Recipe of the week - Cauliflower Salad

In summer I’m always trying to create new ideas for using vegetables in salads, that way, even if the vegetables are cooked (as in this salad) its something I can cook once, in bulk, and then have in the fridge for days and not have to keep cooking!

My husband likes to snack on a Nut mix, consisting of roasted, salted Macadamias, Almonds, and Cashews, but the macadamias are his favorite which is why I picked them out and added them to this. If they aren’t your favorite nut, or you find them hard to source, use roasted and salted cashews as an alternative.

Cauliflower Salad

Serves 4 to 6

Preparation Time – 15 Minutes, not counting cooking and cooling the cauliflower

[soy free]

[wheat free]

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Water

1 tablespoon Grain Mustard

1 tablespoon Tahini

1 teaspoon Agave

4 cups cooked bite size Cauliflower Florets, 1 medium head

2 Green Onions, finely chopped, ¼ Cup

⅓ cup roasted and salted Macadamia Nut halves

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 medium Orange, segmented, about ½ cup, or an equal amount of Mandarin Orange segments

Whisk the oil, water, mustard, tahini, and agave together in a large bowl. Stand 10 minutes to thicken slightly.

Add the cauliflower, onions, and nuts and toss to coat.

Taste and season as required.

Either gently toss the orange segments through the salad, or arrange on top as garnish.

Allow salad to rest in the fridge for at least an hour prior to serving for the flavors to meld.

Book Review and Give away - Whole Grain Vegan Baking

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Whole Grain Vegan Baking! Happy to have you here and happy to be showcasing this book.

Tami and Celine bring you a comprehensive look at vegan baking - from a healthy perspective. Using whole grains, minimally processed sweeteners, and better-for-you fats they pack a huge number of tasty treats into this book. The photos are lovely (taken by Celine of course) and the book is user friendly - nice layout to the recipes, and logical chapter groupings.

The recipes include everything baking, from yeasted breads, to scones, muffins, cookies, cakes - sweet and savoury, treat and everyday so I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy.

The only bad thing for me about this book is that I couldn't make many recipes, being as I am now eating gluten-free, and there is a reliance on gluten containing whole grains for most of the recipes. However, I do look forward to at some point trying to switch up the whole grain flour to get gluten free alternatives which work!

I made -
Page 26 More-than-Maple Granola
Not too sweet, and tasty. This one I didn't have to make any changes to.

Page 29 Morning Boost Muesli
Original recipe and photo follows.
I changed the cracked wheat for steel cut oats, and used old fashioned rolled oats for the spelt and kamut flakes. I also omitted the wheat germ. I added the pineapple as suggested. Very tasty, if tricky having to remember to get it done the night before!

Thanks to Celine and Tami (and their publishers) for letting me reproduce the recipe.

Morning Boost Muesli

We know, we know: There’s technically nothing baked about muesli, but this is a whole grain book after all, and we love muesli too much not to sneak in a recipe for it. Loaded with cracked wheat, wheat germ, heart-healthy spelt flakes, and pleasantly chewy kamut flakes, this breakfast will ensure you won’t get hungry again before lunch.

1 cup (235 ml) water

53 g (1⁄3 cup) dry cracked wheat

pinch of fine sea salt

240 g (1 cup) plain or vanilla-flavored vegan yogurt

1 cup (235 ml) unsweetened pineapple juice

24 g (1⁄4 cup) rolled spelt flakes

24 g (1⁄4 cup) rolled kamut flakes

20 g (2 heaping tablespoons) date crumbles or chopped dried cranberries

25 g (1⁄4 cup) pecans, broken into smaller pieces

16 g (2 tablespoons) wheat germ

Combine the water, cracked wheat, and salt in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover with a lid, and cook until the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly while preparing the rest.

Combine yogurt, juice, spelt and kamut flakes, dates, pecans, and wheat germ in a large bowl. Stir the cooked cracked wheat into the muesli, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight to let the flakes plump up. Stir the muesli again before serving. Eventual leftovers will keep well for up to 2 days after preparation when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator; stir before serving.

Yield: 3 cups (855 g), 2 large to 4 more modest servings

Serving Suggestions & Variations

• For a fruitier muesli, add 248 g (11⁄2 cups) of fresh pineapple chunks, chopping them finely before stirring them in. Other fruits, such as fresh or thawed berries, would also be fantastic when added upon serving, to further increase the fiber and vitamin profile of this healthy breakfast.

Recipe note

Date crumbles are nuggets made from dried dates, with only oat flour added to prevent clumping. They’re ideal to use in baked goods because there’s no sticky chopping involved, but you can replace them with regular chopped dates without missing a beat.

Now the give away - only to residents of the US and Canada (the publishers rules not mine) - please comment with your favourite way to eat cereal for breakfast (seeing as the recipes I made were both breakfast cereals) to go into the draw to win your very own copy!
Closes 26th May @ 6pm Pacific.

Book Review ...

Post coming tomorrow! This week I'm a stop on the blog tour for Whole Grain Vegan Baking, so check back tomorrow for the review and give away!

Recipe of the week - Green Bean Waldorf Salad

Now that summer is just around the corner (or maybe even here where you are) I thought I'd spend a couple of weeks sharing some salad recipes. In this one I’ve added green beans to your typical Waldorf for another layer of flavor and texture, and capers for a pop of tartness. I like the combination with these extras as the sweetness often found in a Waldorf is counteracted a little.

Green Bean Waldorf Salad

Serves 6

Preparation Time – 20 Minutes

[gluten free]

¼ cup vegan Mayonnaise, homemade or store bought

2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

¼ teaspoon Dijon Mustard

½-pound Green Beans, trimmed to 1-inch lengths, blanched and refreshed, about 1 ½ cups

1 stalk Celery, finely chopped

1 Red Dessert Apple such as Gala, unpeeled, cored and cut to ¼-inch pieces

½ cup toasted, roughly chopped Walnut pieces

¼ cup halved red Grapes, seedless or seeds removed

¼ cup halved green Grapes, seedless or seeds removed

2 teaspoons drained Capers, finely chopped

In a large bowl combine the mayonnaise with the lemon juice and mustard, Mix well.

Add the remaining ingredients and combine.

Taste and season as required.

Refrigerate for at least an hour prior to serving at room temperature to allow flavors to meld.

Variation

Serve in inner romaine lettuce leaves, or bib lettuce leaf cups for an appetizer, or finger food starter.

Product Review - Vejibag

While I was sent a vejibag to try out I wouldn't be here telling you I love it, if I didn't love it, and I do.

It claims to prevent slimy veggies so I put it to the test with the veggies which ALWAYS go slimy for me very quickly, I'm talking within days, cilantro and green onions. Now, I know its not normal, but I have had a bunch of cilantro in my vejibag in the crisper of my fridge for 2 weeks now, and while looking a little worse for wear, as you'd expect, the cilantro is not slimy! I am more than impressed, and am more than happy to heartily recommend the vejibag to everyone I meet!

While not super cheap the vejibag is crafted by hand by women in Maine using organic cotton grown in the US, and is a quality product - lovely feel to it and nice workmanship.

Check out the site for vejibag to read and learn more.