Minty Banana

A small punch of minty flavor in your brekky. Loved it.

Ingredients

• Banana-1


• Dates- 3 for sweetness


• Natural peanut butter - 1 tsp


• Spinach - 1/2 handful


• Mint leaves-10


• Chia seeds -1 tsp


• Dietary fibre - 1 tsp


• Soy milk - enough to blend into a thick smoothie


• Almond meal- 1 tsp

Method

• Blend them all together [except almond meal] in a high speed blender and top with almond meal

Buckwheat Crepe - South Indian style

Being brought up with Indian food, it is hard to not to add spices even in basic salads. I was craving for Dosas, which is a lentil-rice crepe, a usual South Indian breakfast across many homes. I have cut down rice completely, so it was hard to make one without it until I laid my eyes on organic buckwheat flour. My life hasn't been the same since :) If not smoothie for brekky, it is definitely a crepe. I usually make Spinach crepe. Time for change. I tried to do something more close to home.

Ingredients

• Buckwheat flour-1/2 cup


• Chickpea flour-1/2 cup


• Spinach, coriander, curry leaves, chives-2 handfuls finely chopped


• Dietary fibre powder-1 tbsp


• Green chilli-1, ginger-a small piece, garlic-1 pod, curry leaves-5, grated coconut- 1 tbsp, fennel seeds -1 tsp -blend them together to a fine paste


• Red onion-1/2 finely chopped


• Water-(you need enough water for runny consistency)


• Salt-to taste


• Oil-a tsp for crepe

Method

• Mix them all together except oil and make crepe on a hot pan. I topped with chilli and lentil powder [ask for chutney powder in Indian shops ]

Serves: 2 people

Dahl Quinoa

Dahl/Dal is a vegetarian Indian curry made from lentils. There are numerous ways to make Dahl with different types of lentils. Lentils is one of the most important source of protein for vegans, so I make sure I eat at least dahl twice a week. With Quinoa, it is protein times 2. :) Best for lunch boxes and dahl could be used like a dressing with salad.

Ingredients 

• Split black lentils-3/4 cup


• Yellow lentils-1/2 cup


• Red onion-1-finely chopped


• Tomato-1,ginger-a small piece, garlic-2 pods- blend them together


• Turmeric-1/2 tsp


• Chilli powder-1/2 tsp


• Sambar powder- 2 heaped tsp


• Coriander leaves-a hanful chopped


• Salt-to taste


• Lemon juice-optional-1/2 lemon


• Rice bran oil- 2 tsp


• Cloves-2, Cinnamon stick-1 small stick,  cardamom-1, cumin seeds-1 tsp


• Quinoa cooked -1/2 cup

Method

• Pressure cook split black lentils, yellow lentils without salt


• In a pan, oil, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin seeds, once they splutter, add onion, bit salt, water to fry the onions brown.


• Add the blended tomato paste, turmeric, chilli powder and sambar powder, fry until tomato is fully cooked. Add the cooked lentils onto this and mix them well and let it cook for 4-5 mins.


• Add coriander leaves in. Remove off heat and add lemon juice


• Mix with quinoa and enjoy :)

Serves:2-3 people

Magic Mango Smoothie

This is another smoothie that I had 2 days back. Was divine and I didn't feel any food binge for around 3 hours. :)

Ingredients

• Mango -1


• Dates- 3 for sweetness


• Natural peanut butter - 2 tsp


• Spinach - 1/2 handful


• Chia seeds -1 tsp


• Dietary fibre - 1 tsp


• Soy milk - enough to blend into a thick smoothie

Method

• Blend them all together and top with a tsp of almond meal

Serves: 1 person

Banana Dates Almond Smoothie

I have been addicted to smoothies. It is summer here in Australia. I am craving for smoothies, milkshakes, crushes, you name anything cold, I need it.. We have Boost juice bars where I frequently have dairy-free smoothies, but one of the trainers in the gym, Chantal said it's not great for losing weight. So decided to make my own. Would never return to Boost ever again :) Much healthier option with no sugar, yet sweet. Also, read somewhere that having something green in the morning is very good. So in goes spinach almost everyday :)

Ingredients

• Banana- 1 ripe


• Dates- 3 for sweetness - great source of iron too


• Almond meal [Powdered Almonds] - 1 tsp


• Spinach - 1/2 handful


• Chia seeds -1 tsp


• Dietary fibre - 1 tsp


• Soy milk - enough to blend into a thick smoothie

Method

• Blend them all together and top with a tsp of almond meal

Serves: 1 person

Almond chia buckwheat crispbreads

With portion control diets, you have to snack at least twice a day. With high energy, it has to bridge gap between two meals.  This is one  awesome snack. Keeps your tummy full for at least 2.5 hours :)

