge saving, so in some cases, third-party booking can definitely be advantageous.

An example of Skyscanner with my current location, Canberra and somewhere I would much rather be, London!

3. Consider some stop-overs/flexibility in your schedule.
In 2016, I spent 3 months travelling before beginning an exchange semester in Germany. I had a very flexible schedule with no real fixed plans, and I estimate that my accepting and allowing for that flexibility, I saved myself thousands in flights.
I flew from Australia to Singapore to Turkey (via Qatar), to Jordan, to Dubai, to Bulgaria (via Doha), then Serbia to Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Germany, with some overground transport between those flights. This itinerary makes little sense when mapped out, with several flights going backwards on myself, or over entire countries I later backtracked to visit, but ultimately presented the most cost-effective way to visit all the places I did. The only reason I could manage the particular itinerary I ended up with was because I accepted flexibility in my plans, and decided that for me, saving money was the more important consideration rather than time, meaning that where it saved money, I either opted for longer flight routes or stop overs. Sometimes time will be more important, meaning you perhaps cannot have flexibility in your schedule, but it is worth seriously considering that taking an indirect flight or adding a stop over may be beneficial as it could offer massive savings and also allow you to see some additional places.

This is Joo Chiat in Singapore. Singapore is a popular stop over for Australians on our way to Europe, but one I'd never taken advantage of before. With the introduction of budget airline flights there though, I took advantage of a cheap outbound ticket, spent a few days in Singapore then continued my onward journey and surprisingly saved some $$ in doing so!

4. Sign up to a frequent flyer program, AND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, STICK TO THAT AIRLINE.
Thus far, joining an airline frequent flyer program hasn't had huge benefits for me, but in the future, it definitely will. Every single flight you take represents the potential to earn up to thousands of points which can, in some cases, represent free flights, accommodation, shopping opportunities, etc. You should never, ever, waste those points. Always collect them and save them because one day, you may so happen to find yourself on a flight booked entirely on those points and that is definitely AWESOME.
When booking a flight, I will almost always sign up for the loyalty program of the airline if I am not already a member or a member of an affiliate airline. Doing so has, in the past, led to a gate agent giving me a seat with spare seats either side (on an overnight flight too), allowed me to book a hotel for a weekend in Vienna without paying a single Euro and even got me some free groceries. Airline loyalty = points and points = GOOD THINGS.
It is always most advantageous to pick one airline and stick to that airline. That way, you'll earn and collect the most points and eventually and more quickly, reap the rewards. It makes most sense to sign up to an airline from your home country, because that is (assumedly) where you will fly most often to/from. These days most airlines have many global affiliates, meaning you can take a flight on an airline you might not necessarily be a loyalty member with yet still collect airline points for that flight. ALWAYS, always know what affiliates your frequent flyer program has and ALWAYS collect points (via online redemption on their site) for any flights you take. And, even though it may sometimes cost you a little extra to book a flight with the airline you are affiliated with, it goes without saying that the more often you fly with your airline, the quicker you will get points, upgrades, benefits, etc., so sometimes it definitely pays to spend a little extra and be loyal to one/a handful of airlines.

5. Watch for airline sales and specials.
This one is fairly obvious, though nevertheless important to mention. Essentially all airlines will have sales at some point, and yeah, you guessed it, usually it's cheapest to book when those sales are on. Sometimes airlines will publicly advertise their sales, though sometimes they only send their specials to those on their mailing lists, so if you are looking ahead at flying somewhere, it can pay to sign up to receive email warnings and offers months or even years in advance.

6. Have a look for nearby airports that might not necessarily be the main hub.
Some cities have lots of airports, like London (UK), which has 5. Where there is more than one airport, usually there will be a 'hub' which is home to full-service airlines and often has higher arrival and departure taxes, plus one or more budget airports or some that are hybrids of both. Airport taxes are often what makes a flight expensive, so it always pays to look around and see if there are any other options available that could be nearby and offer cheaper taxes and therefore cheaper flights. A good example is London Heathrow, which is the hub airport for London and has some of the highest arrival/departure taxes (the fees that airlines pay to fly in and out of the airport) in the world. These high taxes mean that often the other London airport offer significantly cheaper options, though it is worth considering that sometimes the cheaper airports have horrendous onward transport connections compared to the hub, meaning they can be more time-consuming/expensive/stressful to access and sometimes don't necessarily offer a worthwhile benefit to fly in/out of. It's always worth checking (via Wikipedia, see step one) if there are other options available.
Also, if flying somewhere like Europe, where everything is quite close together, sometimes it can be much cheaper to fly into/out of an entirely different country and simply use ground transport to end up where you want. An example of this is somewhere like Vienna, Austria, which can be very expensive to fly to, though nearby Bratislava, Slovakia can offer a much cheaper alternative with good onward bus connections to get to where you want to be.

