Tag Archives: oats

Picture of square raw carrot cakes

No Bake Carrot Cake

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Raw spicy carrot cake with nuts and coconut

Admittedly, this carrot cake does take some labour to pull off. However, the result more than pays off. This full raw and vegan carrot cake is full of healthy ingredients and tastes downright heavenly and very refined. With its warming spices and energy from the nuts, dates and root vegetables, this cake suits the autumn and winter season very well.

What ingredients do you need?

For the cake

  • 2 medium-sized carrots, approx 190 g in total, grated
  • 120 g almonds
  • 80 g oatmeal
  • 8 to 10 large medjoul or mazafati dates (about 130 g, pitted)
  • 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder
  • 1 quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg
  • 1 quarter teaspoon ginger powder
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • 70 g grated coconut
  • a generous splash of plant milk (up to about 100 ml)
  • optional: a teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the icing:

  • 2 to 3 medjoul or mazafati dates
  • 120 g cashew nuts
  • one tablespoon of sesame paste (tahini)
  • 80 to 120 ml of vegetable milk
  • 15 g walnuts or pecans
  • optional: a teaspoon of vanilla extract

This is how to make this delicious carrot cake

A few small preparations:

  • Soak the walnuts in cold water for a few hours or overnight
  • Drain them and rinse away the bitterness
  • Soak the cashews for 15 minutes or so in warm water, or an hour or two in cold water
  • Drain them and rinse briefly
  • Open the dates to pit them, then cut them into pieces and soak them in warm water for about 5-10 minutes
  • Drain the soaking water
  • Roast the almonds for about 15 minutes on a sheet of baking paper in a preheated oven at 160°C, stirring once halfway through
  • Grate the carrots finely
  • Prepare a sheet of baking paper at the bottom of a tray with raised edges of approx 20 cm x 20 cm

This is how to make the cake come true:

  • Place the carrots, almonds, spices and salt in a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade and grind to a coarse mixture
  • Add the dates and grind further
  • Then add the grated coconut and continue to blend
  • Pause occasionally and scrape down what sticks to the sides of the food processor to get a homogeneous mixture
  • Add the vegan milk little by little to get a slightly moister and finer mixture
  • Pat the raw dough thus obtained onto the baking sheet in the tray, press it flat all around and smoothen
  • Then add the cashews, the three remaining dates, the sesame paste and the vegan milk into the cleaned bowl of the food processor and grind until you get a creamy consistency
  • Spoon the cream thus obtained onto the carrot cake in the tray and spread uniformly and smooth
  • Pulse the walnuts coarsely in the food processor and finally sprinkle them over the cream layer as a garnish

Your delicious carrot cake is ready. Put it away in the fridge for a few hours to become firmer.
Picture of a cutout from a carrot cake

Some tips and experiences

Grinding the carrot cake dough is the trickiest job. But once that job is done, your cake is also pretty much done.
Toasting the almonds is not really necessary, but it results in a boost in flavour.
When toasting the almonds, keep a close eye on your oven. The almonds may turn a little light brown, but be careful not to burn them. After all, every oven is unique.
By placing a sheet of baking paper in the tray, you can easily lift the cake out of the mould afterwards to cut it up. You might as well make the cake in a round tray.
Due to the high nut and date content, this cake is very high in energy. A small piece per person is enough to make you feel satiated quickly.
This cake will easily keep for up to 4-5 days in the fridge in a sealed container.
Enjoy to the fullest!

Did you like this cake topper? Here is another recipe using carrots in a sweet-tasting dessert, without nuts.

What is the importance of nuts for health?

A small portion of nuts daily supports your health. Nuts generally contain healthy oils and also some plant proteins. The oil they contain does make them very high in energy. So consume nuts regularly, preferably daily, but in moderation.
Eating a portion of nuts daily is one of the recommendations from the “Daily Dozen”. This is a set of twelve plant foods that have been objectively scientifically proven benefits to support a healthy and long life. The “Daily Dozen” were developed by US physician Dr Michael Greger. He has made spreading scientific information about healthy plant-based eating to his life’s goal. Read about it in detail on his website www.nutritionfacts.org. This website is full of scientifically substantiated tips and information on how to eat 100% plant-based food in a healthy way. I highly recommend!

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Picture of a fvegan ruit crumble

Warm fruit crumble

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Autumn sonata with seasonal fruit, oatmeal and walnuts

A very quick and easy dessert, ideal for autumn or winter.
This is when freshly harvested fruit and nuts are available in abundance.
Warmed fruit delivers a subtle palette of flavours and aromas. The spices not only add a touch of flavour but also aid digestion. The recipe is 100% plant-based with no added refined sugar.

What ingredients do you need?

For the fruit marinade:

  • 4 pieces of seasonal fruit
  • one tablespoon lemon juice
  • a teaspoon of cinnamon (or more, depending on taste)
  • another half tablespoon of maple syrup
  • Optional: half a teaspoon of ground cardamom

For the crumble pastry

  • 120 g walnuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts or a mixture
  • 100 g rolled oats
  • 2 tablespoons heatable oil (for example sunflower oil or coconut oil (melted))
  • 4 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • Sea salt to taste

Here’s how you can do it:

In a nutshell, it’s very simple:

  • You mix the fruit with the marinade ingredients and spread it out on the bottom of a baking tray.
  • Then you mix the crumble ingredients and place this mixture as a second layer on top of the fuit layer.
  • Then bake in the oven.

