Usually a huge fan of salads overflowing with delicious goodness, I wouldn’t have thought that a simple cucumber salad would really get my wow on, but something about this little number was magic.

Throughout the rest of the trip I kept hoping we’d make it back to Musashi but instead it found itself in my travel diary to serve as inspiration when I got home.

The large cucumber chunks, although dressed with chilli, are lovely and cooling on the tongue and would make a great accompaniment to spicy Asian curries.

Best of all?  It’s a snap to make!

xx

Musashi’s version – the one that started it all.  So heavenly after a long day cruising the city:

The easy, DIY, make-at-home version:

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Asian Cucumber Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 -4

Author Rebecca Weller - Vegan Sparkles

Ingredients

• 1 large Lebanese/continental cucumber
• 1 red chilli thinly sliced
• 1 spring onion thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Dressing

• 2 tbsp tamari/soy sauce
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp chopped red chilli
• Pinch sea salt & cracked black pepper

Instructions

• Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar, shake well and set aside.
• Chop cucumber into large chunks and place into bowls.
• Top with chilli and spring onion.
• Drizzle generously with dressing and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
• Serve immediately and enjoy! xx

The post Asian Cucumber Salad appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

During a particularly lovely bout of daydreaming about exotic places last week, I had an idea – Laksa!

I quickly researched traditional ingredients, brainstormed some changes, told my Lovebug to get his belly ready, skipped to the shops and back, and whipped up a pot with excitement.

Only…  the finished product was lacking.

Oh it was okay – Food Hall standard – but life’s too short for just okay food, right?  Forget those bland soups and crappy noodles – we want awesome, fresh food that makes us feel nourished and happy to be alive!  Sing it with me, sista!

The next morning dawned sunny and bright and I knew what I had to do.  Thankfully, when my Lovebug asked: ‘What do you want to do today?” and I replied: “Make Laksa!”, he just laughed and went along with it.  He’s pretty awesome like that.

The second time (and night in a row!), the Laksa was magical.  Hot, spicy, sweet, tangy and oh so satisfying.

And the best part?  You can freeze the spice paste and then next time you fancy a delicious, exotic, daydream-worthy soup, you can just take the paste from the freezer, throw it into a big pot, add the rest of the ingredients, and have dinner ready in less than 15 minutes.

Take that, Food Hall. 🙂

xx

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Easy Vegan Laksa

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rebecca Weller - Vegan Sparkles

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil or more Coconut Oil
• 4 cups Vegetable Stock/Broth
• 3 1/4 cups Organic Coconut Milk
• 1 tsp Tamarind Concentrate/Paste
• 50 ml Tamari Sauce or Soy Sauce if gluten is not an issue
• 50 ml Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 cups Capsicum/Peppers any colour, cored and sliced
• 1 cup Baby Corn quartered (or any other Asian veg you prefer)
• 5 Spring Onion sliced
• 300 g Firm/Hard Tofu drained and chopped into bite-sized cubes
• 200 g Rice Noodles any kind you like

Spice Paste

• 6 Garlic Cloves peeled and chopped
• 1 inch/2.5cm knob Ginger peeled and chopped
• 4 Red Chillies chopped (less if you don't like spicy food but the coconut milk really tames down the spiciness)
• 2 Lemongrass stems white part only, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp ground Turmeric
• 5 Kaffir Lime Leaves finely shredded (from a jar is fine if you can't find fresh)

To Serve

• 1 handful of Bean Sprouts
• 1 handful of fresh Coriander Leaves chopped

Instructions

• Soak noodles in a large bowl of hot water for 30 minutes to soften.
• Meanwhile, assemble all Spice Paste ingredients in a food processor and pulse/process until it forms a chunky paste.
• In a frypan over medium-high heat, shallow fry tofu in 2 tbsp Coconut Oil until just golden brown. (Don't let it cook for too long or the tofu will become too chewy. This step is optional - you can add the tofu directly to the Laksa later if you prefer but pre-cooking does give the tofu a lovely texture)
• In a large pot or frypan over medium heat, stir fry Spice Paste in Sesame Oil until fragrant (a couple of minutes).
• Add Coconut Milk and Vegetable Stock and bring to the boil.
• Add Capsicum/Peppers, Corn, Spring Onion, Tofu and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add Tamarind, Tamari and Lime Juice. Allow to simmer for another couple of minutes, then remove from heat.
• Drain noodles and divide among 4 bowls.
• Spoon Laksa over the noodles, garnish with Bean Shoots and Coriander, and enjoy!

