Guest Chef Pete Blake: Apple, Date and Fruit Bread Pudding

 

"All the arts are conduits for the expression of this deep human longing for unity, but it is only in the art of food preparation and eating that this oneness is actually physically achieved. This is part of what makes eating such a powerful experience and metaphor: food art is eaten and becomes us. It enters as object and becomes subject; what is “not-me” is transformed into “me." - Will Tuttle, The World Peace Diet.

We all have those moments when we crave the nourishment of a little comfort food, in particular the richness of a sweet and rib-sticking desert. It's also these times when it's nice to have a healthy but satisfying option that allows us to not just indulge the heart and soul but also to feed the body. So when I recently had cravings for something of this kind I came up with this pudding recipe. While it still feels indulgent and not something to eat all the time, it isn't laden with the overly processed sugars and fats that will only create havoc on our bodies and emotions. 

This can be eaten hot or cold. I prefer it cold, served with a warm tumeric spiced plant milk custard, and fruit nice-cream. And sometimes, like in the photo, with some rich chocolate avocado mousse. You can take it to whatever level you like. An alternative suggestion is to add small pieces of dried or crystallized ginger on top of the apple before pouring over the date mixture. 

Apple, Date and Fruit Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of unsweetened soy milk
• Half a cup of rice malt syrup
• 1 cup of dried pitted dates
• Several slices of your favourite loaf of fruit bread
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 1 red apple, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon of cornflour, mixed with enough cold water to create a paste.

Method:

• Place the soy milk and dates into a saucepan and heat over the stove top on a moderate heat, stiring.
• Once the dates have started to break down into the soy milk and start to form a paste, take off the heat and stir through the rice syrup and vanilla. Allow to cool for a bit then stir in the cornflour mixture and combine well.
• In an oven dish add a layer of fruit bread followed by an even layer of the sliced apple. Pour over the date mixture and then layer on whatever apple is left, if any, before finishing with a layer of fruit bread.
• Gently push on the top of the fruit bread to make sure it's sitting well into the date mixture.
• Cover and bake in the oven at 150/160 C for 45 minutes, or until the apple has become soft.
• Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

#vegan #recipe #healthlyliving #dessert
@the.anima.project

Guest Chef Pete Blake: Special Vegan Fried Rice

Old and young alike, who doesn't love fried rice? I personally prefer using a non-stick pan and making mine oil free but the choice is yours.

The trick with good fried rice is to use cold precooked rice, making this such a quick and easy midweek meal or mains accompaniment. Left over rice and whatever veg is in the fridge. The best rice for this is a long grain rice, either white or brown, and jasmine rice just adds something special to it I reckon.

Special Vegan Fried Rice

Serves 2 or 4 as a small side.

Ingredients:

-2 cups of cold cooked rice

-150 grams of tofu (preferably frozen/defrosted/pressed) 

-Hoisin sauce 

-Powdered vegan chicken-style stock (I use Massells brand)

-1 carrot, diced

-Half a cup of frozen peas

-1 to 2 cups of bean shoots

-Spring onion, chopped

 

Method:

-Marinade your tofu in a little Hoisin sauce, overnight or at least for a couple of hours. Then air fry or bake and put aside. Once cool, dice the tofu.

-To your frypan add the carrot, peas, spring onion and bean shoots. Stir Fry until cooked but still firm.

-Add your tofu and mix through.

-Add the cold rice and a teaspoon or two of the stock powder and stir to combine all ingredients. I recommend putting in one teaspoon and tasting before you add more.

-Keep stirring until your rice is warmed through and all the ingredients are combined.

Serve and garnish with the tops of the spring onion and accompany with chili sauce and a dark sweet soy sauce.

Pete Blake - @the.anima.project 

Guest Chef Pete Blake: Tofu & Rice

It's not difficult to notice that here in Australia we have openly embraced Chinese cuisine, well the style we find in our Chinese restaurants anyway. Chinese takeaway is a staple of our mutli-cultural cuisine. Certainly as a Caucasian growing up in Australia it has coloured many of my childhood dining-out memories.

In my life I have a developed a real appreciation of the aesthetic found in many Asian cultures - from the art and crafts, to the spiritualities and philosophies, to the martial arts, to the vibrant and colourful celebrations and the wonderful food that always plays a part in these.

I can spend quite a time wandering through a Chinese grocery store, discovering an array of items to try, often wonderful and sometimes seemingly weird. As a vegan there are always lots of things to experiment with and with such a strong Buddhist influence found within many of the Asian cultures there are usually various varieties of mock meats to cook with.

