Sep 2014

SATAY KALE CHIPS

SATAY KALE CHIPS

Kale season is in full swing, I am putting it into smoothies, juices, stews and salad, but I will admit, kale chips are still my family’s firm favourite. I have turned many people onto kale chips, even some of my kids’ friends (talk about success!!).

I have to stand up and admit that I am a peanut butter addict, I have it on oat cakes or toast, in a quesadilla (with mashed banana), I add it into stews (and soups) and I can eat satay sauce by spoonfuls. Satay sauce with stir fries, as a dip for veggies, as a dressing for noodle salad… In my world anything tastes better with peanut butter. Why not satay sauce on kale chips right?

There is a good reason to serve kale and peanut butter together. I have found a study that shows the increase of beta carotene (from kale) conversion to vitamin A in the presence of peanut butter (yes it is the fat in the peanut butter that it the magic ingredient). Isn’t this the best excuse to make more kale/peanut butter recipes??? Not that I need an excuse to make this crunchy pea nutty treat…

Check out the study here:
http://www.fasebj.org/content/28/1_Supplement/LB417.short

the chips
IMG_5114

SATAY KALE CHIPS
ingredients
1 bunch of kale
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (organic, no sugar added)
cayenne pepper to taste (1/4 tsp)
2 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs soya sauce
warm water

method
  • Strip the kale leaves off the stalks, wash and dry thoroughly. I used a salad spinner to do this job.
  • In a bowl mix the peanut butter, cayenne pepper, lime juice, soya sauce and enough warm water to achieve a smooth, runny sauce that will easily coat the leaves.
  • Coat the kale leaves in the peanut sauce.
  • Spread the kale on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate for 14 hrs at 115F (46C).

the sauce
IMG_5112

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EATING VEGGIE IN PRAGUE

EATING VEGGIE IN PRAGUE

We had a fabulous time visiting Prague, I left feeling that I could quite happily move to this amazing city again. Everywhere you got there is something amazing to see or do. Of course I wanted to explore some new veggie places and visit an old faithful we so enjoyed 2 years ago. Here is a summary of some of the food we ate during our short stay in Prague.

Maitrea was the first restaurant we visited, and this time we ate there twice. Maitrea serves honest, tasty food. We loved it 2 years ago and we loved it even more this time. For starters, both visits, we had the Czech style pickled sausage. It's a taste I grew up with. The second time the plate was dressed with a tad too much olive oil but still tasted great. My husband was happy with the Czech traditional meals made with seitan (Goulash and the vegetable cream sauce both served with dumplings). My two main meals were “chicken” balls with roasted veg and pesto, this was bursting with flavour and reminiscent of Czech meat patties. On my second visit I had very tasty tofu and aubergine with Thai coconut sauce. Huge portion! I couldn’t finish it all. Kids had the sushi and my son also tried the “chicken” balls, he wasn’t as impressed as I was... KIDS! This is definitely our favourite veggie place to eat in Prague! Even my meat eating friends love it and eat there often.
Maitrea is in Tynska Ulice, Praha 1 just of the Old Town Square

"Chicken balls" with roasted vegetables and pesto
'chicken'-balls

Maitrea sushi
maitreia-sushi

Pickled sausages veggie style
pickled-sausage

We had to try the new (about 1 year old) vegan restaurant
LoVeg. It is very close to the castle, and you can see their banner among the red Prague roofs. The building was amazing, you have to walk several flights of stairs to get to the restaurant that sits just under roof (an outside table is available too). The staff were great but the food was lacking. I had the aubergine tartare and tomato canapes (that day’s special) to start with and must say they tasted very good if anything the bread could have been toasted. My husband was slightly disappointed with meger 3 small veggie shrimps on his salad and my daughter exclaimed “This needs salt and lemon” about her very bland hummus...my son on the other hand was happy with his guacamole and pitta bread.
The mains were tasty, my husband enjoyed another goulash he just wished a slightly bigger portion. I enjoyed my lasagne but was disappointed with the tomato sauce on the side. It was simply just heated tin of tomatoes... My daughter had the same issue with veggie shrimp salad (greedy chops). My son’s burger was delicious, probably the tastiest thing we had, I loved the tempeh bacon and will try to make it at home!
This restaurant was let down by lack of attention to detail and flavour in some dishes, making few adjustments would make this place stand out. I would still recommend this restaurant, the food is good, just don’t order the hummus...
LoVeg, Nerudova Ulice, Praha 1

Vegan lasagne with aubergine and spinach
Loveg-lasagne

Aubergine tartare and tomato canapes
LoVeg-canapes

LoVeg Burger
lovegburger

Secret Of Raw
was a surprised to me. I had no idea there is a raw food restaurant in Prague. My friend’s foodie boyfriend suggested we have a dinner there. I wasn’t disappointed. The menu was fantastic, lots of choice, I found it difficult to choose. My son loved the gazpacho, but he wan’t too keen on the nachos. I personally think the raw nacho chips could have been served with a great tasting guacamole and tomato salsa instead of the dips on offer. The raw cheese platter was very good, I liked the different flavours of the cheeses, my daughter however thought they were a bit too spicy (well she finds everything too spicy...). Mushroom pancakes with marinated mushrooms and garlic cashew cream were outstanding. So full of flavour! We also had 2 tasting platters on the table mostly to satisfaction of those who ordered them apart from the tomato quiche that seemed to miss the mark. My husband also said that my (or I should say Christine Bailey’s raw pizza) is better than the restaurant’s. I do admit that recipe is hard to beat. My friend was waxing lyrical about her courgette rolls with pea and fennel cream!
The portions were huge, I struggled to finish my main. No room for dessert in our camp. My friends gorgeous son scoffed down the acai lime cake like it was the last meal he was to have for days. This is a definitely must visit place if you are into your raw/plant based food or simply want a different dining experience. By the way the white wine grapefruit juice spritzer was bit of a revelation for me!
Secret of Raw, Seifertova 13, Prague 3

Selection of raw cheeses

raw-cheese

Secret of Raw tasting plate
raw-tasting-platter

Mushroom pancakes with marinated mushrooms and garlic cashew cream
raw-mushroom-pancakes

Acai and lime cake
raw-acailimecake

The last but not least was another new discovery
The Loving Hut. This is a chain with 8 restaurants in Prague already. I was sceptical as I am not a fan of run of the mill Chinese food. I find that sauces in Chinese restaurants usually taste like “dish water”... I am pleased the food was great, better than it looks of the website. My kids were happy since there was sushi and Chinese dumplings, my husband was happy there was seitan and I found a great tasting tempeh Kung Pao with sauce tasting nothing like dish water, it was rather delicious. I also loved my summer rolls with peanut sauce (I love anything with a peanut sauce!!!)
The menu is very heavy on meat substitutes, mainly soya protein and seitan. Not something I would eat everyday but what we tasted was great and I would definitely come again. I will have to try the Loving Hut in the UK to see how similar these restaurants are.
The Loving Hut, various location, we went to the one on the Wenceslas Square

Veggie sushi
LH-SUSHI


Tempeh Kung Pao
LH-tempeh-Kungpao


Veggie dumplings
LH-dumplings


A bonus photo: Cafe Slavie fruit platter with almonds and Grand Marnier, a very luxurious breakfast...
fruit-platter-Slavia


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