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
Trying a new way to cleanse with Raw by Chris
Posted by | Categories: Featured, Paleo, Perth, Raw Food, Vegan, Vegetarian
For as long as I can remember, I have always felt like I never have enough time. I struggle to relax and seem to thrive on fast paced hyperactivity. It wasn’t until I hit my thirties that this lifestyle started to take its toll prompting me to seek medical advice when I could no longer even run without collapsing on the couch. As a direct result I was diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia which then led onto discovering my gluten and fructose issues.
I stick to my gluten free diet religiously and find this is easy to do as there are life threatening risks for me if I don’t. Coeilacs who eat gluten raise their risks of intestinal cancer significantly along with risking developing a bunch of other horrible diseases. In contrast, I find following my fructose friendly diet much, much more difficult to adhere to. Whilst eating fructose does cause some unpleasant effects, it doesn’t causing any permanent damage to my body. I consequently wax and wane from being vigilantly fructose friendly to chancing the risk of a gut ache for something tasty to eat.
I can guarantee that this macaron “burger” was worth the risk of fructose overdose!
To mitigate this ongoing strain I place on my gut, once a month I will set aside a few days to concentrate purely on nourishment and digestive health. Some months I will do a strict 3 day juice only cleanse, and on other months if my work load is high, I will add in some raw, vegan food to supplement my caloric intake. Working full-time and running a business means finding the time to prepare healthy and balanced raw meals can be tricky and I am forever searching for like-minded small businesses that are willing to cater not just for this need, but to adapt these meals to be fructose friendly.
From the archives: My original Raw by Chris basket back in March included these raw delights. Four berries superfood jam, Coconut butter, raw vegetable stock & marinated mushroom spread
Some time ago, I was lucky enough to receive a gifted Raw by Chris basket containing a collection of fabulous raw goodies adapted to be fructose friendly that she wanted me to taste test. I was so delighted by my gift that I returned her favour by blogging about it.
After a few more months of perfecting dishes in her kitchen, Raw by Chris launched a more comprehensive option to the people of Perth of one, two and three day raw baskets containing all the food you need to give your digestive system a well-deserved rest. She offers these baskets with a fructose friendly option on request. Perfect!
My raw lunches for the two days.
I chose to try the two day Raw by Chris Nourish basket, here’s what it included.
Day one:
Morning: • Chia pudding with coconut milk and seasonal berries. Chris subbed the honey to maple syrup. I loved the creamy texture of this pudding, much better than what I tend to make myself! • Inner Ego cold pressed juice which I saved for my morning tea.
Breakfast: Chia pudding with coconut milk and seasonal berries.
Inner Ego has two fructose friendly juices (adjust quantity as per your own personal tolerance for juice)
Day 1 lunch: Kale, avocado and grape salad served with salad dressing & raw bread crackers
Afternoon snack: Kale chips
Day one dinner: Mixed noodles bowl made from kelp, zucchini and carrot with a ginger dressing
Day one dinner: Mixed noodles bowl made from kelp, zucchini and carrot with a ginger dressing
Chocolate coconut maca cup
Day two
Morning • Chia pudding with coconut milk and seasonal berries. • Inner Ego cold pressed juice
Breakfast: Chia pudding with coconut milk and seasonal berries. (GF, FF)
Day 2 lunch: Kale, orange and sprouts salad served with salad dressing & raw bread crackers
Day two dinner: Falafel plate with spinach salad, capsicum hummus served with a tahini dressing & raw bread crackers
Dinner day two: Falafel accompaniments capsicum hummus & tahini dressing
This was a cleanse that didn’t leave me constantly hungry and is certainly one that I would recommend for those people who have struggled with adhering to a straight juice fast. Eating raw and vegan is a wonderful way to ease your body into the whole concept of fasting without actually missing out on food. It also has the added benefit of meaning no animal is harmed in the making of your meals!
