Sunny Sunny Day...

And a perfect excuse to not only sit-out tidy the garden but to make some of Susan V's delicious Goddess Lite dressing to smother all over one of our fledgling spring salads.

A mix of iceberg and curly lettuce with beef tomato, cucumber, celery and avocado. I sprinkled cashew nuts over the top for extra protein - though, with a whole block of tofu hiding there in the dressing I hardly think it's necessary!
I was also inspired by Megan's sick soup post to make-up a big, garlic, ginger and chilli laden pot of noodle soup.

I followed her recipe suggestion, throwing in some lemon thyme and rosemary from the garden, a bit of wakame, heavy on the lemon juice and thick vietnamese noodles rather than vermicelli just cos, hey, that's what I had on hand!
The plus side is - this soup tastes way too good to be kept for sick days only!
The down side - I'm going to be sweating garlic like some kind of human doner kebab for the rest of the week!

For dinner I reheated leftover mushroom rice, squash mash and savoy cabbage and - in an effort to empty our freezer so we can defrost the beast - I slapped a few Linda McCartney veggie roasts on the side. I had bought these in anticipation of Christmas dinner but never got round to actually using them.

'I shouldn't be alive! Godamn you food technologists!!'

Holy crap, these tasted shiteous! I'm so glad they never made it to the table for Christmas lunch! Dry, suspiciously crunchy due to dehydrated vegetables and I think either raw potato or water chesnut, with a predominate flavour of butternut squash and chalky kidney bean, I made a mental note never to let these cross my freezer's path again. Now I'm throwing in a disclaimer here - I don't really think freezer-burn and a temperamental, constantly self-defrosting freezer helped any - but the only way we could finish them way by drowning them in onion gravy and swallowing after minimal chewing. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE a Linda McCartney sausage, they are in my opinion far tastier than any other veggie sausage on the market and most meaty ones, but these rounds of veggie gruesomeness were just inexcusable!

Thankfully, soft bananas and my thoughtful mother's over-enthusiasm when buying us Easter Eggs -

Thanks, Mama!

- had led to the perfect conditions for whipping up a healthy banana loaf for pudding.


Studded with dark chocolate chips, walnuts and brown linseed and enriched with hempseed oil, this wholemeal loaf was just sweet enough to be enjoyed as a treat after tea but virtuous enough to leave us with a clear conscience.

Clear Conscience Banana Bread

Ingredients for A
5-6 bananas
1 cup unrefined sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinammon
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp hempseed oil

Indredients for B
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips/chunks
1/8 cup brown linseed

Preheat oven to 180^oC/350^oF/GM4.
Grease and flour a loaf pan.
Combine all A ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Combine all B ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until well-mixed.
Add A to B and fold-in until 'just mixed'.
Transfer batter into the loaf pan and bake in your preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow the loaf to cool for ten minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.
Enjoy warm, cold or iced with either nut butter frosting or melted chocolate and rainbow sprinkles!