Healthy Home Cafe

- In Baking
Pumpkin, Carrot & Ginger Cake
- In Vegan · Vegetarian
Creamy Cauliflower & Mushroom Chickpea Pasta
- In Soups · Vegan
Black Bean Soup

Pumpkin, Carrot & Ginger Cake

by healthyhome
in Baking
— 9 Aug, 2020

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“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.” – Jim Davis (creator of the cartoon Garfield!)

It’s been a long while between posts as life has been incredibly busy

I’m loving my new job at Healthy Food Guide and my clinics have been fully booked as well

But I have a delicious new cake recipe that I’ve been wanting to share with you

Best of all, since it contains both pumpkin and carrot, it can help you boost your veggie intake!

Which is something I’m always writing about, or encouraging my clients to do

Perhaps not always in the form of cake though!

I do hope you give this a go

It’s a lovely soft, squidgy cake, lightly spicy with cinnamon, ginger and cardamom

And very quick and easy to assemble – once you’ve cooked and mashed the pumpkin!

Enjoy 🙂

Pumpkin, Carrot & Ginger Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
½ cup white self raising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom, optional
½ cup sultanas, currants or goji berries
¼ cup diced bare or crystalised ginger, or more if you're a ginger lover!
2 eggs
¼ cup oil
⅔ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean essence
1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin
1½ cups grated carrot

Instructions

Heat oven to 170 degrees C and line a large loaf tin with non-stick paper.
Into a large bowl, sift together both flours with the cinnamon, ginger and cardamom if using.
Stir through the dried fruit and ginger. Set aside.
Whisk together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla, then add pumpkin and continue whisking until well combined.
Add egg mix to flour mix along with grated carrot and gently fold through until just combined.
Pour into loaf tin, smooth top and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from tin.
Store in an airtight container.

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by healthyhome
in Vegan · Vegetarian
— 28 Jun, 2020

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They say the way to a man’s heart is via his stomach. And for my husband that means pasta. Problem is, usually I’m not a fan.

So I like to play around and make different pasta dishes. Ones full of veggies are more my thing. Here’s my latest favourite…

Is there anything you can’t do with cauliflower? In this case, I cut it really small, browned it in a pan, cooked it in milk and pureed it to make this pasta sauce.

Which I must say, is rather scrummy (that’s a mix of scrumptious and yummy!)

Add in sauteed mushrooms to emulate a typical creamy mushroom sauce and serve with chickpea pasta for a boost of protein.

And before you know it, you have this super quick, nutritious and delicious dinner.

You can add anything else you like to this – spinach leaves, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast if you’re not into dairy.

A yummy addition would be cooked chicken, which would also boost the protein too. But tonight I wanted something a little lighter, so this version was just perfect.

Below are the steps involved in making this dish. You don’t really need them though as its super easy.

But it’s always helpful to see how things come together.

Enjoy 🙂

Creamy Cauliflower & Mushroom Chickpea Pasta

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

Author: Caroline Trickey from Healthy Home Cafe

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 large brown onion, sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400 grams, approx ½ small cauliflower, finely chopped
1½ cups milk of your choice (I used soy)
375 grams Portabello mushrooms, sliced
1 chicken stock cube
1 tablespoon white miso (or use an extra stock cube)
black pepper
250 gram pack chickpea pasta
Chopped fresh herbs - chives, parsley etc
Extras - baby spinach leaves, toasted pine nuts, cooked chicken, Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast

Instructions

Place a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. When hot add the onion and some oil and saute until softened and brown. Add garlic and cook for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, in a fry pan, saute the cauliflower in some oil in batches until browned, then add to pot with onion. Once all cauliflower is done, add the milk, place a lid on the pot, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook mushrooms in fry pan in batches until golden browned on each side. Remove when done and place in a bowl.
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
Using a hand blender or food processor, blitz the cauliflower until it becomes a smooth sauce. Add the stock cube, miso and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Add a little water or more milk to get the consistency you prefer.
Add mushrooms to sauce and mix through. When pasta is cooked, drain and add as well. Add any other extras you like and serve topped with fresh herbs, alongside salad or greens.

