Spicy Mango Salad

Now that exams are finally over I am able to devote my full attention to blog posts! I must apologise for the length of time between this post and my last, but me and exams do not make a happy couple and unfortunately they dominated my time for a while!

Since summer is finally upon us in the UK (sort of!) I was inspired to make a light, fruity salad with a spicy twist. It's such a simple salad requiring only five ingredients, no cooking and a whole lot of goodness. I think this would be perfect as a main course or served in smaller portions as a side salad. Personally, I eat it as a meal and it is perfectly filling. It's great for either lunch or dinner and is definitely a good option for making the night before if, like me, you like to take a lunch onto uni campus or to work. 


Ingredients:
- Baby gem lettuce
- 1 ripe mango
- Half a cucumber
- A pepper (colour is down to your preference, I love red peppers)
- Sweet chilli sauce

Extras:
- Chopping board/s
- Knife
- Serving bowl

Now, here's what to do...

• Wash the lettuce leaves thoroughly and leave to dry.
• Chop the cucumber and pepper into cubes.
• When the leaves are dry, place them in the serving bowl and sprinkle the pepper and cucumber over the top.
• Peel the mango and cut into cubes.
• Pour the cubes over the salad leaves.
• Drizzle on the sweet chilli sauce and serve.

If you feel that this isn't enough to satisfy your hunger then you can easily add some chicken or salmon to the mix! Try oven cooking some salmon in sweet chilli sauce for around 20 minutes then flaking it up and adding it to the salad. I think this would work really well and would add an extra bit of flavour. If you prefer something meaty, pan frying some chicken or pork is definitely another idea. 

Enjoy!

The Liebster Award

I'd like to start this post by thanking my lovely sister and amazing blogger Antonia, from Style on Style, for nominating my blog for this award. If you haven't already seen or subscribed to her blog then I highly recommend that you do!

"The Liebster Award is given to up-and-coming bloggers who have 200 followers or less. This Liebster award is passed between bloggers as a way of connecting and expanding the blogging community.  When you receive the award, you must answer 11 questions asked by your nominee.  In turn you must then nominate your choice of blogs, ask them 11 questions and notify them that you are giving them the award!" 

Let's get on with the questions...

1. Why did you start your blog?

I had been thinking about starting a blog for a few months before I actually did it! I have always really enjoyed cooking and baking, and in particular, coming up with recipes and food creations of my own. Since I am at uni I have quite a lot of freedom with what I cook and one night for dinner I improvised a bit and ended up making something I thought was super tasty. It was at that point I decided to start up a blog and document the things I make so I could share them with anyone who was interested! 

2. What is your all time favourite song?

My all time favourite song is 'A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours' by The Smiths. My uncle played me this song when I was about 12 and I have loved it ever since. It is my most played song on my iTunes! It has good memories attached to it and makes me feel very nostalgic when I listen to it.

3. What has been your most expensive purchase?

Last summer I bought a Marc by Marc Jacobs clutch bag which I am still utterly in love with. Admittedly it was on sale so it wasn't as expensive as it could have been but definitely the most I have ever spent on a single item!

4. Did you make any new years resolutions this year, and if you did, what were they?

This year I did not make any resolutions. I often do make them and then never succeed so this year I just decided I would focus on working hard at uni and keeping fit. 

5. What has been your favourite post so far? 

I think my favourite post would be my most recent one entitled 'Spring Dining'. Although the recipe itself is very simple I like the way the pictures turned out and it is the first post where I have been able to refer back to previous recipes! 

6. What was the last film you saw and what did you think of it?

I watched The Wolf of Wall Street yesterday (revision distraction!) and despite its amazing reviews I wasn't really convinced. It was quite entertaining but honestly I was disappointed given what I had heard about it! I have also recently seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which I thought was really good and would recommend seeing if you are a Marvel fan!

7. Describe your perfect weekend?

My perfect weekend would start with a nice long lie in followed by a fresh homemade smoothie to get the day going. If the weather is nice I like to go for a walk with my family or a run depending on how I am feeling! For lunch my favourite things to eat are soups or big fruit salads. If I am doing Raw til Four then I will usually have a mix of strawberries and banana or a big green salad. When I have time I love to take a long relaxing bath with some nice bath oils and a few candles. My perfect evening would include a nice big dinner, preferably from Maki Yaki, followed by a film or some good TV! Just before bed I like to look through blog posts and check up on my social media pages.

