Flax Seed Crackers

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Flax seeds, linseeds whatever you may call them, these crackers are extremely delicious and addictive! 💚🤤❤️ Recipe link is my bio 🤗🥜🧀🥑🍓 #flaxseedcrackers #linseeds #lowcarbcrackers #ketocrackers

A post shared by Amaze Kitchen (@amazekitchen) on Dec 16, 2018 at 7:18pm PST

Flax seeds, linseeds whatever you may call them, these crackers are extremely delicious and addictive! I have made these a few times now as they are super easy to make. The original recipe is from Keto Connect, I haven't adapted the recipe much, have just made a plain salted version.

Flax Seed Crackers

Ingredients
1 cup of whole flax seeds/linseeds
1/2 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon of salt (I used fine Himalayan)

Method
1. Mix flax seeds, water and salt until seasoning is evenly distributed. Cover and place in the fridge overnight or 12-14 hours.

2. Remove flax seed mixture from the fridge, and place mixture on a sheet of baking paper or a silicone baking mat. Place another piece of baking paper on top and roll out. Make them as thin as you like. The thinner you get them the crispier they will be.

3. Score the crackers making small squares using the back of a butter knife. Bake at 130C for 50-60 minutes.  

Allow to cool for 10 minutes (crackers will become crisp when cooled).

Enjoy!

Chickpea 'Tuna' Salad

Chickpea 'tuna' salad inspired by 💚 @polyvegan 💚 I honestly can eat this by the bowl full! It's so good and really does remind me of the good old tuna sammies I used to have. I had a look at a few recipes and decided to go with what I had in the cupboard. You must give it a try, it's great on its own, with bread or corn thins💚 Also check out @polyvegan she post some pretty mouth watering vegan goodies😁👌🏼💯 #chickpeatuna

A photo posted by AMAZE KITCHEN🌱 (@amazekitchen) on Aug 26, 2016 at 7:21am PDT

Chickpea 'Tuna' Salad

Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas
Half of a small red onion finely diced
3-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise of choice (veganaise works well)
Salt and pepper to taste


Method
1. Smash chickpeas with potato masher or in a food processor (this is much easier). Make sure to leave a few chunks in there.

2. Mix in the rest of your ingredients. Season to taste and that's it!

Serve with crackers, sand which bread or eat in its own. You can imagine there are so many more variations on this recipe. Shout out to @polyvegan and @hotforfood for the inspiration!


Enjoy,


Kim xx

Gluten Free Flat Bread

If you follow me on Instagram you will know that I have been experimenting with gluten free flours lately. Only ever making gluten free flour pancakes and buckwheat flour pancakes, today I ventured out into making flat bread.

We were rather pleased at how they turned out, super quick and easy to make. The flat bread had a good soft texture and a little crunch too. Jake even suggested that they would be great as pizza bases, so I guess that's my next mission!

Gluten Free Flat Bread

Ingredients 

1 cup of gluten free flour mix (I used doves farm)

1/2 cup of warm water

a pinch of sea salt 

oil for greasing  

Method 

1. Heat a pan to a medium high heat. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix till a firm dough forms. You may need to wait for the dough to cool so it is easy to work with.

Your dough should be easy to handle, and not sticky - if so add a tiny bit more flour.

2. Dived the dough into 8 large pieces or 4 small, and roll into balls. Flour a flat surface and roll out using a combination of a rolling pin and fingertips, try and roll it out as thin as you can. I used a flat spatula to transfer the rolled dough to the pan.

3. Use a tiny amount of oil or butter to grease your pan. Cook the flat bread and flip when bubbles appear on the dough.

These can also be cooked in an oven using the top grill at full blast and turning once you see bubbles.

Flavouring Ideas

Rosemary 

Garlic 

Cumin seeds 

Parmesan 

This recipe is super flexible, the flatbread could be used as tortillas, served with curries and soups, made as pizza bases or just eaten with hummus and dips.

Enjoy xx 

Taco Salad Bowls

They are different shapes as I experimented with small bowls and large tart tins.

I had a go at making my own taco salad bowls tonight and they were a success! Although, not as good and fatty as the deep fried versions at Mexicali, they were still crispy and delish.

Ingredients:

Totillas or wraps of your choice
Vegan spread or oil (I used olive spread, olive oil will work too)


Method:
1. Spread olive oil on totillas.

2. Mould your tortillas into small bowls.

3. Bake in the oven at 180C or 350F for 10 minutes, or until crisp and brown. Then leave to cool.


Fill you taco bowls with your favourite Mexican fillings e.g. beans, rice, salsa and guacamole.

Check out this post for more Mexican ideas :)

Inspired by the taco salad from Mexicali Fresh in Mission bay. 

Kim

Slow Cooked Tomatoes

Slow cooked tomatoes.

These tomatoes are cut in half, placed in a pan with olive oil and fresh rosemary, then slow cooked on the stove top on a low heat for an hour or more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The slow heat concentrates the flavour of the tomatoes and makes them rich and sweet. 

Falafels

Falafels served with hummus slaw and tomato rice. 

