Fig cacao balls

Thank you for your birthday wishes to Mini Bite. She has become an expert at spotting presents and cards, although is still just as interested in the paper (and more specifically, trying to eat the paper) than what may be hidden within.

With her birthday over and my sister returned to Australia (sob), normal routines are returning. I made these fig cacao balls during my sister's visit but they could just as easily be slotted into a normal weekend - the preparation time is minimal, they keep well, and they are easy to eat. They were even well received by Mr Bite, who supposedly doesn't like nuts or figs!

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Made over creamy mushroom pasta {vegan sauce + raw noodles}

After making Mary Ellen's Thai slaw salad last week, I was in the mood for more vegetable spiralising. I love my spiraliser but, as with so many things, go through phases with it. When it comes out it tends to stay out for a while, so you may see some more spiralising over the coming weeks!

I was very pleased with this dish, especially as it is different to my previous raw noodle recipes (which include courgette / zucchini noodles with a spicy peanut sauce, a tahini lemon sauce and a tomato basil sauce, and the Thai beetroot noodles featured in my header). Here, light courgette noodles are topped with a creamy sauce made from hummous, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and paprika. With the addition of mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes, it really is reminiscent of a creamy pasta meal. Unlike traditional versions, though, this one won't leave you feeling overwhelmed by heavy ingredients. 

I used sun dried tomatoes that are dried without oil, which are my favourite type. They are particularly flavoursome but you can obviously use the oil-based variety if you need to. Don't skip them though, or the mushrooms - both are crucial to this dish! Whilst my version of this isn't fully raw (on account of using hummous made with cooked chickpeas), you could also use raw hummous if you're so inclined.

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Raw vegan bannoffee slice

This slice positions sweet, gooey banana caramel between a coconutty base and a rich, dark chocolate topping. It is delicious, satisfying and decadent. It is also made entirely from wholefood ingredients. In all, it is my kind of dessert and I liked it very much.

The slice is also an example of the whole being greater than the individual parts. Alone, the chocolate topping is a bit too dark; the banana caramel is a bit too sweet; and the base is a bit too plain. Together, thought, the layers work perfectly. This feature helps with not eating too much of the batter as you go along. It doesn't help with not eating too many slices at once!

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Tanya's Cafe, London - raw vegan food

I have had many excellent vegan meals (and snacks, and desserts) since we moved to the UK. London, in particular, is a hotbed of vegan options and I feel fortunate to have it on my doorstep. At the same time, nowhere has yet been able to rival Fremantle's The Raw Kitchen. I posted about that delight multiple times when we lived in Perth and I still have fond memories of it some 2 years after my last meal there.

For a while, I have been wondering if Tanya's Cafe might be the London rival I've been waiting for. Offering plant-based raw food, the menu is also fully organic and free from refined sugar and gluten. It offers dehydrated banana crepes and raw fruit bread at breakfast, main dishes such as raw Pad Thai salad and nachos at lunch and dinner, and an array of desserts and hot and cold drinks for any time of day.

Tanya's is located in Chelsea, which truth be told is not the most convenient quarter of London for me to visit. It's a casual 10 minutes walk from South Kensington tube station and is housed within a hotel, which I found a little off-putting, but it does operate independently of the myHotel chain.

Tanya's Cafe

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Raw vegan lime pots for 5 years of blogging

Mr Bite and I have just returned from 4 nights in the Forest of Dean, staying in a cabin in the woods and enjoying a perfect mix of outdoor walks, indoor reading, beautiful scenery, and hot tub soaking. It was a gorgeous week and I look forward to sharing photos soon.

For now, though, I am sharing these raw lime desserts in honour of Bite-Sized Thoughts turning 5. I am not entirely sure how I got to 5 years of blogging, but remain grateful to have it in my life. That gratitude is about having a forum to summarise my recipes and reflect on my experiences, but also the broader blogging community and the inspiration I get from others' sites.

At the same time, after 5 years, I think it is understandable that my blogging frequency has slowed down a little. I posted 142 times in 2015, compared to around 180 posts in each of 2012, 2013 and 2014. This year I have been even more open-minded about how often I post. For the time being, that feels right.

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Three ingredient, no crust, chilled vanilla cheesecake {vegan + raw}

So...that cheesecake mentioned in my last post? It did work out. Rather well, in fact. I still find raw desserts amazing, and this one is a particularly good example because it uses just three simple ingredients.