8. What is your favourite brand or high street shop?

My favourite high street shop is Topshop without a doubt! A vast majority of my wardrobe is from Topshop and I find them a very reliable and affordable shop.

9. What blogs do you follow and why? 

I mostly follow a mixture of fashion and food blogs. I follow food blogs for obvious reasons and I like to see how other people take their photos and organise their posts. Some of the food blogs I follow have really helpful hints on how to eat healthily and especially useful posts on vegan eating. I follow fashion blogs because I am always looking for outfit inspiration and new ways to style items of clothing I already have.

10. Where is your favourite city? 

That's a tough one...It's between London and New York. I would probably go with London because that's where I have grown up but New York is a very close second!

11. Where do you see your blog taking you in the next year? 

I really hope that in the next year my blog will attract some more interest and that I can increase the quality of my posts and pictures. I would like to expand the breadth of my posts in order to have more to write about. 

Thank you once again for the nomination! I hope you have enjoyed reading my answers. I would like to nominate:

Ally's Sweet and Savory Eats

Liv Life

Simply Lite Bites

Mind the Brain

My questions for you are:

1) Why did you start your blog?

2) What is your favourite food or meal?

3) Do you have a sweet tooth and if so, what for?

4) What are your three kitchen essentials?

5) What gets you out of bed in the morning (apart from your alarm!)?

6) If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?

7) What is your current favourite TV show?

8) What is your favourite time of year?

9) What is your favourite blog to follow?

10) What post are you most proud of?

11) Where do you see your blog in the next year?

Enjoy!

Spring Dining

After a Bank Holiday Weekend filled with Easter egg eating, I thought it would be nice to have a light meal, inspired by the arrival of Spring. This is a really simple meal idea and it doesn't require a lot of hassle or ingredients! The basis of the meal is an asparagus, green bean and cherry tomato salad which is delicious and surprisingly substantial. As a side I served it with homemade bruschetta and focaccia bread with balsamic vinegar for dipping.

Ingredients:
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Cherry tomotoes on the vine
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper for seasoning

Extras:
- Steamer
- Large serving dish
- Chopping board

For the bruschetta please see my previous blog post. 


Now, here's what to do...

• Steam the asparagus and green beans together in the steamer.
• Once cooked, remove and cut both the asparagus and beans into mouthful sized pieces.
• Cut some cherry tomatoes in half and place them in the serving dish.
• Add the asparagus and beans and drizzle with olive oil.
• Mix it all together and season to your liking.

For meat and fish eaters this would work really well alongside some salmon or as part of a big salad for BBQ's in the summer months! I also think this would be great with some long stem broccoli added to the salad.

Enjoy!

Easter Brownies!

I was thinking...Easter wouldn't be Easter without Cadbury's Creme Eggs and lots of yummy chocolate, right?! So, I decided I would give myself a 'day off' being vegan and make some indulgent Easter brownies. 

The inspiration for this recipe comes from The Londoner's 'Slutty Brownies', butt I have taken out the Oreos and replaced them with Creme Eggs! I also decided to make my own cookie dough using a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. I am sure everyone reading this has not only heard of both of those blogs but, like me, follows them religiously. If not you must check them out! The following two links are to both of these blogs. The first is to the 'Slutty Brownies' recipe so you can see where the idea came from and the second is to the cookie dough recipe where all the ingredients are listed.

http://www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/05/13/chewy-chocolate-chunk-cookies/

Here are all the ingredients required for the cookie dough as well as the six or so Cadbury Creme Eggs and one box of Betty Crocker brownie Mix needed to make the whole thing. 







Now for the cookie dough...Below is a series of photos of the cookie dough-making process, following the steps from Sally's Baking Addiction. Once you have made the dough leave it to chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

After the dough has chilled in the fridge for a few hours, it's time to construct the brownies.

• Start by pre heating the oven to 180 degrees celsius. 
• Then, make a layer of cookie dough, covering the whole of the rectangular baking tin.

• Next, cut the Creme Eggs in half and layer them on top of the cookie dough.

• Finally, using the Betty Crocker brownie mix make the mixture and pour it on top of the Creme Egg and cookie dough layers. 