Personally I have no difficult sticking to a three day juice fast most of the time as I have been doing them every month for nearly a year now. But when the heat is on at work and I’m faced with those dreaded long 12 hour days without time to sit and rest, I find that drinking juice only can leave me short of my usual oomph and sparkle. This raw food cleanse was the perfect compromise for those busy times. I have already booked in my next cleanse for next week, getting myself ready for the Christmas time silly season and all the potential hidden fructose that this time of year may bring!
Chompchomp paid Raw by Chris in full for this Nourish Raw basket and didn’t receive any payment for this review. She has been a convert for the benefits of raw food and juice fasts for some time, and was delighted to let someone else do the hard work for her while she was busy working in her own day job! Raw by Chris | http://rawbychris.com/ | FacebookZucchini 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
Morries Anytime, Margaret River
Posted by | Categories: Bars, Featured, Margaret River, Regional WA, Restaurants, Tapas Bar, Travel, Wine Bar
We really have to consider ourselves lucky living here in Perth. Not only do we have the Swan Valley, a fabulous wine region only half an hour’s drive from the CBD, but for those willing to do a weekender trip we also have Margaret River. In November every year this relaxed little town becomes a buzz with life for the three day food festival; Gourmet Escape. Last year the Boy and I attended in full feasting force visiting the Gourmet Village on both days in addition to attending a few fabulous satellite events. We ate uncontrollably all weekend long and our repeated episodes of over-indulgence stretched our stomachs to near-bursting capacity. After just a few hours of not eating, our saggy baggy internal gizzards would start to gurgle and unbelievably we would get hungry again. On our last night before returning to Perth, we rolled our giant sized bodies down to the main strip to find ourselves more food. Our noses lead us to Morries Anytime.
Green guy mocktail (left) & Tart Gin Cooler (right, $16)
I started off with looking at Morries Anytime’s cocktail menu. Their mixologist Billy Phillips was recently awarded “highly commended” for the Mixologist Award in the 2013 AHA Awards. Earlier that day at the Food for Thought sessions at Voyager Estate I had thoroughly enjoyed his Billy’s Punch and now I was keen to try more of his beverages. It had been quite a hot day and I needed something non-alcohol to start. This being quite a rarity for me I was thrilled to see a variety of interesting mocktails available. I chose the Green Guy; a jar of cold Green tea with added cucumber, rosemary and lime. I gulped it down eagerly and felt its icy freshness hit the back of my palate and slowly cool me down from the inside. My second drink was a Tart Gin Cooler. It contained a long pour of Tanqueray gin split with a freshly squeezed grapefruit and topped with a splash of Peychauds bitters tonic & fresh basil. It was as strong as rocket fuel and made up for my earlier sobriety.
Treacle cured salmon, grilled fennel and pear salad, orange vinaigrette (GF, $14.50)
Morrie’s menu facilitates shared style dining which suited us fine as we just wanted to pick and nibble the night away together. Our first choice was the treacle cured salmon. Melt-in-your-mouth thin slices of brightly coloured salmon had just a delicate hint of caramel sweetness. It was coupled alongside a grilled fennel and pear salad with orange vinaigrette.
Fresh oysters, cucumber and gin sorbet (GF, $4 each)
For nearly a whole year previously the Boy refused to eat oysters after eating a bad one and I’m so relieved that he has finally put those memories behind him and got back in the oyster saddle. Morries oysters came with a perfect sized dollop of gin and cucumber sorbet. We necked back these fresh, slurpalicious beauties much quicker than we really should have. Gluttony dies hard.
Fresh prawn meat salad, baby cos lettuce, sweet corn, radish, lemon dressing (GF, $11.50)
Relishing in the freshness of the seafood we ordered the fresh prawn meat salad served with crispy baby cos lettuce, sweet corn, radish and a thick lemon dressing. After eating quite a lot of heavy food all day these dishes sat so light in our overextended stomachs. The only problem was we kept ordering more.
