Raw Vegan Quick Soup

YO YO YO
What's up diggity dowgs?

I have been waiting so long to create my own raw vegan soup. It has been super cold here in Melbourne... well,  HOT COLD COLD HOT COLD...   so I've had to wait it out for the lovely soup ingredients I'm craving to come into season. (Iv'e been craving summer fruit and veg incase you're wondering!)
I went into my favourite organic fruit and veg store the other day and snapped up myself a massive bag of tomatoes for $3!!! Wahhooooooooo
I went straight home and created my very first summery raw vegan soup! It was very satisfying!

It does look like gloopey snot, but tastes AMAZING, great with 100% rye bread, or olive bread  and is best eaten the day you make it.... after a day in the fridge, it get's a bit weirdy in flavour,,, I actually thought it would get better in time, letting the flavours meld together... but NO!

WHAT YOU NEED
1 blenders worth of whole tomatoes
1/2 1 leek
2 lemons
1/2 avocado
small tin of organic coconut cream
1 tblsp miso paste
1 cup water
good dash of organic tamari
1 big clove of garlic
2-3 cups of mixed greens (I used parsley, kale, silverbeet, corriander)
1 rib of celery
1 tsp raw sea salt (or good pinch of himalayan pink salt)

WHAT YOU DO
Ahead of time- at least half an hour, finely slice the leek and garlic and cover with juice of the lemon and a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Wash and roughly chop all your veg.
Place all the tomatoes in the blender with the salt and blitz.
Pour half mixture into a big beautiful soup pot.
Place the miso paste and water in a small bowl and mix until well incorperated.
Place all remaining ingredients into the blender, blitz really well, then pour into your soup pot and mix well with the tomatoes.

** I added some pre cooked french lentils, omitt these or sprout them if you want to remain exclusively raw.

Garnish with a drizzle of EVOO and some nasturtium!
 
ENJOY  XXX

My tummy tonic smoothie

Since I was a kid I've always had a sensitive tummy. It still comes and goes, but is in no way as bad as it once was. It got to the point a few years in drama school, that I was passing a heap of blood due to a really really bad and bleeding ulcer in my stomach! OOOpppsssiee

I know now how to care and love my tummy, so when I start to get a soreish tummy- I know what things to grab! (it used to be a tub of vanilla icecream, no no!)

MY TUMMY TONIC SMOOTHIE

WHAT YOU NEED
1/4-1/2 fennel bulb
1/2- 1 pear
1/2- 1 bunch mint (I used a blend of mint, peppermint, apple mint and spearmint from my garden)
1 large cup of cooled organic pepermint tea
**** this is all you really need, but I choose to add for more oomf:
1 lime
1 tablsp chia seeds
1 tblsp of Loving Earth's 'Rainbow' Superfood blend

WHAT YOU DO
wash and chop all your fruit and veg, then pop everything into blender and blitz for a few minutes.

Thats it! If you have it, cucumber would be perfect in this smoothie.

X

Morning Routine: My Gorgeous Green Smoothie

Green smoothies. My saving grace.

They're the fastest, easiest and yummiest way to devour fresh, detoxifying, living & nutritious greens.

You can pack as many greens as you dare into just one glass and add the fruit of your dreams, nuts & seeds and any super foods that tickle your fancy.

This is my breakfast of choice, but also the ideal snack throughout the day, regardless of whether I'm home or running about like a looney.

I love chucking a fresh green smoothie into a light and air proof drink bottle (this prevents the nutrients from dying) & taking my Pop Eye treat on set, or to rehearsals.

*it's best to drink your smoothies straight away, they will start to die after 15 minutes.  

Last week I had a super busy day and wasn't all that hungry when it came to dinner but I still wanted to nourish myself. GREEN SMOOTHIE TO THE RESCUE

Greens are exremely rich in chlorophyll and it just so happens that the molecular structure of chlorophyll is very similar to that of human blood!
Studies prove that when this is consumed, the production of hemoglobin in the blood is increased, which means the blood will become greatly enriched with oxygen - the most important element that cells need to thrive.
Greens are amazing alkalizers which help protect the body against diseases, fatigue and illness.
Their nutrients are are easy to digest, they have amazing fat burning compounds, vitamins and minerals, healthy bacteria that help to build cleaner muscles and tissues, protiens, protective photo-chemicals & they aid your digestive system. They are also an impressive cleanser of the kidneys.