As per the title of this post, I made the cheesecake without a crust. This contributes to the short ingredient list, but you could easily make a crusted version if you like. If doing so, I recommend the bases I have used with previous raw cheesecakes. With that said, I did like this crust-free version as it allowed the creamy vanilla flavour to shine through without distraction.

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Chocolate, hazelnut and cranberry truffle balls {London marathon fundraising}

It has been far too long between fruit and nut truffle recipes. These go some way to making up for lost time. I think they are now amongst my favourite truffles (although I have a tendency to say that with all new truffle ball recipes!). The mix of hazelnut, cocoa, dried cranberries and coconut is gorgeously balanced, and utterly delicious.

Alas, my running this week has not been quite as perfect. I discovered the meaning of "hitting the wall" last Saturday, when I had an experience at mile 17 (of an intended 21) that I hope not to repeat in a hurry. My legs didn't want to move, I felt light headed and dizzy, and I wanted to sit on the pavement and cry. Having run 20 miles the week before, it was a disconcerting experience, only offset slightly by coming down with some kind of virus since. I'm glad to have a possible reason for my Saturday experience, but being unwell means I've missed some shorter runs too. I'm trying to remember that one disrupted week of training won't make or break the marathon, but it is frustrating.

Hopefully next week will bring full health and a smoother long run. In the meantime, these aren't a bad way to top up energy levels, irrespective of physical health.

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Out and about in London #4: Raw food at Vantra Vitao and more Wholefoods eating

Continuing my recent food-focused 'out and about' posts, I was pleased to finally make it to Vantra Vitao last week. Located on Oxford Street near Tottenham Court Road, Vantra Vitao specialises in raw food as well as a selection of carefully cooked hot dishes. Everything is vegan, most things are organic, and they have a lunchtime buffet using the pay-by-weight approach.

Vantra Vitao buffet selection

I follow Vantra Vitao on Facebook and had been admiring their dessert photos for months. They are also quite well reviewed, and so I entered with high expectations. The restaurant has minimal street space but is long and narrow, with 10 or so 2-seater tables and perhaps half a dozen larger ones. The interior is quite dark, and I apologise for my poor phone photos, but is attractively set up. I liked the wooden tables and the bathrooms at the back were clean and well maintained.

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Raw apple cheesecake puddings {London marathon fundraising}

Another Thursday and another fundraising recipe! This one is firmly in the dessert category, although I think these puddings could almost double up as breakfast. The ingredients are raw, vegan and entirely natural, even if the end result is rather decadent.

Raw apple cheesecake puddings

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I've been rather obsessed with cashews. It's funny how tastes wax and wane over time. For the last two weeks, I have eaten more cashews than I would usually do in months. You see, I didn't use to like them much plain. With this turn around, there may be hope for me and avocados yet!

Given the cashew obsession, it isn't surprising that today's dessert is made with the nuts. However, don't worry if you aren't as fond of cashews as I currently am. They provide healthy creaminess but don't actually influence the pudding's flavour. That is firmly apple, with hints of maple syrup and vanilla. The final result is reminiscent of cheesecake without being exactly like it, which is why I have called these cheesecake puddings. They are a little softer than traditional cheesecake, and not as rich or as tart. They are, however, delicious.

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Raw vegan bakewell tart bars

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe mentioned last week that she had a domestic goddess moment in her kitchen. Today, I have felt a bit the same. I have cleaned, descaled the kettle and sink (to an Australian, hard water and the need for descaling is a new challenge!), made chutney, and made these bars. Plus, Mr Bite hung the last of our pictures that needed hanging / mounting. It has been a satisfying Sunday.

These bars are inspired by the new, Christmas themed bakewell tart Nákd bars. I was very excited to hear about them. Alas, I haven't found them in any stores near me yet (although I have seen the related Christmas pudding flavoured bar). Given I have my food processor back, I thought I'd try a homemade version.

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Thai-style beetroot noodles

Last week, Emma shared a gorgeous recipe for beetroot ribbon salad on her site Coconut and Berries. She paired the beetroot strands with mint and cashew cheese for a fresh, whole foods summer meal. I loved the look of her salad, but it was the idea of beetroot noodles that really stuck with me. Given how much I love my spiralizer (to the extent that it came to the UK in my suitcase rather than by ship!), it seems amazing that I hadn't thought of beetroot noodles before. They are a perfect, vibrant alternative to the zucchini noodles I already love.

In truth, beetroot and I only became friends in recent years. As may be the case for others, my childhood beetroot experiences were limited to the tinned variety. My Australian grandmother used to serve it alongside other salad options, and in addition to disliking the taste, I wasn't confident of my ability to eat it without shooting red stains onto my grandparents' carpeted floors or cloth-covered table.

