Catering for all diets at CNR Kitchen, Northbridge Piazza
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Food and Wine Festivals, Paleo, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants, Vegan, Vegetarian
It is a known fact, I don’t know how to relax. I almost always have at least 101 things on the go at any one point and this can be both extremely exciting and stressful. Although I have no one to blame for being so busy but myself, yet I cannot help but look upon my feline fur-kids with envy as they happily laze entire days away sleeping, cuddling and lounging about. They are true experts in relaxation. After years of recurrent illness and always being “sickly”, I have finally learnt that to keep up this crazy pace without falling apart it is crucial to take time to nourish my body with excellent nutrition.
Part of this commitment to myself has included switching to eating a more plant-based diet, and whilst I would never claim to be a true vegetarian, we certainly do find ourselves eating less and less meat as the years go on. And for once in my life I can honestly say I don’t really miss it.
A couple of weeks ago I had some surgery to remove a suspicious looking mole from the sole of my foot. While I waited for the pathology results to come back, I madly ticked over in my mind nearly all perceivable potential outcomes, both good and bad. I decided to start to mentally prepare myself in case they needed to perform a much more invasive repeat surgery to take wider margins. All the while my carefree alter-ego sat on my shoulder saying “Settle down woman, it’s just a weird looking mole!”.
And thankfully that imaginary brazen smart-arse was right, there was no evidence of any cancer in my biopsy. Relieved, elated and very grateful, I immediately proceeded to plans with the Boy to head out that evening and celebrate together. Having recently attended a few too many boozy events lately, we both wanted a meat free dinner. I chose CNR Kitchen as I knew they had a lot of vegan, vego and gluten free options on their menu.
Tasting Plate $29.90 (GF, raw, vegan)
We started with the raw vegan tasting plate. It came with a collection of items including Moroccan savoury cakes, dolmades with cashew mint aioli and a serve of raw vegan Pad Thai. It also had a small serve of their house-made dehydrated corn chip crackers with fresh guacamole and pineapple salsa to dunk them in.
Tasting Plate $29.90 (GF, raw, vegan)
The tasting plate was a simple but satisfying dish and would be a great option to order for those who haven’t eaten raw food before. I will have to remember that when on my next pub crawl with my meat-eating friends. The Moroccan savoury cakes contained a careful balance of spices and were my favourite part of the tasting plate despite there being one slight problem. They didn’t hold together very well at all and combined with my usual level of clumsiness, my cakes crumbled apart after the first bite making them very messy to eat.
As I dunked the last half of my Moroccan cake into the cashew mint aioli it crumbled into numerous pieces and fell into the bowl of dip. The Boy could barely stifle his chortle as he grinned and watched my useless attempts to scoop out my crumbs. They still tasted just as good!
Raw nachos $29.90 (GF, raw, vegan)
Thankfully I managed to eat my raw nachos much more elegantly as my house made corn chips had enough strength and substance to withstand a decent amount of toppings. The added sweetness of the pineapple into the salsa was a winning element and you would have never guessed the cashew sour cream was actually dairy free.
Raw nachos $29.90 (GF, raw, vegan)
In the dim lighting of the evening I struggled to get a good shot of the eggplant lasagne. This was a vegan version of the Boy’s favourite meal and yet wasn’t missing any flavour despite the lack of any meat. I was actually inspired a few days later to make my own grain free, dairy free lasagne at home.
Eggplant lasagne $26 (GF, vegan)
The lasagne was packed full of veggie goodness with layers of pumpkin, eggplant, mushroom and zucchini flavoured with a rich tomato and black olive marinara and house made macadamia ricotta. I loved the sweet potato crunchy curls tumbled on top.
Chilli chocolate slice ($3 each GF, raw, vegan)
For dessert we ordered a small selection of the raw desserts. One of the slices I ordered was the chilli chocolate slice but I nearly got in trouble for ordering it by the Boy. He is not a fan of chilli at all and cannot handle anything more than the most mildest of mild heat; lucky for us this slice had just a subtle hint of oomph in it and so thankfully there were no complaints.