Black Angus porterhouse steak, pressed potato terrine, asparagus, vine ripened tomatoes, horseradish creme fraiche (GF, $33)
For the days preceding our trip I was convinced that my iron level were plummeting again as that familiar tiredness, cold chills and achiness had started to return. Whilst I don’t eat red meat often, when my body craves it I listen and consequently ordered myself the porterhouse steak.
Black Angus porterhouse steak, pressed potato terrine, asparagus, vine ripened tomatoes, horseradish creme fraiche (GF, $33)
The steak was served with a luscious scoop of horseradish crème fraiche on a creamy potato terrine with asparagus and vine ripened tomatoes. That’s my dose of iron for the day, check. As a backup, I wrote myself a reminder in my calendar to take more iron tablets in the following week.
Roasted baby beets, pine nuts, chickpeas, feta and rocket salad, balsamic dressing (GF, $8.50)
The Boy has also recognised my need for iron as I’m normally a very energetic person and the iron deficiency version of me becomes very quiet and sleepy. Thankfully he kept his lectures on the need to eat a plant based diet to himself that evening and ordered himself the raw zucchini pasta and a rocket salad.
Zucchini pasta, zucchini ribbons, creamy nut truffle sauce, peas, parsley, chives, 100% raw (GF, $14)
Each “pasta” ribbon was long and spaghetti-like just how we both like it and I quickly nabbed a big forkful before he could fight me off. The zucchini was coated liberally in a creamy nut truffle sauce and mixed in with fresh raw peas and herbs. My inner truffle addict relished in that wondrous unique flavour.
Morries Anytime is a must on your next visit to Margaret River. They have options to suit all dietary requirements including gluten free, vegetarian and vegan dishes. I was really keen to return to try their breakfast menu on the next day but we ran out of time and had to get back to Perth for work. Morries have placed as finalists in both the AHA Awards and the Gold Plate Awards in 2013 and scored an appearance in the latest West Australian Good Food Guide. And rightfully so, we will definitely make a repeat visit next time we are down south.
Morries Anytime Shop 2, 149 Bussell Highway, Margaret River WA 6285 | (08) 9758 8280 | www.morries.com.au Price: $$$ (Tapas $7-15, Mains $32-38) Food: 3.8/5 (right on the money with share dishes, local ingredients) Service: 3.8/5 (relaxed and casual, no pretension) Ambience: 3.2/5 (dark and moody at night, hard for food photography!) Drinks: 4/5 (go for the rocket fuelled cocktails) Total: 15.2/20 
Feeling totally liberated with gluten freedom at Solomon’s Café & some free WIFI at Crust
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Paleo, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants, Vegetarian
Having food intolerances can be a real pain if you also happen to be a foodie. Over the years I have learnt not to get fixated with a particular dish on the menu as there is always a good chance that I won’t be able to eat it. Some restaurants are compassionate of our allergic needs and clearly identify the gluten free dishes on their menu which makes ordering food so much easier. I look forward to the day I see a fructose friendly marked menu.
Thankfully, my fructose malabsorption causes me much less severe symptoms than my gluten intolerance does. Provided that I strictly avoid all gluten, I can afford to occasionally be a little lenient on the fructose. We were recently invited to Foodie Craving’s Crust Gourmet Pizza store in Mount Lawley to give feedback on their new free WIFI installed in store. The event didn’t start until 8pm so the Boy and I decided to stop en route to Solomon’s Café on Beaufort Street. The concept of an entirely gluten free restaurant is one that already gives me warm fuzzies, but at Solomon’s Café it is also all organic AND dairy free – it almost sounds too good to be true!
Knowing we had an evening of pizza feasting ahead of us, we planned to have a light snack only but as is often the case we may have ended up ordering a bit more than we necessarily needed.