chop cauliflower finely

saute finely chopped cauliflower until browned

add cooked cauliflower to pot with onion, cover with milk, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer, place lid on pot and cook for 10-15 mins

meanwhile, saute mushrooms

puree cooked cauliflower, then add stock, miso and extra milk or water to make the consistency you prefer

add in cooked mushrooms, pasta and anything else you wish… enjoy 🙂

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by healthyhome
in Soups · Vegan
— 21 Jun, 2020

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It’s been a while. But I have some very exciting news to tell you.

I have a new job! I’ve joined the team at the magazine Healthy Food Guide.

That’s right, while everyone was being laid off due to Covid, I was hired! Which not only am I very grateful for, but this is a dream job for me. A chance to inspire more people with honest, reliable information and damn tasty recipes.

As a result though, I feel I have been running on a treadmill since I started. I’m now working more than full-time between HFG, my clinics and cooking classes. So bring on quick and easy meals I say, as I need to eat well in order to keep going at this pace!

Here’s my latest favourite quick and easy meal that’s been my lunch most days – and its damn delicious.

super-yummy black bean soup….

While the recipe I’ve provided uses tinned black beans, I actually use dried ones and cook this in my pressure cooker, which only takes 10 minutes! But since you most likely don’t have a pressure cooker, I’ve written the recipe the conventional way. If you do have a pressure cooker, substitute the 2 tins of black beans for I cup of black beans that you will then need to soak overnight.

This dramatic-looking soup is simple to make and has the most delicious flavour. I really hope you give it a go.

And if you’re not familiar with HFG, you need to check out this great little mag. Not only does it include well-researched articles on all facets of nutrition and health, but there’s also plenty of delicious, healthy recipes. It’s available in most supermarkets at the check-out counter. Or you can subscribe and have it delivered to your door!

Black Bean Soup

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

Author: Caroline Trickey from Healthy Home Cafe

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil
2 brown onions, finely diced
1 long green chilli, membrane and seeds discarded, then diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon Mexican spice mix - or use 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tspn sweet or smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon chilli powder
2 x 400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 cup diced pumpkin
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
1 cup frozen corn
1 roasted capsicum, cut into chunks, optional
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
To serve
Avocado, diced
Coriander leaves
Fresh lime

Instructions

Place a large pot over medium heat. When hot add some oil and the onion. Cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes then add the chilli, garlic, Mexican spice mix, and stir for a couple of minutes.
Add the beans, tomatoes, celery, carrot and stock and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Tip half the soup into a food processor or blender and purée. Return to the pot along with corn and capsicum and warm through.
Season to taste and serve topped with diced avocado, coriander and lime wedges.

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my veggie-licious cookbook (hardcopy)
healthier baking e-book
How To Be A Healthy Vegan E-Book and Hardcopy
Come and see how I do it in my kitchen!

Join me for one of my fun, informative and practical classes in St Peters, Sydney. You will be in a small group, capped at 6, where you can watch, help, taste and overall enjoy a terrific foodie experience.

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Welcome to Healthy Home Cafe

I’m Caroline, an accredited practising dietitian, nutritionist and author. I love food and love to cook.

Welcome to my virtual cafe where I will show you how easy and delicious it is to eat healthily.

I also run fabulous cooking classes in the Inner West in Sydney, Australia
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Keep in touch with Healthy Home Cafe

my veggie-licious cookbook (hardcopy)

healthier baking e-book

How To Be A Healthy Vegan E-Book and Hardcopy

Come and see how I do it in my kitchen!

VIEW UPCOMING CLASS DATES

Welcome to Healthy Home Cafe

Sign up for the Healthy Home Cafe monthly newsletter to receive fresh, healthy new recipes in your inbox

Recent Posts

Keep in touch with Healthy Home Cafe

Sign up for the Healthy Home Cafe monthly newsletter to receive fresh, healthy new recipes in your inbox