by Olia Saunders

Delicious and Inspiring
Vegan Cuisine: Vegie Head

Written by Olia, 347 days ago, 0 Comments

It has been my desire to present some of the things I am most passionate about on this blog, so it is with pleasure that I introduce my new series “Inspiring and Delicious Vegan Cuisine.” I hope you will enjoy my first selection of recipes by one of the most inspiring vegan cooks to come along in a good while – Vegie Head:

Adele is a self confessed Vegie Head. As the creator of vegiehead.com, you wouldn’t expect anything less. Vegie Head started by accident- Adele started to post pictures of her plant-based recipes on-line, to the delight of many. The demand for more was so great that she started a blog with pictures only. Then came the demand for recipes. The website was born, and vegiehead.com was an overnight success. Still flourishing, the website and recipes have been featured on many food blogs and sites, featured in online magazines, published in two compilation cookbooks, and Vegie Head herself has 2 e-books coming out soon! She also teaches cooking classes at her home in Melbourne, Australia and has a YouTube channel.

Adele’s beliefs are that food should be healthy, delicious, colourful and easy. All recipes are plant-based; some raw, some cooked, and Adele welcomes everyone to her website and social media pages, as she is intent on “Spreading the Vegie Head love”!

THE VEGIE HEAD SIGNATURE SALAD STACK

Serves 1

  • Bunch of spinach leaves
  • 1 shaved pear
  • 1/2 cucumber, sliced very thin
  • 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tspn organic olive oil
  • 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
  • Fresh pepper
  1. In a food ring, layer the spinach leaves first, then the cucumber and pear
  2. Repeat this until you reach the top of the food ring
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon, pomegranate juice olive oil and pepper
  4. Gently remove the food ring, and pour the dressing on top
  5. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and serve with a sprig of fresh coriander

RUSTIC RAW PESTO “PASTA”

Serves 2

  • 2 zucchinis, spiralized and sprinkled with salt
  • 1/2 cup raw brazil nuts
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil
  • 1/2 cup fresh coriander
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • Juice from 1 to 2 lemons
  • 1/4 cup high quality olive oil
  • Sprinkle of sea salt
  • Baby cherry tomatoes, quartered
  1. Allow the zucchini to sit in the salt for about 10 minutes- this will soften it
  2. In a blender/food processor, process the brazil nuts until they become fine crumbs
  3. Add the basil, coriander, parsley, lemons and salt, and while the blades are turning, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mix
  4. Taste for salt and lemon and adjust as needed
  5. Rinse the zucchini well under warm water (to remove the salt)
  6. Gently toss the pesto, tomatoes and zucchini together and serve immediately

VEGIE STUFFED PUMPKIN

Serves 2

  • One butternut pumpkin- we will use the round base for this recipe- you could also use a pumpkin sliced lengthways
  • 1/2 cup red quinoa
  • 1/2 cup white quinoa
  • 1 cup broccoli, diced finely
  • 1/2 cup zucchini, diced
  • 1 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 clove garlic. minced
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • Fresh black pepper
  1. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds
  2. Pierce the skin with a fork, and bake in a hot oven (180C) for 40 minutes, until tender
  3. In the meantime, rinse the quinoa and put in a pot with 2 1/2 cups of water
  4. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes
  5. Add the broccoli and zucchini and cook for 5 more minutes
  6. Drain and stir in the turmeric, garlic, parsley, chilli flakes and pepper
  7. Once the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the inside flesh- leave about 1/2 cm of flesh for effect
  8. Stir the scooped out pumpkin with the quinoa mix, and re-fill the pumpkin
  9. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes, just to heat
  10. Chop up some tomatoes or capsicum to garnish

VEGIE NOODLES WITH ORANGE-TAHINI DRESSING AND HEMP SEEDS

Serves 1 as a main or 2 as a side

  • 1 zucchini, spiralized or julienned
  • 1 carrot, spiralized or julienned
  • 1/4 cup raw tahini
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 5 or 6 fresh basil leaves
  • Small handful or coriander leaves
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Tbs poppy seeds
  • Tbs hemp seeds, hulled
  • 1/4 avocado, sliced and roughly mashed
  1. Sprinkle the zucchini and carrot with some sea salt and leave it in a colander- the salt will draw out excess moisture and make the noodles tender and able to absorb new flavours
  2. Leave for 10 to 15 minutes
  3. In a blender, blend the tahini, orange and lemon juice, basil and coriander leaves
  4. Add cayenne pepper and pulse again- taste for spices, and add some fresh pepper or more orange juice for sweetness
  5. Rinse the noodles very well, and squeeze out excess moisture with your hands
  6. Gently toss the noodles though the sauce- you want to just coat the noodles- not drown them!
  7. Sprinkle with the hemp and poppy seeds, and top with avocado

You may also want to drizzle some pomegranate molasses over this- the tartness brings out the nutty goodness of the tahini sauce

ICE CREAM SUNDAES

Serves 2

  • 2 mangoes, chopped and frozen
  • 2 bananas, chopped and frozen
  • 1 orange, sliced in half and flesh scooped out (eat this!)
  • 1 strawberry, sliced in half
  • Toppings, all optional: raw ‘Loving Earth’ Buckinis, almonds, cashews, dried fruit, cacao, lucuma, maca or mesquite powder to sprinkle, pomegranate molasses
  1. In a high-powered blender, whiz the bananas and mangoes until smooth
  2. Immediately, scoop into oranges, and serve with choice of toppings!
  3. I served mine with some raw cacao and water whisked together, buckinis and strawberries

HOMEMADE COCONUT YOGHURT

Makes about 2 and 1/2 cups.

