Thai coleslaw with mango

Another month, another cabbage dish! In truth, my vegetable box deliveries gave me a break from cabbage for a while. I was almost starting to want another cabbage to appear...and then one did, and I was reminded of just how large they are, and just how much fridge space they take up.

Happily, I found a way to put this particular cabbage to good use. It was so good, in fact, that Mr Bite labelled the dinner when this appeared "11 out of 10". Definitely a win.

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Out and about in Perth #7 - Hillarys Marina

We have been packing a few outings into our recent weekends. Most notably, we have actually been to the beach. I know this may not sound very eventful, especially during Australian summer, but there are all sorts of barriers that usually prevent our beach attendance.

Hillarys Marina, late afternoon

For starters, Mr Bite and I share an unhelpful ability to burn within 15 minutes of sun exposure. Sun cream is no guarantee of avoiding this outcome. Going to the beach during the middle of the day is pretty much never going to happen.

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Apple and zucchini muffins - the buckwheat version (vegan, GF, refined sugar free)

I imagine I'm not the only blogger with a recipe or post that, well, niggles. It may be that you have never mastered a particular recipe, or that you mastered one version but want to make an adaptation that goes a step further. It may be that you made a great meal but dislike the photos you took, and haven't found the time to re-make and photograph the dish. Perhaps you haven't found the time to write things up at all, or you lost your scribbled piece of paper with the ingredients you used, or you can't remember if you baked things for 20 minutes or 40. Please tell me I'm not the only one who can relate to these scenarios?

Today, I hope to lay one of my niggles to rest: whole grain apple and zucchini muffins.

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Simple delights {February 2014}

It's been a while since I've done a 'loving this week' post or similar. I've been missing them! Sometimes it is the little things that make or break a week, and remembering to focus on simple pleasures can make a big difference to my overall contentment.

Recently, I have rediscovered corn on the cob and I am quite besotted. I have the cobs completely plain, hot or cold, with a meal or for a snack. They are sweetness and sunshine in a mouthful.

I've also been enjoying pomegranate, which I bought to make vegan pomegranate chocolate mousse from Oh My Veggies.

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Baby stuffed peppers with fragrant rice

I think of stuffed peppers as a quintessential vegetarian dish, although I am sure many omnivores have a favourite version of them too. They are such an easy and effective meal, with so many possible variations.

I have posted a stuffed pepper recipe previously, so today's post is less about the stuffing and more about the peppers themselves. I saw these baby peppers at my local markets last weekend, and promptly fell in love. In fact, I loved them so much that the image below has become my Facebook cover photo!

What the Facebook version doesn't show is just how small these really are. The following picture includes my thumb for scale and highlights that these really are baby-sized vegetables.

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Apple, beetroot and carrot salad with walnuts

You may remember me raving about The Raw Kitchen's Thai Papaya Salad and Tarragon Salad this time last year. I subsequently created a variation of the Thai Papaya Salad at home. Today, I bring you a spin off of the Tarragon Salad. There are a few differences to the original, but this version won me over in its own right.

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Heavenly Plate Cafe Restaurant

As some of you may remember, when I got married I skipped a hens night and a large wedding in favour of a pre-wedding vegan high tea with friends. The high tea was held at Heavenly Plate Cafe Restaurant, a beautifully decorated venue that is fully vegetarian and mostly vegan.

It was a wonderful choice in terms of location and food, and a much better fit for my personality than traditional wedding celebrations. Ever since, I have been meaning to go back and try some of Heavenly Plate's regular menu items.

Pre-wedding high tea - all vegan

At Christmas, Mr Bite gave me a gift voucher to facilitate that visit, and a few Thursdays ago, we used it. The decor was as beautiful as I remembered and I liked that the restaurant seated its weeknight guests apart. I really dislike it when you visit a restaurant and there are just a few other occupied tables, but you are put right next to one of them! 

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No-bake chocolate-topped black bean and goji berry snack bars (vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free)

For someone who likes vegetable-containing desserts, it may seem strange that I have never tried black bean brownies. Beetroot brownies, yes; chickpea truffle balls, yes; black bean brownies, no.

There's no particular reason for this, although I will readily admit that brownies aren't my favourite treat. That might be why my entry into black bean desserts comes not with brownies, but with these no-bake snack bars. With a short ingredient list that features goji berries and coconut flour, the bars are a delightful mix of decadent and healthy. The best part? You can't taste the healthy.

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A vegan chocolate dessert round-up, for Valentine's Day or any day

What is your stance on Valentine's Day? I'm a bit torn, myself. On the one hand, it is a commercialised holiday that works to keep card companies and florists in business, seems to suggest that we should only say 'I love you' once a year, and gives people an opportunity to feel excluded if they are not in a relationship come February 14th. Hardly things to rejoice in.

On the other hand, the day does have historical origins, I welcome extra reasons to show my husband I love him, and there's no reason 'I love you' has to be constrained to couple (as opposed to friend / family) relationships. What's more, the day has come to be associated with chocolate. There are things to like.

Chocolate raspberry tart made with Chocolate
Covered Katie's ultimate chocolate fudge pie filling

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Lemon and blueberry oat parfait

I don't have many breakfast recipes on Bite-Sized Thoughts. In fact, I'm not sure where I'm going to file this after hitting post! There is a reason for this: during the week, I eat breakfast at work 4 days out of 5. Weekday mornings are decidedly simple affairs. Even on weekends, my breakfast routines are low-key, revolving around smoothies, cereal, and oats.

This particular breakfast is oat-based, but it is slightly different from my usual concoctions. The idea of lemon oats came to me towards the end of my morning run, and it stuck. (I think I may have lemon on my mind after seeing two vegan lemon meringue pies featured on Facebook this week!) Blueberries seemed like a logical finishing touch.

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Black bean and beetroot burritos

This recipe is so simple that I nearly didn't post it. It's also very similar to our standard burrito (or quesadilla) dinners. The differences? Instead of kidney beans or black eyed peas this features black beans, and instead of grated zucchini this features grated beetroot.

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In my kitchen - February 2014 (with chocolate, books, yacon, and Australian coconut ice cream!)

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

There is quite a lot happening in my kitchen this month. With recipe testing for Ricki Heller's upcoming new cookbook, there are an unprecedented number of dishes being created (and eaten!) each week. If you don't already follow me on Facebook or Twitter, they are your chance to see some of the recipes I'm testing out!

Ricki's raw carrot cake energy balls

With all the recipe testing, it's hard to believe there are other things in the kitchen too. But...there are. Amongst them was this loaf of carrot, zucchini and sultana bread. It was a bit like the apricot and sultana loaf I made in 2011, and also a bit like the 'ugly duckling' (apple, carrot and zucchini) muffins I made in 2012. Sadly, the loaf wasn't quite right: it tasted good but failed to set in the middle. Not a recipe for sharing.

Semi-fail carrot, zucchini and sultana bread

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365 project: January photos

With January over, I'm one month into my photo a day project for 2014. Taking a (non-food) photo a day has, to date, been both easier and harder than I expected. The easy part? If I throw my camera into my bag, there are many opportunities each day to capture an image that is interesting or picturesque. The hard part? There are 11 months left of 2014 and that leaves a lot of photos ahead of me. It's a little daunting to realise that I have taken just 31 of 365 potential photos! Fortunately, I have approached this goal with a healthy dose of realism and if I miss a day, or a week, or even a month...it won't matter. 

For now, here are the first 31 images. Welcome to my January in photos!

1st: Scarborough beach cycle path / 2nd: Busy bee / 3rd: Car wash whirl wind / 4th: Missing puzzle piece / 5th: Dry creek

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