Quick and easy side dishes: Fig balsamic kale quinoa, and spicy peanut tofu and broccoli

The two side dishes in this post could easily have been combined to form a complete meal. As it was, I had the kale quinoa alongside some Linda McCartney veggie sausages (yes, we do sometimes delve into processed foods!) and the tofu and broccoli as a nutrient-packed lunch before a planned afternoon tea out. They are both very versatile dishes, and could complement any number of other side dishes or main meal options.

The kale quinoa was flavoured by a sticky fig and balsamic dressing produced by Jamie Oliver. To be honest, I am not very enamored with the dressing and it is only in this dish that I have really appreciated its sweet and tart flavours. They worked to round out the kale and quinoa and made the dish a little more exciting than it would otherwise have been. If you don't have a fig and balsamic dressing, any fruit-flavoured balsamic would work, or you could use a small handful of chopped dried fruit with regular balsamic vinegar.

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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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Ginger-chilli sweet potato and almond burgers

Before we moved, I assumed that the UK would have more vegan and vegetarian food options than Australia. In almost all ways, it undoubtedly does. However, there are a few surprising exceptions to that rule, and veggie burgers provide one such example. On reflection, it is perhaps not surprising that a country of long summers and frequent barbecues has a large number of veggie burgers to choose from. Whilst England does have some options of its own, most of them are of the faux meat variety and relatively few are vegan.

An upside of this discovery is that I suddenly have more motivation to make my own veggie burgers. Traditionally, this has been an area where I have good intentions but poor follow through. I love the idea of making up a batch of patties to suit my tastes, and freezing some to have on hand in the future. However, when I had access to supermarket burgers that I enjoyed, and which featured straightforward vegetable ingredient lists, I tended to just buy them.

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Out and about in London #1: Greenwich, Blackheath, Camden, and inSpiral vegan cafe

I don't intend to write in detail about all of our London outings. There would be too many posts, and there is plenty written about London already. This blog is not the best means of extending the existing literature! However, I do envisage occasional posts like this one, highlighting certain places. Today, we are swinging from south of the river in Greenwich and Blackheath, to well north of it in Camden. We end with an amazing raw vegan chocolate cake!

Greenwich Park

First, Greenwich. Best known as the home of Greenwich Mean Time, it features the Royal Observatory, National Maritime Museum, Old Royal Naval College, Cutty Sark, Queen's House, Greenwich Market, and gorgeous Greenwich Park. The whole area is a World Heritage Site, and the park itself is London's oldest Royal Park. 

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Sweet potato and strawberry smoothie

I think I have used my NutriBullet daily since its purchase. It has produced a lot of smoothies, a few batches of frozen banana soft serve, and some ground almonds. The small size and easy clean up (aided by being able to drink smoothies from the jars they are blended in!) are fantastic perks, and make it really appealing to use. Plus, we seem to have brought a bit of Western Australian heat to the UK. Smoothies and frozen bananas are just right.

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Chocolate zucchini breakfast pudding

It seems that this week I am all about chocolate. I hope you don't mind too much. This chocolate zucchini breakfast pudding would make a good prelude to the chocolate cake of my last post, but it would also make a good prelude to just about anything at all. Basically, it delivers slow release carbohydrates and a serve of vegetables in the form of warm fudgy chocolate. I like it rather a lot.

Prior to yesterday, I actually didn't have a Breakfast section on my Recipes page. I had quite a few breakfast-y recipes, but they were easily integrated into my Baking section or the leftover 'Other' category. Of late, though, I have had more time to devote to breakfast, a nice consequence of not yet starting work in the UK. Creations from my new NutriBullet have featured prominently in the mornings, but there have been other types of breakfast too. Suddenly, it seemed that my Recipes page really ought to have a Breakfast component. I am pleased to announce it with this recipe!

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