Banana creamcake $8.90 (GF, raw, vegan)
The banana cream cake was decadently indulgent and for once I was happy it was only a small serve. Raw desserts can be very rich and even someone with a huge an appetite like me can be easily satisfied with smaller portions.
Lemon raw slice ($3 each GF, raw, vegan)
For someone who must eat gluten free, CNR Kitchen is a welcoming reprieve from all the gluten ladened dude food and Asian eateries located around in Northbridge. I will definitely be reminding myself of their presence next time I’m out partying and become tempted to risk eating a taco or burger. I know that my body will thank me in the morning.
CNR Kitchen are active participants in Eat Drink Perth festivities and hosted a raw dessert teaching class a couple of weeks ago when the Festival began. Attendees were taught how to make a number of delicious sugar free, dairy free and gluten free raw desserts. Of course this was accompanied by taste testing everything.
CNR’s second raw food class is held this week on Tuesday April 7th and for this session they will making dairy free cheese, milk, cream and ice cream using nuts. To find out more head to the Eat Drink Perth website.
Disclaimer: Chompchomp is an official blogger for Eat Drink Perth ’15. Whilst the Eat Drink Perth blogging team are kindly each gifted a number of event tickets from the City of Perth, Chompchomp just cannot help but get into the Perth City mood and attend more than just what she is given. I mean who doesn’t love food festivals! Consequently, she paid for this meal in full.
CNR Kitchen
Northbridge Piazza, 44 Lake Street, Northbridge WA 6003 | (08) 9228 8861 | cnr.net.au
Polenta quiche with zucchini and goats cheese (vegetarian, gluten free)
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Recipes, Vegetarian
In a time long gone by, before I was forced to give up gluten, I was a girl who loved quiche. There used to be a deli that I drove past on my way to work and once or twice a week I would stop in there and buy a slice of their home made quiche to take to work for lunch. It was a thick based quiche filled with a variety of different ingredients which changed every day, plenty of egg and flaky pastry crust. Not exactly the pinnacle of healthy eating but something I would really look forward to each time I bought it.
Those days are well and truly over and the times that I enjoy my quiche are so few and far between that it feels even more like a special treat. When I was first diagnosed, I struggled with creating a workable gluten free pastry as it can be much more temperamental and sensitive to handling. As a compromise I searched for a pastry free, grain free alternative to use as a quiche base and stumbled upon the idea of using polenta instead. After trying this for the first time, the concept stuck and this recipe became ingrained as one of my regulars even after I worked out how to make gluten free pastry that tasted good. Since that day, my polenta quiche has made many appearances in various forms and has even converted the gluten eaters of the family.
I love following the seasons and eating what’s fresh and local. At the moment we have an overload of zucchini which gave me the perfect inspiration for my second Christmas dish for Belmont Forum’s Twelve Days of Bloggers Christmas. We tend to eat vegetarian at home but for those meat eaters out there, this polenta quiche would go beautifully with some pan fried pancetta added in. And for those on a paleo diet, change the yoghurt to coconut cream and leave out the cheese. 😉
- 1½ cups gluten free vegetable stock
- 1¼ cups water
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1¼ cups polenta
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 & ½ cups plain Greek yoghurt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small zucchini cut into ribbons
- ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Preheat the oven to 190 C.
- Bring the stock and water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the salt. Slowly add the polenta in a thin stream, whisking constantly, and continue whisking for 30 seconds. Decrease the heat to low and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every few minutes to keep the polenta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring a few times. Stir in the cheese, egg and pepper.
- Grease a 25 cm quiche pan with olive oil. Have a glass of cold water ready to help mould the polenta into the quiche base. Spoon the polenta into the pan and press it out with your hands or a spoon, pushing it up the sides. You can dip your hands or the spoon into the cold water to help set the polenta as you go. Set the pan aside for 15 minutes to cool then form an even rim about 1.5 cm thick with moist fingers, pressing firmly.