MY GORGEOUS GREEN SMOOTHIE

This is what I create from day to day, with minor adjustments, but you can really add ANYTHING to these bad boys, so get creative!

a few stalks of kale
a celery stick
boc choy &/or wombok green leaves
1 banana
1 lime
rice milk (sometimes mineral water or cocnut water)
scoop of cashew nut spread
tblsp chia seeds

*sometimes a spoon of raw cacao and if im really hungry, I'll also add some organic rolled oats.

Mmmmmmmm

Super speedy. Super healthy. Super yummy. Super Hero Super Power!!!

raw radish pasta

I FINALLY got to make my raw diakon raddish pasta for Brett!!

This one wasn't a creamy number, but a zesty, fresh, herby, raddishy delight!

This meal was created in a flash and with minimal ingredients, it filled us, each having seconds and with leftovers too!!

 I'm so in love with raw pasta at the moment. The other night I went out for dinner with my beautiful friends and FINALLY had raw zucchini pasta!! It's was so good! It was a delicious raw vegan cheesy, creamy, mushroomy and zucchinni-ey fiesta- I'm definately going to re-create that yummy meal!

Anyway- on to my RAW RADDISH PASTA!!

WHAT YOU NEED

1 diakon raddish, spiralized/grated

3 multi colored raddishes, thinly sliced/shaved

PESTO

1 garlic clove

1/2-1 lemon juice

1 bunch of parsley (OR ANY HERB)

raw salt

drizzle of oil, blitzed.

WHAT YOU DO

wash and prep all ingrediants as descibed above, then mix. that's it.

SSOOoo good!

X

PS it will make to fart :)  

Raw cauliflower cous cous

Firstly, I just wanted to show off my beautiful new bed spread/couch cover/wall hanging that my awesome bro and sister in law gave me for my birthday- it's a beaut!

Secondly....
What??? raw cous cous!?- well yes! - and it's a vegetable. This little beauty can also be use in place of rice if you're wanting raw veg rice- something that I will definately enjoy in the hotter months! (and now!) yay!

I'm loving the versatility of creating with raw fruit and veg in the kitchen. It's mind blowingly exciting, experimental and fun!
My fav thing at the moment is creating a raw vegan 'pasta' or in this case 'cous cous', making it delicious (not hard), then serving it to my love heart Brett and watching his reaction from when I tell him it's 'creamy pasta'- then getting him to guess the ingredients- then watching his face as I tell him what I used as my substitutes- it's brilliant and a wonderful feeling creating, eating and sharing my culinary descoveries.

I still have my mum's food processor from when I made my sister Skye's birthday cake and I've always wanted to try using cauiflower as rice or cous cous! so YAY to that!

RAW CAULIFLOWER COUS COUS

 WHAT YOU NEED
1/2 head cauliflower blitzed in processor until cous cous size (aprox)
2 raddishes shaved
1/2 sweet potato grated
1 bulb boc choy chopped
1/4 cup raisins or currants
I scattered in some sprouted blackbeans- add anything, nuts, seeds, herbs etc.
1 orange squeezed over top
pinch sea salt
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
* serve with a drizzle of tahini (optional but so good)

WHAT YOU DO
Wash and prepare your veg as above. Mix. Season. Taste. EAT!

VERY VERY QUICK AAAAAND REFRESHING!!!!

We ate this as a main, with leftovers. You could easily make this for 4-6 peeps as a side or as part of a good buffet spread.

