Faux Pasta with Parsley Pesto and Macadamia Cheese

Explore Asian's Organic Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine is an amazing vegan, gluten-free pasta replacement that provides 24 g of protein per serving! Pairing this pasta with pepitas and macadamia cheese means this mouthwatering meal is pretty much pure protein - the perfect post-workout meal.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

1/2 package Explore Asian Organic Edamame and Mung Bean Fettuccine
1/2 package Explore Asian Thai Red Rice Vermicelli Noodles
Handful of raw activated pepitas
Handful or broccoli/radish/sunflower sprouts
Several broccoli florets for garnish

Parsley Pesto
1/2 cup raw activated cashews
big handful of fresh parsley
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp pine nuts
fresh juice of 1/2 a lemon
pinch of Celtic sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Macadamia Cheese
1 and a 1/2 cups raw activated macadamias
fresh juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup filtered water
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp pine nuts
big pinch of Celtic sea salt

1. Cook fettuccine and noodles according to package instructions.
2. Blend pesto ingredients and stir pesto through pasta.
3. Blend cheese ingredients and either stir through pasta or place to the side. 
4. Stir through pepitas and sprouts and garnish with broccoli.

Cauliflower, Chia & Hemp Pizza Base

One of the most common questions people ask me when they find out that I'm a vegan who loves to cook is, "how do you bake without eggs?!" Although there's an abundance of egg replacers out there, I usually try to avoid them because they're highly processed. I prefer to use flax or chia eggs instead - all you do is grind flax or chia in a coffee grinder until it resembles nut meal, then mix with water to form what I like to call "gooey egg glue". 

The following recipe uses chia eggs to hold this dairy-free, egg-free, grain-free and soy-free pizza base together.

Ingredients (makes one pizza base to serve 2 (or 1 extra hungry person))

1/2 head cauliflower - processed into cauliflower rice
1 tsp dried rosemary
handful of fresh parsley
pinch of Celtic sea salt
pinch of lemon myrtle
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup filtered water
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup hemp flour

1. Boil the cauliflower rice for a few minutes and then drain well. Freeze for 10 minutes to cool quickly.
2. Grind chia seeds and mix with water to create chia eggs. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to thicken.
3. Squeeze cooled cauliflower rice in paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
4. Blend all ingredients, including chia eggs, in a high-speed blender and spread mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (I ran out so I had to use foil - definitely not ideal!). 
5. Bake at 190C (fan-forced) for half an hour then top with all your favourite ingredients (I used homemade macadamia cheese, finely chopped beetroot/carrot sautéed in coconut oil, and green beans) and re-bake for another 15 minutes.
6. Garnish with parsley or other fresh herbs.

*You can replace chia seeds with flax seeds to achieve the same binding effect of eggs.