I was unable to get to the office today because I have a very poorly boy to look after so I unexpectedly worked from home.  I didn’t manage breakfast as we were at the Doctors and the Chemists and then I was trying to get him comfortable.  So I skipped breakfast and made an early lunch instead.

One of my favourite blogs is written by Angela, a Canadian Vegan who produces lovely and imaginative recipes.  Her blog is Oh She Glows and I think it is excellent.  I like her writing style, her photography is fantastic and her recipes are easy to follow.

My lunch was inspired by her post,  The Big Vegan Bowl and some ideas from other posts such as these which Angela included in her 8 Favourite Vegan Lunch and Dinner Recipes of 2013.

I put a mixture of pecans, hazelnuts and cashews in water to soak for a couple of hours before eating them.  It makes them easier to digest, apparently. I roasted the chickpeas with a coating of cumin, ground coriander and turmeric with salt and pepper and a little olive oil. I roasted them in the oven with the chopped up sweet potato. In my big vegan bowl went:

• 1 medium sized sweet potato
• 1 third of a can of chickpeas, drained and roasted with spices
• Mixed salad leaves
• 4 olives
• Finely chopped beetroot,
• celeriac
• and kohlrabi
• Pink grapefruit
• Chopped nuts

674 calories I enjoyed this bowl of yumminess but if I was doing it again, I would probably have used less nuts and left out the chickpeas so I had enough calories for a salad dressing.  But as it was, I really enjoyed it and it was full of good nutrition. For dinner I tried another one of Angela’s recipes.  This one was Cauli-Power Alfredo.  I served mine with brown Basmati rice instead of pasta as I much prefer rice to pasta and I am not eating wheat this month.  I also served it with spinach which was a good choice.

317 calories. I absolutely LOVED this !!!!  The Cauli-Power Alfredo sauce was amazing.  Who would think cauliflower could possibly taste so lovely.  I do have a good blender – a Vita Mix – which is essential to create the smooth and creamy texture.  I used fresh onion and fresh garlic instead of the dried versions Angela uses but apart from those switches, I followed her recipe exactly.  I am astonished something so delicious, comforting and filling was only 317 calories but apparently it is.  I made the recipe to the quantities in Angela’s recipe and ate half of it.  317 calories does include 90g of cooked rice too.  Most of the Cauli-Power sauce is made with cauliflower which keeps the calories low.  Another very healthy days eating and only 1,021 calories today.  I am not planning to eat anything else so this will be a low calorie day.