Peace and love baby XX

Sprouted Chickpea salad

I've been going sprouting crazy. Right now, at this exact point in time I have some blackbeans in the kitchen, pre soaked chillen out, getting ready to sprout! I'm very excited. Last week I tried my hand at sprouting chickpeas. Super fun and rewarding as usual. Once sprouted, the chickpeas had a lovely refreshingly sweet flavour- very similar to freshly picked and raw sweet peas. YUM

I only had a small bowls worth of chickpeas, but they lasted two big meals for myself and Brett- they didn't even make it to the fridge because I gobbled them up!
*If you need a refresher on the health benefits of and how to sprout, re read this post: http://apurplecarrot.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/health-benefits-of-sprouting.html

I've been trying to eat as much raw things as possible at the moment. The reason purely is because it's what I'm craving and getting excited by at the moment. I've had the occaisional cooked meal over the past week and have found that afterwards I feel quite heavy and not great over all- so, Ive been getting inspired, learning a lot, getting prepared and eating beautiful raw foods as much as I can everyday. I also REALLY want a dehydrator now so I can try a HEAP of raw vegan recepies and go 100% everyday! Christmas is coming.........

Onto my salad, super quick, yummy and filling, the only thing you need to do is start the sprouting process a few days earlier, I'm staring a rotation of having something soaking, something sprouting and something ready to eat in the fridge- sounds time consuming and annoing- ITS NOT, it's easier than making a coffee!!! Plus I really want to have a variety of sprouts ready to eat- especially since they take a few days.

SPROUTED CHICKPEA SALAD

WHAT YOU NEED
scattering od sprouted chickpeas- or as much as you want!!
1/2 to 1 nashi pear grated
1 brussle sprout shaved/very thinly sliced
1 to 2 leaves of kale (I used red russian for this salad) Thinly sliced
1 turnip grated
2 sliced of 100% rye bread toasted then chopped for croutons
scattering of lightly toasted almonds
1 lime juice
drizzle of oil

WHAT YOU DO
Toast your almonds on your stove top and toast your bread then roughly chop.
Shave/grate/thinly slice your veg, chuck in a bowl, add the almonds, bread, lime juice, oil and pink salt, mix, EAT!

SO YUMMY!!! AAAAAAANNDD QUICK!

Enjoy! X

Sprouted lentil salad

After my amazing week away, I felt so good. Relaxed, my skin was looking good (I've had extreamly bad ezcema over my body), my digestion was really good. Then I came back... real life, my birthday, mums birthday- all really great, but lot's of over eating, bad digestion, which lead to skin breakouts, which lead to stress, holding my breath, not doing my daily charkra medition and cleanse, no money, bills pilling up, which worsens bad digestion, skin, stress etc.

So I've had a full week of being back, gone through a body shut down, know it's time to bring back the healing environment I set up for myself when away.
Im eating my raw foods, only eating what I need, I'm bring back my mindful slow eating- it's incredible how fast this practice left me when I came back to Melbs- but even more incredible how quickly my body broke down. Daily meditaion is back, yoga, walking, water etc. Also no booze! Since i've been working on healing my liver and kidneys over the past few months, obviously I obstained from drinking- also I honestly didn't feel like it. Over my birthday week, I had only 2 drinks- on different days, I felt awful the next day and really craved junky foods because of it- not good!

So, here's a recepie to help us all recconnect to delicious, simple, raw food. It also features my sprouted lentils!

WHAT YOU NEED
small bundle of boc choy chopped
small hadfull of grated cauilflower
1 small turnip grated
half lemon
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
half green apple grated
as many sprouted lentils as you want

WHAT YOU DO
Pre sprout your lentils. *instructions here: http://apurplecarrot.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/health-benefits-of-sprouting.html
Then all you need to do is grate and chop, squeeze and drizzle, stir, season the EAT!

Super good for your and SO refreshing!

X

Health benefits of sprouting

YO.
So as I mentioned on Fridays post, I went completely raw while being away. I'm still following the raw diet, with an occaisional cooked meal (had amazing birthday dinner at paents and we made yummy gnocci- although everything else was raw- including my cake!) I've also had the occasional slice of bread, but apart from that, RAW! And I feel awesome!

