i try samudra

Samudra can be found in Dunsborough, Western Australia. It's worth a visit if you find yourself in the South West. It is the kind of place where you can feel your body thanking you for the goodness. I've eaten here on a few occasions. The service is always prompt and friendly. The atmosphere always has a  certain 'have a seat, whatever, relax' kind of feel to it. On this occasion I was with Dr Gab. She was visiting WA en route to Darwin. We strolled into Samudra for lunch.

Dr Gab and I decided to share three dishes. The first was one of my favourites on the Samudra menu: The Power Pizza. It is made up of a dehydrated chia seed crusty base topped with tomato marinara sauce and spinach pesto; mushrooms, avocado, soy marinated onions and cashew cheese (pictured, $12.50).

The pizza is small but the dense dehydrated base is quite filling. The sauce is delicious and I was surprised how much I liked the soy marinated onions. It is a really fresh, tasty, light dish. Dr Gab and I also had the Kombi Kofta: Tamari soaked mushroom and nut kofta balls served on leafy greens with a tzatziki dip (pictured, $12.50). 

These were very delicious. I was sceptical but these little balls were nom nom nom. They were a little crumbly but I didn't mind. It meant I couldn't just inhale them. My only problem is that they aren't bigger. Definitely worth a try. For our third dish we got the Kombi Breakdown: A gujarati lentil dahl, with cumin, coriander, fenugreek and mustard seeds, ginger, garlic, chilli and turmeric served with quinoa (pictured, $14).

This had all the characteristics of a decent dahl, although, it seemed a little watery. I liked the addition of quinoa instead of rice. The flavours were subtle and given a little kick with a squeeze of fresh lime. Probably a good choice for the less adventurous. However, when I go to a restaurant as a general rule I tend to order dishes I would probably never make at home. This is something I feel I could easily knock up myself for less than what I'd pay for a daily newspaper.

I return to this place every time I go down south. It's always delicious, healthy, fresh food in a really relaxed, no-fuss environment.



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i try halo espresso

Dr Gab and I meandered down Angelo St in South Perth in search of some brekkie. Halo Espresso is a relatively new addition to the Angelo St strip. It looked trendy enough and seemed quite busy. We ventured in. Dr Gab ordered the vegetarian breakfast with eggs, garlic thyme mushroom, cherry tomatoes, buttered spinach, baked beans and toast (pictured, $16.90). Controversially, Dr Gab added some bacon for an extra $3.

Everything was well-cooked and aptly seasoned. The poached eggs were perfectly runny in the middle.  The bacon wasn't greasy and the tomatoes weren't over-cooked. The serving size was quite generous too. I wasn't in the mood for a cooked breakfast so opted for the home made bircher muesli topped with yogurt and honey. It was just right. Drizzled with a perfect amount of honey and sprinkled with cranberries, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds it was very moorish. Nom nom nom.  

The service at Halo was prompt and friendly. The decor is very modern and although we didn't ordered coffees on this occasion I am told they are the best on the street. They have a cake/treat cabinet to rival some of the best cafes around too. The rest of the breakfast menu looks like this:

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i try making vegan cheesecake

My sister rang me up and asked if I wanted to come over and help her make a cheesecake for our Ma's birthday dinner. There were two problems with this:
1. Pretty sure our mum doesn't like cheesecake.
2. Your vegan...

But she assured me that neither of these two issues where going to be a problem. She had a plan. And a recipe. She sourced the recipe from one of my favourite blogs: My New Roots. It is definitely worth a visit! My sister also highly recommends the happy crackers.

I must admit, I was sceptical at first. We sampled some of the filling before we scooped it into the pan. It was delicious, smooth and slightly zingy. I had no reason to doubt my sis.

The base is made up of almonds, dates and a wee bit of salt. The filling consists of soaked cashews, lemon juice, vanilla bean, coconut oil and honey. Half of the mixture is also whizzed up with fresh raspberries.

I was worried the mixture wouldn't solidify properly and we would end up with a goopy mess (a delicious goopy mess but still a goopy mess). However, when we took them out of the freezer several hours later they were perfectly formed.