Crispy parsnip chips ($6)
Raw zucchini pasta with cherry tomatoes, carrot and coriander pesto ($20)
Maybe I should just blame it on the meal sizes? When I chose the raw zucchini pasta, I certainly wasn’t expecting the towering mountain that came to the table. Nor did I plan ahead and ask for the omission of onion. Having eaten raw zucchini pasta on several occasions myself at home, I have grown to really love the texture and will make a great effort to make sure each “pasta” strip is made from the entire length of the zucchini to give long luxurious spaghetti-like strands. For this time round I was disappointed to find my pasta was made from short, comparatively fat pieces of zucchini that would have only been about 6-7 centimetres long. It felt a bit like I was eating a grated zucchini salad. It was tasty, but not what I was anticipating.
Beetroot gnocchi ($12)
The beetroot gnocchi was much more satisfying although that may be in part because I so rarely get to order gnocchi as most are made using wheat flour. They tasted a little doughy yet still had a light texture and matched well with the vegan pesto drizzled lavishly over the top.
Vegan nachos ($20)
As soon as I saw there were vegan nachos on the menu I had a gut feeling the Boy would order this for himself. I was quietly hoping he wouldn’t as we had only recently shared raw nachos at The Raw Kitchen the week before. I like to have interesting and different dishes to photograph and write about but he just wasn’t having it. It was a much bigger serve than The Raw Kitchen and he preferred the salsa as it was more flavoursome.
Vegan nachos: sprouted chips, tomato, black bean & guacamole with a nut parmesan ($20)
Continuing in our quest to try and abstain from alcohol for sixty days we each ordered a healthy antioxidant packed drink. I chose the “Bloody Detox” juice squeezed full of fructose friendly beetroot, carrot, celery, parsley, ginger and lemon. The Boy chose the vegan but creamy mango lassi made with mango, coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom.
Vegan mango lassi ($10) and “bloody detox” juice ($9)
Pleasantly but not overly satiated we strolled up Beaufort Street to Crust. I was glad I had left a bit of room for some pizza as they always have plenty of gluten free options for me. The purpose of the evening was to trial run their new free in-store WIFI to assess how useful it would be for their customers and if it was easy to access without guidance.
Oregano Verdi and Parmesan Squares on gluten free ($11.50)
As we made ourselves comfortable on the alfresco tables some starters were brought out including the gluten free oregano verdi and parmesan squares. All my vegan efforts were thrown out the window as I couldn’t refuse the offer of such cheesy deliciousness like this. Crust’s gluten free bases taste incredibly “normal” and fellow blogger Jacqui from Pantry in Suburbia commented how she couldn’t even tell it was gluten free.
Crust Szechuan Chilli Prawn on gluten free ($22)
After polishing off some starters we ran through an online questionnaire using the free WIFI. It was very simple to connect across the variety of devices everyone were using and the Internet speed was much quicker than my Optus 3G network. For the gluten free pizza option we chose the Szechuan Chilli Prawn. Crunchy spicy seasoned prawns were scattered generously over the gluten free pizza base along with fresh capsicum, bocconcini and sweet chilli, and then garnished with fresh lemon and chilli. This pizza has a bit of a kick to it and I highly recommend it for those who like a bit of heat.
Black Forest Crumble (not GF) ($11.50)
Crust’s dessert pizzas unfortunately cannot be made gluten free as the gluten free bases are made off site in a gluten free environment to minimise any contamination. I looked on in envy as every devoured the Black Forest Crumble; a decadent dessert pizza layered with custard, mud cake and black cherries, topped with baked crumble, drizzled with berry coulis and dusted with icing sugar. Given that our small table managed to eat its way through two of these, I am guessing they were pretty damn good. Gluten free dessert options at Crust include their chocolate mousse and all their ice cream flavours. The chocolate mousse is by far my favourite. I love how there are numerous little chocolate nibs buried in the mousse.
Solomon’s Café is definitely worth a visit for anyone with dietary issues as the menu is designed for us. Better still they use organic ingredients without the high price tag you would expect. Whilst not all our dishes had a wow factor, I loved how I could order pretty much anything off the menu like back in the days before I knew about my intolerances. Total freedom without all the health issues that used to come with it!