I'm a big lover of lentils, pulses, quinoa, oats etc, and I didn't want to stop eating these yummy foods because I usually cook them. So I began by experimenting with sprouting french lentils- BEST THING EVER!! They were SO refreshing and morish- also really filling.

SPROUTING WHAT YOU DO
Give your chosen 'sprout' a good wash, then pop in a bowl or pot cover with water and soak overnight. Be sure to cover with an extra inch of water, the lentils will swell. Also have enough lentils for a few days, to scatter through any meal to ad flavour, texture and rich nutrients.
The next morning, drain and give a good wash, pop back into bowl or pot, minus water and let to sit on the bench. The following morning, repeat the process of rinsing, the sprouts should start to peak out by the second day. Repeat the process again the next day, you can start eating them now (although in another day they'll taste even better), leave out to repeat process again, or pop in air tight container in fridge- that it! takes a couple of days, but is so simple and it's not time consuming either.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF SPROUTS

Sprouts Are Easy to Digest!! During the sprouting process there is a tremendous increase in metabolic activity:

• Plant hormones are activated
• Starches are broken down into simple sugars
• Proteins are predigested into easily assimilated free amino acids
• fats are broken down into soluble fatty acids
• Minerals merge with protein in a way that increases their function

All this metabolic activity during the sprouting process increases the nutrient value, and enhances digestion and easy assimilation because our body doesn’t have to do all the work to break all the elements down into their more ‘usable’ form – this is already done for us.
Sprouts are extremely nutritious because they contain all the elements a plant needs for life and growth. The nutritional value of sprouts is beyond remarkable as they contain a high concentration of vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, nitrosmines, trace minerals, bioflavinoids and chemo-protectants (such as sulphoraphane and isoflavone). This concentration is highest in the sprouting phase, even higher than when the plant is fully mature.
Sprouts are high in vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, 
Calcium, Carbohydrates, Chlorophyll, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc.
Vitamin and Mineral content increase with sprouting.

• Vitamin B6 increases about 500%
• Vitamin B5 increases about 200%
• Vitamin B2 increases about 1300%
• Biotin by about 50%
• Folic Acid by about 600%
• Zinc content doubles

Sprouts are a Complete Protein Sprouts are High in Enzymes
Sprouts are Alkalizing

It's also really fun watching the sprouts grow everyday.
I'm really loking forward to sprouting some broccoli seeds!! YAY

START SPROUTING!
X

My guilt free, creamy creamy soup!

This was so damn good!
So thick and creamy, and completely guilt free and nutritious for you!

So over the past week or so, I told to about the goodness of split peas and the goodness of coconut cream. This baby has both! It also stars the amazing potato and cauliflower!! YAY.
So, let's learn a bit about cauliflower today!

Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable. This means it's a natural cancer fighter. It contains phytochemicals, called indoles, that may stimulate enzymes that block cancer growth. This also makes it so good for your liver. After citrus fruits, cauliflower is your next best natural source of vitamin C. It's a great antioxidant is a good source of fiber, folic acid and potassium! Eat up!

I really needed to go shopping and didn't have any leek or onion, so I only used a bit of garlic. Leek would be amazing with this recipe, but as I found, it's not essential.

WHAT YOU NEED
2 massive potatoes, chopped
1/2 head or cauliflower, chopped
1 small head of garlic or 1/2 big head
2 cups of pre soaked split peas (I used both green and yellow, but mostly yellow)
1 can coconut cream (although I only used 1/2 a can because the rest was used to make my coconut porridge- I had a few serves!!)
water to cover
sea salt

WHAT YOU DO
Wash and chop all your veg, chuck in a big pot, add the coconut cream, season then cook on low heat until veggies are sort- around 30 mins.

That's basically it!!

I wanted it smooth and creamy, so I blitzed it. Taste, season, EAT!

THAT'S SERIOUSLY IT!!

Use this soup as a base and add other veggies.... I want to roast some pumpkin with balsamic vinegar to garnish my left overs!! mmmm

X

Purple kale and brussel sprouts

So as I mentioned yesterday, I had a full and awesome weekend.
After filming on Saturday, I needed to make a super quick and nourishing dinner while getting ready to go out, at the same time, to a 'black tie event', and keep calm at the same time! Argh!
It was a juggle, but I made it!