Ingredients 

• Natural Almond chia spread -1/2 tbsp


• Buckwheat crispbreads -2 nos

Method

• Spread 1/2 tbsp spread on one crispbread. Keep one on top ( Like a sandwich)

Serves:1 person

Protein quinoa pilaf cooked Indian style

Found this recipe in one of my diaries and I knew immediately what was going into my lunch box tomorrow. The actual version of it had rice instead of quinoa and had the title "Chickpea Groundnut High protein pulao". Very much Indian ;) Pulao/Pulav is how any rice that is flavored in termed as. I thought of making this recipe in brown rice but decided to go with organic red quinoa. Heavenly. Ended up having a small portion of it for dinner.

Ingredients 

• Quinoa-1 cup cooked with 3 cups water (My quinoa consumed water like a sponge.. Try with 2 cups of water and add as required)


• Dried Chickpeas,dried Peanuts,dry peas-a handful each-soaked overnight-pressure cooked without salt


• Onion-1 small finely chopped


• Tomato-1, Ginger-a small piece, Garlic-1 pod-blend them together


• Dry chilli powder-1/2 tsp ( is way too low compared to normal Indian spicy limit)


• Channa masala (Spice from Indian grocery) - 2 tsp


• Garam masala-1/2 tsp


• Dry fenugrek leaves (ask for dry methi in an Indian grocery)-1/2 tsp


• Coriander leaves - a handful


• Clove-2, Cinnamon-a small stick, Cardamom-1 pod, Bay leaf-1,cumin seeds-1 tsp,curry leaves-1 strand(optional)

Method

• In a pan, add 1 and 1/2 tsp oil, add cloves, cinnamon,cardamom,bay leaf,cumin seeds,curry leaves and wait for them to roast, add onions, salt, fry, when ever you feel oil is necessary, add water and fry the onions.


• Once onion turns brown, add the blended tomato paste, fry for a minute, toss in turmeric, dry chilli powder, channa masala, garam masala, salt and fry until tomato loses it's raw smell. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water and add all the cooked lentils, add dry fenugrek leaves and let it boil for a 3-4 minutes. Add coriander leaves and let it become semi-dry curry and add cooked quinoa, add more salt and mix them well :)

Serves: 2 people

Vegan buckwheat crispbreads with tomato salsa

Vegan buckwheat crispbreads with tomato salsa

Losing weight is very depressing if you are with broccoli and greens all the time.  Especially, if you love food, it could be really hard to diet. Over a long run, diets are not going to work. How long can we count calories? Portion control, is a better choice. 5-6 meals a day, you never go hungry and you start to appreciate food much more. So I try to pick different things I have never had before. This is what I found in the supermarket, buckwheat crispbreads :)



Topped these crispbreads with tomato salsa and this turned out to be the best snack I have had in a while.

Ingredients for Salsa

• Onion-1/4 chopped fine


• Tomato-1 chopped fine


• Cucumber- 2" piece-chopped fine


• Macadamia nuts-3 nos-chopped fine


• Chickpea, peas, groundnuts (boiled) / any kind of boiled lentils


• Coriander leaves- 2 strands-chopped fine


• Chilli powder- a pinch


• Chat masala (got this from Indian grocery shop-usually used in Indian street food)


• Salt-to taste, Lemon-optional

Method

• Mix all the ingredients together and salsa is ready to be topped up on buckwheat crispbreads. Yum :)

Serves:2 people

Tofu sprouts and lentils salad

I made Vietnamese rice paper rolls, and had leftovers from the filling. Mixed them all together and had it for dinner as a salad

Ingredients for Salsa

• Cucumber-julienne- 1 handful


• Snowpea sprout leaves, Sprouts-a handfull together


• Boiled lentils-a handful 


• Tofu-1 handful (Julienne them and fry with Mexican taco seasoning in 1tsp oil)


• Onion-1/4 chopped length-wise


• Lemon juice- few drops as a dressing


• Salt-to taste

Method

• Mix all the ingredients together and salad is ready to be tucked in :)

Serves:2 people

Mango spinach smoothie

Mango Spinach Smoothie

Ingredients 

• Mango-1


• Spinach leaves-1 handful


• Light coconut milk- 3 Tbsp


• Soy milk-1/2 cup


• Caster sugar-1 tsp


• Maple syrup-2 tsp

Method

• Blend them all together into a smoothie

Serves:1 person

Vietnamese Rice paper roll

Vietnamese rice paper roll with coco-nut dipping sauce

Any time I walk past the Vietnamese takeaway shop in a food mall, I peek in to find out if there are any vegan rolls with just veges, it's hard to find one. So time to make it myself. I was walking through the health isle in Coles, where I found this gluten-free rice paper. Each paper comes to around 27 calories.