Solomon’s Café 487 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9328 7995 | Facebook Price: $$ (Mains $20-36, Sides/Small bites $5-12) Food: 3/5 (would prefer more vego options given niche target market) Service: 3.5/5 (slow to bring out meals however were packed) Ambience: 3.5/5 (noisy and vibrant) Drinks: 3.5/5 (both juice and smoothie options, fructose free options) Total: 13.5/20 
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.
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.
The Raw Kitchen, Fremantle
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants, Vegetarian
After a pretty hectic start to our year, thoughts about planning for our wedding have remained in the infant stages. But there are some things that need to be commenced well in advance of such an occasion and one of those is getting our bodies into top shape! Seriously, there are no real overnight miracles to losing weight and toning up, the secret is really simple. Eat healthily in moderation and increase your amount of exercise. It’s definitely not rocket science. The trick is just sticking to it!
The Boy recently was inspired by a documentary called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. It’s about an overweight Australian guy named Joe Cross who suffered from a number of illnesses secondary to his poor diet and weight problem. He decided to go on a 60 day juice fast drinking only fresh fruit and vegetables. During his fast he drove nearly 5000 kilometres across America with only one goal in mind; to get off all his medication and achieve a balanced lifestyle. During his road trip he met a man with similar health issues as he had and together they supported each other to becoming fitter, healthier and happier men.
After watching the doco The Boy went out and bought himself a juicer and a fridge full of fresh fruit and vegetables and tried it for himself. As I watched the kilos peel off him, it wasn’t hard to partially convert me however I’m not sure I could get through the whole day drinking just juice and no food! My will power is not that strong!
In a way to complement his new founded desire for raw fresh produce, I suggested a trip down to Fremantle to try The Raw Kitchen where all the food is vegetarian, vegan, organic, raw, dairy free AND gluten-free! It almost sounds too good to be true!
Their dairy free green smoothies were much tastier than our own concoctions at home although bear in mind we didn’t add any nut milk to ours – they were just straight vegies and fruit! They are made with handmade almond milk, filtered water, spinach and banana. The Boy had fresh mango added to his which made it a bit sweeter. Despite being served enormous glasses full we both easily gulped ours down quenching our thirst from the mornings exercise around the Swan River.
Raw Pizza: Dehydrated buckwheat base with raw tomato, basil and capsicum salsa, macadamia and cashew nut cheese
So much for my words of wisdom to eat in moderation. We got quite carried away as everything on the menu looked so good and we ended up ordered way too much food leaving no room for any dairy free cheesecake! The raw pizza was packed full of flavour with piles of fresh basil on top. There was some red onion on the pizza which I had to pick off which wasn’t a big issue. The cashew nut cheese tasted surprisingly cheese-like and it was hard to believe that it didn’t contain any dairy.
Nachos: Dehydrated corn crisps layered with our spicy “refried” walnut and pepita blend, tomato salsa, fresh guacamole, raw dairy free sour cream all topped off with a sprinkling of chives
The nachos were a small serve but for us this was fortunate for us! The corn chips had an almost nutty flavour and were surprisingly crisp considering they had not been baked.
Pasta” Raw spiralised zucchini “noodles” in our rich homemade marinara pasta sauce
The “pasta” was made out of ribbons of raw zucchini which had an excellent firm texture to mimic that pasta feel. The rich sauce was lip smacking good and contained some sliced Kalamata olives and more delicious fresh basil. It was topped off with a sprinkling of raw macadamia “parmesan cheese”. Highly recommend.
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The Raw Kitchen Shop 14, Piazza Arcade, 36 South Terrace, Fremantle 6012 | 0409 323 441 | www.therawkitchen.com.au Price: $$$ ($18-23 lunch, $3.80 espresso, $8.50-10 smoothies) Food: 5/5 (the pizza and the pasta are complete winners) Service: 3/5 (quick to bring food but slow to clear tables) Ambience: 2.5/5 (in an arcade in front of shops) Drinks: 4/5 (fabulous smoothie) Total: 14.5/20
