Dozka

Chickpea kale salad with tahini dressing

2017-08-19T19:53:00.001+10:00

Salad

2 large handful of kale (spine removed and finely chopped)

1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

1/2 cup sweet corn

Dressing

2 Tablespoons tahini

4 Tablespoons lemon juice

Shake dressing ingredients in a jar
Toss dressing through salad

Cherry banana oatmeal

2017-08-18T19:39:00.000+10:00

1/2 cup oats

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup plant milk

1 banana (mashed)

1/2 cup frozen cherries

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground flaxseed

Combine oats and water in saucepan and cook over low heat.
Add mashed banana and stir continuously. Stirring helps make a creamy oatmeal.
As the oatmeal comes to a consistency that you like, add the frozen cherries and cook for another minute.
Serve and sprinkle flaxseed and cinnamon on top.

Carrot cake

2017-08-17T19:29:00.000+10:00

Wet ingredients:

2 flax eggs

6 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

2 Tablespoons plant milk

Fruit and veg:

3/4 cup dates soaked and rough chopped

1 1/2 cups carrots (grated)

Dry ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon other spices that includes ginger and nutmet (I used a Christmas cake spice mix)

1/3 cups pecan (pick out the best looking ones to top your cupcakes and chop the rest)

Save a tablespoon of carrots and put remaining fruit and vegetables through a food processor until finely chopped.
Add the processed fruit and vegetables and the saved tablespoon of carrots into the wet ingredients.
Add all wet ingredients to the sifted dry ingredients.
Spoon into non-stick silicone muffin tray (makes 12).
Top with pecans
Bake 180c/20 minutes

What is a buddha bowl?

2017-08-16T19:17:00.000+10:00

A buddha bowl is a bowl of plant-based nourishment. It is often based on a grain, and my favourite is a mix of brown rice and barley. Then topped up with as many variety of plant goodness as you can manage. Featured in this buddha bowl are seared brussel sprouts, chilli tofu, beetroot salad and sesame mushrooms.

I've posted a few recipes of items that can be used to construct a buddha bowl and will continue to share any new ideas with you. I find it helpful to make a batch of each item and combine them into a bowl creation each day as part of my batch cooking strategy. Makes plant-based eating fun, varied and delicious!

Tofu scramble

2017-08-16T19:11:00.000+10:00

1 pack firm tofu, drained

1 teaspoon tumeric

1/2 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon mustard, dissolved in soy sauce

1. Crumble tofu into hot pan

2. Add onion and sautee until onion is translucent

3. Add remaining seasoning. Sautee until browning starts to occur on tofu edges.

Black forest nice cream

2017-08-15T16:27:00.001+10:00

1 frozen chopped bananas
1/2 cup frozen cherries
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Dash of cinnamon powder
1-2 tablespoons of plant milk of necessary

Blitz all ingredients in a good processor. I like to save half the cherries and put them in at the end and blitz for a few seconds. This adds a bit of texture to the nice cream.

Four mushroom stew

2017-08-14T19:05:00.000+10:00

Portabello mushrooms or white button mushrooms, sliced

Pack of mixed mushrooms (you can get these from Safeway, made up of enoki mushrooms, wood ear etc)

Shitake mushrooms (usually dried, from Asian grocers)

Onion, sliced

Garlic, chopped

Ginger, grated

2T soy sauce

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Stock

1. Sautee onion in with some broth until translucent.

2. Add garlic and ginger and sautee for a minute.

3. Add all mushrooms except for dried shitake, and soy sauce. Sautee until mushrooms have reduced.

4. Add enough broth to cover mushrooms and add shitake.

5. Simmer for at least 15 minutes.

Roasted beetroot

2017-08-13T16:20:00.000+10:00

Wrap washed beetroot in foil and place in oven 180C. This often works well when I'm already cooking something else.
Turn oven off after 20 minutes. Leave beetroot in oven to continue slow cooking.
When beetroot has cooled, take out of oven, unwrap foil and remove peel. You can do this by gently rubbing on the peel which should slowly slide off.
Chop beetroot into cubes and serve in a buddha bowl or salad.