This is a delicious recipe. Even our carnivore brothers went back for more. I love a desert that is delicious but doesn't clog your arteries or give you that I-really-didn't-need-that-chocolate-cake feeling. I highly recommend these cakes for any occasion! We did mini cakes because we were pressed for time but the original recipe is for one big cake. Both ways work equally well!

You can find this recipe at My New Roots.

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i try making raw granola

Raw Granola Recipe

I must confess I am addicted to the Samudra berry granola. It is very delicious. However, at $13.50 for a 250g bag ($15 at some places) it don't come cheap. So I decided to experiment with making my own raw granola. No offense Samudra but I like mine better :)

Ingredients

3/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 tbs oats
1 generous tbs each of sunflower seeds, pepitas and chia seeds
2 fresh dates
1/4 cup cranberries
3 tbs goji berries
50ml agave syrup
Squeeze lemon juice

1. Put cranberries in a bowl with 50ml of boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Place almond meal, protein powder, coconut, oats, seeds and dates in a food processor and blitz until desired texture is formed (i.e. if you like a more chunky granola just blitz it until it's combined.
3. Add remaining ingredients (including the water that the cranberries were soaking in). Blitz until just combined. Mixture should be slightly sticky, not runny and not dry.
4. Place on baking paper on the racks of a dehydrator and dehydrate at 45 degrees for 10 hours.

Notes: You can easily adjust this recipe to suit your taste. Add dried apricots or sultanas. Try using hazelnut meal instead of almond meal. You can use honey instead of agave syrup if you prefer it. You may need adjust the level of liquids in order to get the right texture.

i try instagram

10 Must-have Photos in Your Instagram Arsenal

1. Pet Pic
It's very favourable if your pet is new. Puppy's tend to pull a lot of 'likes' but if all you have is a goldfish that's cool. Just borrow someone else's puppy.

2. Sunset
An absolute instagram staple. You might call this the bread and butter. Make sure you suss out some other sunset shots and make sure yours is more orange/pink/intense. Over water is preferred but not essential. Adding "#nofilter" to your sunset shot is very important. Do not forget.

3. Food Shot
This can be something you have baked (cupcakes, biscuits etc are good options) or it can be some food you've purchased at a restaurant. Make sure you say where you got your goods from because it's important that you share your restaurant choices with the world. Be sparing with your food photos. They get old quickly.

4. The Selfie
Good excuses for selfies include, but are not limited to, the following: new hair cut, some sort of razzle dazzle make-up job, to show some ridiculously amazing sunglasses or because you feel the need to put a photo on instagram and, dangit, there aint nobody or nothing around. You can make your selfie look like it's possibly not a selfie by strategically cutting the arm that is holding the phone out of shot. Noone will know the truth but you.

5. Beverage Shot
It's better if it is an alcoholic beverage like some exotic beer (the name of which you wouldn't be able to pronounce if your life depended on it) or a nice glass of vino because, oh, how you just love a glass of vino on a weeknight darling. Or shots cos you a party animal.

6. Plant Close-up
Rain drops. Rain drops will make your plant shot killeeeeerrrrrrrrr. Doesn't matter what kind of plant it is. If you can get really close to it and it has raindrops on it you are winning. Watch the likes roll in.

7. The Big Leap
Jump off something and get a mate/bystander to take a picture. Again water is preferred in this scenario, but not essential. You want height, you want mid-air, you want flipping. Just keep jumping off stuff till you get the shot! Commitment is key.

8. The View
Get yourself up a mountain or building or something. Snap that view and Instagram it pronto. Are you still here? Shouldn't you be climbing? Go!!

9. Words
Words that you have written down, words someone has spray painted on a wall, words, words, words. It kind of defeats the purpose of a photo but it is a very crucial element of your Instagram arsenal. Make sure they are funny, inspiring and/or motivational. But mostly funny. Yes, go for funny.

10. Beach
Now it needs to sunny. If it's not sunny it better be a crazy-stormy-shit-blowing-everywhere kinda shot. But, really it should be sunny. Blue water too please. White sand preferred. If there is any sort of seaweed, seriously don't even bother. Unless it's a mountain of seaweed. In that case get climbing and get shot number eight sorted. Oh, and don't forget your "no filter" hashtag cos dangit that sky really is that blue!

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