The Cheeky Vegan

I have been going to the Stirling Farmers Markets on and off again for a while now. Plenty of fresh fruit and veggies to be had there, and some of them organic.Just  lately, though there has been a new stall that has become a firm favourite of mine. It is called “The Cheeky Vegan”. 

Unfortunately, the first time they set up a stall there, it PELTED down with rain and it looked like they were packing up early. I did manage to get some of their wares and have gone back there every Sunday since, and have tried more of their range.

What is on offer is mostly raw vegan dessert type fare, including gluten free items.

 So far, I have tried out their Muesli Bliss balls, the O-raw-eos, the Choc Pie, the Apple C-raw-mble, Choco Cookies, and the Lime and Coconut Tarts. All were delish but my faves would have to be the Apple C-raw-mble and the Lime and Coconut tarts!

Apart from the sweets, there were also raw kale chips on offer, which I tried and liked. These featured sweet potato, tahini and lemon dressing. I do hope there will be more savoury items on offer in the future.

The Stirling Markets are on every Sunday from 7.30am to 11.30am and are situated on Cedric Street, next to the Stirling Council Chambers.

Cheeky Vegan also do catering for functions. Check out their Facebook page for more info.

Cucumber-sesame salad

A super easy dish that you can serve with pita bread or vegetable tempura. The original recipe (which I found in the book “30 Minute Vegan” by Mark Reinfield and Jennifer Murray) calls for the use of onions but I have omitted them and the taste is still fine without them.

What you will need:

¼ cup sesame seeds (toasted or raw)

4 cups sliced cucumber (about 1 or 2 large cucumbers), peeled and cut about 2cms thick. You can seed if you want but I didn’t bother.

1 tbsp minced red onion (optional)

1 sheet nori, grated or cut finely (I used a pre-cut pack I found at the supermarket tin the Asian Foods section)

½ tsp sea salt

2 tbsp rice vinegar (found in the Asian Foods section of the supermarket)

Bag of salad greens

Method:

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Serve in bowls lined with mixed salad greens.

Easy!

The Raw Kitchen - new premises

I blogged about the Raw Kitchen before but felt a new post needed to be made since their recent reinvention. Not only have they relocated, but they have also gotten bigger.
They are now situated at 181A High Street Fremantle, in what looks like a warehouse. The interior is all high ceiling, open faced brick walls, chain link fences and shipping containers. The tables range from long wooden ones, to booth styles, with seats that look like they have been ripped out of old buses. Sad to say that the other seating seems to range from small wooden chairs to metal ones. Common denominator - all pretty uncomfortable. I was really hoping that with the new venue, they would have ditched those chairs that were obviously built to hold primary school aged kids.
Your cutlery and water gets served to you in glass jars and brown bottles, and the food on small wooden boards and little enamel dishes.

The whole look is a cross between rustic and recycled, which does not appeal to me at all. But then, that is just personal taste, I guess. Just so long everything looked and was clean, that's what matters the most to me - and this place certainly passed that requirement from what I noticed.

We were seated at one of the long wooden tables. Although this new location is much larger than their old one, the place was VERY busy and I understood that having such big communal tables saves on space. Having said that, I didn't really like sitting at a table, facing strangers while I ate. Oh well.

Apart from the food (which I will get to in a moment), the new Raw Kitchen also features the 'Sea Container Gallery' that displays pieces by local artists and craftsmen, which can be purchased.
Yoga and fitness classes, as well as raw food preparation classes are also on offer and I do believe there will be film nights planned.
The new venue also has a bigger shopping area where there are all sorts raw and non-raw  packaged food items - many of them vegan, plus books, gifts, toiletries, etc.

