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Fried Cauliflower
Recipes and More!

    Delicious, nutritious vegan salads and soups.
Yummy cakes including vegan and gluten free

 
Healthy Vegan Salad
Blackberry Cupcakes
Roast Sweet potato, crunchy chickpea & hummus salad

Ingredients (serves 2)

​For the chickpeas:

  • 1 tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed

  • drizzle of olive oil

  • 1 tsp onion powder

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

  • pinch of salt & pepper

For the potatoes:​

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled & sliced

  • drizzle of olive oil

  • pinch of salt & pepper

  • 1 tsp onion powder

  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

Other ingredients​

  • Half a pouch of microwaveable quinoa

  • 1/4 red onion finely sliced

  • pomegranate seeds - as many or little as you like

  • 1 avocado sliced or diced

  • 1 tub hummus

  • sesame seeds

  • handful of rocket

  • salad dressing of your choice ( an olive oil, honey, mustard and white wine vinegar is good on this) 

Before you start : Preheat the oven to 200 C/180 fan/gas mark 4

Method

  1. Add the sweet potato on a lined baking tray and add the olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. Toss to coat

  2. Add the chickpeas to another lined tray and add the oil, salt, pepper, onion powder and smoked paprika. Toss to coat

  3. Place both trays in the over (potato above)and bake for 30-35 minutes

  4. Once the potatoes and chickpeas are ready, smear hummus on your serving plate, put alternate spoonfuls of potatoes, chickpeas and quinoa on top ( or put them all in a bowl and mix). 

  5. Top with rocket, pomegranate seeds and sesame seeds. Drizzle with the salad dressing of your choice

Quick & easy Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

  • 1 butternut squash

  • ​drizzle of olive oil

  • pinch of salt & pepper

  • 2 tsp cajun seasoning ( can be altered to taste)

  • Vegetable stock ( approximately 500ml - 1 litre depending on how thick you like your soup 

​

Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread
(can be made Gluten Free)

Ingredients (serves 6)

  • 3 medium, ripe bananas( about 350g) mashed

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

  • 115 g vegan butter melted & cooled a little

  • 150 g light brown soft sugar

  • 40 g unsweetened plain or greek style vegan yogurt

  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or you could use extract instead but do 1 tsp of that) 240 g plain flour.

       If you're using GF plain flour that doesn't                       have xantham gum added, add 1/2 tsp

  • 2 tsp baking powder (GF if required)

  • 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

  • 200 g fresh blueberries

​

Before you start : Preheat the oven to 200 C/180 fan/gas mark 4

Method

  1. Peel and dice the sweet potato 

  2. Place the sweet potato chunks onto a lined baking tray, drizzle with oil and then sprinkle over the cajun seasoning, salt & pepper. Toss to coat

  3. Roast the sweet potato for at least 20 minutes. Test with a knife which should go in and out of a chunk easily.

  4. Remove from the baking tray and in batches, place the butternut squash chunks into a liquidiser with some vegetable stock, adding as much as you like to get your consistency of choice. 

  5. I put each batch into a pot or other container to ensure its all mixed. 

  6. If serving later, place the batches of soup in a pot so its easy to reheat. 

  7. Top with a swirl of vegan plain yogurt and maybe even a few  chilli flakes if you like the extra 'kick'.  Enjoy with some chunks of crusty bread.

Before you start, preheat your oven to 190C/170 fan/ gas 4

Method

  1. Adjust your oven rack to the middle and line a 2 lb/ 23 x 13 cm loaf tin with baking parchment

  2. In a large bowl ( by hand) or food mixer, whisk together the mashed bananas, lemon juice, melted vegan butter, light brown sugar, vegan yogurt and vanilla together until well combined.

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the plain (gluten free) flour, baking powder, baking soda, (xanthan gum), salt, cinnamon (if using) and nutmeg (if using).

  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk well until you get a smooth batter with no flour clumps (though you might have a few small banana pieces in there, depending on how well you mashed them).

  5. Fold in the blueberries until they're evenly distributed in the batter. (You can reserve some blueberries for scattering on top of the batter before baking, if you wish).

  6. Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf tin and smooth out the top. If you've set aside any blueberries, scatter them over the top.

  7. Bake in the pre-heated oven  for about 1 hour - 1 hour 10 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick/skewer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. If the banana bread starts browning too quickly, cover it with tinfoil (shiny side up) and continue baking until done. It's best to cover it with the foil when it starts becoming a deep golden colour.

  8. Once baked, allow it to cool in the loaf tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer it out of the tin and onto a wire rack to cool.

  9. The banana bread is best served warm or cooled completely to room temperature.

Matcha & Lemon Energy Balls
(can be made Gluten Free)

Ingredients (makes 20)

  • 210 g walnuts​

  • 12 large medjool dates (pitted)

  • 50 g jumbo oats ( can use GF)

  • 2.5 tbsp pumpkin seeds

  • 1 tbsp vegan matcha latte powder ( if you can't    find this, then you can use matcha tea powder but use a bit less)

  • 2.5 tbsp lemon zest

  • 2.5 tbsp maple syrup

  • 1.25 tsp vanilla extract

  • 200 g dark vegan chocolate (melted and tempered for 10 minutes before coating the balls

  • 1.25 tbsp unsweetened, desiccated coconut for decor ( if required)  

      ​

​

Post Event Information
& Links

Method

  1. Add the nuts, seeds and oats to a food processor and blend well.

  2. Next, add the matcha powder and lemon zest and blitz again, briefly.

  3. Once everything is combined, add the chopped dates, vanilla and maple syrup.

  4. Blend again until you have a rough dough.

  5. Take a tablespoon of the dough and roll it between the palm of your hands until you have a ball, repeat for the remaining paste.

  6. Melt the chocolate, then dip each ball into the chocolate and transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Put the tray in the fridge so that the chocolate sets. Finally, dust with matcha powder using a small sieve or top with shredded coconut.

Thanks so much to the amazing Chris Butcher for teaching your Thai Chi. Below is some post class information he thought you might find useful :

Originally a martial arts system of self defence, and then they found the health benefits that come from practicing it. Relax but with intent, like a hose pipe filling up with water, creating an energy and vitality.

 Warm Up

Basic whole body stretching and strengthening exercises. 

Fist in palm and push, clasp hands and pull stay relaxed “don’t show me your strength” this is the principle of Internal energy or kinetic chain energy. 

 Hold Ball posture 

Feet shoulder width apart or wider, hold an imaginary ball in front of your chest, to help you learn to relax. 

With practice we build up to 10 mins. 

Visualisation (Chi flow)

1. clasp hands, index fingers apart imagine wrapping an elastic band round them, and the elastic band getting tighter and tighter pulling the fingers together.

2. Point right index finger in front of shoulder, rotate the arm to the right as far as comfortable, reverse back down. Repeat with left arm. Repeat again but only in your mind not physically, see yourself going further no limitations in your mind whatsoever. Then repeat physically again and if you have visualised, you should go further

“What you focus on, is what you get”

“What’s in the body is in the mind” and what’s in the mind is in the body.

 Diaphragm Breathing 

Activate the sternum or breast bone to switch on the Diaphragm. Breathe in the nose out the mouth, everything in the stomach nothing in the chest. Breathe in stomach goes out, breathe out stomach goes in.

 

Tai Chi 6 forms or postures, then first few sections of the 24 forms. Also calls simplified Tai Chi original form was 108 forms.

​

Chris runs a Chinese Kung Fu class on Sundays 4.30 pm at Fitness First Bedford

Cost £8​

Please contact Chris on 07886894922 or email on christopher.butcher2@ntlworld.com

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