I had pre soaked some lentils the day before so they just needed draining and a quick cook. At the same time I wipped on the oven to 200, washed and cut my little baby brussle sprouts in half, added some left over eggplant from the fridge, doused them in coconut oil and sea salt and popped them in the oven. Then I popped myself in the shower!!

So, inbetween drying my hair, doing my make up and getting dressed, I checked on my food... all was good. Everything took about 20mins max to cook- by that stage I was mostly ready.

Just before taking my lentils off the heat and my veggies out of the oven, I washed and shredded my purple kale. I popped it in a big bowl, drizzled a little oil, and squeezed half a lemon on top, then I massaged my kale so it was yummy and easier to eat.

To finish, I just chucked everything together, seasoned with extra salt and lemon and served with toasted rye bread. DONE- with time to spare!!!

The following day Brett and I went to Sorrento for the day, to chill out and visit some friends. I had lots of leftover dinner from the night before, so to plump it up, I went out to our little garden and picked a good mix of green to add to our meal. There was boc choy, cos, roquett, spinage and herbs. We went to the bakery for fresh baguette and set off down the coast!!!

It was soooo good!

 To top and awesome weekend off, brett took me to Yong Green Food for dinner AGAIN!!! So spoilt!

X

Eating is fun

So, after my black bean rant yesterday, I wanted to share this reciepe that make me equally happy- it's blackbean spaggetti!!! yum yum yummm!!

This was such a delight to make, I was starving and looking forward to a super quick, super delicious meal. Whilst my 'pasta' was cooking (which only took a couple of mins), I went foraging in my garden and picked a mix of greens, spinage, rocquet, cos lettuce, silverbeet, parsley- but I starred the beautiful Boc Choy,  aka Pac Choy!!!
Boc Choy is a cruciferous veggie which means it's great for fighting against and preventing cancer.  Cruciferous  cruciferous veggies are also sooooo good for your liver! 

I washed and chopped my greens ready to stir into to my drained, warm pasta- so although my veg was lovely and warm, it was still lovely and raw.
Straight after draining I added a tablespoon of coconut oil, which melted nicely, I seasoned with sea salt mmmm

This dish would be awesome with chilli flakes and toasted seeds and nuts and a squeeze of lemon- I was craving a simpler version which was sooo satisfying!

*If you can't finck black bean spaggetti, you could always use japanese buckwheat noodles mmmm

 EAT AND BE MERRY

X

My Roast Dinner

My roast dinner is probably not what your picturing in you mind...

Well for one, there's no meat.

I'm on day 11 of my 30 green smoothie challenge. So far so good! It's been great being part of something like like, I've especially been enjoying being sent amazing new recipes everyday. Most days I've been having my amazing veg juice for brekkie, then a massive green smoothie for lunch- usually accompanied by avocado on toast.... its been so fresh and great. As the days have rolled on, by dinner time I'm VERY hungry and craving solid food. Makes sense.

I was able to snap up a big bag of mixed mushies for cheap at the fruit and veg store.. I was also craving big potato chips... Time for a roast I say!!

What I had:

500 grams of new potatoes
3-4 big handfuls of mixed mushies
1/2 bunch parsley
1 zucchini ribboned with a peeler
1/2 adelaide tomato
a few handfuls of green beans

What I did:

I par boiled about 500 grams of new potatoes while the oven heated up.

When the Potatoes were fairly soft, I smashed them in a roasting dish. I made sure that all the skins were broken and smooshy. Then I garnished them all with lots of coconut oil.

I washed my mushies, then laid them all over my mushies, seasoned with sea salt and more coconut oil.
They cooked in the oven for about 20/30 mins and I placed a sheet of baking paper over them to prevent drying out.

When these  babies were almost done, I very lightly blanched my green beans and served with salt, extra virgin olive oil and my sliced toms.

When I pulled my roast out, I scattered my veg with my parsley and zucchini and let sit for about 5 mins, covered with the baking paper and a tea towel.