Ingredients for filling

• Carrot, cucumber-julienne- 1 handful each


• Snowpea sprout leaves, Sprouts


• Boiled lentils


• Tofu-1 handful (Julienne them and fry with Mexican seasoning in 1tsp oil)


• Onion-1/4 chopped length-wise

Method

• It is better to mix all the ingredients and keep them ready.


• Wet rice paper in warm water and place them on damp paper towel. Place  the filling in and roll them based on the instructions on the rice paper packet.

Coco-nut dipping sauce

Ingredients 

• Garlic-1 pod


• Raw almonds-12, Roasted peanuts-10, chia seeds-1/2 tsp, sunflower seeds, pumpkin kernels-1 tbsp each


• Caster sugar-1 tsp, 1 dry red chilli, 1/4 tsp tamarind paste, salt-to taste


• Light coconut milk- 3 Tbsp


• Onion-1/2 chopped fine


• Oil-1 tsp

Method

• Blend all the  ingredients in the first 4 bullet points together into a very very fine paste


• In a pan, add 1 tsp oil, add onion fry well, add the blended paste, water and let it boil for a couple of minutes.


• Take it off heat and use it as a dipping sauce :)


• This is all healthy fat, but make sure it is just a dipping sauce.

Serves:4 people

Creamy vegan lentil soup

Creamy vegan lentil soup

Ingredients 

• Soup mix (from supermarket) - had yellow lentils, barley, pigeon peas-1 cup


• Tomato-1 cubed


• Onion-1/2 cubed


• Red quinoa-1/4 cup


• Garlic pods-2


• Vegetable stock cube-1


• Chives- a handful


• Salt, pepper-to taste


• Water-3-4 cups

Method

• Soak soup mix for 6 hours and pressure cook  with all the other ingredients except salt and pepper.


• Once cool, blend them all together and add salt & pepper and heat it in a saucepan. Don't boil it, keep on flame until it froths around the corner.


• Note: Make sure you have it immediately and do not keep it overnight. Barley aids in yeast formation.

Serves:2-3 people

 

Spinach protein crepe

Spinach protein crepe

I have these 5000+ recipes, I am trying to make them all vegan and healthy. This is one such recipe where there were loads of non-vegan ingredients that have been replaced. I also had a conversation with my trainer Cam who was talking about how gluten-free diet aids in weight loss for many people. I have to do more research in trying to make recipes gluten-free. Used buckwheat flour and chickpea flour. Best crepe I have ever had in my life :)

Ingredients

• Buckwheat flour-1/2 cup


• Chickpea flour-1/2 cup


• Spinach, coriander, curry leaves, chives-2 handfuls finely chopped


• Dietary fibre powder-1 tbsp


• Dry chilli powder, cumin powder-1 tsp each


• Red onion-1/2 finely chopped


• Water-(you need enough water for runny consistency)


• Salt-to taste


• Oil-a tsp for crepe

Method

• Mix them all together and make crepe on a hot pan.


• You could either eat it by itself or with some chutney.


• Very healthy, high in protein and fibre

Serves:2-2 people

Green gram crepe and tomato chutney - Gluten free

Green gram crepe with tomato chutney - Gluten free

Ingredients for Crepe

• Green gram -2 cups


• Brown rice- 1/2 cup


• Ginger, no, of, chillies, curry leaves, salt-according to taste


• Onion-1 finely chopped

Ingredients for Tomato Chutney

• Onion-1 cubed


• Tomato-1 cubed


• Garlic-3 pods


• Ginger-small piece


• Coriander seeds-1 tsp


• Cumin-1 tsp


• Oil-1 tsp


• Salt-to taste


• Tamarind- a very small piece


• Hing/asafoetida -1/4 tsp (you get in in Indian/ Srilankan grocery)

 



Method-Crepe

• Soak rice and green gram for 6 hours


• Blend them together with the other ingredients except onions. It needn't be watery crepe consistency, could be little denser.


• Add onions and make crepes (could be bit denser than normal crepes)


• Goes excellent with Tomato chutney

Method-Tomato chutney

• In a pan-add 1 tsp oil, cumin, hing, coriander seeds, roast them, add onion, garlic and ginger (no use of chopping them, cos you are gonna blend them all in), once onion turns brown, add tomatoes and cook until soft/tender. Remove from heat and once cool, blend them with tamarind to a fine chutney consistency


• If oil is very less to fry onions, use water and salt to brown them.

Serves:2-3 people