- Whisk the yoghurt, eggs, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper together until well-combined. Place the zucchini ribbons in the prepared quiche pan. Pour the yoghurt mixture evenly over the zucchini. Sprinkle over the top with goat cheese and grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake the quiche until the top turns golden brown and the filling is set, about 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 30 minutes.
Paleo Coconut flour Banana bread (gluten free, dairy free, fructose friendly, grain free)
Posted by | Categories: Baking, Blender Recipes, Featured, Paleo, Recipes
One of my most popular recipes on the blog is my coconut flour banana bread. It is one of our staples at home and whenever we have browning bananas in the fruit bowl I will get a request from the Boy to bake it. Since I first published the recipe in early 2013, I have progressively made some tweaks to improve it whilst not taking away from its purpose of being somewhat healthy.
I found that by adding in chia seeds to my original recipe along with beefing it up with a few more eggs, the end result is banana bread with much improved texture without any of its predecessors crumbliness. This banana bread toasts beautifully and with the increased fibre content of the coconut flour it can be quite filling.
I was recently approach by Belmont Forum to provide recipes for publication on recipe cards to be displayed in their centre and I knew this paleo banana bread would be a total hit. Better still, it is very allergy friendly as it is grain free, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
- Makes 1 loaf
- 400 g ripe bananas
- 6 free range organic eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- ¼ cup (50 grams) coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
- ¼ cup (65 grams) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (55 grams) coconut flour
- ¼ cup (35 grams) chia seed
- Extra banana and shredded coconut to decorate
- Preheat your oven to 150 Celsius (fan forced) or 170 C (no fan).
- Combine banana, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, maple syrup and baking powder into a blender or food processor and blend until creamy and combined. For those with a Thermomix blend for 2-3 mins | Speed 5. or until smooth and creamy. Alternatively you can do this by hand in a large bowl.
- Add the coconut flour and chia seeds and mix through. (Thermomix 2 min | Speed 2)
- Rest for 10-15 minutes to allow the chia and coconut flour to expand.
- Lightly oil one loaf tin and then line with baking paper.
- Spoon batter into the tin, at this stage you can decorate the bread with flaked coconut and sliced banana before baking.
- Bake for 55 – 60 minutes depending on your oven (a skewer inserted into the centre should come out dry). Cover the top with foil if over-browning.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool before turning out the loaf.
Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Featured, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian
Last year I ran a weekly series for six weeks inspired by the Meatless Monday movement. At that point in time the Boy wasn’t a vegetarian and I wanted to show him that this lifestyle change didn’t have to mean just eating boring lettuce and tomato salads. Since then we have both changed a lot about our eating habits; eating mostly local produce, organic where we can and definitely with a much lower focus on meat.
I was recently approached by Belmont Forum to help them create a couple of recipe cards to put in their new Fresh Food Mall in the centre. After visiting the centre to check out what was on offer, I was impressed with the amount of gluten free and organic food available in their health food store and was inspired to recreate this zucchini noodle dish from my Meatless Monday series. It is so easy to make, surprisingly satisfying and full of nutrients.
- 1 cucumber, peeled and spiralized
- 1 zucchini, peeled and spiralized
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste
- pinch of sea salt
- 3 tbsp water
- ¼ cup puffed amarinth
- 1 tbsp sliced almonds
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1 tbsp goji berries
- pinch of sea salt
- Peel the cucumber and zucchini and run them through a spiraliser (or julienne them if you prefer).
- Place the noodles in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Set aside while you make the sauce and topper.
- To make the almond sauce, whisk together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- To make the topper, combine all topper ingredients in a small bowl.
- To serve, place the noodles in a clean bowl, mix in the sauce and add a handful of garnish. Serve immediately.