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Sun dried tomato and mushroom zucchini noodles

I think this is the last recipe hanging on from my Australian kitchen. I say think because sometimes I forget about posts until I find a set of photos and/or scribbled recipe notes, in blog draft format or somewhere less sensible. Probably, though, this is it.

This is the fourth zucchini noodle recipe that I've shared, and it is one of my favourites to date. It was directly based on The Raw Kitchen's "live zucchini pasta", which I raved about back in May. The restaurant version featured raw tomato sauce, mushrooms, kalamata olives, avocado, basil, nutritional yeast and black pepper. My adaptation used sherry vinegar and soy sauce instead of the tomato sauce, and dropped the olives and avocado in place of sundried tomatoes. 

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Lightly cooked zucchini noodles with a tomato basil sauce

In my zucchini noodle experiments to date, I have used the noodles fresh and raw. To be honest, it never occurred to me to eat them in any other way. Recently, though, I saw a reference to zucchini noodles being lightly cooked. Last week, I decided to give that approach a go, and added noodles to a hot pan for just under 2 minutes. The result? Slightly softened, nicely warmed noodles that were a lovely change from the standard raw variety.

Complementing the noodles were tomatoes, basil, sherry vinegar and nutritional yeast. The flavours were wonderful. Broccoli and tofu featured too, as did a smattering of other herbs. If you had sun dried tomatoes to hand, I think they would be an excellent addition (or replacement for fresh tomatoes) as well.

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Raw carrot cake - finally

Raw carrot cake has intrigued me for a while now. In addition to the link I shared in my Easter recipe round-up, I have six other raw (or nearly raw) carrot cake recipes in my bookmarks folder. That's quite a lot of carrot inspiration.

This weekend, I finally progressed from admiring others' creations to making my own.

The result? If I was intrigued before, I am besotted now.

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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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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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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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A final Christmas post - my main meal plans and a raw vegan mango cheesecake to say Happy Christmas

My Christmas food posts didn't stretch to main meal options this year. There is a reason for this, and it isn't just laziness (promise!): others have done a far better job on the topic than I could. Plus, many of the dishes I posted in round-up form last year, and the year before, still look appealing. I suspect you didn't want or need another round-up now.

This year, my own Christmas dishes will make use of Angela's brilliant Christmas-themed menu on Oh She Glows. I separately bookmarked her Best Shredded Kale Salad (with pecan parmesan and cranberries) and Lentil Mushroom Walnut Balls (with a cranberry-pear sauce) as Christmas ideas, and when she included them in her Christmas menu planning post, it was reinforcement that they were meant to be. After Johanna's post on her experience with the lentil balls, I will be following the recipes exactly - I have even tracked down  the required sherry vinegar!

These vegan dishes will be complementing a traditional roast turkey dinner with roasted vegetables (for my family), and an assortment of desserts. My dessert contributions will be a layered twist on the (vegan) Christmas ice cream I shared in 2011, and some homemade chocolates.

With Christmas menu planning done and dusted, my main focus for today is saying happy Christmas to you. Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice (yesterday!), summer solstice (also yesterday!), or just plain season.

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Zucchini noodles with a tahini lemon sauce

What makes an ideal dinner on a 40'C (106'F) day? Last night, my answer was raw zucchini noodles with a tahini-based sauce, followed by soy vanilla ice cream.

I'm sure you can figure out soy vanilla ice cream by yourself (hint: visit a store) but the zucchini dish deserves sharing. There are lots of similar recipes around, but I think that speaks to how well veggie spirals pair with creamy nut and seed-based sauces.

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Rawsome 'Desserts in the Raw' workshop

You may remember that, earlier this year, I raved about Rawsome products appearing at cafes around Perth. As I noted then, the Rawsome range includes raw, vegan (except raw honey in some products), gluten free, paleo, grain free, sugar free and soy free treats that are, quite frankly, amazing. Caramel slice, mint slice, and chocolate fudge brownies are just some of the choices on offer.

Last Sunday, I attended an evening workshop run by Laila Gampfer, the developer of Rawsome. Her Desserts in the Raw workshops are held regularly, and always sell out long in advance of the actual date. In fact, one of the reasons I signed up (way back in August) was the option to cancel without penalty up to 48 hours beforehand. There is always a waiting list of hopeful attendees, so if you need to back out, someone can be slotted into your place.

Raw, vegan chocolate mudcake.

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