Then it was time to eat!!!

YUM!!

X

30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge

Well... Summer is most definitely here!

woah mumma!

As much as I remained healthy during christmas and new year, I did indulge in lots of amazing food and a fair few sweeties- plus the odd drink..... everyday...

So- Im back and raring to be as healthy as I can possibly be- with the help of 'Young and Raw's 30 day smoothie challenge...

Well I was going to do this anyway, but on Facebook I saw that they posted a free 30 day green smoothie challenge, sharing free recipes, motivation and great updates explaining what each ingredient does for your body! amazing!

So, Im enjoying my morning fresh veggie juice- usually containing beetroot, carrot, ginger, lemon, green apple, silver beet, kale, cayenne pepper, cucumber and broccoli.

YUM!

And now, my challenge, also adding green smoothies everyday!

Now- I normally do have green smoothies everyday, but since being in LA and being on the go in hot weather, I was finding the smoothies too filling for brekkie- move it to lunch I say!!

Heres a pick of my day 2 of 30 green smoothie challenge!!

be inspired and join the challenge!

This one has coconut water, green capsicum, orange, lemon, ginger, kale and parsley- with stalks- YUM!

And incase you get disheartened... on both days I modified the ingredients- I didn't follow the shopping list so I replaced a few things!!

GET ON BOARD

X

Rice Noodle Bowl

Hello Lovely people!!!

It's been a while!

Well, Suburbia went really well- I'm actually sharing a recipe from my last days of rehearsal, so an oldie!

As soon as the show ended, I jumped on a plane a went to Japan for 11 days for a music video shoot and a mini holiday! It was great, a roller coaster of people, food and lights. Then of coarse, as soon as I landed back in Melbourne I was happily swamped in christmas lunches, birthday camping, birthday dinners, christmas day and then of coarse, new years!

Phew!

I'm back!

So as briefly promised before.... here's a quick, filling and yummy dinner I ate after a day rehearsal before running out to a movie event....

RICE NOOOOODLE BOWL

So.. VERY easy...

Fill the kettle and bring to the boil.
Once boiled, pop into a small pan- bring to boil again and add the noodles- taste after 5min, they should be done. When done- drain and plop into a bowl with a tiny bit of the cooking liquid (this prevents the noodles sticking together and going gluggy)- season with sea salt and drizzle a tiny bit of oil.

Chop 3 inches of leek and cook lightly in a saucepan with oil and salt.
Then after a few mins, add any green leafy vegetable- I used a MASSIVE cauliflower plant leaf (it was in my garden and looked too good!).
I cut the leaf into thick strips and mixed in with my leek.

To serve, I plopped my veg onto my noodles, added fennel fronds and kale seed pods (all from my garden- I'd ad lots of fresh herbs instead of this).

Mix, taste, season if need be- maybe drizzle with more oil if need be- then gobble up!!

X

Quick Buckwheat Salad

So... As I previously said, I have living off of super green smoothies!!!!

For extra punch and filling through the day, I rustled up this really simple but tasty side salad.

You could so easily add anything to this salad to bulk it up- but I was wanting something quite simple to eat after I knocked back my smoothie.

This salad just has buckwheat, cherrie toms, sea salt, oil, lemon juice and sea weed.

That's actually it.

YUM

X

Bright Beetroot and Herb Salad

It was hot in LA.

There was also lots to do.

As much as I really love cooking, all I wanted to do was to be out and about, eating light, quick and satisfying.

This salad is super quick and so good for you. It only has a few ingredients, but you could so easily add  any veg or protein.

The salad stars grated beetroot, half a lemon, salt, oil, freshly chopped coriander and parsley and purple kale. You could easily use silver beet, spinage or italian cabbage in place or the purple kale or as an addition!

Its fresh and yum!

Quick Warm Veggie Dinner For Two

It was such a pleasure staying with the lovely Jacinta Yelland! We took LA by storm!!

It was also so nice having down time with her at our little hime in Silverlake.
Research and homework by night, I would make scrummie dinners to nourish our bodies and souls.

