Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day, and ANA Day)[1] is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, New South Wales in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. (www.Wikipedia.com)
I will save you the long drawn out story of my love for Australia and just let you know that the country is very near to my heart and I've had a life long dream to visit. Plus, I am carrying a resident Aussie in my uterus giving me plenty of reason to go all out and celebrate Australia Day this past weekend.
A celebration would not be complete without me creating in the kitchen all day for a family feast. I began by researching and finding some very interesting recipes. One in particular that I've saved for another occasion is spaghetti and Vegemite! Those Aussie's love their animal protein and it was difficult to surf through the sea of meat laden ideas, but oh so much fun to veganize our own traditional Oz Barbie. I gathered that an authentic Australia Day celebration is much like the US Fourth of July with parades, fireworks and of course BBQ.
Being that we've been in below freezing temperatures here in New England a summer time meal and warm memories were a welcome agenda.
First I prepared:
Raw Lemon Curd Fruit Tart
For the crust:
1/2 C of raw almonds
1/2 C of shredded raw coconut
1 C of dates soaked and pitted
dash of sea salt
Process the almonds in a food processor until almost flour consisitancy. Add the sea salt, coconut, and dates and process to form a dough.
Press this into a tart or spring-form pan that has been coated lightly with coconut oil. Set aside.
Lemon Curd Filling:
2/3 C of soaked cashews
1/2 C of coconut oil
1/2 C of fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
pinch of sea salt
Blend cashews, oil, and lemon juice in a high-speed until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend to combine. Spread this mixture out over your crust. Let set in the freezer while you slice the fruit.
Slice your desired fruits, using about 2 cups and layer on top of set lemon curd. I used blueberries, strawberries, passion fruit and star fruit to represent the Australian flag.
On I went to making a second dessert, Chocolate Lamingtons. Only because I had never had or even heard of lamingtons before and they looked like a great veganize challenge. The traditional cakes are loaded with eggs, butter, milk and sugar. I have nothing to compare it to, but my family loved my healthier vegan version.
Veganized Oz Chocolate Lamingtons
I began with my staple chocolate cake recipe and baked it in a 8 * 9 pan:
1 1/2 C Wheat or Kamut Flour (equal parts brown rice, garbanzo, and tapioca for gluten free)
1 C coconut crystals
1/3 C coco powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 C sunflower oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 C rice (or any non-dairy) mylk
Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease or line pan.
In a large bowl sift together dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and add wet ingredients. Mix well to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40min. at 350.
Remove from oven and allow cake to cool at least one hour before cutting.Turn cooled cake out onto a cutting board and cut evenly into about 24 small squares.
Chocolate Ganache Coating
2 bars of vegan dark chocolate cut into small pieces (I used Theo brand dark bar)
3/4 C rice mylk (rice works well because of it's thickness, coconut would be good too)
1 Tbl. vegan butter such as Earth Balance
Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate together with the mylk and butter whisk constantly until smooth.
Lay about 1 cup of shredded coconut out on a plate.
Make an assembly like of cake pieces, melted chocolate, and shredded coconut with a tray lined with parchment paper for the finished product at the end. Use a skewer, pick, or fork to dip each cake square into the chocolate and then roll into the coconut. I did end up having to use my hands to coat well with the coconut and it got a bit messy.
On to the main course:Black bean and Quinoa Burgers
2 C of black beans (canned or cooked)
1 C of cooked quinoa
1/3 C of chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 Tbl. olive oil
1/4 tsp. whole coriander seeds
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 C chopped cilantro
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion garlic, bell pepper, and coriander seeds. Sautee a few minutes until the vegetables are soft and release juices. Add the chili powder, sea salt and cilantro and remove from heat. Add the black beans and cooled veggies to a food processor and pulse to combine well. Transfer to a bowl and mix very well with the quinoa. Form this mixture into patties. These may be pan fried in a bit of olive oil or grilled. Be sure to coat your grill with oil. I chose to "grill" mine on my indoor barbie since the temps were below zero outdoors. I set my oven to broil and foil lined the grate. Five minutes on each side at 500 broil turned out perfect burgers.Top with spicy mustard, raw pickles, red onion, avocado, spinach and tomato. Yummo!
To accompany the burger with style:
Grilled Sweet Potato Salad
1 large sweep potato sliced into thin rounds
A few heaping cups of spinach
1/2 of a red onion thinly sliced
1 avocado cut into small cubes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 Tbl. maple syrup of coconut nectar
pinch of sea salt
small handful of chopped cilantro
Slice and boil the sweet potato leaving the skin on for about 20 min. Grill the slices to lightly brown. I used my oven's broil setting again for this. Top a bed of spinach with the onion and avocado. Arrange the grilled sweet potato on top. Whisk the lemon juice, syrup, coriander and salt. Pour the dressing over the top and garnish with cilantro.
Here's an on-line conversion calculator for my Aussie and other international readers:Metric Conversions You can even get an app for that from this site too.Thanks to my very talented daughter Xavia, for the photography!