Falafels are a staple in my kitchen. They are quick and easy to make, are super tasty and packed with protein. I kind of chuck ingredients together and viola! Well, actually I based my recipe on Chloe Coscareilli's. I made them once, a while ago and they are just so easy to whip together.

Falafels

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup green peas (I thawed from frozen)

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup chickpea flour or any kind will do
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients (except olive oil) in a large food processor and pulse until combined (not overly pulsed or else it’ll become liquidy). If you don't have a food processor, just mix all indredients in a bowl and mash beans with a potato masher or pestle.

2. Form mixture into small oval shapes using two spoons, this is called quenelling (see my video here) or make flat patties.

3. In a large nonstick pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and pan-fry until nicely browned. Remove from pan and drain.

Serve with salad and your choices of breads and dips.

She makes these great sliders with the falafels check it out. (PS she is vegan which makes her even cooler).

Enjoy,

Kim xx

San Choy Bau

This is a quick, fresh and tasty meal to make in a hurry. Instead of the traditional mince meat, I used bean vermicelli and a variety of vegetables. San choy bau is such a versatile dish! You can get creative when adding in vegetables and creating dipping sauces, while impressing your loved ones at the same time!


San Choy Bau

Ingredients

100 grams uncooked vermicelli
1-2 tablespoons oil
1 onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
1 sliced carrot
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of sliced red cabbage
2 cups of sliced spinach
1 red capsicum (bell pepper) diced

¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
1 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
Salt and white pepper to taste
Crushed peanuts and lemon to garnish


Method

1. Prepare your vermicelli noodles by placing them in a bowl with hot water, cover with a plate and leave aside. It should take under 5 minutes for them to soften.

2. Saute onion, garlic and carrots in oil on a medium heat till soft. Strain the vermicelli well, then add it to the add it in along with the rest of the vegetables.

3. Season with tamari, sesame oil, lemon juice and salt and white pepper to taste. Cook for a further 5 minutes to let the noodles absorb the flavours.

Serve with lettuce leaves, and garnish with crushed peanuts and a squeeze of lemon or apple cider.

Enjoy xx

Palak Pakoras - Indian Spinach Fritters

Palak Pakoras - Indian Spinach Fritters. One of the teachers made these for our meeting today. They are so crisp, tasty vegan and gluten free!!


Ingredients

Baby spinach leaves or regular sized are fine

Oil for frying the fritters

Batter:

2 cups chickpea flour 

1/2 teaspoon cumin 

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder 

1/2 teaspoon garam masala 

2 pinches baking soda 

1 cup water

Salt to taste

Method

1. Mix all the batter ingredients to a thick smooth batter.

2. Rinse, drain and pat dry the spinach leaves. Then heat oil enough oil to shallow or deep fry to about medium hot.

3. Dip each spinach leaf into the batter and coat it evenly. Place the batter coated leaf gently in the hot oil. Fry the spinach fritters till golden and crisp. 

4. Drain spinach fritters on paper towels.

Serve the spinach fritters with a chutney or tomato sauce of your choice.

Enjoy,

Kim xx

Lazy Sushi

Every time we go to my dad's for dinner, he always has a million packets of seasoned nori (seaweed). It is pretty much the same seaweed you buy when you make sushi, however they are crunchy, seasoned and are cut into smaller squares. They are a typical Japanese and Korean snack, eaten like we would potato chips, they even remind me of kale chips!

There is not one time we have eaten these and have said "If only he had some hot rice!" Well, today, finally, I made an effort to cook some rice and try it out. Let me tell you, they tasted like heaven!

The recipe below is purely a guide, add in whatever you like, it's basically seasoned nori and rice. If I had some avocado, capsicum or cucumber lying around that would have been great too. 

This is the brand we buy, I have no idea what it say as it in in Korean!
We bought ours from Panmure Fresh aka Silverbell!

Lazy Sushi

Ingredients

1-2 packs of seasoned nori

1 cup cooked white rice 

Seasoning:

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon coconut sugar

Garnish:

Black sesame

Chilli powder

Spring (green) onion

Chilli oil

Japanese Mayo (this is a bonus)

Method:

1. Cook white asian rice (Japanese, jasmine etc.) using the absorption method in a rice cooker. I use this ration 1:2 - so 1 cup of rice : 2 cups hot water. 

2. Once rice is cooked mixed one cup of rice with soy sauce, vinegar and coco sugar.

3. Place rice on a plate and top with your choice of garnishes. 

4. Assemble you lazy sushi as you eat, sort of like how you would eat tacos!

 

Enjoy,

Kim xx

Easy Beer Bread!

No kneading, rising or yeast required! Just mix and bake :)

Ingredients

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 can of light flavoured beer (made up to 400 mls with water) - Vegan friendly NZ beer
1/4 cup of melted butter or olive oil spread

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2. Mix dry ingredients and beer.

3. Pour into a greased loaf pan.

4. Pour melted butter over mixture.

5. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Variations:

- Add fresh rosemary to the dough.

- Add seeds e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, poppy seeds.

- Add fresh garlic to the melted butter.

I added poppy seeds, parmesan and garlic.