Recipe adapted from www.adashofcompassion.com
Raw Vegan Red Pepper Soup & Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
I have a tendency to brag about Perth’s balmy weather but the reality of it is that by having great weather for most of the year many of us Perthites are poorly acclimatised for any remote resemblance of winter. We are notorious for being winter whingers when the reality of it is our winters are comparatively short and mild and we really have nothing to complain about. The Boy and I have been sticking to our Raw Food Meatless Monday for over four weeks now and both of us are feeling vibrant and our skin is glowing. Or maybe that’s still some post wedding bliss?!
However waking up in the morning when it is still dark outside and the temperature is in the single digits drinking a cold smoothie isn’t that enjoyable, no matter how tasty and nutritious it is. So prompted by this cold snap, I decided this week our Raw Food breakfast would be a raw vegan red pepper soup instead; warmed in just minutes by using my blender on high speed which then gently heats the soup with friction.
- 1 cup roughly chopped red bell capsicum (approx. 1 medium pepper)
- ½ cup of cashew cream
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ cup more diced red capsicum (reserve for garnish - do not blend)
- ½ tbsp. parsley
- Add ingredients (except for the garnish) into the blender on low speed until smooth, then blend on medium to high until warmed.
Adapted from www.therawtarian.com
Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce recipe has been moved. Click here for the recipe.
The Boy’s review of the Raw Vegan Red Pepper Soup & Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce:
With the “cold” of winter making its brief appearance in Perth these last couple of weeks Chomp decided that it was time to make a nice warm raw soup for breakfast rather than the usual cold smoothie. Her choice of a raw Red Capsicum Soup was spot on for a cold winter’s morning and was absolutely delicious without being too heavy or filling. Being only lightly warm it needs to be eaten quickly as it loses some of its appeal once it cools down to room temperature.
Our dinner that night was one of my favourite raw, vegan dishes – Raw Zucchini Noodles – which we first had at the Raw Kitchen in Fremantle last year. Chomp’s interpretation of the dish was a Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce and without a doubt it was a winner. There is something about Zucchini noodles that just really appeals to me and I actually prefer them over the real pasta. This dish was beautifully prepared with the almond sauce, pumpkin seeds and goji berries complementing the cucumber and zucchini perfectly.
Both of the dishes were fantastic this week and it is going to be a shame that it ends next week as I am quite enjoying having all these new, interesting meals cooked for me!
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Vegan Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information.
Savoury Green Smoothie & Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Featured, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
A number of you dear readers who have been following my Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge have suggested to me that I make some raw food desserts. I wanted a raw dessert to serve us for our Monday night dinner that could actually pass off as our main meal. It needed to be nutritious, filling and not too sweet. To complicate my requirements furthermore, it had to comply with my fructose malabsorption (FM) restrictions. Many raw food desserts contain dried fruit which are completely off the menu for a FM so I had to delve a bit deeper for something more interesting.
To kick start our day, I created a savoury green smoothie which is low in calories yet full of nutrients. Unlike last week’s smoothie, this one is light on the stomach and easier to drink. For dinner I have made use of some organic chia seeds I recently received from the generous guys at Cheap Superfoods. The chia seeds are raw and unprocessed meaning that all their antioxidant and essential fatty acid content remains undamaged. The berry cinnamon chia pudding is dairy free, gluten free, raw, fructose friendly AND it tastes AMAZING!
- 1 cup water
- 4 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
- 1 avocado
- 1 medium cucumber, with skin, chopped
- 1 lemon, peeled and seeded
- 1 handful of parsley
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
- 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight in the refrigerator
- 2 cups water, filtered
- 1¾ cups cashew cream
- ½ cup chia seeds
- ¼ to ½ cup maple syrup depending on desired sweetness
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup blueberries
- Drain and rinse cashews.
- Combine with filtered water in the OmniBlend and blend until smooth.
- Mix together cashew cream, chia seeds, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Slice strawberries.
- When chia pudding has thickened up (about 5-10 minutes) stir in sliced strawberries and blueberries.
- When serving sprinkle some freshly grated nutmeg on top.
