Summer Recipes

Summer recipes will feature berries of all types, salads, tomatoes, stone-fruit (peaches, nectarines), cherries. Eating with the seasons helps us to access the maximum nutritional quality of the food, and it also helps to lessen our environmental impact.

My favourite summer recipes include Zucchini Noodles with Hemp Pesto, these Elderflower Cordial Popsicles with Lemon and Mint and this Creamy Summer Coleslaw with Yogurt Dressing.

Vegan Ranch Dressing with Hemp Hearts

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This simple and delicious Vegan Ranch Dressing with Hemp is packed full of nutrition and taste. With only five ingredients it is an easy way to dress up a salad, and also tastes great on Buddha bowls or as a healthy dip for vegetables.

Hemp hearts are currently a hot topic and for good reason. They are an easy protein source, packed full of essential fatty acids, locally grown, and super versatile. I love hemp so much I’ve shared my favourite milk alternative Hemp Milk, and this yummy nutrient-dense snack Hemp and Sunflower Seed Pâté in the past. This Vegan Ranch Dressing Recipe with Hemp is my new favourite way to incorporate hemp into my day. The creaminess of the hemp lends itself to this dressing, and I love it with shredded kale, beets, and carrots on top of fluffy quinoa. Yum!
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The ULTIMATE Guide On How To Make Salad Dressing

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Use this guide to make your own salad dressing at home. Homemade dressings can be just as delicious as they are simple. See below on tips on how to maximize nutrition and taste in your homemade dressing recipe!

Why I Make My Own Salad Dressings

Making your own salad dressings is one of the easiest ways to boost the nutrient content of a meal. Dressing should be more than just a side thought, they can be a great vessel to add nutritious ingredients that would otherwise be more difficult to get.

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Baked Tofu Kale Quinoa Salad with Glory Bowl Dressing

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This healthy Baked Tofu Kale Quinoa Salad with Glory Bowl Dressing recipe is the perfect all-seasons meal, and it is so simple to make. The savoury and delicious Glory Bowl Dressing is adapted from the notorious Whitewater Cooks cookbook and is a definite crowd pleaser.

Every week in the spring through to late fall, we receive our weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable box. No matter what the month is, fresh kale, beets and carrots fill the bulk of our fridge, and every Monday night we look forward to this healthy Baked Tofu Kale Quinoa Salad Recipe with Glory Bowl Dressing. If you have never heard of the notorious Glory Bowl dressing, you are in for a treat. The perfect combination of savoury, creamy salty goodness that brings any salad bowl recipe to life.

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Turmeric Golden Milk Smoothie Bowl

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A simple nourishing breakfast packed full of anti-inflammatory properties and wholesome ingredients. This Turmeric Golden Milk Smoothie Bowl is a modern take on an ancient herbal remedy.

Turmeric is on everyone’s radar these days, and for good reason. This vibrant spice has been used medicinally for centuries in traditional Ayurvedic medicine and offers a subtle flavour and dynamic colour to Indian cuisine. In conventional medicine, turmeric has been studied for its role in depression, high cholesterol and osteoarthritis. What’s popping up on Pinterest feeds is turmeric golden milk, a traditional Ayurvedic drink filled with nourishing ingredients including cinnamon, coconut and black pepper. This recipe for a Turmeric Golden Milk Smoothie Bowl is a modern spin on a very celebrated drink.
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Prebiotic Smoothie Bowl Recipe with Chickpeas – Three Tips To Maximize Gut Health

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Maximise gut health with the first meal of the day offering numerous prebiotic fibres to feed out friendly bacteria. Chickpeas, dandelion root and chia all create a healthy gut!

Our gut is home to trillions of bacteria, and we are only starting to understand all the functions in relation to human health. We know that the friendly bacteria act in protecting the gut from the ‘bad bacteria’, otherwise known as pathogens. The bacteria also help in extracting nutrients and energy from our food, assist with the digestion of certain foods that the small intestine has not been able to digest, and have a role in maintaining a normal immune system. A healthy gut has been linked to decreased risk of obesity, insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes), and may have a role in managing anxiety and depression. Given all the functions of the gut bacteria, some experts consider the gut bacteria a separate organ. So how do we make sure our gut is working at its fullest potential? Here are my top 3 tips to maximizing a healthy gut and a simple prebiotic smoothie bowl recipe with chickpeas to go along with it.
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Zucchini Noodles with Tomatoes and Hemp Pesto [Vegan, GF]

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Zucchini needs no introduction these long summer days. Gardens are spilling with this veg, and my Pinterest feed is filled with various ways to prepare summer squash. In the past I’ve shared my Zucchini Noodle Lasagna, my Crustless Vegetable Quiche with Zucchini, and more recently, a far more edgy way to use zucchini in this Berry Cauliflower and Zucchini Smoothie Bowl. This simple recipe for Zucchini Noodles with Tomatoes and Hemp Pesto is quick and light and perfect for these hot days, and dinner can be on the table in less than 15 minutes.
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Elderflower Cordial Popsicles with Lemon and Mint [Vegan, GF]

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A simple summer treat using fresh elderflower homemade cordial. Free of refined sugar and packed full of flavour. These are the perfect treat for those hot summer days.