We found the service to be mostly good. Having only just reopened, a LOT of people are curious to see the new place, and so the place was already very busy when we arrived a little before noontime. Nevertheless, we were seated almost immediately and our orders were taken in a timely manner. The only gripe I have is that when ordering, we asked the server if there was any egg in the 'mayo' in two of the dishes we wanted. She kept saying 'There is no dairy' in any of our dishes. I had to point out to her that egg was not dairy, which gave her pause. To her credit, she did go and find out for us. The verdict - NO EGG is used in ANY of their dishes. This of course begs the question  - why do they not mark this on their menu? Their menu is marked as completely dairy free, and where honey is used, it is marked. Why not mark things as completely egg free or just use the 'vegan' tag, and be done with it? Surely, they realize that a big number of their clientele are vegans? 

For our entree, we opted for the Aromatic fennel seed roasted chats with lemon juice. 

I'm a big fan of potatoes and these were lovely. Cooked just right. Obviously, this wasn't a raw entree. Infact, there were quite a few new items on the menu and quite a few were not raw. This may bother some raw food purists and it didn't bother me one bit.

The other entree we had was the Tempeh snaps. These were strips of cooked tempeh, made from lupin and not soy, sitting on top of cooked cauliflower. The dish came with a tasty garlic and caper aioli. I am not big on garlic but found their aioli to be mild on that front, so I enjoyed it very much.

For drinks, I opted for the Blue Moon smoothie, which featured blueberries, banana, lavender, agave, and almond milk. It was delicious. You could certainly taste the lavender but it was not overwhelming.

My partner had the Dream Juice which was a mixture of pineapple, lime, young coconut and apple.

For the mains, we had a lot to choose from. I ordered the club sandwich. 

As you can see from the photo, it was jam packed! Between two layers of dehydrated flax bread, was an assortment of goodness - marinated mushrooms, mango salsa, raw cashew 'mayo', tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts and onion. (I forgot to ask them to leave the onion out, so just picked it out as best I could.)
The sandwich was delicious but be warned - eating was tricky business. a mixture of hands and cutlery had to be employed.


My partner had the Raw pesto pasta, which featured radish, fresh basil, avocado, capers, sundried tomatoes and baby spinach.

After all of that, we didn't have room for dessert. There was plenty on offer - tarts, cakes, slices, balls, etc. Maybe next time!

The Raw Kitchen is open Mon-Thurs 7.30am - 4pm. Fri-Sun 7.30am - 10pm

Asian inspired coleslaw

With the hot weather hitting us in Perth, recently, I thought I'd give this recipe a go. Simple, with not too many ingredients and no turning on of ovens or stovetops required!
I found this one in the book "River Cottage Veg Everyday" by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, which is a vegetarian cookbook with some vegan recipes included. The original recipe called for honey but I substituted that with agave syrup, to keep in vegan.

What you will need:
1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and sliced (optional)
4 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 small white cabbage, shredded finely

For the dressing:
2 tbsp soy or tamari sauce
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 garlic clove finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of one lime
a handful of chopped coriander

Method:
If using, put the sliced spring onions in a bowl, add coarsely grated carrots and shredded cabbage. Combine.
For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together and pour onto the vegetables, tossing thoroughly.
Add the lime juice and coriander.
Leave for 20 minutes to soften and 'relax' and then serve.

Pana Chocolate

Pana Chocolate has to be one of the very best raw, vegan chocolate I have every tried. It is handmade, organic, contains no dairy or any other animal products and is low GI and gluten free. Oh, and it is DELICIOUS!

There are several varieties available:  Mint, Orange, Rose, Nuts, Cinnamon, Coconut and Goji, Raw Cacao, 80% Cacao and the new Sour Cherry and Vanilla - which I just tried and loved!

If you tend to shy away from dark chocolate because of bitterness, you have nothing to worry about here. This chocolate is neither bitter or sickly sweet. It has just the right balance. Also, it is so very smooth in texture.

The bars are small and quite expensive, so I just treat myself to a square at a time - the way it should be, really. Pop a square into your mouth and savour it!

Pana Chocolate is available in several healthfood shops, cafes and organics stores.
Their website has an extensive list of suppliers in Perth. Just pop in your postcode.