• Cook the brownies in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until they are cooked through. They will be very gooey because of the creme eggs but that just means they stay nice and soft!
• Leave to cool for a few minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

A Little Vegan Treat

This is going to be a super quick post but I just thought I would say a few quick words about this scrummy Booja-Booja 'Hunky Punky Chocolate' vegan ice cream I recently tried. I'm sure everyone has heard of this brand but it was a new discovery for me! I picked this little tub up at Holland & Barrett and now I'm wishing I had bought a few more! 

It is the perfect little after dinner treat and, in my opinion, tastes very similar to ordinary chocolate ice cream. The consistency was also very like normal ice cream which was nice because I have found that using vegan ingredients in some baking changes the texture and consistency of the food. I really really enjoyed this ice cream and it was just what I needed to satisfy my sweet tooth. 

I have had a look online and discovered they have a few more ice cream flavours so I am definitely going to try and get my hands on those! 

Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like, in case you are interested.

If you are in the mood for something sweet and indulgent then I would definitely recommend picking up a tub of this! I will admit it isn't the healthiest thing but everyone deserves a treat once in a while.

Enjoy!

My Top Ten Vegan Essentials!

Having been a vegan now for almost two months, I thought it was time to post my top ten vegan essentials. These are the items that I turn to almost daily and couldn't do without. So, here they are...

From left to right:

Broccoli - loaded with essential nutrients and great as part of a meal or in a smoothie. I prefer long stem broccoli and purple sprouting broccoli is the king of broccoli, but all broccoli is delicious! 

Fruit and nut mix - nuts are full of protein, so a key ingredient in a vegan diet. Dried fruit retains most of the nutritional value of fresh fruit, making it a great source of vitamins, such as Vitamin A and fibre.

Sweet chilli dipping sauce - I don't think there are any particular health benefits to this but it's just really yummy and spices up dishes like soup or works as a snack with a rice cake. 

Porridge oats - the perfect breakfast ingredient! It provides a slow release of energy, is filling and helps to reduce cholesterol. I have recently started putting them in smoothies too and baking with them.

Agave - totally natural and is the perfect sweet addition to tea, porridge, smoothies and baking.

Flaxseed mix - a really essential source of protein and other nutrients such as omega-3. I often have it in my smoothies but it's also great in muffins or other baked goods!

Lentils - lentils form the base of a lot of my meals, especially dinner. They are really versatile and can be eaten hot or cold. They are also packed with protein which makes them really key to any vegan diet.

Mint tea - aids digestion and is a great warm drink throughout the day.

Bananas - they are a great source of vitamins and can be used in so many ways. I eat them as they are, add them to cakes and bread or put them in a smoothie. 

Sweet Potato - contain essential vitamins, such as B6, C and D, as well as iron and magnesium as well as providing a crucial source of carbohydrate.  They can be mashed up to form the base of burger patties, cut up to make chips or baked whole as an alternative to the traditional baked potato.

Maki Yaki - Wimbledon

I've been eating at the Japanese restaurant, Maki Yaki, regularly for about a year now. I think that alone is enough to speak my thoughts on this place, but just in case it isn't... I will say a bit more! 

Although I have never actually eaten in the restaurant itself (I always have it to takeaway), I have never had a bad experience with Maki Yaki. The food is consistently delicious and there is a great variety of dishes from sushi to larger plates. My personal favourite is the Maki roll named 'Crunch' which, as the name would suggest, has a crunch to it, as well as delicious crab, shrimp and cucumber inside. There are lots of other dishes to choose from too, including teriyaki and katsu curry. I would recommend everything I have tried, and having tried almost all the Maki's and a couple of the main dishes, I would say that's a pretty good result. 

The photos below, although not the best, give you an idea of the size of the maki rolls and therefore how much you might like to order. There are six per serving and they are quite filling so I would definitely advise ordering less than you think you'll need!

If you live in and around London then I really urge you to try it out! There are three locations, Wimbledon, Epsom and one in the Excel Centre in London. If you can't get to the restaurant then get some to take away. I would say it is perhaps on the more expensive side for sushi, but maybe that's because I'm a student and everything seems expensive to me!

Obviously now I am a vegan my options are slightly more limited but they have some great vegetable Maki rolls and their Wakame (a seasoned seaweed salad) is absolutely delicious. 

Here is the link to Maki Yaki, if you want to check out the menu or browse their website...

http://makiyakiuk.com

PS, comment on this post if you do end up going!