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Earl Grey & Lavender Cake

I got this idea in my mind to make a cake with tea flavour, and improvised with Earl Grey and lavender. It was a really interesting taste, not sweet but flowery and mature. It takes a bit of work, but it’s quite the show-off once it’s finished. I used a recipe from @aspoonfulofhealthde and made some adjustments. I love the rooibos Earl Grey from @ticktocktea.

Base
In a food processor, blend 1 dl almond flour and 2 dl dates. When it gets sticky, add 1 dl of whole almonds and a pinch of salt. Blend again, but keep some crunch from the almonds. Press the dough into a round spring form or a deep, square tray (20×30 cm) lined with parchment paper. Place in the freezer while doing the filling.

Filling
3 dl natural cashews, soaked overnight in water
0,75 dl plant milk
1 bag of Earl Grey tea
10 fresh lavender flowers
0,5 tsp agar agar powder
3 tbsp coconut oil
2-3 tbsp agave syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
handful of blueberries for colour
.
Infuse the plant milk with Earl Grey tea and lavender for at least 30 minutes.
Blend cashews with coconut oil, agave syrup and lemon juice until smooth.
Take out the teabag and the flowers from the plant milk. Carefully heat the milk while stirring in the agar agar powder. When it thickens, add it to the cashew cream and mix thoroughly. Add a couple of blueberries at a time until you have a nice purple tint.
Spread the cream on top of the base and let it set in the fridge for at least an hour. Decorate with lavender flowers and cut in squares when serving.

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Blueberry Cashew Cake

My first venture into raw cakes. I used a recipe from @aspoonfulofhealthde, and it did not disappoint. My springform pan was slightly larger, so the layers weren’t as thick as shown in the recipe, but the cake was so rich and filling anyway. The flavours were really nice and I like that it wasn’t to sweet. I added a bit more blueberries in the top layer and simmered it with half a teaspoon of agar agar, to make sure that it would set. And I love that there are so many beautiful flowers to use for decoration at the moment.

Let me know if you want me to write down the recipe for you!

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Beetroot, Beans & Almond Feta Salad

Oh summer, please come back! I comfort myself with this salad while waiting for the rain to pass. Beetroot and goat’s cheese is a classic combination, but instead I use my favourite – the almond feta. You can find a step by step instruction in my Stories highlights on Instagram! @neverenoughgreens

Cook whole bulghur (or other grain) in vegetable stock and tumeric.
Chop 2 cloves of garlic. Sauté in a pan in olive oil on medium heat together with 1 can of large white beans, rinsed and drained, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Take aside. Next, heat pre-cooked and quartered beetroots in the same pan.
Serve bulghur, beets and beans together with crumbled almond feta cheese, coarsely chopped almonds and fresh rosemary. Season with olive oil, white vinegar, salt and black pepper.

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Loaded Veggie Sandwich

Who says a sandwich can’t count as dinner? It only depends on what you put in it. If you stuff it until it almost bursts and you have to open up wider than at the dentist’s, I can assure you it’s dinner compatible. This one’s loaded with lettuce, grated carrots, cucumber, almond feta cheese, tomatoes, bean sprouts and beetroot hummus.

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Watermelon & Red Rice Salad with Almond Feta

You know the almond feta from the other day? This is what I used it for – a fabulous salad with lots of good stuff.

1 almond feta cheese
1/4 watermelon, diced
1,5 dl red rice, cook as instructed on packet
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 dl kalamata olives
2 dl croutons from sourdough bread
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
olive oil and white vinegar
black pepper
fresh oregano

Carefully toss all the vegetables with the rice and croutons in a big salad bowl. Season with olive oil, vinegar and black pepper. Plate and top with a quarter of the almond feta cheese. Garnish with fresh oregano.