The post Easy Vegan Laksa appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

I rounded up two of mine on Sunday. After a crazy fun catch up, we treated ourselves to Gold Class cinema tickets and settled in to watch ‘Mental’ – a crazy Australian movie that is essentially about loving and believing in yourself, even if you don’t fit in. Or even if your friends think you’re weird for bringing fluffy socks to wear in the cinema (my feet get cold!).

Fun, zany, and totally kooky, this flick really is mental.
 
http://youtu.be/VnQPnXbj-RY
 
Amidst our popcorn, bubbles and giggles, we got to reminiscing about the magical night when one of their hubbies cooked us all an amazing Thai feast.  I still think about my favourite dish from that night – Pumpkin Red Curry.  It was superb and incredible and I’m sure he spent hours selecting the right ingredients and making everything from scratch.

Naturally after we talked about it I wanted it BIG TIME but I was in the mood for a much faster version…

Lighter than a traditional Thai curry & rice but with just as much pizzaz, I give you: Thai Pumpkin & Chickpea Wraps!

Fast, fresh, tasty and oh so easy to make.

Go Mental.

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Vegan MoFo Thai Pumpkin & Chickpea Wraps

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Rebecca Weller - Vegan Sparkles

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Thai red curry paste check ingredients to ensure it's vegan
• 400 g pumpkin chopped into 2cm pieces
• 1 tin chickpeas drained
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 6 large green leaves silverbeet/collard/spinach, etc, washed
• 1 handful fresh coriander leaves chopped
• 1 lime juiced

Instructions

• In a large pot or pan over medium heat, stir pumpkin and curry paste for a couple of minutes until aromatic.
• Add coconut milk and simmer for ten minutes or until pumpkin is soft.
• Add chickpeas and lime juice and simmer for two more minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Line lettuce leaves with pumpkin mixture. Top with coriander and roll into wraps.
• Enjoy!

The post Vegan MoFo Thai Pumpkin & Chickpea Wraps appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

It’s Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere today. Oh yes, it is! I love Winter Solstice, especially the part about the shortest day of the year occurring only a few short weeks into our dark, stormy weather. It gives me hope that I will survive the rest of winter and not morph permanently into some sort of pasty, sleepy, grumpy grizzly bear.

Oh I know Perth is blessed in that we never experience really freezing temperatures but winter is winter and I belong firmly in the summer zone, thank you very much! Less clothing layers, more Vitamin D and smiles, gorgeous beach sunsets, enchanting social events, and better light for food photos. 😉

Winter Solstice Fire Festival (Photo credit: lucasw)

The sun played along with my delusions today (good sun) and made a beautiful appearance as I daydreamed about the equator and imagined warm, tropical sun on my face as I sailed around Thailand. There’s no sea sickness in daydreams. Just so you know.

Turns out I can classify the daydream time firmly in the ‘blog research’ category too, since it inspired a fast, easy, Thai Red Curry just brimming with sunshine and spice:

• 500ml (2 cups) coconut cream (don’t shake the can)
• 4 tsp red curry paste (check the ingredients to make sure it’s vegan – some contain shrimp)
• 500g Jap pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 300g green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• Small tin water chestnuts, drained
• Small tin bamboo shoots, drained
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp grated palm sugar
• Coriander leaves and cashew nuts to garnish

Here comes the sun, na na na naaaaa…

The post Fast, Easy, Daydream Thai Red Curry appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.