I love carrot cake – it has consistently been one of my favourite cakes for years now, possibly influenced by the fact I love carrots in anything! I particularly like it when the cake is heavy on the carrot and walnut, and the addition of some sultanas never goes astray. Topped with a lemony cream cheese icing and I’m a very happy camper. So when my housemates requested a carrot cake I was more than happy to oblige and happily set about making one that met all my criteria!
Mandarins have always been one of my favourite fruits – they make such a perfect snack and for that reason were always around when I was growing up. A fresh, sweet mandarin feels like something that should be around in summer rather than winter, but I’m definitely not complaining! Fruit and vegetables that are in season in winter usually call for hearty, warming meals but there’s something about citrus fruits that still feel appropriate in light, fresh meals like this salad. Luckily due to the fact I picked up a big bag of mandarins while we were down on the Bass Coast I could use them in a salad and still have plenty left to snack on!
After being away last weekend I found myself with a pile of bananas that had somehow been overlooked so jumped into action and whipped up some banana choc-chip muffins to nibble on. Simple, easy and full of flavour – perfect for a mid-morning snack with a cup of tea!
After making my date bliss balls and my apricot and almond bliss balls a few times I decided it was time to experiment and make them with something slightly different – fig! I added some goji berries, walnuts and almonds for crunch and the result was pretty delicious! They aren’t as sweet as the apricot ones, nor as chocolately as the date ones, but I really liked them so hopefully you will too!
At the moment it seems to be a tie between soups and salads as to what I’m enjoying cooking the most. I love the seemingly endless variety with both of them, with the added bonus that I can whip up a big batch that will see me through most of the working week for lunches. This salad came about after wanting to roast some cauliflower and the combination of cumin-coated cauliflower with a tahini-lemon dressing seemed too good not to try! Luckily, it turned out as delicious as I hoped and proved to be a hearty salad to get me through the afternoon at work.