The Boy’s review of the Savoury Green Smoothie & Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding:
“When deciding to switch to a plant based diet I knew the one thing I would really miss would be Dairy and in particular cheeses and desserts. While I am more than happy to eat more berries and other fresh fruits, I have a real weakness when it comes to Ice Cream and knew that this was the one thing that I would really miss. When Chomp told me that she was making us a raw desert I must say I was highly sceptical but at the same time hopeful that she could come up with something that would be a reasonable substitute. The delicious Fruit and Cinnamon Chia Pudding that she prepared was a pleasant surprise and made for both a great dessert alternative and a filling breakfast again the following morning. A thoroughly enjoyable treat it is easy to see that this dish could be modified into many different alternatives simply by changing the fruits and level of sweetness. The Savoury Green Smoothie is a simple, basic smoothie that was easy to drink and tasted great. Being so simple to make and nutritious this one has now been added to my morning breakfast routine and replaced the store bought smoothie I was previously having.”
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information. Super Foods provided the organic chia seeds free of charge for me to use in this recipe.
Pineapple Beet Smoothie & Thai Style Raw Noodles
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
I admit sometimes I completely underestimate my dear husband. I thought that after the first week of our Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge his enthusiasm levels would start to wane. This is a man who used to eat a whole roast chicken in one sitting. I’m not saying that I don’t have faith in him changing his eating habits, but I didn’t think it would happen easily.
The following Monday arrived and to my astonishment he bounced out of bed all excited and ready for his next smoothie to try. He is not a morning person and seeing him with this much energy first thing in the morning was a little out of the ordinary. Knowing how much he loves his pink drinks it was logical that this would be the colour of his next smoothie to taste test.
Pineapple beet smoothie
- ½ pineapple
- ½ medium beet
- 1 carrot
- 1 cup strawberries
- cup of cooled green tea
- water, as needed
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
Raw Thai Style Zucchini Noodles
- ½ cup young coconut meat
- 2 tbsp raw coconut butter
- 1 red chilli
- 2 tbsp raw peanut or almond butter
- Coconut water as needed
- ½ small ½ inch piece of ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- Sea salt to taste
- Juice of 1 lime with ½ of zest
- 4 small zucchini cut julienne or spiralised
- 1 bell pepper, cut julienne
- 1 medium carrot, cut julienne
- ¼ cup finely shredded dried coconut plus more for garnishing
- In a blender combine the sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
- In a large bowl combine the sauce with the zucchini and bell pepper and carrot and ¼ cup of coconut and toss to coat.
- Place on plates and sprinkle with additional coconut.
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information.
Tropical Green Smoothie & Raw Curried Pumpkin Soup
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Perth, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
Over the past few years, the Boy and I have made a natural progression to eating a more vegetarian based diet. Whilst not completely giving up eating meat all together, our intake has been dramatically reduced such that our initial goal of a Meatless Monday has now extended into several days a week.
Our reasons for vegetarianism are twofold.
Our first reason comes back to being compassionate human beings. Can we truly justify the way we farm production animals? Housed in completely unnatural environments with cramped stocking densities and fed highly processed foods such as pellets and other animal proteins? Worst still, how can we know that every animal that is slaughtered for our consumption didn’t suffer in the process? Many of you may have seen Animals Australia’s shocking footage of our live export cattle in Indonesia abattoirs last year. We were all left outraged and distraught at the horrific treatment of these innocent beasts. But these events are by no means isolated and happen all around the world every day. While I understand that sometimes brutal death is a part of life in the natural world, I am certain a lion hunting a gazelle in Africa doesn’t stop to consider her prey’s welfare before she kills it. But unlike these majestic big cats, we humans choose to slaughter animals to eat on a much larger scale than is necessary for our own survival.
Our second reason for changing our diet is purely selfish. It is a well-known fact that the more vegetables you include in your diet the healthier you will be. Eating a predominantly vegetarian diet has been proven to help prevent cancer, diabetes and heart disease, lower blood pressure and slow the aging process. In fact a study on a group of 70,000 participants recently published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine showed that vegetarians even live longer. And who doesn’t want to live a long and healthy life? These are all wins in my humble opinion.
