Eden's Salad Bar, Subiaco

After I raved about the easily obtained veggie food in North America (in my blog posts and to anyone who would listen), I realised that I should try harder to do justice to the vegan and vegetarian places of my home town. There are plenty of places that I would be thrilled to discover if I was looking for a cafe on holiday, and a number of them are quite conveniently located to either my home or my work.

Today's post is written in the spirit of recognising great veggie food on my doorstep, and I hope you'll agree that I'm starting with a delightful example.

Eden's Salad Bar, Subiaco

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Baked cabbage and apple

You know those weeks where you open your fridge and a full-sized cabbage stares back? Taking up precious fridge space (in our house at least; fridge space is never sufficient!) and asking for attention? And, you know that as soon as you take it out of the fridge and chop it up, the cabbage will magically expand across your chopping board and generate a larger quantity of vegetable than you started with?

I know. Cabbage has its merits, but it can also be a bit challenging.

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Australia Day weekend: Australian celebrations, my Mum's birthday, river-front activities, and much food

When the British First Fleet reached Sydney harbour on the 26th January 1788, I wonder if they knew how subsequent Australians would appreciate their timing? The Australia Day public holiday does, after all, work wonders at easing the post-Christmas return to work.

Vegan lamingtons

I would still swap the date, happily, for one that does not mark the anniversary of British culture invading indigenous Australia. We may have that shift in the future. I will welcome it if it comes. For now, though, I have enjoyed the opportunity for a 3-day January weekend that celebrates Australia and overlaps with my Mum's birthday all in one.

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Cardamom and ginger spiced biscuits (cookies)

Do you remember studying Venn diagrams in high school maths? Chocolate tastes in our household resemble an overlapping 2 circle example.

In the overlapping component ("Kari intersect Mr Bite") we have moderately dark (50-70% cocoa), reasonably sweet, dairy free chocolate that doesn't include nuts or spices.

In the bit specific to me ("Kari minus Mr Bite"), we have darker, less sweet chocolates of all varieties, plus lighter dairy free blocks with nuts and/or spices.

In the bit specific to my husband ("Mr Bite minus Kari"), we have milk chocolate.

Chocolate chip biscuits featuring Cadbury's Marvellous Creations chocolate.

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Carrot cake pudding, or carrot cake ice cream (raw and vegan)

I am really very (very!) excited about this recipe. I know we're only 22 days into 2014, but right now, this is looking like a good contender for recipe of the year.

Carrot cake pudding

Why the excitement? This pudding or ice cream (it can be served either way) tastes amazingly decadent, has just three core ingredients, and packs a serve of fruit and vegetable in every bowl. It's an impressive set of credentials for a snack or dessert that takes 5 minutes to prepare.

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Out and about in Perth #6 - Subiaco Common

At the end of a scorching Saturday, Mr Bite and I visited Subiaco Common to soak up the setting sun, sea breeze, and cooler temperatures. The common is a man-made park and lake set against modern housing developments, tucked into a quiet corner of the leafy Subiaco suburb. It's not far from us, but this is the first time we've explored it fully.

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Spiced baked apples and pears with sherry vinegar

Before Christmas, I tracked down sherry vinegar to make Angela's lentil mushroom walnut balls on Oh She Glows. Sherry vinegar is made from the unfermented juice of the sherry grape and most varieties come from Spain. Angela noted that it was a key part of her ingredient mix, and I agree that it is quite different to other vinegar varieties I've had before. It seems a little sweeter than wine vinegars, but more rounded in its flavours than balsamic.

(Do I sound like I know what I'm talking about? I don't, really. I'm just trying to turn vague taste experiences into words that might make sense. If they do, great. If they don't, buy some sherry vinegar yourself!)

Having most of my sherry vinegar bottle remaining, I've been looking for ways to use it up. On the weekend, I was also looking for ways to use up aging apples and pears. And, to complete the tripartite of circumstances, I had the oven going already and had conceded my kitchen to an afternoon of heat.

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Vegan peanut butter fudge bites (super easy, single bowl, and 4 ingredients!)

My enjoyment of coconut flour has increased exponentially since my first dismal attempt to use it in purple carrot cookies. Since then, it has featured successfully in my recipes for 5-ingredient, 5 minute vegan brownie bites, vegan coconut banana truffles, vegan no-bake banana bread bites, and even strawberry oat squares.

