Sweet Potato Fudge with Cacao Nibs (vegan)

Like the  vegan and vegetarian meatballs, I am having a thing about fudge at the moment.

In recent days, I have made beetroot fudge, chocolate fudge and now these vegan tiger orange coloured Sweet Potato Fudge Bites with Cacao Nibs.  

Vegetarian Sumac Meatballs in Broccoli Turmeric Sauce

I have already mentioned in a previous post that I am having a thing about veggie meatballs at the moment.  This is my third dish featuring vegan meatballs in one month. 

Before I went vegetarian, there were only a few meat dishes I would eat: chicken wings to hush my mother from nagging me for not eating meat when I was growing up under her eyes, minced meat samosas and meatballs.  When I left home for University, I did not miss meat dishes and accidentally found myself becoming a vegetarian, these days my diet is probably 95% vegan, so I guess I am veganish - but not vegan at all as I still eat cheese and consume a little milk and eggs on occasion, mostly in recipes. 

For some reason these crisp sienna coloured 'meatballs' have been calling my name and I am so pleased in the knowledge that I can make my own, but there are also some good brands out their, that all you have to do is defrost them and pan fry in a little oil.  The veggie meatballs that I have used here purely out of convenience come from a packet mix and these are enhanced with parsley and the tang of sumac, cooked and then tossed in a Broccoli Turmeric Sauce. 

I have to admit, this recipe was also inspired from  Nigel Slater's recipe for Lamb Meatballs with Sumac and Broccolii as featured in The Guardian early on in the month.  I  adapted it to make it suitable for vegetarians.   I actually preferred this meatball dish compared to the Mushroom one, whereas D preferred the Mushroom Sauce one.  The flavours in this Broccoli Turmeric one are a lot more lighter and look at the awesome colours. 

On first appearance, D said he thought it was Thai flavoured and assumed it was made with coconut milk, but its actually made with creme fraiche.  I guess if you want it to be vegan you could use coconut cream.
Other sumac recipes on the blog
Sumac Popcorn
Sumac Spring Rolls
Sumac Cabbage

Easy Summer Chia Hibiscus Cooler

Ah its the start to the weekend and in contrast to the past couple of days that called for bowl food, this late afternoon the sun has come out all shining with an invitation to go out, doss and sit in the garden sipping something to welcome that chillax (chill and relax) Friday Feeling.

Today for the crazy kids we have non-alcoholic cocktails aka mocktails and coolers .  This is no ordinary cooler, it is made from edible flowers and chia seeds. 

Turmeric Mango - Apricot Oat Flapjacks

These are British style flapjacks enhanced with turmeric, apricot and mango pieces. 

I don't have breakfast during the working week, so a banana, flapjack and coffee are what gets me to lunch on a working day and today was no different.  

I make flapjacks all the time and vary them wit different dried fruit or fresh seasonal fruit.  Recently its been strawberry flapjacks with strawberries from the garden, but I wanted to experiment a little.  
Turmeric seems to be trendy at the moment, so I thought I would chuck a teaspoon into my flapjacks just for a change.  Not only were the oats a golden autumn yellow, the turmeric also imparted its flavour and that was okay with me as I don't mind turmeric, but D was not overly keen on having these particular ones for his breakfast, saying that his preference was the other ones I usually make.  He thought these were more suited for a snack.

These Turmeric Flapjacks are so easy to make vegan, just replace the butter with a vegan alternative. Just be careful not to overcook them or under cook them.  

Spirulina Lime Chia Seed Cake

Its not very obvious, but there is a muted green tinge in the Lime Chia Seed Cake from the spirulina.  

Even though I only used 1/2 teaspoon spirulina powder, you could taste the spirulina flavour comes through, but it does not dominate as the fresh lime tingles in your mouth too. 

Blood Orange Chia Cake

Another cake to enjoy with a cuppa tea if you so wish.

I won't fib, this is really a Lemon Poppy Seed Drizzle blinged up.  The Lemon is replaced with seasonal Blood Oranges and the Poppy seeds replaced with the trendy chia seeds.  After all chia seeds are the new poppy seed!

Turmeric Pasta with Blood Orange Chilli Vinaigrette Dressing

This marigold yellow pasta with marmalade coloured roasted peppers and butternut squash was lunch for work - twice, last week.  

As I was tucking in, it got some of my colleagues all intrigued and curious 'Gosh, that pasta is glowing'.

The pasta is simply infused with turmeric powder.  I've also tried this method with beetroot See HERE.   Although I have used ready made penne pasta here, you could easily make vegan Turmeric pasta from scratch too, just add a teaspoon or half to the flour when your mixing and kneading. 

