This is one of my favourite times of the year. Those of you who who have been following me for a while know my penchant for vegan soups! Check out some of my past favourites, my vegan cream of spinach soup, vegan roasted sweet potato soup, vegan coconut lentil and pumpkin soup, vegan mint pea soup, and the delicious vegan garlic potato soup. Today I add to these delectable offerings and share my creamy vegan roasted butternut squash soup. YUMMO! I love heading up to the local market and seeing pumpkins, acorn squash, and my beloved butternut squash! The gorgeous oranges and yellows of the squashes just sing out to be exploited. I bought some local onions, carrots, ginger and cilantro, and I had everything I needed for my simple Winter... Keep Reading
Today I am feeling more grateful than ever for my health. After what has been the most challenging year of my life I am finally back on the road to optimum vitality and abundance, and I owe so much to the extraordinary women in my life, who have nurtured me with love, understanding, compassion, and a lot of incredible comfort food! I owe a huge part of my recovery to Dr Elaine Carter who has changed my life, and to Sharon and Lois who work with her. Today we are celebrating another wonderful vegan recipe cooked up with these three wonderful women who have been such guiding lights and wonderful friends this year. I am grateful every day for their wisdom and insight. We have so much fun cooking together and sharing stories over delicious... Keep Reading
Fellow avocado lovers, today is your day! Prepare to dip your snouts in the avocado trough of Heaven. For those of you who have not yet embraced the joys of avocado – this avocado gazpacho just might intoxicate you! This quick and easy raw gazpacho is like “liquid guacamole” that kicked me into a pleasure-induced coma and that had me “coat-checking” my teeth and dreaming up a raw vegan recipe for a “taco in a glass”. Hmmm…food for thought. But for today, I continue my celebration of “all things gazpacho” inspired by Janet Mendel’s wonderful article in the LA Times Food Section. Janet posted an exotic white gazpacho recipe (Ajo blanco con uvas) - an unusual emulsion of white garlic, almonds and grapes that has its origins in the... Keep Reading
About a month ago I read a wonderful article in the LA Times Food Section written by Janet Mendel celebrating Spanish gazpacho in all its incantations. It was a scorching afternoon and the title phrase “this Spanish soup is adaptable as it is refreshing on a hot Summer’s day” had me lunging for my blender ( my Vitamix ) filled with inspiration to create my own raw gazpacho variations. I whipped up a basic raw tomato gazpacho soup on the spot, which was as tasty as it was refreshing. So I had to share this easy healthy recipe with you today, as a quick delicious treat to serve up at your next steamy lunch. I have had a bit of a “gazpacho obsessed” Summer, so I will share more fruits of my labour this month and celebrate “all things... Keep Reading
I thought I would squeeze in one more delicious easy vegan soup recipe before I head back to America to bask in the warmth of a Northern Hemisphere Summer, and all things raw! I had a Winter “soup and salad” night this week, and I needed to accommodate some food allergies and come up with a gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free and nut free vegan menu. When I was looking for killer allergy free recipes, I immediately thought of this delicious spicy carrot soup from my favourite Healing Foods cookbook. Since I posted the sugar free chocolate prune cake and the happy garlic peasant soup recipes I have had numerous emails asking how to get a copy of this fantastic book that is currently out of print. Unfortunately, I have not been able... Keep Reading
The weather has well and truly turned in Melbourne, and it is time to rug up with a blanket and a steaming hot bowl of vegan soup! As much as I mourn the loss of hot Summer nights, daylight saving, and sunshine, I do look forward to my “bug-in-a-rug” vegetarian soup season in front of the fire! It seems to soften the blow just a little. I am a huge fan of vegan soups. In particular thick creamy blended (I like to use my Vitamix) soups! Vegetarian soups are just the ultimate comfort food that just seems to nourish the body and the soul; and best of all, they are dead easy to make! For those of you following the Body Ecology Diet and looking for delicious body ecology recipes this vegan recipe is a winner. I apologize to the American and... Keep Reading
Well, the weather has turned! Today I had a scarf and jacket on. I can’t say I was disappointed this week, as I needed to cook up some vegan soups! My friend Shez has just had an operation and is resting at home; and Bethy just had her third baby boy! I was inspired to cook for my friends laying in bed; and what better comfort food than a beautiful bowl of vegan soup. I couldn’t pass over this fantastic velvety vegan cream of spinach soup which is just simply scrumptious. I cooked this vegan spinach soup for a lunch and lecture at Dr Elaine Carter’s office and received rave reviews from people that “didn’t know they liked spinach”! I had originally planned to serve a vegan lemon asparagus soup, but there were people on the guest list that... Keep Reading
OK, so I promised I would post some more of the fabulous vegetarian recipes I made with Beth. So here is my favourite recipe! The piece de resistance. You won’t see me speechless about very much. But Beth and I were so overwhelmed by the surprising depth of flavour of this roasted sweet potato soup, that we could barely contain ourselves, and were literally speechless. I blended this vegan sweet potato soup up, gave Beth a taste, and she stood over the stove and just closed her eyes, as if she couldn’t quite get the full flavour burst unless she shut off her other senses and just focused on her taste buds. I dished the soup up into bowls, and we both sat down to enjoy an overflowing bowl, of what we both described as, “one of the best... Keep Reading
My friend Beth and I cooked together this week, and it was so much fun. She has a phenomenal natural flare for flavours. I love watching her cook, cooking with her, and talking about food with her. Most of all, I love eating with her! I don’t think I have a friend who is as passionate, and gets as excited about the pleasures of vegetarian food like I do. I utterly adore her. I have so many fond memories with her -- eating and celebrating great food all over the world. I have a grin from ear to ear when I think about the countless times we have bitten into some special treats together, and giggled and moaned with delight; then tried to deconstruct the recipe, and plot how we would recreate the present masterpiece. Today was no exception.... Keep Reading
I have probably given this vegan lentil soup recipe to over 100 people. That is not an exaggeration. This soup is really that good! This pumpkin coconut soup was inspired by another version given to me by Steven Acuff over 12 years ago, and I have been revisiting this coconut, pumpkin and red lentil soup trough with gratitude and snouting to my good health regularly ever since. Steven is an American nutritional consultant who changed my life, and reframed my thinking about health. He has a long history with macrobiotics and whole foods, and like so many others, was taught by Michio Kushi, and inspired by the great Sally Fallon and Weston A Price. He passed his wealth of knowledge onto me in a series of group lectures and 1:1 private... Keep Reading
