Artisan Raw Dining In Trendy Notting Hill, London W11

Ever since Nama Artisan Raw Foods opened up in classy London suburb of Notting Hill (a stones throw from the Portobello Road) I've been wanting to visit.  I finally took myself, a friend, and a healthy appetite there in May.  The small restaurant is decorated a la minimalist, clean lines and seven shades of white. Its large, glass front was streaming in the afternoon sunshine.  It felt fresh and clean.  Just the atmosphere for being with friends and enjoying a healthy raw gourmet treat.  I'd gotten a bit lost (I blame it on Google maps!) getting to the restaurant so I was properly hungry and ready for a spot of weekend feasting!

My (very patient!) friend had been waiting for me to arrive so he had already perused the menu and chosen the dish he wanted.  After a quick scan and a tussle between curry and a sushi platter I settled on the cauliflower based Thai Coconut Curry, and he opted for the Lasagne Verdure.  We shared a small plate of sauerkraut and crackers as something to stop the gnawing hunger (and our stomachs noisily signalling it was time to eat!).  We did not wait too long before our friendly server brought us our dishes.  10 out of 10 for presentation, but what about the taste test?  The Coconut Curry was delicious with a lovely coconut based sauce. Full of flavour and just the correct amount of heat (for me).  The rice made from kohlrabi pulsed in a blender, was the perfect light accompaniment.  My friend cleared his plate and declared the lasagne a triumph.

I wasn't particularly hungry after my rich curry (the sauce is made from fresh young coconut) so we decided to share the plate of Selection of Sweet Treats for dessert.  Which we both expected to have a taster of the fermented blueberry cheesecake on, but alas it comprised of a rather disappointing array of small raw, heavily date based confections.  One of the bites however, did stand out from the rest and I could have eaten a ton of them. A sweet, delicate the trio of coconut nibbles. They tasted just like a Bounty Bar!  Lovely. But why give three on a platter that two people were sharing?! War could have erupted right there!  Next time I will just ask for a plate of coconut treats (all to myself!).

The restaurant was not packed, as most of the diners were seated outside. I suspect evenings would be much busier and so have more of a buzzing atmosphere. Whatever time of day, I will definitely return.  As would my carnivorous dining companion.  

Cost for our raw organic lunch, without drinks, for both was just under £50.  Not bad for such salubrious surroundings in the heart of London.

Note: An optional 12.5%  tip is automatically added to the bill. 

Everything on the menu is vegan, wheat and dairy free.

Nama Artisan Raw Foods

1. 110 Talbot Road, London W11 1JR

   020 7313 4638

New Healthy Plant-Based Vegan Mobile Cook App Available - V is For Vegetable

Today we enter the world of the mobile cooking apps!  I am proud to say my baby, V is For Vegetable was born!



It is a plant based cook app with easy to follow recipes, with step-by-step instructions, wonderful photography and delicious recipes.  It takes the flavour of global popular food culture and makes it healthy.  ALL recipes are vegan, dairy free, processed sugar free AND gluten free!  I really enjoyed putting the recipes together. The first in the series focuses on Berlin. I spent a month in this fascinating city to discover the foods the Berliners enjoy.  Series 2 will showcase the foods of Paris. Series 3, British food.  We then travel around with the foods of Buenos Aires, Mexico, Sweden, the US and more where I have travelled slowly to savour the flavour of these destinations.

It is available for purchase on itunes or android.  Please help to make it successful and show how planted based healthy eating can be delicious and easy.  Buy it and spread the word. 

Leave us a comment and let us know which recipe you will be trying first!

A WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS! National Vegetarian Week 2014. Celebrate With Us. Win A Box Rebel Kitchen Mylks!

Happy UK National Vegetarian Week!! 

Our week of giveaways is finally here!  Make sure you subscribe to the blog to get all the updates.

First up is Rebel Kitchen.  A rather nice bunch of people who make exciting dairy-free and totally yummy ‘mylk’ drinks which are nourishing, affordable and very delicious.  Good for everyone.  They use fair trade ingredients.  Spring Water. Coconut milk. Date Nectar and natural ingredients, like orange oil, bananas or matcha, which make up the various flavour varieties in the range. 

We have a box of both ranges which are lactose/dairy free and suitable for vegans and vegetarians.  

'Kids' flavours are Choco, Banana & my personal favourite, Orange Choc Mylk. 

'Grown Ups' can indulge too with Matcha, Choco & Chai. Being healthy made easy and oh so good.