The culinary delights of summer are countless and it can be hard to keep up with all the seasonal arrivals. I’ve been finding elderflowers at our local farmers market, the flower of the elderberry which is the dark purple late summer berries that are used in pies, jams or medicinally. For now, we have access to the beautiful white elderflowers, which are also edible, and offer a more gentle medicinal quality. To keep up with the seasons I wanted to celebrate this beautiful flower, this Elderflower Cordial Popsicles with Lemon and Mint is a great summertime treat and offers some well-documented health benefits.
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Two-Ingredient Gluten-Free Cheesecake [Labna Cheesecake]

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Tis the season for endless treats. There is no escaping them – at work, a holiday potlatch, a thoughtful edible gift. A small amount of [ideally natural] sugar enjoyed in the company of friends and loved ones is an important part of social relationships and our food culture. We know that when we do have something sweet, balancing it out with a good source of protein or healthy fat can help dampen the effect on our blood glucose (sugar) levels. This helps us to avoid the post-dessert sugar spikes and corresponding drops and for this, I am sharing my new favourite go-to healthy dessert. Labna, or yogurt cheese, is high in protein and good fats and makes the base for this two-ingredient gluten-free cheesecake. Labna is simple to make at home and what this high-protein dessert lacks in difficulty, it makes up for in taste.
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Creamy Summer Coleslaw Recipe with Yogurt Dressing

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The summer markets are bursting with berries, stone fruit, and fresh tomatoes. With the overload of delicious blueberries and wild blackberries, e sometimes forget about the more humble harvests. Cabbage springs into season in summer and has a lengthy season lasting over 6 months depending on the climate. Cabbage is also packed full of antioxidants and is an easy addition to summer salads, BBQs and stir-fries. I’m sharing one of my favourite recipes -Creamy Summer Coleslaw Recipe with Yogurt Dressing, adapted from My New Roots Sarah Brittons’s Cookbook Naturally Nourished. Her version is a beautiful creamy autumn slaw, using seasonal Brussels sprouts and apple. I’ve revamped it to suit the summer months, showcasing one of the most undervalued vegetables on our shelves – cabbage of course.
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Moroccan Smokey Roasted Eggplant Dip [Vegan, Gluten Free]

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Two months ago my trip to Morocco came to an end. My bag was filled with foreign souvenirs in an attempt to bring some of the exotic land home with me. Alongside the carpets, pillowcases, ceramics, tapestries and clay body masks were the edible souvenirs of almond butter, honey, argan oil and spices, as well as the inspiration to bring Moroccan cuisine home with me. Over these last 2 months, this, unfortunately, has not materialized into anything. Routine and familiarity overshadowed my memory of all the Moroccan favourites I had dined on the 3 weeks prior. Now I am ready to share some of my favourite dishes. This Moroccan Smokey Roasted Eggplant Dip packs a lot of flavour for such simple ingredients. I wanted this recipe to be the first from my trip to share.
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Baked Tempeh Asian Cabbage Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing

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Wow, where did summer go?! I’ve been holding on to the last of it with my smoothie bowls and salads, and here’s my last ditch effort at preserving summer. What makes this salad special is that Napa cabbage is the main star. It’s crunchy and delicious when shredded, and is a great calcium source that often gets overshadowed by calcium-rich kale and bok choy. This Baked Tempeh Asian Cabbage Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing is simple to prepare and uses fermented Apple Cider Vinegar as a base (also see Beet Apple and Kale Salad with Walnuts and Dill) which is something we could all eat a little bit more of. I hope you love this salad as much as I do. Here’s to finishing dinner while the suns still up. …

Easy Almond Tempeh Vegan Meatballs Recipe [GF]

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Not even a week has passed since my return from Indonesia and I can confidently tell you that the thing I miss most is not the warmth nor the beaches, it’s the food. The flavours and the variety place this cuisine at the top of my list. If you haven’t tried tempeh yet and you are a lover of healthy and tasty food, boy have I got a treat for you. Indonesians enjoy it fried and spicy, and often will add it to dishes such as Gado Gado (see my simplified recipe for Gado Gado Peanut Satay Sauce Recipe) or have it cooked in a spicy sambal served with rice. It is as versatile as tofu, but many prefer the firmer texture of tempeh over its soybean cousin. Here is my play on tempeh, and a good one to get you started on your tempeh journey – Easy Almond Tempeh Vegan Meatballs.
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Summer Recipes

Why I Make My Own Salad Dressings

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