Recipe: Teriyaki Noodles

Super simple raw vegan recipe I found in “Ani’s Raw Food Essentials” by Ani Phyo. Not too many ingredients, most (if not all) you can find at your supermarket. The agave syrup you can sometimes find in the health foods section of Coles or Woolworths, otherwise try a healthfood shop. The original recipe calls for the use of either tamari (which I used, otherwise known as Nama Shoyu), which you should also be able to find in supermarkets. You can use Bragg Liquid Aminos, instead, but you will need to visit a healthfood shop for that.

This recipe makes enough for about 3 people. To make the noodles, you will need a spiralizer. I use the Chef Avenue 3-in-1 turning slicer. I have seen it sold in PAWS, and various organics stores, and it usually sells for under $40.

What you will need:

4 cups spiralized zucchini noodles (4 to 5 zucchini) 

For the sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp tamari

3 tbsp agave syrup

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp minced garlic (optional)

Method:

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients and toss with the noodles in a large bowl. Serve.

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Recipe: Zucchini carrot ribbon salad in tomato dressing

This is a pretty simple salad and you don’t need any fancy kitchen equipment for it.  Your average fruit and vegetable peeler will do the job. I liked the blend of the crunchiness of the carrot and the softness of the zucchini, which looked and felt like eating fettuccine.  I think next time, I may double the amount of zucchini used.

You can experiment with the ratios of the dressing ingredients if you like, making it sweeter, perhaps.  I could not find sun-dried tomato paste/puree, so just used the regular stuff. Also, if like me, you are not keen on garlic and onions, you can leave them out and this salad will still taste good.

Credit given to the book from which I found this recipe: “Big Vegan” by Robin Asbell.

This amount makes enough for 3 people.

What you will need:

1 tbsp sundried or regular tomato paste/puree

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)

½ - 1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 medium to large zucchinis

1 large carrot

2 spring onions, chopped (optional)

Method:

In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste/puree, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, sugar and salt.

In a large salad bowl, peel the zucchini and carrot down to the seeds, turning as you go.

Add the spring onions to the bowl and drizzle the dressing over the vegetables. Toss to coat and serve.

(The photo below doesn't do it justice, but rest assured that it is tasty!)

Recipe: Spicy Raw Schezuan Noodles

This is a raw vegan dish I found in the book “Raw Star Recipes” by Bryan Au. The original recipe calls for 3 to 4 tablespoons of curry powder. Being a light weight, I put in only 1. I found this was more than enough but if you like your food very spicy, add more.

You will need a turning slicer to make the zucchini noodles. I own the “Chef  Avenue 3 -in-1 Turning Slicer” and this was our first time using it. There was a bit of trial and error but we got there in the end.  Well worth getting this gadget, as  raw zucchini noodles are great! When I first heard about eating zucchini raw, I was very skeptical. But then I tried some and was won over.

Manna Wholefoods, some organics stores and PAWS sell this nifty gadget. Price range is usually around the $30 to $40 mark.

What you will need:

2 zucchinis

1 tbsp curry powder

1 carrot, grated

1 baby bok choy, sliced thinly

½ head broccoli, chopped into small florets

Handful or two of sunflower sprouts

Dash of sesame seeds (black or white)

4 tbsp sesame oil (available in supermarkets)

A few string beans, sliced

Sea salt, to taste

Dash cayenne pepper

½ lime, juiced

Method:

Peel zucchini and use a turning slicer to make the noodles. If your gadget has fitting to make angel hair noodles, use that. Otherwise, use one that will make spaghetti sized noodles.

Place the noodles in a large mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix gently but thoroughly.

Makes about 4 servings.

Recipe: Frozen fudge

This recipe is from “The Raw Truth” by Jeremy A. Safron.  An easy dessert to make, with only a few raw ingredients required. The fudge is sweet and melts in your mouth.  Eat straight from the freezer  (not fridge!) and keep any uneaten portions in there too.  Some supermarkets stock nut butters in the healthfood section.  As for the raw carob powder, you are more likely to find that at a healthfood or organics store.

What you will need:

1 cup dates, seeded

1 ½ cups water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups nut butter (I used almond butter)

1 ½ cups raw carob powder

½ cup dried shredded coconut

Method:

Place the dates in a bowl and cover with water. Soak for an hour.