Where do you get your protein from?

2017-08-12T16:17:00.000+10:00

When I decided to only eat meat one day a week, I was concerned with adequate protein intake for my active lifestyle. So I embarked on my research on vegan athletes and found that not only is it possible to have adequate protein intake on a plant based diet, at the same time, I was leaving out the saturated fat and cholesterol that results in lifestyle diseases.

Since this was my primary concern when I started my journey, I do not feel that I can tire of the question, "where do you get your protein from?" The modern day lifestyle has people in the first world in paranoia that protein intake is lacking. There is much to do, to revert us back to the mentality that meat is a treat. Back in the day when meat is used as a condiment to flavour our food and not the main feature of a meal. And that people in the first world are not dying of protein deficiency (I don't know anyone who has died from that), yet every day, we hear people suffering from cardiovascular events and diabetes. All lifestyle diseases from consumption of too much saturated fat and animal cholesterol.

I get my protein from plants. Free from saturated fat, cholesterol and hormones.

Beetroot salad

2017-08-11T16:07:00.000+10:00

1 beetroot peel and shredded

1 carrot shredded

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 lemon juice and rind

1/2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

1. Shake lemon juice and mustard in a jar to make a dressing.

2. Toss vegetables, lemon rind and herbs together with dressing.

My Dad

2017-08-10T20:05:00.000+10:00

My Dad is a big, strong man of few words. He just gets things done, no problems at all. It was a shock when I heard that Dad had to have surgery for colon cancer. It was a bigger shock to hear that he had to immediately have a second surgery within 24 hours, as his wound had become septic. It was very sad when I walked into his ward as I could not identify my father. The big, strong and silent man had become gaunt, weak and fragile. He ended up staying in hospital for 8 weeks. I could only be there for a week, sitting with him every day for 15 hours, watching Dad drift between waking and sleeping. Whilst he slept, I would be reading (there was no internet connection), or watching the patients in beds around me, or their loved ones by their bed. There was so much suffering, by both patients and their loved ones. The patients were not dead, but they were not living. It was a painful life at the brink of death. It looked like slowly dying.

My Dad was in a ward with patients all suffering from "lifestyle diseases". At times, I would gaze at them wondering, if they wondered what they would have done differently if the clock was wound back 30 years. Then it struck me. Their 30 years ago, is my now. I can do things differently, now.

Brussel sprouts

2017-08-09T18:42:00.001+10:00

1. Trim ends of brussel sprouts then cut in half.

2. Place cut side on a hot pan then turn down heat to slowly sear*

3. Flip brussel sprouts when one side is brown.

4. When both sides are brown, season with salt and half a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to taste.

5. Quickly toss around in pan then serve.

*You must use a non-stick pan if cooking the no-oil option.

What is a whole food plant based diet?

2017-08-09T18:38:00.000+10:00

A whole food diet is one that is minimally processed. One way of thinking about it is, if you see the food, does it look like what the farmed ingredient looks like. Uncooked rice does, but rice flour doesn't. And rice crackers definitely does not. The thinking is that as food goes through more processing, it loses its original nutrient content, stripped of its fibre and its ability to nourish the body.

A plant based diet is one that is devoid of animal proteins. No meat (yes fish is meat), eggs or animal secretions. Pretty much anything that has a face or a mother, do not eat it.

There sometimes hear anxieties from people new to the whole food plant based diet over what is or what isn't considered whole foods. Is tofu whole foods? Is soy sauce ok? What about canned kidney beans? My response usually is, if your pantry or fridge still has spam, baked beans, Caesar salad dressing etc, focus on replacing those first before you sweat the less evil options.