If you want to get your hands on a box of all six flavours then enter below and then cross your fingers!

Enter here and remember to sign up for the blog newsletters.  Come back tomorrow for our next giveaway!

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Salted Caramel - Creme Caramel Recipe

Because everyone needs a good creme caramel recipe. It is allergy friendly, too!

Do we ever stop getting a thrill from the mocha coloured caramel, shining atop the perfect surface of an orbicular creme caramel? Gently picking up the plate to rock it to a pleasing wibble.  Before, slowly cutting through the dark, glossy top with a fine, antique spoon. Audibly sucking up a cool, flaxen coloured helping of intense, toffee sweet topping that sensually spills over the milky creme like rich satin. Then letting it disperse, seductively, on our tongue, making our heart race a little causing our blossoms to heave like a heroin in a Mills & Boon novel.  Or is that just me?? (Ahem).

Now that I have discovered the delights of agar agar powder (a healthy, plant-based substitute for gelatin)  after dozens of failed recipes using second-rate agar shards, or trying to reduce it to a powder (oft sited in mouthwatering recipes), in a coffee grinder, I am going back over past disasters to recreate desserts that transport me back to childhood, and cheeses that make me wonder why anyone would be anything but vegan.

Creme Caramel (sometimes known by the little less poetic pseudonym of flan, or custard pudding) is but one of these triumphs.  
I buzzed around on the internet and gathered inspiration from a blogger whom I adore, Vegan Richa, and Mihaela, the Bulgarian writer of the blog Good Natured Food.  Hers did not turn out so perfectly as she'd hoped, so I played and adapted her recipe until it was just like the non-vegan version I remembered.  I brought it up to date with that sweet and salty thing we all seem to love at the moment, and delicately crumbled sea salt into the caramel sauce. Lovely!

Ok, without further a do, here is the recipe.  It yields four servings. 

Dairy, egg, white processed sugar, soy and gluten free.

Ingredients

For the CREME

1 3/4 cup Unsweetened almond milk + a dash (for mixing)
1 tbs Coconut palm sugar

1 tbs Xylitol powder (grind granules in a coffee grinder)

3/4 tsp Agar Agar powder

1 tbs arrowroot powder

1 tsp Vanilla extract

For the CARAMEL

5 tbs Coconut palm sugar

2 1/2 tbs warm water

Pinch of sea salt for each ramekin

Caramel
Place your coconut sugar and xylitol into a small saucepan with the water and slowly bring to a rolling boil.  Once the bubbles meet in the middle and it is beginning to smell of rich, sweet caramel, remove from the heat so as not to burn.  Carefully (it is very hot and would give a nasty burn) divide caramel into your four ramequins.  Allow to cool.  Crush a scattering of sea salt into each ramekin (I've even added chilli flakes at this point, I love that surprising kick..but for this recipe let's keep it elegant)

Creme
Meanwhile, it is time to make your 'creme' part of the recipe.  Pour your vegan milk into a medium saucepan.  For this we use half and half of the xylitol and coconut sugar.  The coconut sugar adds a richness but we want the creme to be lighter and not so toothsomely sweet as the sauce.

Mix the arrow root and agar agar powder with a dash of milk, I use a little cup to do this.  Mixing rather than adding straight to your warming milk ensures your creme is smooth and silky and sans lumps!  Add the sugar and gently whisk.  When granules are not longer visible, slowly drizzle the agar/arrowroot mix into the milk.

When the creme sauce begins to thicken it is then ready to slowly pour into the ramekins on top of the caramel  sauce.   Allow to cool slightly and then very gently place the ramekins into the fridge to set and chill.  

After an hour, the creme will have set.  Now it is time to plate up.  I approach this part of the making with part excitement and part trepidation. Get the saucer/serving plate, you will serve the creme on and pop it on top of the ramekin. Gently flip the plate (hold onto that ramekin!) so the ramekin is on top of the saucer. Now put the saucer down onto a countertop and hold the ramekin.  Gently wobble the ramekin a little, whilst keeping it close to the saucer.  You should be rewarded with pleasing sucking sound as it succumbs to gravity and drops to the plate.  If it doesn't, then gently turn the ramekin back over and use a small sharp knife to loosen the edges, taking care not to cut into the edges.  Do the steps again, the coaxing stops any stubbornness. 

