SWEET AND SAVOURY SALAD

Salad to me means a whole lot more than a bunch of lettuce leaves and a couple slices of tomotoes thrown on a plate.

If it doesn't look and/or taste appetizing then I'm not touching it. I can't emphasise enough how much I believe that healthy eating needn't equal boring eating.

Here's a quick salad I whipped up for lunch today.Whether or not you think the salad below qualifies as good-looking, it sure does taste great :)  Check it out...

Ingredients
- Half a red bell pepper (roughly chopped)
- Handful of roughly chopped lettuce
- 1 tbsp chopped olives
- 1 tbsp chopped almonds
- 1 tbsp raisins or sultanas
- 2 tbsp sweetcorn
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Easy as that.

AVOCADO AND CHICKPEA QUINOA SALAD

I was trawling through the internet the other day and came across this recipe. I happened to have ALL the ingredients listed so thought I'd give it a try.
It tasted incredible. Here's the link if you want a treat for your taste buds : recipe

BROWN PASTA LUNCH

Nothing is more satisfying than a bit bowl of pasta with bright vegetables mixed in. Heat it up with homemade red chili-tomato sauce and you've got a winner.
Have you made the switch to wholewheat pasta yet?

PEPPERS

This is what I had for lunch today. As you can probably tell, I love my red peppers.
It is reasonable to say that red peppers form the foundation of most Nigerian dishes - mostly in the form of a stew or sauce.
Here, I simply sliced them up and fried with some spices, chopped onions and tomatoes. Then chucked them onto my plate of brown rice and added some lightly steamed broccolli to complete the dish. The perfect meal on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

EATING OUT #1 - SHAKA ZULU

Eating out as a vegan need not be a daunting task. At least that's what I discovered when I was treated to a surprise dinner at Shaka Zulu restaurant in Camden, London.
The South African restaurant is absolutely gorgeous. If you're looking for somewhere a little unusual and exotic, then this is the place for you.
Now, let's talk menu. One look at the card placed before me and I froze a little. Here, ladies and gentlemen, was 'candyland' for meat eaters.
A scan through later, however, and I was relieved to find a couple of veggie options. The staff were so lovely too and the chef actually prepared some delicious veggie samosas for my starter (sorry, forgot to take a pic as I pretty much wolfed them down). For mains, I went for the 'Vegetable Potjie' - a simple dish of maize meal rice (dotted with raisins) and chunky tomato and green bean sauce. Not bad at all!
If you've got any interesting 'eating out as a vegan' stories then I'd love to hear them!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

We all need a treat from time to time and these cupcakes hit all the right buttons. I have always enjoyed baking - cakes, brownies, pies, breads..you name it, I've baked it. One of the really fun aspects of starting to eat plant-based has been coming up with vegan versions of some of my favourites. The other day, I baked a  vegan apple pie cheesecake for my family and they loved it. These cupcakes also proved to be very popular.  

                        

Ingredients
1 + 1/2 cups wholewheat flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup unrefined brown sugar
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 organic ripe bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sunflower oil
Dairy-free 85g chocolate bar (to melt with 2 tbsp almond milk)

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.

Mix all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, sugar - in a bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the mashed bananas, vinegar, almond milk, vanilla extract and sunflower oil. Start to add the dry ingredients, folding carefully as you go along until well incorporated.

Line a cupcake tray and spoon the mixture in. Bake for 20-25 minutes. To check that they are done, stick a toothpick in and see if it comes out clean.

When the cupcakes have cooled down, melt the dairy-free chocolate bar with 2 tbsp almond milk and spread lightly over each cupcake.

Akara | Nigerian Bean Fritters

These delicious bean fritters can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack (served with your favourite dips), or as an appetiser.

Deep-fried akara

Ingredients

2 cups black eyed beans (peeled)

1 medium onion

1 large red bell pepper

1 scotch bonnet pepper

Salt to taste

Sunflower oil

Soak the beans for a few hours. Peel the skin off by rubbing them between you hands. The skin should fall off easily, but the process can be long and arduous (so please watch the video above to learn a quick and easy hack for peeling the beans more efficiently).

Grind the peeled beans, peppers and onion to form a thick batter. I used one cup of water to lighten the mixture for this recipe. You be the judge, but just make sure that it does not get too runny. 

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and season with salt. 

Heat some oil in a deep fryer or large frying pan. Add the mixture in spoonfuls, making sure to avoid overcrowding the pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides and drain on some kitchen paper.

These are so good fresh and hot, but taste just as good when they're warm/cold. Enjoy!

EFO RIRO

This is my vegan version of a Yoruba classic: efo riro. This rich spinach stew is great with rice, pounded yam, eba and other starches. I like to make a large batch of this and keep in the fridge to last me the week.

Ingredients

- 5 large bunches fresh spinach (roughly chopped)
- 3 red bell peppers
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 medium sized onion
- 4 fresh tomatoes
- 2 tbsp palm oil or coconut oil
- 1 tsp iru (fermented locust beans)
- 2 vegetable stock cubes
- Salt to taste

for eba:
- 3 cups garri
- 6 cups hot boiling water

I make it extra soupy sometimes :p

Blend the peppers, tomatoes and onion in a food processor to form a smooth mixture.

Heat the oil in a pot and add the pepper mixture, disolve the stock cubes into the sauce and bring to a boil.

Add the chopped spinach and iru (fermented locust beans) after 10 minutes then turn the heat down. Season with salt. Simmer for another 5 minutes and you're good to go.

To make eba, add the boiling water to a heat-resistant bowl. Sprinkle the garri over the top whilst mixing quickly with a wooden spoon, until it comes together and is smooth.