Sautéed mushrooms

2017-08-07T19:09:00.001+10:00

1. Slice (or quarter mushrooms).

2. Put in medium heat pan* and let your mushrooms sweat.

3. Add any aromatics (e.g., chopped garlic, chopped rosemary) or just salt and pepper.

4. Remove from pan when mushroom juices are cooked out and mushrooms are brown.

*No oil option: you must use a non-stick pan.

How did this whole food plant based lifestyle happen?

2017-08-07T18:53:00.001+10:00

I experienced Christmas witnessing purchasing of paper to be torn off and thrown out. Gifting of plastic knick knacks that brought a few minutes of laughter then to be tossed into the Salvation Army bin to alleviate any guilt of a product that will last on the planet for thousands of years. It also opened my eyes how to excess we consume food in the weeks leading up to 25 December, the one day intended for celebrations. Food, which nourishes our bodies, have become something of decadence. And because we do it every day in my first world, there was no appreciation of the decadence but an expectation. It became apparently that the way I was eating was encouraging and supporting a way of farming that is not sustainable for our planet. There is no way that we can have truly free range hens in a sustainable manner, to feed my dozen eggs a week diet. Once I made that connection, I knew I had to make a change. I did not think I would be able to give up eating meat, nor did I think my friendship circles would be able to accept what I did most often with them, sharing meals that included meat, so I decided I would stop eating meat 6 days a week. The 1 day a week would be my wild card to feast with my friends.

Being an active individual, my first concern was getting enough protein. I embarked on a quest of researching a vegan diet for athletes. Might as well look at the extreme. If athletes can perform and stay healthy on a vegan diet, It would be ok for me and my moderate activity on a vegetarian diet. It was the first time I had clarity about how much protein a body actually needs, how much protein plants have, and how achievable it is to be an animal protein free athlete.

Interestingly, my research that stemmed from protein deficiency concerns lead me to other evidence of what animal protein does to the human body. There is an abundance of resources out there which I won't go into details. In short, animal protein leads to the production of IGF-1 that results in muscle cell growth, but also cancer cell growth. Animal protein also results in the production of TMAO that leads to the inflammation of the body, which causes much of the lifestyle diseases we experience in the modern first world.

I was sold. I went from fully fledge omnivore to eating meat one day a week. And within weeks, adopted a whole food plant based diet.

Roasted beetroot feta salad

2016-12-18T18:22:00.000+11:00

I used to hate beetroots. Never trust a vegetable that bleeds, I would say. It all changed when I had roasted beetroot. Sweet, full of flavour but mild and without the aroma of dirt. Plus they are so good for you!

Beetroots

Feta

Spinach

Almonds

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Roast beetroots by drizzling them in olive oil and wrapping in foil, then leaving in oven 180C 30 mins. Peel when cooled and chop into cubes. Serve cooled beetroots with spinach, crumbed feta and chopped almonds. Toss through with a squirt of lemon juice and drizzle of olive oil.

Peanut butter banana pancakes with cinnamon and maple syrup

2016-12-14T18:16:00.000+11:00

I had one super ripe banana on Sunday and was hankering some pancakes, so I got to work on these peanut banana pancakes. They are the easiest pancakes to make without having to make the batter overnight although I did leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours whilst I dashed out for a gym class. These pancakes brown pretty quickly with the bananas in the batter.

Ingredients:

1 super ripe banana

2 eggs

1 tablespoon peanut butter

Vanilla

Cinnamon

2 tablespoons oats

1 tablespoon greek yoghurt (optional)

Method:

Blitz all ingredients and cook on hot pan. I topped these off with maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Salt and pepper encrusted salmon with black rice salad

2016-12-11T17:57:00.001+11:00

Summer is knocking on our door and it's time for salads! There is a fantastic bulk buy food store on Sydney Road where you can buy as little or as much of ingredients that you want which comes in minimal packaging. Sighting black rice, I was prompted to purchase a cup of it and try out this recipe idea.