A logical progression from vegetarianism has been to consider taking it one step further and going raw. Back in late 2011 the Boy and I shared a very enjoyable lunch at The Raw Kitchen in Fremantle. This was my first experience with raw food and I was fascinated to learn that you can make dairy-free cheese, cream and even cheese cake made purely from nuts.
Back in the week before our wedding I received a blender from OmniBlend to review and I thought this was a perfectly timed gift for me to start trying out some raw recipes. The Boy proposed that I try and create some more manly raw dishes for him so he could switch our regular Meatless Monday into a Raw Food Meatless Monday instead! We called it the Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge!
So here it is….Week One of the Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge!
Tropical Green Smoothie
- 1 cup of water
- ½ banana (frozen or fresh)
- ¼ cup pineapple pieces
- ¼ cup kale, chopped or minced
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
Curried Butternut Pumpkin Soup
- ½ butternut pumpkin chopped into small cubes
- ½ to 1 tbsp curry powder (to you preference)
- ½ tsp real cinnamon
- ⅓ tsp pink Himalayan salt
- One young coconut (for both the water and the meat)
- Black pepper, parsley, shredded dried coconut to garnish
- Gradually add pumpkin and coconut water into the blender on low speed until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and then blend on medium to high until a smooth consistency. Season with cracked black pepper and parsley and/or some grated dried coconut
The Boy’s review of the Tropical Green Smoothie and Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup:
“While I have struggled with the idea of giving up meat I have come to realise over the last few years the catastrophic damage that the meat industry has had on the environment. Added to that is the fact I can no longer justify to myself the suffering of another animal purely for my selfish enjoyment of the taste of their flesh. Therefore over the last year in what has at times been a difficult process we have gradually removed animal flesh from our diet. With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the OmniBlend Whole Food Blender review that Chomp had been asked to do and get her to make some Raw Vegan dishes for us to try. The first of what will be five weeks of what will be known as Raw Food Meatless Monday was a dish of raw Curried Butternut Pumpkin Soup along with a Tropical Green Smoothie. Now I must say the idea of cold pumpkin soup doesn’t sound entirely appealing however the dish turned out to be a very satisfying meal with the coconut nicely accenting the pumpkin and curry flavours. The fact it was cold wasn’t even noticed as the meal was quickly devoured… this soup would make a great meal on a hot summer’s day. The Tropical Green Smoothie was very refreshing and is definitely best served fresh and cold. A very filling drink that could easily be a meal on it’s own… I wonder what it would be like with a little vodka and crushed ice on a hot day?”
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information.
OmniBlend V blender review
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
The Boy and I initially got into juicing back in late 2011 as a result of watching Joe Cross’s documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. This period marked the beginning of a long overdue quest for finding better health by dramatically increasing our vegetable and fruit intake. We have slowly gravitated away from eating meat as the predominant ingredient in our meals to it being a small component if at all. The Boy bought us the latest whizz-bang juicer and was so enthusiastic with his juicing that he managed to burn the first one out in just a week. He stuck to his guns however and returned to the shops to get a replacement juicer. Over the following nine months he lost over 20 kg in body weight. He was well on his way to become a picture of health and this was all just in time for our wedding.
With every batch of green smoothies we made, we would end up with massive amounts of fibrous pulp left over. A juicer only extracts juice and discards the pulp from the fruit and veggies into its waste jug. In the early days, I determinedly saved the pulp and would make it into a variety of different vegetable soups that looked more like swamp water than food. Some even tasted good. After a while I tired of this messy business and tossed the pulp onto the garden for compost instead. What a waste. I hate throwing food away!