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Müesli Bars with Apple & Peanut Butter

Not all attempts in my kitchen work out. I browsed through lots of recipes for müesli bars, used a bit here and there and gave it a go. These are really sweet and tasty, but I only need to look at them and they crumble to pieces. Now I’m trying to think of alternative ways of using it. A crust for a cheesecake maybe? Or just as granola on a smoothie bowl? I’ll get back to you on that one. Here’s the recipe anyway, if anyone else is up for a challenge! Maybe a bit more oil and dates will do the trick?

5 dl oats
2 dl sunflower seeds
0,5 dl sesame seeds
1 dl millet flakes
1 dl almonds
1 apple, finely diced
20-25 medjool dates
0,5 dl hemp seeds
2 dl peanut butter
0,5 dl agave syrup or other sweetener
0,5 dl coconut oil
0,5 tsp salt

Roast grains and seeds (except for hemp seeds) plus the diced apple in the oven at 175 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Meanwhile, put dates in water to soften. Rinse after 5 minutes and finely chop.
Put roasted ingredients in a big bowl and add hemp seeds. Next, add chopped dates and mix very thoroughly, so that the grains start to stick together.
Slowly melt peanut butter in a saucepan, add syrup, oil and salt. Pour over the grains and mix well.
Transfer the mix to a tray, 20×30 cm, lined with parchment paper. Smooth until even. Use another parchment paper and press. Put in fridge or freezer to set before cutting bars.

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Almond Feta Cheese

This is not a copy of sheep’s milk feta cheese. If you expect that, you might be disappointed. But if you – like me – find that cheese is one of the harder things to give up when going plant-based, this is a superb substitute, both savoury and crumbly. It takes a bit of work, but for me it was totally worth it. Recipe from vegetariantimes.com.

Ingredients
3 dl almonds
4 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1,25 tsp salt
0,5 dl cold water
1 pod of probiotics (optional)

Bring a pot of water to boil and add almonds. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Rinse in cold water. Remove the peel from all of them. Put the peeled almonds in a bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak for 24 hours.
Rinse the almonds in cold water. Put almonds, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt in a food processor of high speed blender. Add 0,5 dl cold water. Blend until very smooth. This will take at least 5 minutes or more. If using probiotic powder, add from the pod at the very last seconds.
Use a cheese cloth or double (clean!) kitchen towels. Spoon the cheese mixture onto the cloth, bring the corners together and twist to form a ball the size of an orange. Place in a small drain over a bowl to allow moisture to drip down. The recipe says to chill the cheese for 12 hours, but I left mine in room temperature for about 8 hours, hoping the probiotics would start fermenting a little bit.
Line a tray with parchment paper and a drizzle of olive oil. Transfer the soft cheese onto the tray and flatten carefully to about 1, 5 cm height. Bake in the oven at 100 degrees for about 40 minutes, until the top of the cheese is slightly firm. Serve warm or refrigerate.

PS. Keep the almond peels. Let them dry, put on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and thyme. Put in the oven while baking the cheese. Makes a nice, crispy little snack!

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Sweet Rhubarb & Pear Crumble

We finished the weekend off with a sweet rhubarb and pear crumble. It’s gluten free if you use GF oats. With almond flour and chopped almonds, the crumble has a sort of marzipan feel to it. I used a square oven dish, 30×20 cm.

Filling
5 rhubarb stalks
5 small ripe pears
0,5 caster sugar
3-4 tbsp potato flour

Crumble
250 g vegan butter
4 dl oat flakes
2 dl almond flour
2 dl caster sugar
2 dl whole almonds

Slice rhubarb and finely dice pears. Put in a bowl, add sugar and potato flour and toss lightly. Put the fruit in the pie dish.
In a food processor, add all the ingredients to the crumble. Pulse until the butter is evenly mixed, but not too long. Make sure to keep nice big bits of almond.
Distribute the crumble mix evenly over the fruit. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes. Check that the filling isn’t watery, if so leave a bit longer in the over. Cover with a tray or tin foil to keep the crumble from getting burnt.
Serve slightly warm with vegan vanilla ice cream.