  • 2 baby thai coconuts you will need the water from 1 and a half coconuts and the flesh from both
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 medjool dates, pitted

Blend together well, and add some more coconut water if needed

Flavour variations:

  • Add fresh or frozen strawberries/bananas/vanilla paste/cacao/mango
  • You can add a culture, such as kefir, or a pro-biotic
  • Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours before serving

Serve over cereal, fruit salad and smoothies.

RAW CHOCOLATE-COCONUT CREAM PIE

Makes 3 small tartlets, or one large pie

Base

  • 2 cups cashews
  • 1/4 cup agave syrup
  • 10 ml water

Filling

  • Flesh of one coconut
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup raw cacao
  • 1 date
  • Pinch of himalayan sea salt
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  1. Using coconut oil, lightly grease your pans (make sure you use springform, or removable base)
  2. Process the cashew nuts until they become a fine flour
  3. Add the agave and mix, adding the water slowly until it becomes a dough
  4. Press the dough into the pan and freeze for 30 minutes
  5. Blend the coconut flesh, bananas, cacao, date and sea salt until it becomes a smooth cream
  6. Add the chia seeds and stir by hand
  7. Allow to sit for 15 minutes- this will thicken
  8. Put in the freezer for 2 hours, then when you are ready to serve it, sprinkle some shredded coconut and cacao powder on top

RAW CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH AÇAÍ GANACHE

Makes 12 squares

  • 1 cup of almonds, soaked for 4 hours
  • 1 cup raw cacao + 1 tbsp cacao
  • 5 pitted dates
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • Tiny pinch of sea salt
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 tbsn ‘RioLife’ Acai powder
  1. Blend almonds, 1 cup of cacao, dates, coconut oil and salt in a high powered blender
  2. You may need to add a little bit of water to make the mix sticky….a teaspoon at a time!
  3. When the mixture is sticky, pour into a small dish that has been greased with coconut oil
  4. Clean blender, then puree bananas, acai powder and 1 tbsp cacao
  5. Pour banana ganache over brownie base
  6. Freeze for 30 minutes, and cut into squares with a hot knife
  7. Sprinkle some more cacao on the top and serve
  8. Keep these in the freezer until you are ready serve them- the ganache melts a little bit!

BANANA ALASKA WITH RASPBERRY COULIS

Serves 6

  • 4 bananas, halved
  • 1 cup raw macadamia nuts, soaked overnight
  • 1 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked overnight
  • 1/4 cup agave syrup
  • 2 drops of wattleseed extract (vanilla essence can be used in its place)
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup raw cacao
  • 1 cup of strawberries, hulled and blended (you want a little texture though, so don’t blend too much)
  • 1/4 banana, sliced very thin
  1. Blend the bananas, nuts, agave, wattleseed extract, almond milk and water, for at least 2 minutes- it has to be silky smooth
  2. Using glad-wrap, line the inside of a medium sized bowl- this is where the dessert will set
  3. Placed the sliced banana around the bottom of the bowl-when inverted, this will be the top
  4. Divide the mixture- pour a third into the prepared bowl, and cover with the overhanging glad-wrap
  5. Put it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes
  6. In the meantime, divide the mixture into two large bowls
  7. In one bowl, fold through the strawberries, in the other, the cacao
  8. When the banana layer is set, gently pour the strawberry layer in- freeze for another 30 mintes
  9. When the strawberry layer is frozen, pour the cacao layer
  10. Allow to freeze for at least an hour before serving
  11. When you are ready to serve, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, while making the coulis

Raspberry coulis:

  • 1 cup raspberries- fresh or frozen
  • 1 medjool date
  • 1/2 cup water

Blend until smooth

To serve:

  1. Place a flat dish on the top of the bowl
  2. Using both hands, turn the bowl upside down on top of the plate
  3. The bowl should come away easily with the glad-wrap
  4. Drizzle the coulis on top, and sprinkle with some shredded coconut

HEALTH TONIC

Serves 1

  • 1/2 inch ginger root
  • 4 cups seedless watermelon
  • 1 cup pineapple
  • 2 oranges
  • 1/2 punnet fresh strawberries, hulled
  • 1 cup purified water

Blend or juice (without water)

CREAMY RAW RASPBERRY SMOOTHIE

Serves 2

  • 2 cups of freshly made brazil nut milk (in a high powered blender, blend 1 cup of raw, soaked brazil nuts and 2 cups purified water for one minute, then strain)
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 date

Blend for one minute until smooth and enjoy!

 

 

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