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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