Enjoy,

Kim 

Lentil Koftas

These are the lentil koftas that I used in our Mezze Platter yesterday. The recipe below is doubled. I like to freeze half for a another  meal. 

The koftas are perfectly spiced and will impress herbivores and carnivores alike!

Lentil Koftas 

Ingredients

1 can of lentils, rinsed and drained

1 can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, quartered
1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of cumins seeds (optional)
2 teaspoons of ground coriander

1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of salt
1 cup of flour - I used chickpea flour, any kind will do
1/4 cup of olive oil

Method

1. Place all kofta ingredients (except olive oil) in a large food processor and pulse until combined (not overly pulsed or else it’ll become liquidy). If you don't have a food processor, just mix all indredients in a bowl and mash beans with a potato masher or pestle.

2. Form mixture into small oval shapes using two spoons or flat patties. 

3. In a large nonstick pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and pan-fry koftas until nicely browned. Remove from pan and drain.

Serve with salad and your choices of breads and dips. 

kofta burger!

Enjoy xx

Mezze Platter

Tonight's dinner was inspired by the gorgeous dukkah I bought today.  Maria my co-worker is a relief teacher by day and owns a small goods business on the side. She sells all sorts of gorgeous olives, babaganush, tepenade etc. Go and visit her at the Britomart Farmers Market. 

I went for a middle eastern/greek theme, which featured: 

Lentil Koftas (Recipe here)

Dukkah - Maria uses 14 varieties of nuts and seeds mixed with delicious spices

Wholegrain Bread

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Greek Salad

Garlic Hummus - I was lazy and bought mine

It went down a treat on a Monday night! Mmmmm

Kale Chips

The first time I made these I was on a juice fast, so I didn't actually get to devour these crunchy little chips! Now I can eat as many as I like hehehe. They are sooo yummy and really good for you, you don't have to feel bad if you eat the whole lot! 

Ingredients

organic kale leaves - I got mine from Huckleberry Farms 

1 teaspoon olive oil

sea salt

garlic powder

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C. 

2. Remove kale leaves from stalks and arrange on an oven proof tray. Rub olive oil into kale and sprinkle with sea salt.

3. Cook in oven for 10-15 till crunchy!

Sprinkle your favourite seasonings, I used garlic powder.

There were more chips on the right pic, but I ate them hehe

Enjoy,

Kim xx

No-Fuss Focaccia Bread

Ahh, it was so nice to wake up at midday today. I would have slept for a little longer if the courier man didn't wake me up! I usually spend the first day of the holidays in bed all day but I decided to be different and head into the kitchen and cook up a storm.

I found an amazing and quick focaccia recipe that didn't involve kneading and waiting for the bread to rise twice or thrice! I adapted the orignal recipe from King Arthur Flour, called "Blitz Bread" or "No-Fuss Focaccia" and that it truly is!

No-Fuss Focaccia Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

3 tablespoons Olive Oil (more for drizzling)
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar 
3 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon Instant Yeast (I used 1 sachet of Edmonds Instant Dry Yeast)

Toppings:

Olive Oil

Dried Mixed Herbs

Garlic Powder or Fresh Garlic

Salt

Method:

1. Mix all of your ingredients in your mixer bowl and beat for 60 seconds using your paddle attachment. If you don't have a mixer use you hands and knead it till it is smooth and elastic!

2. Take your dough out and spread it out on a WELL oiled baking pan or tray, well as in swimming in oil this makes your bread crispy and golden on the bottom. It might be tricky to spread it out to the sides but keep pushing it out with your fingers. 
Once it is all spread out, cover it with a towel or glad wrap and leave it to rise for 60mins somewhere warm. Preheat your oven to 170C.

3. Now you should have puffy dough! Using your fingers, make dimples in the dough. 

Time to flavour! I generously drizzled the top with olive oil, then sprinkled some garlic powder, dried mixed herbs (I used Gregs), and salt to taste. Let your imagination run wild you could add things like feta, caramelized onions, olives or sundried tomatos, not all at once (well actually that is your call!)

4. Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

5. Remove it from the oven, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yum!!

Kim xx

Vegan Stuffed Olives with Cashew Cream

This recipe came to me the night before MRK and was pretty much fluked during the making! I took my trusty piping bag and stuffed these yummy green olives.

Stuffed Olives

Ingredients

1 cup of hollow green olives
1/2 - 1 cup of cashew cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
a squeeze of lemon (optional)
pepper

Olive oil

Method

1. Mix the vegan cream cheese, lemon, and pepper to taste in a bowl.

2. Spoon all of the mixture into a piping bag or a zip lock bag, and fill each olive.

3. Once you have filled all of your olives, add about 2 tablespoon of olive oil to coat.


Cashew Cream Cheese

Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. canola oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Method

1. Soak cashews in water for at least 4 and up to 8 hours, or even better overnight. Drain and blend in high speed blender or food processor until smooth. This might take a few minutes.

2. Add in remaining ingredients and continue to blend until everything is well mixed. Remove from blender or food processor.

3. Enjoy!

These are great a little snack before dinner if you are having guests over :)

Kim xx

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Welcome to Amaze Kitchen! Watch this space as we share out love of food and recipes with you.

Kim