Quite commonly found within Asian cuisines is tofu. For me it's a staple of my diet, I love it and find it versatile to cook with, and it's also packed with protein. For the first time user it can seem daunting and for some people it seems to be either a love or hate experience. Often it's because of the texture. One of the tricks to using tofu is changing this texture, and in doing so it changes its ability to being able to really soak up the flavours it's paired with.

The trick is to freeze your firm tofu, then defrost it. Once it's completely defrosted you can either gently press it, which can be done by placing it between two cutting boards and gently pressing down, or simply squeezing it, and doing this until all the water within the tofu is released. This then leaves you with a tofu that will readily absorb flavours into those air bubble like pockets where the water once was.

So with Chinese New Year upon us I thought I would offer a Chinese inspired recipe that I love to make from time to time. There are a few steps, and it needs some preparation time, but they're all easy and even a beginner could master this recipe.

Chinese inspired Tofu and Rice, with braised Asian Greens and Crispy Beancurd 

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

-1 x 450gm pack of firm Organic Tofu.

-2 Lengths of dried Bean Curd sticks, broken into lengths (found in Asian Grocers).

-2 Cups of water.

-2 Tablespoons of Chinese cooking rice wine.

-2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce.

-2 Teaspoons of crushed Ginger.

-1 Teaspoon of crushed Garlic.

-2 Spring Onions chopped into inch long pieces.

-2 Teaspoons of a dried vegan Chicken-Style Stock Powder (I use Massel).

-Asian Greens of choice.

-A long grain style of Rice (enough to give everyone a cup of cooked rice).

Method:

For the best results freeze, defrost and press your tofu.

Cut the tofu into serve-able size pieces.

In a bowl combine the water, rice wine, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and the spring onions. Then into this place the pieces of tofu and the lengths of bean curd and marinade for at least 2 hours.

Clean and prepare your Asian greens. Place these in a frypan and get a light colouring onto them.

Next pour you marinade and the spring onions into the pan of Asian greens, gently stir in the stock powder and cover, simmer gently until cooked.

While the greens are simmering place the soaked dried beancurd into an airfryer on high for about 10 minutes, or onto a lined baking tray, until starting to colour and they are crispy.

As both these processes are happening put your tofu onto either a frypan or in the oven and cook until it begins to get a light colouring also.

Once these are all ready place a cup of rice onto each plate, with a serve of greens and tofu. You can spoon a little of the braising liquid over the greens and tofu, along with some chilli and some darker soy sauce. To garnish add the crispy bean curd, the slices of cucumber and salad veg like shredded cabbage and beanshoots.

Enjoy!

#Chinesenewyear #vegan #healthycooking #recipe

@the.anima.project

Guest Chef Pete Blake: Hummus

"The food you eat can be either the safest & most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison." - Ann Wigmore.

One of my favourite ways to eat is a bowl full of healthy and nutritious power packed plant foods. You can fill it full of all the foods you love, to offer you a delicious and satisfying meal. Dressing is often the key and one of my favourites is hummus. Lots of us have our own recipes. So here's mine, it's quick and easy and completely oil free, and you will notice I prefer unhulled tahini -I find it less acidic and bitter than hulled tahini. So please give it a try as a dressing or a dip and let me know what you think (@the.anima.project).

Hummus (Makes 3 cups) 

-1 x 400g can Chickpeas 

-1 x 400g can Butterbeans 

-1/4 cup Lemon Juice 

-1 teaspoon Minced Garlic 

-1/4 cup Unhulled Tahini 

-1/2 cup Water 

-1 teaspoon of quality Salt 

-1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin 

Blend all the ingredients until smooth and enjoy. 

#vegan #poweredbyplants #healthylifestyle #hummus

@the.anima.project

Guest Chef Pete Blake: Smokey Beans with Rice & Tofu

 

 

One of my favourite weekday meals. It's delicious, nutritious and packed with protein. 

Smokey Beans with Rice and Tofu.... It's just a tin of black beans and a tin of red kidney beans, a tin of tomatoes, a cup of brown rice and 300gms of tofu, which I've cubed and air fried, but you could bake it or just add it in as is. A diced carrot and two diced celery sticks. A litre of stock, one to two teaspoons of smoked paprika and a couple of teaspoons of stevia. 

I just put it all in the pot and simmer, adding more stock or water if needed, until the rice is cooked, the veg is soft and the liquid has reduced. 

Season to taste if needed. 

So easy, and I'll get three to four serves from this with a nice salad on the side. 

#vegan #healthylifestyle #recipe

Instagram: @acorn.to.oak