You can see that searching 'London Airport' yielded multiple results, as there is more than one airport servicing the city of London. I suggest always searching '(city) airport' to see if that may also be the case for your destination, as usually when there are multiple airports, at least one will be predominately budget, and therefore cheaper!

7. Always price two one-way tickets as well as a return ticket.
Round-trip tickets are without a doubt, the biggest trap that catches unaware travellers. Most people simply assume that booking one return ticket will always be the cheapest option, but this is frequently not the case, and instead booking two one-way tickets can offer significant savings.
Sometimes two one-way tickets with the one airline can be cheaper than a single return ticket and sometimes you may find it best to book two tickets with separate airlines for maximum savings - this will all depend on doing some good research and comparison via Skyscanner (see step 2). Essentially, always search for both one-way and return tickets and see what is cheaper - sometimes you'll be very surprised with the results!
Additionally, if you are travelling to a continent and travelling overland whilst there, you'll often find it significantly cheaper to book two separate one way tickets than to have a return ticket. This has the added benefit that you need not travel back on yourself simply to return to your arrival airport - i.e. when visiting Europe, many people might fly into say, Paris, and travel overland south-east to Athens before returning home. In this case, it is almost always cheaper (and more time efficient) to book one flight to Paris and another flight home from Athens rather than trying to do a return flight from Paris and needing to then travel back on yourself simply to get back to Paris, thereby wasting both time and money.

Somewhere over central Turkey on my way from Istanbul to Cappadocia (2016)

So, there you have my top 6 tips for booking flights. Essentially they all depend upon doing some research, knowing your options, comparing those options and opting for the best choice for your personal situation. In the past, following these tips has undoubtedly saved me thousands of dollars, allowing me to take trips more often, which is definitely a win-win situation! Happy flying my friends!!


* This is an unsponsored post. My opinions are, as always, my own. I received no compensation for this post, and merely enjoy in sharing knowledge with others in the hope that my experiences may save you time, money and hassle in the future!

P.S. I also hope this post proves that planes are cool and that sometimes, geeking out has definite, tangible benefits and that you should always, totally and unreservedly own your quirks and interests, no matter how strange they may be! Plane love forever!!!

Double Chocolate, Pistachio and Cranberry Granola Bars.

These were an idea I conceived a little over 2 weeks ago. Since then, I've made five batches, each as good as the last and MY GOD am I addicted.

I've recently started a new job, which is very exciting. Perhaps the downside to the job though, is that it is a predominately desk job, which is something I've very much not accustomed to. BUT, the upside of a desk job is DESK SNACKS, and let me assure you, if there's something I will definitely excel at in this job, it is having the very best snacks in the office. With these, I am most certainly off to a very solid start.

I'm unashamedly a chocolate fiend. I LOVE the stuff. Give me all the chocolate, ALWAYS. That's partly why I love these bars so much, because they have two types of chocolate in them and I dunno about you, but I was definitely won over at the very mention of chocolate, so two types is like, mega bonus. I also, perhaps surprisingly, absolutely love the cranberries in these. The addition of some dried fruit really gives a sweet pop of flavour, and also makes these bars that little bit healthier because cranberries = fruit and fruit = health. And finally, I love that they're no-bake, which makes them super gooey and delightfully sticky! All in all, they're delicious, and can be conveniently made on a Sunday evening in preparation for the week ahead (if they last the week in the fridge that is....)!

Ingredients;
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
100gm vegan dark chocolate (Lindt 70% is my fav for these)
100gm vegan white chocolate (In Aus, I recommend 'Sweet William' available at Coles and in Europe I suggest I Choc White Vanilla)
14 medjool dates, pitted
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp rice malt syrup

+ extra dark chocolate and pistachios to serve

1. In a large bowl, mix the oats, cranberries, pistachios and roughly chopped white and dark chocolate together.
2. Place the pitted dates and water in a blender. Mix on high speed until the dates form a paste. You may need to scrape the sides down a little, and depending on the dates used, possibly add a little extra water. If so, start with just 1tbsp and slowly increase from that - you don't want a watery mix.
3. When the dates are fully blended into a paste, scoop them out into a small bowl and add in the rice malt syrup. Mix the two together, the scoop the date/rice malt into the bowl with the other ingredients.
4. Mix everything together well, I find clean hands the easiest way to do this!
5. Take a square/rectangular cake tin (small to medium in size works best) and line it with some baking paper/parchment. Scoop the well combined granola bar mixture into the tin and press it down firmly into the tin, especially the edges and corners. Place in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up.
6. Remove from the fridge and use a sharp knife to cut into bars.
7. Melt some extra dark chocolate (approx. 50 - 80gm). Place the bars onto a tray, with space between each one. Use a spoon to drizzle some melted chocolate over the top, and sprinkle with some crushed pistachios. If it takes your fancy, you can use some baking paper/parchment and string to make them look fancy, otherwise store in the fridge in an airtight container. Enjoy!!