Not all smoothies are green! Pineapple Beet smoothie
Soon I realised that there is a much better way to make smoothies without having to eat swamp slime soup; with a blender not a juicer. Blending means you are eating the whole food, not just the juice and the fibre content is retained. Furthermore, high-powered blenders break down all the cell walls of the fruits and vegetables releasing all the phytonutrients locked inside the pulp, skin and seeds. This makes it easier to digest and allows the nutrients to absorb much more efficiently. After having this epiphany we discussed about getting a blender to replace our relatively new and fancy juicer. But talking was as far as we got because come mid-2012 we found ourselves knee deep in wedding planning and before we knew it time had flown away from us and we completely forgot about it.
So you can imagine my gratitude when earlier this year two weeks before our big day I received an email from the marketing director from a company called OmniBlend Australia who are manufacturers of heavy duty commercial blenders. He was keen to send me their popular blender; the OmniBlend V to review on the blog. In return for my review, the machine would be mine for keeps. No more pulp and swamp soup….woot!
OmniBlend blender
The OmniBlend V Low Down:
● Price:
$280-390 AUD. Excellent value for money compared to similar machines on the market such as the Vitamix.
● Motor:
A powerful 3HP motor which can deliver a blade speed of 38,000 rpm. It is very energy efficient at only 950W (not bad considering it produces 3HP!). I am told that this blender is sturdy enough to withstand heavy duty commercial use in restaurants and juice bars.
● Blades:
The 6-blade cutting assembly is made from highest quality, Japanese precision stainless steel. Replacement blades are available for purchase. The blades and jug are designed for both wet and dry ingredients and can make a hot soup in minutes heating with just friction. I gave this method a try for some of my soup recipes for the Raw Meatless Monday Man Challenge, more on this in the weeks to come.
● Blending:
Without much effort or preparation this blender made light work of blending my soups and smoothies into creamy, smooth consistencies. It even coped with me churning harder raw vegetables into it like pumpkin. Because the Omniblend is a more heavy-duty machine, it has enough oomph to do more than just make smoothies. It can puree, mix, chop, grind and whip all sorts of foods including mill grains into flour, grind coffee, puree baby food, churn ice cream, make nut butters and nut milks, knead bread dough and it can even crush ice.
● Cleaning :
The OmniBlend is really easy to clean which is a big win in my books. One thing that used to annoy me about juicing (in addition to the pulp waste of course) was that every time I made a smoothie I would be left with a hundred and one parts to clean. If the Boy that made himself juice it was even worse. There would be bits of pulp everywhere.
With this blender there is only a lid and a jug to wash and because there is no pulp, the jug rinses clean in minutes.
I did notice that the black rubber feet on the body of the unit left little marks on my white laminate bench top but they wiped off easily with a damp cloth.
● Noise:
It has very quiet operation when compared to many of its competitors (e.g. Vitamix).
Noise level = 83.8 dB
● Programs:
It has timed, cycled and repeatable blending programs.
● The Jug:
The 2 litre jug is made of unbreakable food-grade polycarbonate jug and is heat resistant to over 120 degrees Celsius which means you can blend hot soups straight off the stove top. It is suitable for both wet and dry ingredients unlike some blenders like the Vitamix that need separate wet and dry jugs/blade. The jug has quite a wide base compared to other blenders I have used in the past. This ensures that food particles don’t seem to get stuck under the blades when in use. They also offer a BPA-free 1.5 litre jug.
● Intelligent Overload Protection:
A built in sensor automatically turns off the motor when it detects excess usage. This prolongs the motors operating life and pre-empts breakdowns.
● Recipes:
OmniBlend are happy to send their customers a bunch of free recipes or better still stay tuned on the blog over the next six weeks for my Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge!
● Warranty:
The OmniBlend comes with a standard 5 year warranty on the motor and 3 years on parts, or alternatively you can pay extra for a 7 Year extended warranty on the full machine. They offer free shipping anywhere in Australia.
How does the OmniBlend size up to its competitors?