Drain but keep the liquid. Place dates and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth, whilst slowly adding the water to create a creamy consistency.

Transfer the date mixture to a large bowl, add nut butter and stir to combine.

In another bowl, mix the carob and the coconut. Gradually add the dry carob mixture to the wet date mixture. Stir well.

Press into a baking tin, about 2.5cms thick and freeze for several hours. To serve, cut into small squares.

Recipe: Non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiris

Super easy and super refreshing for summer. Amounts given make enough for 2 servings. Double or triple it if you want your friends to have some – or just drink it all yourself! Ha!

What you will need:

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup water

2 tbsp light agave syrup (available in health food and organics stores)

2 lime slices

Method:

Combine the strawberries, water and agave syrup in a blender and process until smooth. Serve with a slice of lime on the rim of the glass….or better still, pop it into the drink itself.

Bottoms up!

Recipe: The 5 C's soup

With the current heatwave we are having in Australia, I think this raw vegan soup would be ideal. No slurping of hot food or heated up kitchen, preparing it. Lifted from  the cook book “Raw Food Kitchen” by Dunja Gulin.

What you will need for the soup:

3 medium cucumbers or 2 continental cucumbers

1 medium zucchini

1 large avocado

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened (I used light coconut milk)

½ tsp curry paste or powder

Dash of chilli powder

1 to 2 cups warm water

What you will need for the pesto:

4 tbsp chopped raw cashews

4tbsp olive oil

Handful fresh coriander

Method for soup:

Peel and chop cucumbers. If using continental variety, no need to seed. If using others, with large seeds inside, remove.

Peel and chop zucchini and avocado.

Place chopped vegetables, lemon juice, coconut milk, curry paste/powder, chilli powder, a pinch of salt and 1 cup of water in a blender . Blend until smooth. Add more water if you wish. Add more salt in needed and stir well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Method for the pesto:

Put all ingredients in a food processor or use a hand held blender and process until you get a thick paste.

Ladle soup in bowls and top with a tbsp. of pesto. Dust extra chilli powder on the top and serve.

I found that this recipe makes enough to serve 4.

Recipe: Banacado

It is summer in Australia and bananas and avocados are in season. This super easy drink recipe is from the book "The Raw Truth" by Jeremy A. Safron. It is smooth, thick and oh so yummy. Give it a go!

What you will need:
2 dates, seeded
2 cups water
4 bananas, peeled and thickly sliced
half an avocado, peeled and pitted

Method:
Place dates in a bowl, cover with the water at allow to soak for 1 hour, so they soften.
Drain but keep the water.
Place bananas, avocado and the water used to soak dates, into a blender and blend until combined.
Add dates and blend until a thick, smooth consistency is achieved.
Drink up!

The Raw Kitchen Cafe - revisited

Earlier this year, I visited this cafe in Fremantle but had only had a dessert there. As lovely as that was, I knew I had to go back to have lunch.

This time, I was keen on trying their raw zucchini pasta. I am glad I did! When my order arrived, a large bowl was set in front of me, filled with a delicious looking pile of goodness. The zucchini noodles were long, and tender and mixed in with mushroom, kalamata olives and a rich marinara sauce. The fresh basil and the macadamia 'parmesan cheese', topped it all off very well.  (Note that in the photo below, I had already started eating before I remembered to take a shot of it! That's how keen I was to try it out! Oops!)

For drinks, I sampled the 'Choc it to me' smoothie which was thick and tasty with its banana, raw cacao, agave and almond milk.

I was pretty full but then had to have a bite of a raw 'cherry ripe' - type of slice. It was yummy but perhaps a bit too sweet for me. My partner, however, had no problem demolishing it!

I know that I will need to pay The Raw Kitchen another visit soon, as my friends orders the Nachos and it looked so good, that I knew I had to come back to try that! 

What a work of art!

For opening times and location, check out their website.