Anyway, the turmeric pasta on its own was a bit bland, so I decided to make make a vinaigrette dressing for it with some Blood Oranges that were mingling with the lemons in a bowl.

The Blood Orange Chilli Oil was spicy and quite tasty elevated by the addition of my bottle of Welsh Blodyn Aur Rapeseed Chilli Oil.   Of course, you can make your own Chilli Oil at home and I probably would had I grown my own chillies, but sometimes when you have excellent produce on your front door why would you not want to make the most of it. 

The Turmeric Pasta with Roasted Squash and Peppers and Chilli Oil was blooming delicious and I'd happily make it again for lunch or evening meal. Probably best served with some salad greens, but that is optional. The only thing I was very disappointed in my supermarket bought Blood oranges.  Once sliced they were not as blood red inside as I had expected...oh well.

Supernatural Green Quiche with Spirulina Shortcrust

Nothing supernatural about this quiche, its really just a Broccoli Quiche on a green pastry base. 

The shortcrust pasty is naturally dyed green with the addition of spirulina powder to the dough; and the eggy filling.  Well I steamed some broccoli and blitzed half of it with the milk, then poured it into a bowl and whisked it with the eggs and poured it over the pastry case that had been lined with the remaining broccoli heads and doused with some Welsh cheddar cheese. 

At one point during the cooking process, I actually panicked and thought the quiche was not going to set but fortunately it did.  This Broccoli quiche was packed with lots of flavours.  Even the spirulina powder in the shortcrust pastry imparted its sea earth flavours.  Its just a shame the photograph here doesn't pick up the green in pastry, though I must admit it is a little scorched here and there.  Here's a song by the Jamaican Reggae Band The Dread & Terrible called 'Spirulina'. 

I am sharing this recipe with 'Eat Your Greens' which I am hosting this month and my new Co-Host The Veg Hog;  and Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Searching for Spice.

Green Spirulina Coconut Macaroons

Have you noted my absence?!  I haven't had Internet since Friday thanks to BT, until this evening when I got in from work.  

I made these vegan coconut macaroons at the weekend.  With St Patricks day nearing us, I decided to add a teaspoon of spirulina to half of the mixture.

Velvet Green Spirulina Flapjacks

Anyone who has used spirulina will know why I describe it as velvet.  The powdered form is textually very velvety.  Anyway, I only made these velvet green Spirulina Flapjacks as I was wishing to use up my very large packet of Spirulina and the one thing I was adamant I would not make was another darn groovy green Smoothie.  Blogosphere and cookbooks gearing towards healthy eating are laden with Spirulina Smoothie recipes, so I gave that a deliberate miss and went for something completely different.

I have plans on making a Green Goddess Granola, but that is on the back burner for other far more creative greeny bites. 

Unlike other spirulina recipes that are super duper healthy: no butter, no sugar - this flapjack is made with both butter and sugar.  I have shared a link below of a healthier, vegan and raw version below, if you want to check it out.  Surprisingly, I actually liked these, but I don't often make the same flapjack recipe twice - who knows... 

The distinct spirulina flavour does come through, but not too strongly.  D didn't even notice it unique flavour until day two.  His excuse for the first day is that he must have been very hungry.   

I know the Autumn Forest green photograph I share here, does not sell it much but sometimes its not about the looks, but the flavour; and I will be making these again, as D has asked for them again - I wonder if I can make the green even bold next time round.

Shamrock Pistachio Date Spirulina Bites

I have had a large packet of Spirulina Powder in my kitchen cupboard.  It was bestowed  upon me by Laura who blogs over at Natural Vegan Eco Mom early last year when I participated in a Vegan Food Swap.  I had completely forgot about it until the weekend when the colour green came calling in the guise of St Patricks Day.

I've been making bliss balls also known as protein balls for light nibbles at work, to stave of boredom snacking, and moreso since becoming an ambassador for Froothie, as the Optimum 9400 Blender makes light work of blasting whole nuts to dust in moments.  So I made some more yesterday this time with the addition of pistachio nuts.  I also decided to use my shamrock cookie cutter to shape some of the bliss balls. 

I have to say to those of you who may not have had spirulina powder, it is an acquired taste and a little, I mean a little goes a long way.  So please don't be heavy handed they way I have been here with it, in fact I had to shake off the excess.  It is one of the reasons, that I have kept some of the Pistachio Date Balls au naturale. 

I have a number of recipes bookmarked to make with spirulina, but if you have any suggestions or recommendations to use up my spirulina powder, do let me know.  I am sharing these Spirulina Pistachio Date Bites with Vegetarian Mama for Gluten Free Fridays - Party #134.