Froothie Optimum 9200:
Price: $430-500
● 3 HP motor delivering a blade speed of 44,000 rpm
● 6 stainless steel Japanese made blades
● Low noise level at around 80 dB
● High, Med, Low and Pulse functions
● Comes with a 2 L unbreakable polycarbonate wet/dry jug
● Intelligent overload protection
● 5 year warranty or optional 10 year warranty
Verdict: Very similar to OmniBlend in its specs yet it costs $120-150 more
Vitamix:
Price: $700-1300 depending on model and options.
● 2-3 HP motor depending on model
● 4 stainless steel blades
● Noisy at around 110 dB (Vitamix 5200)
● Variable speed functions
● Separate wet and dry blades/jugs. Comes with 2L unbreakable jugs
● Thermal protection to prevent overload and burnout
● 7 year warranty or optional 10 year warranty
Verdict: Very expensive by comparison to OmniBlend, it’s only a smidge more powerful but twice the price!
Amazon: Vitamix 5200s, Vitamix Professional Series 300 and Vitamix Professional Series 750
Breville BJB840 Juice & Blend
Price: $350-499
● Dual purpose machine with a juicer & a blender, 1000W motor on the juicer and a 1200W motor on the blender, not very energy efficient
● Surgical grade stainless steel blades
● Variable speed functions
● 1.5 L jug
● 5 year warranty on motor/2 year repair warranty
Verdict: Couldn’t find many online reviews for this one but I don’t believe this is a high powered, durable machine. I don’t really see the point in a dual use machine either.
Amazon: Breville BJB840XL Dual-Purpose Juice and Blend
Thermomix TM 31
Price: $1800
● 500W motor which revs its two blades at speeds of 10,200 rpm
Verdict: This kitchen dream machine does much more than a blender; it can also do chopping, beating, mixing, emulsifying, milling, kneading, cooking, stirring, steaming, weighing and melting. Although at nearly 10 times the price of the OmniBlend so it bloody well should!
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Chompchomp received an Omniblend V blender complimentary in return for writing this review. For more information head to www.omniblendaustralia.com.au. Six months after the publishing of this review Omniblend Australia contacted me with an offer to provide my readers with a discount when purchasing their new Omniblend blender. Using the coupon code below you can buy the Omniblend at a discounted price.
Coconut flour Paleo Anzac Biscuits (gluten free)
Posted by | Categories: Baking, Featured, Paleo, Recipes
Anzac Day is the national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand where we cast our hearts and minds to those who have fought for our country at war. The day is a national public holiday and across the country there are numerous dawn services that are held attracting both the young and old in the wee hours of the morning. Anzac Day wouldn’t be complete without Anzac biscuits which history claims they were apparently made by soldier’s wives to send to them abroad. After spending the last three months with my days off being filled with wedding planning, it is such a treat to have these days returned to me to indulge in whatever activities I please. It has been a while since I have made any effort in the kitchen so with both the fur children supervising from their cat scratch post I scanned my pantry for some inspiration. With Anzac Day approaching us this week, I have attempted to adapt the classic Anzac biscuit recipe to create Coconut flour Paleo Anzac Biscuits that are dairy free, gluten free and fructose friendly yet still remain delicious!! Is it possible?
- 1 & ¾ cup almond meal
- 1 cup flaked almonds
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut oil, softened
- ½ teaspoon bicarb soda
- 1 tablespoon water
- Preheat over to 130 degrees C.
- Combine the almond meal, flaked almonds, coconut and coconut flour in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine maple syrup and coconut oil in a small saucepan and heat very gently.
- Mix the bicarb and water together then add to the maple syrup mix, stir until mixed.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until combined. Add a small amount of water to help mixture stick together.
- Squeeze firmly into small balls to stick mixture together then flatten slightly and place on a baking try lined with baking paper.
- Bake for about 40 minutes until golden.
- Allow to cool on a rack before serving.
Adapted from the website The Healthy Chef by Theresa Cutter the author of The 80/20 Diet and 101 ways to lose weight.
(photos updated April 2014)
(photos updated April 2014)