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!

Tropical Dragonfruit and Mango Smoothie.

Dragonfruit (also known as pitaya) is majorly Insta-famous. It's everywhere. Everyone is in love, now including me.

A few weeks back I visited my local fresh food markets. There are a few fruit and vegetable shops there that sell all the normal stuff, as well as some more difficult to source/weird items. Because I live in Canberra in southern Australia, tropical fruits like dragonfruit definitely fall into the second category. But, despite not necessarily being the easiest to source, I think they're well worth the hunt, especially the pink ones because the colour they have is completely amazing! (see photos for evidence if you don't believe me!)

Anyway. This post is about food, so the taste of dragonfruit is obviously fairly important. Keeping in mind that I am yet to sample 100% fresh, locally grown and eaten dragonfruit (which will almost certainly be better than what I can source out of area and season), I find dragonfruit has quite a mild flavour, which makes them perfect for using in things with other bold flavours, like smoothie's for example. I decided to keep the tropical theme in this smoothie, so I paired my dragonfruit with mango, coconut, passionfruit, orange and a sneaky kiwi fruit.

It may well be heading into winter in Australia right now (May 2017), but this smoothie definitely transported me to a warm beach in the sun somewhere tropical, which in the absence of copious amounts of money and time, will have to suffice right now!

Ingredients;
1 pink dragonfruit
2 cups frozen diced mango (approx. 1 fruit)
1 passionfruit
1/2 cup fresh, pure orange juice
1 cup coconut milk/water (either works)
1 kiwi fruit
Handful frozen raspberries

*N.B. you can just make all this into the one smoothie, though for purely aesthetic reasons I like to make mine in 2 parts and pour separately, so then it's ombre and #fancy

1. Put the frozen mango, flesh from the passionfruit, orange juice and coconut milk/water into a blender. Blend on high for a minute or so, until totally smooth and chunk-free. If making an ombre smoothie, pour 3/4 of the mix out now into some glasses, keeping some mixture in the blender. Add in the flesh of the dragonfruit, the frozen raspberries and the flesh of the kiwifruit along with 1/4 cup water and blend again on high speed for a minute or so. Pour into glasses and serve!

Spaghetti Bolognese.

Spaghetti bolognese, or 'spag bowl' as we call it in lazy-person, slang Australian, is a dinnertime classic. A staple really, and a meal that you will highly, highly likely find making a regular appearance on dining room tables across Australia and indeed, much of the developed world.

I've always loved spaghetti bolognese, especially so because I grew up in a lovely little town in the middle of nowhere in regional Australia where, rather surprisingly, we had something like 60% of the town population claim direct Italian heritage. The place was affectionately known as 'Little Italy' and most delightfully, all those Italians brought with them their fabulous cuisine. Because the heritage to Italy was so immediate amongst so much of the town, this little city had an oversupply of Italian restaurants, but not just any old restaurants, rather ones that had a nonna in the kitchen either cooking herself or supervising, and they used genuine, passed-down through the generations, family recipes. The food, as a result, was totally off the charts AMAZING, which meant that when I ate out with my parents and inevitably ordered 'spaghetti bolognese', I didn't just get any old pasta and sauce, oh no - I got the mother of all spaghetti bolognese's that was legitimately too delicious for this world.

As a result, I have exceptionally high standards when it comes to pasta and spaghetti bolognese. Pasta is usually one the easiest dishes to vegan-ise, but generally speaking, despite some people's best intentions, just because it's vegan, doesn't mean it was remotely satisfying. Something restaurants and lazy-chefs alike are guilty for is giving the vegan some plain old tomato pasta. Now, I'm not one to hate on a good quality tomato pasta sauce, but sometimes it's nice to have some substance to the meal, something 'meaty' as such (though sans meat obviously). Enter lentils, i.e. the great secret ingredient. Lentils are truly fantastic because they don't carry a strong taste, weird texture or anything else bizarre, and instead add a level of substance to a pasta sauce that cannot be found in a regular old plain tomato one. They're also loaded with protein, and in the interests of #VeganGainz, we're all about that protein!