Besides it being a kinder, non-animal derived gelling substance, 80% of agar is fibre. It is lower in calories than gelatine, and the fibre from the algae (yes it is a flavourless seaweed), swells up and makes you feel fuller and sated for longer.  
Note* Agar will require a much higher content in liquids containing vinegar or foods that contain high levels of oxalic acid, such as chocolate, rhubarb and spinach (the acid makes it more difficult to gel).

I hope you enjoy!

What is your favourite veganized dessert?

Healthy Snacks. Parsnip & Brussel Invite Kale To Step Into The Ring - Who Won?!

Kale is king.  It has reigned for a few years now as the supreme raw food chip.  Of course, other vegetables were going to want a slice of the action. So kale got competition!

I love brussel sprouts.  I love parsnips. I heard they were being 'chipped'. I had to sample them. 

Wonderfully Raw chips were developed by a chef named Sequoia, a graduate of the Living Light Institute who began making raw foods after healing herself of Type 11 Diabetes through diet. 

New Product Review

Generally, they were good. But, honestly, not all of the flavours rocked my world, but some defiantly generated a tremor! All of the line up contain raw coconut among their ingredients.  Coconut is not only delicious but a metabolism boosting super food. Guilt free healthy snacking.  Each pack is only approximately 120 calories and 8g of fat (but it is easily digested, healthy MCLA - medium chain fatty acids). According to Dr Oz coconut improves thyroid function, too. Vegan. Gluten free. Soy Free. Sugar Free.

Brussel Bites - Chili Pumpkin Seed Crunch 
The chipotle heat is so good mingling with the slightly bitter brussel and the toasty flavour of the coconut. Loved!

Brussel Bites - Tamarind Apple Crunch 
I could not detect the tang of the tamarind but the ginger and coconut were a divine mix. Loved!

Snip Chips    - Cheezy Herb Truffle 
I was excited about this flavour combination. However, I didn't love this one.  Too 'parsnippy' for my liking and not enough truffle and cheeze flavours.

Snip Chips    - Chipotle Lime Cilantro 
More chipotle flavour, please!  If you don't like heat then you may enjoy the subtlety of it. Otherwise, a good flavour.

Snip Chips    - Dill Pickle 
a lovely buttery taste with a gentle dill flavour. Loved!


So..the clear winner..does King Kale need to be nervous?? No. Competition is good.  I think the healthy snack market has room for them all!  I will definitely be buying these again.

Wonderfully Raw sell their Snips and Bites in many natural food markets, Whole Food and grocery store locations in North America.

Vegan Christmas Recipes Retrospective - Part 3

2013

Looking back, day 3.  I don't even remember writing this post.  That starter looks nice!  What will you be making?

Click for Parts 1 & 2.

2012

I wish I had £10 for every time I heard Mariah Carey sing 'All I Want For Christmas'....I'd be stockpiling a small fortune by now! Hey, ho... ho ho!

Did you check out Xmas Part 1 & 2?  Hope so..if not, there is always time.. click here for Part 1 and Part 2, right here 

To keep with the 'healthy but feasty' theme I thought a light , but flavoursome, salad would be a good choice for the Christmas Day starter. Do you agree?     I can't help feeling a little nostalgic at Christmas.  Reminiscing about some retro dish from my childhood (it's all those bloody old Christmas songs filling the airways and catapulting me back to Christmas past).  I've been recalling the days when a crouton was 'posh' food and me ma would serve everything  deep fried and breaded, to showcase her culinary mastery.  Us little'ns would see a few cubes of oily breadcrumbs on top of the Maryrose sauce and  think we'd skipped up to the Upper Classes.  Our pinkies would flick up from our cutlery in reverence, and an attempt to eat like stereotypical posh people. (cough)  I think I must have had a case of invented memory syndrome because I cannot possibly be old enough to remember when prawn cocktail was in its heyday!  So, with that in mind, and looking to what is seasonal I racked my brain for the perfect Christmas starter......and my inspired dish for Christmas day starter is to be......

 Balsamic PEAR Salad With Deep Fried Cheese Croutons With Mustard Dressing and Leaves.