I ground Himalayan salt and 3 types of pepper (black, white and Szechuan) on a surface, pressed the skinned salmon against it and pan fried it to create a aromatic salt and pepper crust over the oily fish. This gives the salad texture and a lot of flavour.

Protein:

Salmon

Salt

Pepper

Salad:

Black rice (cooked and cooled)

Capsicum

Red onion

Mango

Spinach

Dressing:

Honey

Mustard

Lemon juice

Lemon rind

Olive oil

Cover salmon with ground salt and pepper. Sear and pan fry. Cool and break up into pieces to toss in with salad. Chop up vegetables. Shake up dressing and toss everything together.

Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup

2013-07-24T00:00:00.000+10:00

There is only one secret to a good chicken soup. Time. Time to get all the goodness out of the carcass and vegetables into a good broth. Then more time to actually make the actual soup. Well, come to think of it, there might be one more secret. A chef once taught me, to put the smallest amount of fish sauce into my chicken soup. The umami flavours lifted my entire soup. Who would have thought such a simple ingredient that seem so out of place in a chicken soup could do wonders.

Good homemade stock
Celery
Carrots
Onions
Garlic
Rosemary
Thyme
Chicken
Broken lagsana sheets
Shredded chicken
Fish sauce
Seasoning

Simmer an hour for stock on a low flame to obtain a clear broth. Use carcass, herbs, onion, garlic, celery and carrots for stock. Then strain stock and cook with remaining ingredients, adding pasta and chicken last.

Hammer and Tong 412

2013-07-20T00:00:00.000+10:00

Having been to Hammer and Tong 412 so many times for breakfast, I thought it was high time I stopped by for dinner and see what Dennis and Simon had for us, for a different meal of the day. Dinner's concept is smaller plates for sharing. Like this braised beef cheek with vanilla and brown butter cauliflower puree, and chard. The meat was melt in your mouth with a caramelly and salty sauce. The vanilla brown butter cauliflower puree was rich and again both savory and sweet at the same time. This was definitely a very adult version of a vegetable puree

The chicken and corn porridge with miso, and kale came with a chunky slice of chicken that was under seared for our taste, resulting on a chewy, rubbery piece of skin when I would have welcomed texture. It was a bit of a waste, not capitalising on the use of fat. The corn porridge however, was again, sweet and salty goodness. Mushy, creamy vegetable had never tasted so good like it has tonight.

We finished off our savory course with a refreshing lemon lime and bitters cured salmon and beetroot cured quail egg salad. The flavours of lemon lime and bitters in the dressing was absolutely genius.

There are a few items from their brunch menu that makes a repeat appearance on their dinner menu, such as their soft shell crab burger. It's good to know one's strength.

What I really need to talk about is the dessert. Em's chocolate tart served with chocolate cointreau ice cream with fresh and dehydrated mandarines. Did someone say dehydrated mandarines? Whoever Em is, she is a genius. Some molecular gastronomy on the plate plus these dehydrated mandarines which packed a concentrated fruit flavour yet bringing home the texture. It was a marriage made in heaven with the rich and slightly bitter chocolate flavours. Congratulations, Em.

Although I am currently more of a fan for brunch than dinner at HT412, I am prepared to return for several other morsels from their menu, and the chocolate tart. They have done well, and it appears that they will have all of us eating our fruit and vegetables.

Dinner ratings: 3.5 nioms

Hammer and Tong 412
412 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy

Vermicelli Stirfry Featuring Lime Leaves

2013-07-10T00:00:00.000+10:00

Lime leaves are such a versatile ingredient and in my opinion, makes a dish cross the line between good to mmmmm. The complex citrusy notes without the sharpness or tang, that ends with a delicate and almost floral aroma. I throw it into almost anything - Thai pumpkin soup, stirfries, curries. It freezes well in an air tight bag or container. Even better still, the kaffir lime tree grows in a pot to be used fresh.

