Baby cavolo nero, banana, spirulina and natural apple juice

And the smoothie today is:

Baby cavolo nero, banana, spirulina and natural apple juice

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Celery, mango, coconut water smoothie

Smoothie of the day!
Celery (add a few leaves), frozen mango cubes, coconut water

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Baby spinach, kiwi, coconut water smoothie

I am addicted to my new Nutribullet, made many smoothies so I'll post a few of my favourites in the next few days, starting with: 

Baby spinach, kiwi, coconut water

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus, spinach and onion weed soup

This soup is vegan and gluten free, and makes use of those onion weeds that grow everywhere in Auckland in spring. Forage the onion weeds from a safe and clean place and wash well. The bulbs are fat and delicious just like spring onions (plus they are free!) and you can also eat the stems, leaves and flowers. 

Chop the bulbs, stalks and leaves of a bunch of onion weed and one bunch of asparagus, sauté with a drop of olive oil until fragrant, then add 1 l of vegetable stock and one big potato, peeled and finely sliced. Simmer until the potato is mushy and then add one cup of baby spinach leaves. Blend with an immersion blender and bring back to the boil for one minute. Adjust with salt and pepper and serve, decorated with onion weed flowers.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Super green juice, and it tastes lovely

Don't mind the basil in the background, it just happened to be there but it is not an ingredient (although, maybe next time I'll put some in, it should taste good!). 

This green juice is 100% vegetable, and yet it is not bitter, and it looks 'greener' that it tastes, if you understand what I mean (I am talking to those of you that scream and run away when they see green juices! hahaha!). Use 60% celery, 35% cucumber and 5% silver beet (or another green leafy vegetable). Celery and cucumber have a mild taste and lots of water so they are perfect for juicing with 'stronger' vegetables (like silver beet, kale or spinach). Try it, you will feel so good drinking it, and after! 

 Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Strawberry and Banana ice-cream: sugar free, gluten free, raw and vegan

You just need two ingredients: 2-3 bananas, sliced and frozen, and 2 punnets of strawberries, cut and frozen. It is actually better if both the banana and strawberries are quite ripe - jam quality!

Freeze the fruit for a few hours (one day is better) then put in the food processor and blend. Eat immediately. Healthy and yummy!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Better than you can ever imagine: Vegan Cabbage Bolognese Sauce

This is not a quick recipe, but require slow cooking, so if you are in a rush just look at the pictures :-).

There are several vegan Bolognese sauces around, mostly using soy or fake mince, and some with lentils, but I wanted to try one with cabbage, which is not a veggie I particularly like myself, but it is highly nutritious. It came out better that I hoped!

Ingredients

Half a cabbage

1 large carrot

2 sticks of celery with leaves

1 large onion

1 garlic clove

A few Italian parsley leaves

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 glass wine (white or red)

1-2 tbsp tomato puree

1 l vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

more extra virgin olive oil to serve

With a food processor finely chop the vegetables, then put in a pan with the olive oil and sauté for a few minutes. Then add the wine and stir well. Add the tomato puree, cover and cook slowly, stirring from time to time and adding the vegetable stock little by little. Simmer for one to two hours, the more the better, I think I went over two hours. I started in the afternoon but by the time I took the last photos it was dark, so the images are a bit blurry, sorry!

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste (I like it with quite a bit of black pepper!), then use to top your pasta, drizzling with more extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy! This can also be used to fill pies, or for a gluten free variation try it on polenta! Yummy!

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Vegan and gluten free soup: Minestrone with veggies from the garden

Do you get tomatoes plants that die and leave you with green tomatoes hanging there not ripening? I do! What a pity, but even if some veggie are ugly I can still manage to make a soup out of them!

I don't know why the yellow zucchini plant is three times more prolific than the green one! Still, I am not complaining, look at the colour!

My favourite additions to soups are beans, it is just so much fun shelling them and look at the beautiful colours. Pity that they become all brown during cooking.

And here is the minestrone. No recipe, just wash, chop and boil, add salt to taste and extra virgin olive oil at the end. So tasty and healthy! Some of the photos are mine, but the prettiest are Arantxa's!

Photos and recipe by Alessandra Zecchini and Arantxa Zecchini Dowling ©

Fruit pearls

Quick post today, and a quick idea!

I make fruit salad with watermelon and blueberries quite often, scooping the watermelon with one of those gadgets that makes little balls (and using the watermelon shell as a container). I really like the colours together, and there is no need for sugar. This time I also added some Cape Gooseberries and some Alpine (wild) strawberries from the garden, very effective, and a sugar free healthy dessert!

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pineapple and mint flavoured water

Just an idea for a healthy drink. Instead of juices or sweet stuff I like to put fruit in water, and then store it in the fridge. Refreshing and no calories!! Pineapple and mint is a good combo, although I leave the mint in only for a couple of hours (I think that my garden mint is particularly strong...). And it looks good too!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©