Recipe   Serves 4

3 large conference pears
2 tbs balsamic glaze
1 tbs vegan butter & 1 tbs sesame oil for frying
salt & pepper

deep fried cheese
vegan hard cheese  recipe here to make your own
4 tbs breadcrumbs
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs tapioca flour & water to make paste or  use egg replacer
salt & pepper
oil for deep frying

dressing (can be made ahead of time)
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs olive oil (walnut oil would be lovely too I think)
2 tsp brown rice syrup (or agave, maple or similar)


organic salad leaves to serve

Method

1.carefully peel your pears and cut into quarters lengthwise.  2. heat oil and butter in a pan and fry the pears until they are crackling and starting to caramelise.  3. season and spoon over the balsamic glaze, cook for a further 3-4 minutes.  4. whilst they are cooking away nicely grab all your dressing ingredients and mix them in a jar. Set aside  5. to make the cheese crouton like things (sorry, it's dark and cold here, not feeling very inspirational to come up with a fitting title) take an apple corer and cut out 3 cones for each person.  Roll them in the tapioca paste then roll....gently now....in the breadcrumbs.  6. fry in the oil..careful!...until golden.  Drain and them put all your elements together. Finally, get all cheffy and drizzle over the Dijon dressing.  Let the feasting fun commence! 

 I'm hoping to extend the Christmas Feasting series to Part 4 and share some additional desserts and party food....if time allows.

Craving A Doughnut In NYC? The Best Doughnuts In New York That Just Happen To Be Vegan

Ok, it is maybe the WORST picture in the world of the BEST donut in the world (A bold claim, but one I am sticking my next out to make).  You know when you've tasted perfection..right?!  I have long dreamt of a trip to New York, it has been over 10 years in coming and at the beginning of November, I booked a trip on a whim and flew in all crazily excited. It was a last minute impulse, my heart was calling me there.  New York is a city of romance   Remember Sleepless in Seattle?!  It didn't exactly turn out like it did for Meg Ryan...it wasn't exactly 'An Affair To Remember', I didn't go up the Empire State Building (I still live in romantic hope!), but I did spend two hours 70 floors up on the top of the Rockerfeller Centre (and lots more adventures I will share with you about soon). And I got to go to a a lot of vegan eateries I have longed to try, including an all VEGAN, GLUTEN FREE, REFINED SUGAR FREE (MOSTLY)cake shop.  Babycakes!  

Babycakes is a cosy little bakery on the Lower East Side that would make any cake/doughnut/cupcake lover, vegan, coeliac, mother, health nut EXTREMELY happy. Babycakes is the genius spawned by Erin McKenna, who as so many before her, started her business to create something she wished she could visit (Read about it in a fun interview with The Awl). The staff are lovely (Kirsten in particular kindly gave me some fabulous 'off the beaten track' site seeing and foodie tips for Brooklyn, I was very grateful for), and the warm air inside smells divine!

I fought disrupted subway timetables, and a stiff wind to make this my last stop before the UK reeled me back in.  I'd just been on a fascinating visit to the Tenement Museum (after a tip off from Carrie On Vegan).  I HIGHLY recommend going on one of their many interactive, info packed story tours.  I opted for the Hard Times tour, just because it got me into the delapedated tenement that had been untouched since 1935, AND it lasted an hour, which is all the time I had if I was factoring in a quick cake fest at Babycakes.  

I was hungry, hungry, hungry after my brain had been taking in all the fascinating facts about the German immigrants that surged to this area of Manhattan in the latter part of the 19th Century and had their enclave was aptly nicknamed Klein Deutschland .  Without much deliberation, I chose the Samoa doughnut.  It was frosted with vanilla icing, sprinkled with coconut chips and, for good measure, zig zagged with dark vegan chocolate.  They were so busy, I didn't want to hold up the queue interrogating them as to the reason this baked good was named after an island in the Central South Pacific.  So that will remain a mystery, to me at least.  I sat down with a steaming mug of china tea and quietened myself for my first bite.  It was fluffy, tender, sweetened to perfection, moist and with subtle hint of chewiness.  The frosting and coconut chips and wisp of chocolate actually nearly made me groan out loud with pleasure.  Seriously?!!  I honest hadn't expected it to taste THAT good!! Finally, I'd had at least a little romance! I could have easily re-enacted the Meg Ryan cafe moment at this point (I actually visited that actual cafe, too!)

Both times I visited Babycakes I didn't have my beloved Canon with me.  The first was laziness the second was just a few hours before I flew home and after I'd lost my camera memory stick (devastating, but luckily I'd just downloaded everything onto my Mac).  Sorry for the picture quality.