Today, I am delighted to add another coconut flour win to the list. Like most of the successful recipes above, these peanut butter fudge bites have a short ingredient list and take hardly any time to prepare. Coconut flour works to bind everything together and give a chewy, fudgy texture that is incredibly satisfying

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65% cocoa Forestero Ghana chocolate, by Gabriel Chocolate

It's not often I dedicate a whole product review post to one block of chocolate. Gabriel Chocolate, however, invites such attention. They are the first Western Australian company to make single original chocolate (using imported cacao beans), and they do a swoonworthy job of it.

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Alternative green smoothies: sweet potato and almond (banana free!), and banana, mango and kale

I've been getting through a lot of green smoothies recently. In fact, I've started day dreaming about a blender for my workplace, so I can whip one up for my at-work breakfasts, or as a mid-afternoon snack, or an addition to lunch...or any time at all really. Sadly, I don't think that's on the cards, but I'm making the most of weekends and the weekdays I'm home in time to squeeze one in before dinner!

Sweet potato and almond green smoothie

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Raw zucchini noodles with a spicy peanut sauce

When I posted this recipe for zucchini noodles with a tahini-lemon sauce, I mentioned that I'd first planned a Thai-style sauce with peanut butter and lime. A month later, I'm pleased to be back with that sauce. Carrying Thai flavours beautifully, the mix of peanut butter, chilli, ginger, lime and a dash of salt and sweet makes for a highly enjoyable dressing.

I made this dish somewhat on the spur of the moment, so my recipe is scribbled in very vague form on a piece of scrap paper. I hope I have copied it accurately below. It's a fairly simple dish, so I'm confident that you can switch ingredients to your tastes and pantry if required.

I had planned to top the salad with nuts, but in the end used chickpeas simply because I had them on hand. Obviously cooked chickpeas are not raw, so if you want a fully raw dish, you will want to revert back to nuts for your topping.

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New York city #4 - our final US day, including the Empire State Building, Tenement Museum, Moby's vegan restaurant, and the bottom tip of Manhattan

It feels a teeny bit embarrassing to conclude my American travel posts 4 months and the following year after our return to Australia. Nonetheless, today I am doing just that! This post provides the 12th and final recap for our 18 days in America, and the 4th recap specific to New York City. (The previous posts can be found on my travel page.)

Smoggy Empire State Building views

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Chocolate sweet potato ice cream (without an ice cream maker)

If 2012 and 2013 were the years for avocado desserts (and with 8 avocado dessert recipes, I think they probably were), 2014 may become the year for sweet potato desserts.

Raspberries and sweet potato. Breakfast, snack or dessert of champions!

On the weekend, I enjoyed the combination of raspberries (thawed from frozen) on cooked and cooled sweet potato, and found it more amazing than should be possible from just two ingredients.

Then, yesterday, I made frozen banana soft serve with sweet potato and cocoa.

Chocolate sweet potato ice cream...with peanut butter

Dear readers, that was amazing too.

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Vegemite stir fry

I suspect a lot of Australian (and overseas Australian) bloggers have tried Vegemite with tofu at some stage. There are a few recipes around, but it's the kind of dish that doesn't necessarily require a recipe. There seem to be some Vegemite chicken recipes out there too, and I imagine Vegemite has been paired with all sorts of other ingredients that I've never thought of.

Vegemite stir fry may not be a new concept, but I thought I'd post this version for my own reference, and perhaps to inspire those of you who haven't come across this use for the ingredient. If you're from the UK, Marmite would work equally well, and Promite would give a milder but still similar result. If you're from the US, I'm not sure if you have an equivalent product, but you can probably get hold of Vegemite, Marmite or Promite if you're really keen! (I summarised the differences between the three here.)

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Fitness Fridays - Cycling into the new year (plus blog house keeping and the winner of the Paul's warehouse voucher)

Last year, I started 2013 with a leisurely 25km bike ride. As I wrote about at the time, it was a lovely way to bring in a new year. So lovely, in fact, that I decided to repeat the experience to welcome in 2014.

I left home a little later this year than last (7.30am instead of 6.30am), which means I saw more people on my outing and didn't quite have cycle paths to myself. However, the sunshine was equally sparkling and the scenes I passed were equally beautiful.

Scarborough beach cycle path, ~8am

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In my kitchen - January 2014

I am linking this post in to Celia's monthly In My Kitchen event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. 

In my kitchen, there are Christmas presents aplenty!

There are four well chosen magazines, including the UK Vegetarian Living, which has highlighted just how many veggie products are waiting for me in England. (Hint: many!)

 

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