Raw Kitchen Cafe - Fremantle

This lovely little cafe is central to Fremantle but is tucked away in the Piazza Arcade so you have to look for it. Having heard good things about it, we had to go and check it out.We already had lunch elsewhere, so we decided to stopped into The Raw Kitchen cafe for something sweet.

My partner ordered the Minty Moment Smoothie which I ended up sipping from. From the first mouthful, we both described it as tasting 'very real'. I know that sounds strange, but after having tasted this raw drink, it makes you realize how fake and artificial big brand, mainstream versions are. This drink contained raw cacao, fresh mint, agave, vanilla bean, almond milk and ice. It was divine!  Checking out the drinks menu, we noticed that none were made with honey, as some raw food places are known to use. Instead, agave is used for sweetening, which makes them vegan suitable. And, for 2 dollars extra you can get superfood boosts included in your smoothie. This includes spirulina, wheatgrass, chia, etc. Oh, and I loved the use of glass straws - something I had not used before.

Whilst my partner sipped his smoothie, I got stuck into a slice of raw vegan cheesecake. The one I had was apple, maple and cinnamon and was delicious! Not sickly sweet, super creamy and a right balance of cinnamon used. I also loved the fresh apple slices on top. They went very well with the cake.

I do hope to be back there again soon, to try out their savories, such as the raw pasta. They also offer raw soup, club sandwich, pizza, nachos and salads. All of their menu items are dairy, sugar and gluten free.
Because I am fairly new to raw food cooking, my mind just boggles at the creativeness of some of these items. The cafe offers raw cooking classes and inside, there is a small selection of specialist raw food ingredients and equipment.

The Raw Kitchen Cafe is open Wednesday - Sunday. Check out their website for opening hours and address.

Pure 'N' Healthy - RAW juices

Pure 'N' Healthy are a Perth business that produce fruit and vegetable juices. I came across them at the Stirling Farmers Market, recently. (This market, by the way, is on trial at the moment and will be open every Sunday morning 7.30am-11.30am until the end of February. I do hope it will be here to stay, as I thought it had real potential. I shall keep my ears open for any news on that in the near future.) I am not sure which stores stock their products, but their business is located at 313 Stock Road, O'Connor. The manager informed me that although they do not currently have a website, one is in the works. I do look forward to seeing it and perhaps linking to it as well.

Anyway, at the market, I taste tested a few of their various juices and purchased a few.

I do love lime and was hoping they had a drinkable lime mix. They didn't but had straight lime, which although you can't drink as is, you can use in mixed drinks and in cooking. I also purchased the orange juice and my partner opted for the Go Troppo which was a mix of different tropical fruits. I think, because of its purity, he found it a bit strong so he watered it down a little. The green drink you see in the photo above, contains kale. Now, anyone who has been reading this blog, will know all about my love for kale. Here it was in a drink. I HAD to try it. It is a mix of kale, apple, lemon and banana. Yes, the kale in it is a bit chewy, which I don't mind. There is a lovely banana after taste, too. I thought perhaps, it needed a little less lemon, but otherwise, I enjoyed it. be warned, however, this particular drink is high in fibre and will 'clean your pipes' out, if you know what I mean.

These RAW drinks are sold in glass bottles (which I love) and juice is not a concentrate, not pasteurised and does not contain any preservatives. What you see is what you get - a fresh, tasty and very REAL juice. I shall hopefully find the Pure 'N' Healthy stand at the market, tomorrow, so I can try out some of their other juices.

Raw Food at PAWS Cafe

I met up with some friends at the PAWS Cafe and tried, for the first time, a bit of everything from their raw food bar. This included a raw vegan pizza slice that was seriously tasty; a creamy salad that consisted of pear slices, walnuts, spinach leaves and avocado; a crunchy, mixed sprouts salad; and a delicious marinated zucchini, capers and olive concoction. There was even more on my plate than that, but these were the elements that really stood out for me.

I got a medium sized plate, that was full to the max, for just $10. Everything tasted fresh and there were plenty of different textures, colours and flavours to enjoy. No boring limp lettuce and anemic tomatoes in sight!

I do believe that I must read up on this raw foods cookery and give it a go!