'In a city dominated by cupcakes overflowing with sugar, flour and butter cream, it’s easy for those with persnickety diets to feel left out. BabyCakes offers all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs. Rest assured, all sweeteners have been chosen responsibly and used sparingly. White sugar will never be found in our bakery, nor will we ever use toxic chemical sweeteners. Instead, most products are sweetened with agave nectar—a natural syrup from a cactus which is low on the glycemia index and often a safe alternative to most non-insulin dependant diabetics. Occasionally, unprocessed and unrefined sugar is used in certain goods, although sparingly'.

Erin McKenna

248 Broome St
(between Ludlow St & Orchard St) 
New York, NY 10002
Area: Lower East Side

Another place I visited but, alas, due to an intolerance for the demon gluten, I didn't get to taste, was Dun-Well Doughnuts.

If the heavenly sweet fragrance of the store and the packed tables are anything to go by, I'd say this place is worth the hop over the water to Williamsburg to try them too.

To quote from their fun website..

Dun-Well Doughnuts started as a food craving when Christopher Hollowell (the "Well" in Dun-Well) called up his buddy Dan Dunbar (The "Dun" in Dun-Well) after having watched a Simpson's anniversary episode that featured Homer's favorite round confections rather prominently. Having been unable to find a vegan doughnut in NYC that satisfied his craving Christopher and Dan agreed to make their quest to create an amazing doughnut and open NYC's first all-vegan doughnut shop.

222 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206, United States

Expect more  of my NYC  trip soon, but sporadic]ally.  I'm living a nomadic existence right now and never know when I'll  speak to you next.    Normal service will be resumed soon.. xx

Ocado Are Making It Easier For You To Shop Vegan and Gluten Free

A day or so ago I told you all about vegan snacking, in my attempts to make it much easier for you to be healthy and satisfied on a plant-based (and gluten free..should you need) diet.  Today I hope to make it even easier, not just for snacks but for all your food shopping needs.  

When I am staying in a super vegan friendly city like London, Brighton, Berlin, San Francisco, even, to a lesser extent, Mexico and Buenos Aires, I have found it easy to access whole food shops (even totally vegan stores), that cater for mostly all of my whims.  However it is far from the case in most cities in the UK to have a good grocer/produce market where I can find artisan or even generic vegan products.  I'm staying with my mother right now, in between trips.  In a commuter city only 20 mins outside London.  It has not got one healthy food store.  Being here has been frustrating to say the least.  So, when I got an invite from Ocado to come chat about their vegan range, I was sceptical to say the least.
I met with some super nice members of the Ocado team, and some fellow bloggers. Karin Ridgers from Veggie Vision was there..I was so excited to finally get to meet a woman I've long admired for her commitment to bringing fun and entertainment to the veggie world, via her TV shows. Also, Claire, a vegetarian blogger for FoodIFancy.com, to name but two.  We were presented with a feast, dreamed up by the Ocado team and created by the chefs at Tibits.  Whilst we were happily chowing down and getting to know each other, the Ocado team were telling us about how they feel it is so important to cater for all dietary requirements and tastes and how open they are to expanding their range. It was a real eye opener.  What was so surprising is that I never thought of Ocado  as a retailer who could deliver really good vegan fayre.  A search for 'vegan' products currently grabs up 251 products.  

As I was enjoying the company and the food, I was thinking of you and the implications having a well known online-delivery grocery store be so interested in making sure they have a well rounded stock of vegan and gluten free foods.  Yes, independent and co-operative stores will always remain uppermost in my choices, but to know we can all get these foods so easily now filled me with much excitement.  Our dietary choices impact the world and our loved ones in so many ways, we are all now waking up to this. It is all making a difference.  My vision for a vegan world by 2035 is steaming ahead!

I sampled a few of their range of convenience foods and condiments.
Vegan Pesto   so tasty I was eating it straight from the jar!
Holy Cow Spicy Bombay Ketchup oh mama, a slow, sexy burn  
Booja Booja Champagne Truffles  so good. A sure fire vegan seducer.
Granovita Mayola Egg Free Mayonnaise   where would life be without vegan mayo?
Belazu Tomato & Smoked Paprika Sauce   excellent for a speedy mid-week pasta dinner
If you remember, I recently reviewed gluten free wraps.  You can now get those from Ocado too.

They are just a taster of what you can find.  If they don't have something that you'd like to see them stock they told me they welcome your suggestions.

I hope this makes life a little (or a lot) easier for you.
All opinions are my own. No thumbscrews were used. I just want to help.

If you are a vegan newbie, want or need to ditch dairy or gluten, want to eat healthier and need help where to start or where to look to find substitutes, just post a question on my Facebook page and I will try and do what I can help.