With all the incredible fresh and raw foods I was eating, it was important for my tummy to balance it out with lightly cooked meals by night.

This was a super quick, easy and filling meal for the two of us that also doubled as left overs for the next day.

I was able to get baby yellow carrot which were great fun to use in colouring up our meals.

I roughly chopped a handful of kale, zucchini, yellow carrots, broccoli and red onion for this dish and lightly cooked in a fry pan, squeezing some lemon on top and serving with quinoa.

It took about 10 mins to cook- start the quinoa just before you start to chop the veggies to even out the cooking time and sauté the onions before adding the other veg. I used a lid to partly steam my veggies.

Bon Apetit

x

Massaged Kale and Lentil Salad

So.......  I devoured the most simple and delicious (oh, and nutritious!!) meal while I was away..
I was lucky enough to have delicious fresh organic kale at my finger tips- from the farmers market in Hollywood once a week and the local farmers market (in Silverlake) twice a week. At one point in time, I had three different types of kale in my fridge at the same time! Holy toledo!!!!!

I created a this meal one day when I was busy running around, hungry and wanting quick brian food so I could work on my script... so I grabbed my kale and started massaging it with lovely olive oil. while I was giving my love to these beauties, I popped some french lentils on the stove to cook.

I then put the raw and tender kale into a bowl and when it was cooked, I poured the lovely hot lentils on top. I seasoned with a bit of lime and lots of Himalayan sea salt.

That was it!! so delicious, savoury and satisfying!

Try it for yourself! you won't be sorry!!!

X

My Melbourne Return & Bright Breakfast

Well my lovelies, Im back in Melbourne and have just finished my first rehearsal for the up and coming theatre show I'm in... SUBURBIA!! (More on this to follow)

It was great, so nice to be back on the floor and talking about characters and being creative.

BUT!!! it has been such a long time since I've blogged- SORRY I got so busy exploring, working, making new lovely friends in LA that I couldn't bring myself to sitting down and writing about what I was doing...

Everyday I had a massive veggie juice, had healthy salads, lots of fresh fruit, chia seed, quinoa, & cocao bars that were the best thing ever!! My favourite quick and healthy snack while away was a generous spread of avocado on thick rice cakes with himalayan salt flakes and lime squeezed on top and apples (pink lady) with almond butter on top!!! oh and of course my chia seed quinoa bars!!!

Oh  my go to snack or meal on the run was definitely a big veg juice- juice bars, health food stores and vegan and organic cafes rein in LA- you can go absolutely ANYWHERE and be sure that you'll have all of your culinary choices met and conquered.. it was my food paradise.

I even had a sneaky croissant here and there as a wonderful treaty!!

One of my lovely fresh and bright breakfasts while away was my BRIGHT BREAKFAST, which was a bright bowl full of mango, avocado, banana, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and shaved toasted coconut with a squeeze of lime.

Yummmmm such a great way to start the day.

X

My Massaged Kale & Colorful Salad

FRESH INGREDIENTS YEAH!!

Jacinta and I stormed the farmers markets on my first day here! It was wonderful!

Here's a beautiful, bright, fresh and substantial salad celebrating our wares!

I've been lucky enough to get purple kale, dark green kale (Italian Cabbage), purple, pink and yellow baby potatoes and a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes!!

Its very exciting!

MY MASSAGED KALE AND COLORFUL SALAD

What you need:

a few baby potatoes
a few or one large tomato
handful of snow peas
two good handfuls of kale- try to get more than on variety
1/2 lemon

What you do:

Pop the potatoes on- prick them a couple of times with a knife and boil them in salted water until jst cooked through- then slice in to discs.

Chop the kale into strips, then with a tiny bit of oil, massage each strip (the oil makes it easier).

Slice the tomatos into discs and cut the snow peas by slicing the outer strands off, so the snow peas will be halfed length ways.

Season with salt and lemon.

Mix EAT!

Its very satisfying shopping at markets then cooking with the goodies- especially if they're different colors to what you're used to!!

YAY