Vermicelli Stirfry
Onion
Garlic
Vegetables
Tofu/animal protein
Egg
Vermicelli
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Lemon juice
White pepper
Lime leaves
Corriander

Annoying Brother

2013-07-06T00:00:00.000+10:00

Some days, the gems are closest to home. A short stroll lead to this cafe with the strangest name, in a spot where I would not have noticed if I had not been told by Robin and Urbanspoon that I must visit. Clean and warm, not overhyped and even with a moody barrista who makes an excellent soy cappuccino.

The potato rosti on spinach, poached egg served on caramelised balsamic was wonderful. And thyme on roasted tomato...genius. The combination of the aromatic herb, crunch of the potato, richness of the egg and the sweetness of the balsamic sang to my tastebuds.

The pancakes with butterscotch sauce, toasted coconut and bananas is delicious. Yes, delicious. Bring on butterscotch sauce with crunchy coconut and fluffy pancake to wipe all the tastiness up. Life is good. Rambo here decides to make it a death by culinary happiness meal, by adding ice cream and bacon to it.

Baked goods at Annoying Brother is scarce. The white chocolate raspberry muffin is satisfactory. I have seen a double chocolate cookie as well as another berry muffin in the cabinet. But where is the chocolate?

Coffee at Annoying Brother is worth the trip, evidenced by a slow but constant stream of local crowd stopping in for take away caffeine. Food is surprisingly good, despite the local coffee only vibe. Service is not speedy, it is laid back, cruisey and local.

Rating: 4 nioms

Annoying Brother
650 Nicholson Street
Fitzroy North

Thai Pumpkin Soup

2013-07-03T00:00:00.000+10:00

The weather has been calling out for soups. Although I love a good pumpkin soup, it needed a bit more heat to warm up the soul, and variation to tantalise the palette.

Onion
Garlic
Chilli
Fresh grated ginger
Curry powder
Coconut milk
Pumpkin
Sweet potato
Stock

Sautee onion, garlic, chilli, grated ginger and curry powder. Add (roasted, if you can) pumpkin and sweet potato to cook in stock. Season, puree, add coconut milk and serve.

Chin Chin

2013-06-29T00:00:00.000+10:00

Things have been busy with a lot of good things that's been happening in life at the moment. Whilst I have not been blogging, I reassure you that this blogger has continued eating. Like at Chin Chin which came well recommended by a friend who knows food. So on another Friday afternoon, Robin and I took flight down a Melbourne alley known as Flinders Lane in search of good food. These sweet corn fritters that were served with a rich and sweet chilli jam, wrapped with crisp iceberg lettuce and fresh herbs, was the winner. Warm balls of juicy sweet morsels with fresh crispy leaves. They were my highlight of this meal.

These pork roll ups came with well cooked shredded BBQ meat. Smeared with a sweet hoisin sauce in a fresh pastry roll and crispy sprouts.

It's hard to go wrong with a salt and pepper squid. Especially when they come served with a tasty sweet, tangy and salty sauce with thinly sliced fresh chilli.

The palm sugar sundae with lime felt like it was about to rot our teeth. Palm sugar, yes. Coconut ice cream, yes. Lime syrup combination? Dubious.

Expect service at Chin Chin to be efficient and attentive by beautiful looking hipsters. Also expect a wait for these no reservations table. Arrive early for lunch and you may be able to avoid that.

Rating: 4.5 nioms

Chin Chin

125 Flinders Lane

Melbourne CBD

Shepherd's Pie...the real deal

2013-06-12T00:00:00.000+10:00

Sometimes, it takes a taste of the real deal to remember what a good thing is. Like a real shepherd's pie made with good quality meat, just like it should be.

Filling
Good quality beef mince
Onion
Garlic
Rosemary
Carrots
Celery
Mushrooms
Canned tomatoes
Worcestershire sauce
Red wine
Stock
Salt and pepper

Potato bake top
Mashed potato
Milk
Cheese
Butter
Salt and pepper

Bake 150C until brown