Ingredients;
6 large tomatoes
400gm canned diced tomatoes (I use a no salt added brand)
425gm canned lentils
2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated puree)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp (approx.) mixed dried herbs
1 large brown onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or tsp minced garlic)
1 tsp minced red chilli (optional)
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced

250gm gluten free spaghetti

1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan forced.) Roughly dice the 6 tomatoes and spread them out on a baking tray. Drizzle approx. 2 tbsp olive oil over the top, along with 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs and some cracked black pepper. Roast for approx. 40 minutes.
2. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Finely dice the onion and add to the saucepan along with 2 tbsp olive oil and the garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until lightly browned. If using chilli, add that in at this stage.
3. Add in the diced tomatoes, diced carrot, diced zucchini and tomato paste. Mix through and turn the heat down to low.
4. Take the canned lentils and drain them. Rinse them well with cold water. Add to the saucepan.
5. When the tomatoes have finished roasting, remove them from the oven and add them into the saucepan, along with the remainder of your dried herbs and some extra cracked black pepper.
6. Add in 1 cup water and mix through. Allow to cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
7. Cook the spaghetti as per packet instructions. When cooked, drain and return to the now empty saucepan you cooked it in. Scoop in approx. 1/2 the bolognese sauce and mix through. Serve garnished with either some fresh basil or rocket (arugula).
8. Keep the remainder of the sauce in an airtight container in the fridge (will keep for several days), or place it in the freezer to be defrosted and used later!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.

There are not enough words in the English language for me to adequately express how gleefully happy I am that I have finally perfected a gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe. I. AM. THRILLED. These past few months, creating this particular recipe has been my pet-project and I've struggled so much to get it right, but FINALLY, yes finally I HAVE SUCCEEDED. You cannot begin to fathom the staggering quantity of cookies that I have eaten in my efforts to bring this gluten free cookie perfection to you, but it was not a futile effort, for we now have resounding success! I'm also not going to complain about all that cookie consuming because I like to think I'm daring enough to put my body on the line for the greater good (cookie recipe creation obviously constitutes 'greater good'), so endlessly making and consuming cookies was a challenge I was happy to accept. 

You might wonder why I've been fixated on this particular recipe. Well. STORY TIME. 

Without giving you too much information and thereby grossing you out, the past few months I've had some less than pleasant digestive issues. Because of that, I've decided that there is no harm in trying to eliminate a few things to see if I can find the issue, and after elimination, if the issue persists then I can just go back to eating unrestricted vegan again because obviously the eliminated food wasn't a problem. Anyway. Thus far, no success on working out what is causing the problem, BUT, gluten is the big thing I've yet to try eliminating. It's not exactly an easy undertaking to cut gluten out, and flour is definitely one of the biggest issues in going gluten free. Flour is also, coincidently, a core ingredient of cookies. Obviously I simply cannot live without cookies, so I was left with the dilemma of needing to make an adequately delicious gluten free cookie before I could actually try eating gluten free. 

I'm currently day 7 into being gluten free and so far so good. I'll keep you all updated as to whether or not the much hyped gluten free diet actually does anything beneficial for my digestive system, and if not, then rest assured, I'll return to being a gluten-consuming, cookie-loving person. But, in the meantime, let's rejoice that I, and also you, can remain a cookie-loving and consuming person, albeit gluten free!

Ingredients;

100gm vegan butter/dairy free margarine (I use Nuttelex)

1/2 cup unrefined sugar (I used raw sugar, coconut sugar also works, though will give the cookies a darker colour)

1 flax egg (1 tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp water)

1/2 cup quick oats (or regular rolled oats, blended briefly so they're all chopped up)

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup almond meal/almond and flax meal (either works)

1/4 cup maple syrup

100gm dark chocolate, roughly chopped

100gm vegan white chocolate (optional, though if omitting, I'd recommend adding some extra dark chocolate)

1. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees (fan forced) and line a baking tray with some baking paper/parchment.

2. Place the vegan butter/margarine and the unrefined sugar in a bowl. Use an electric mixer to cream them together (i.e. mix them till they go light and fluffy!). When fully combined, add in the maple syrup and your flax egg. Mix everything together.

3. Add the quick oats, coconut flour and almond meal to the mixture. Use your hands to mix everything through into a dough. It should combine into a nice consistency that is not crumbly, but if it won't hold together, add a (very) small amount of melted coconut oil. Add your roughly chopped chocolate into the dough and mix through well using your hands.

4. Take a small handful of dough (approx. 1 tbsp) and roll it into a ball. Place it on the lined baking tray and press down lightly so the dough forms a cookie-sized shape (these cookies won't spread very much, so make them into the size/shape you want them to be when cooked). Repeat until you have used all the dough.

5. Place in the oven to bake for approx. 15/20 minutes, or until they just begin to turn golden brown. When cooked, remove and allow to cool. Enjoy!!