Proceed step by step as follows:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (or 170°C with hot air circulation)
  • Cut the fruit into pieces
  • Mix the fruit with the marinade: lemon juice, cinnamon, maple syrup and optionally cardamom
  • Spread the fruit mixture in the bottom of a mould or on a baking tray and set aside
  • Coarsely chop the oats and walnuts in a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade
  • Add the oil, maple syrup, cinnamon and sea salt and blend
  • Add the crumble batter in a second layer over the fruit in the baking tray
  • Bake for approximately 20 minutes in the preheated oven

And there you have it! The crumble can be eaten chilled but is best warm. You can serve it with a generous spoonful of vegan cream if you like.

Is it better to eat fruit raw?

Raw or not raw: it’s one of those debates in the world of food that can often be the subject of a veritable religion :

  • For raw food fans, it’s good to eat lots of fruit and heating above 40°C is taboo.
  • For followers of Ayurveda and macrobiotics, steaming or cooking fruit is preferable. According to these prescriptions, you are better off eating fruit in moderation, and separately from other foods.

Well, the truth will lie, as it often does, somewhere in the middle.
My advice is to find out how you digest fruit best. In any case, heating fruit comes at the expense of some of its nutritional value. This has been scientifically measured. In fact, some vitamins (such as vitamin C, which is naturally abundant in fruit) are degraded when heated.
The shorter the food is heated and the gentler the cooking technique, the greater the remaining nutritional value. Mild cooking techniques are therefore better.

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Overnight oats woth fruit

Oats and chia

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, vegan

Now here’s a really healthy and complete breakfast for lazy people. One of its advantages is that all ingredients are raw. No need to heat or cook anything. Just mix some things together the evening before, and then cut some fruit in the morning. That’s all.

What you need for one serving:

  • ca 50 grs of rolled oats
  • one and a half tablespoon of chia seeds
  • ca 200 ml of plant based milk
  • fruit of your choice

Ready in no time:

  • Pour the rolled oats and the chia seeds in a bowl, or, even better, in a glass jar that you can close.
  • Pour the plant milk over the oats and mingle well. The oats will swell as they absorb the liquid, so make sure they are well submerged.
  • Close the jar or cover the bowl and put in the refrigerator to soak for the whole night.
  • In the morning you can stir again and add some extra plant milk if the mixture looks too dry.
  • Cut up the fruit of your choice to pieces and mix in. You can top with some nuts of your choice, preferably soaked.

There you are.
This breakfast does not contain any added sugar, has a velvety soft texture and a fairly neutral taste, which enhances the flavour of the chosen fruit.
It will give you a satisfied feeling that will last for hours.
Enjoy it!

Even more protein

Do you practice power training or an intense sporting activity? Then consider this:

  • Three tablespoons of chia.
  • Soy milk for higher protein intake.
  • a generous serving of soy yogurt on top.

You can choose whatever plant based drink, like soy milk or a nut-based milk.
Nut milk can be easily home made, in the quantities that suit you. Click here for the recipe.
Are rolled oats “raw” in the strict meaning of the word? Not really. Rolled oats are oat grains that have been squashed between the rollers of a machine, hence “rolled oats”. In the process, some heat is generated. Still, it can’t be compared to boiling.
Chia seeds, are the tiny, black and white seeds of the plant with the latin name Salvia hispanica. When you soak them in water they swell by forming a jelly like layer on their outside. That’s why people sometimes use them in vegan recipes as a substitute for eggs. They are immensely popular as “superfood”.
But what’s so “super” about them? Well, they contain a lot of plant protein of very good quality, and fairly easy to digest. Furthermore, they contain a lot of fibre, a lot of omega-3 fatty acids and minerals such as calcium, phosphor, magnesium en the micronutrient copper. And also vitamins, such as B1, B3 and a remarkable lot of vitamin E.

Product Energy Carbohydrates Fats Protein Fibre
Chia seeds, per 100 grs 1832 kJ 4,9 grs 31,4 grs 21,2 grs 33,7 grs

Breakfast or no breakfast?

With breakfast I mean your first meal of the day. One can discuss whether to take a breakfast early in the morning or later that day. A lot depends on your daily activities and schedule. I had a tendency to start eating almost right after getting out of bed in the morning, but nowadays I sometimes have my first meal at 10, or 11 am, or even later. It is important to regularly grant your intestines a rest, at least 8 hours or even better 16 hours a day. That way your body is able to correctly assimilate the food and eliminate the waste. A lot of problems with overeating and overweight find their cause in the questionable habit to stuff ourselves with food, almost non-stop from the morning till the evening. Advertising and marketing constantly try to seduce us to do so. To alleviate one’s hunger is something completely different than getting addicted to the feeling of a constantly filled stomach.

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