Blazing Salads

Today I went for lunch at Blazing Salads, which is a little deli on Drury Street in Dublin 2, just down from the rear entrance to George's Street Arcade. Their salads are freshly prepared on the day and although filling a tub can be quite expensive, it is worth every cent. There are several salads available, all of which are vegan:

• Tabouli
• Fruity Red cabbage with orange & apple
• Carrot with toasted almond in a lemon olive oil dressing
• Noodles with spicy/balsamic shoyu dressing
• Dutch white cabbage salad with dulse seaweed
• Tossed mixed leaves, red onion shaved carrot with lemon & mustard
• Chickpeas with carrot, red onion in chilli/lemon dressing
• New potato with pinto bean, radicio in balsamic dressing  
• Energy boosting lentil & barley salad  
• Tomato, avocado, cucumber with fresh oregano, fresh mint & olive oil
• Hummus

Blazing Salads also have a refrigerated section for sandwiches and healthy homemade ready-meals, a deli counter full of samosas, burgers, cakes and biscuits, and always have a few soups on offer. Most of their produce is vegetarian although there are several vegan options and it's definitely worth a visit - I guarantee that everything is so nice you won't be able to choose what to get, so you'll just have to keep on visiting! ;)

Here's a picture of a lovely hot cocoa with soya milk that I had while I relaxed on the streets of Temple Bar, chilling and chatting with friends.

Mojitos!

Nothing better than some rum, lemonade, limes and fresh mint!
All those fruits and herbs are good for me, right? ;)

Berry Smoothies

I have no idea why I don't make smoothies more often. Bananas are the most useful ingredient when making smoothies, as they make them creamy without having to use milk, and make them thick and gloopy - more like a meal than a drink. As I've been snacking all day today and haven't really had any exercise I wasn't really in the mood for a big dinner so I thought I'd get a good healthy smoothie down my throat :)  I'm not the biggest fan of banana - since I was 6 years old I was *convinced* I was allergic to them after throwing up and thinking my throat was swelling and closing in on itself - however, fast forward about 25 years and I discovered I was indeed NOT allergic to them, so started to eat them on a regular basis... so much so that I began to hate them again!  Now I only eat them in smoothies and in dried chip format.

All I did to make this smoothie was blend together one large banana and half a cup of mixed fresh berries with 200ml of fresh orange juice. It's so simple, so cheap, yet so tasty...

Statement from Jameson

Yes, it's what we've all been waiting to hear:
JAMESON'S IRISH WHISKEY IS VEGAN!
Hallelujah!

"Jameson Irish Whiskey is suitable for vegans. No animal products of any
description (including milk, eggs, honey, gelatin, isinglass etc.) are used
in the manufacture of Jameson. It is a good idea to state the suitability of the drink for vegetarians or vegans. It is an idea we are considering at the moment."

Bubble Drinks - The Real McCoy

I have blogged before about my love of Asian food, so I thought I'd follow up on my "bubble drink" post with a picture of a can from the Asian market. There were several varieties of these but this was the only vegan one I came across. It's made from mung beans, soya milk, sugar, tapioca balls and non-dairy creamer. It's quite fattening at around 200 calories per can, so I'd rather make my own at home, but I don't see how one once in a while could do any harm and it's also like a snack and a drink in one. It has a slightly odd beany-taste at first, but then it immediately grows on you and becomes more sweet and creamy. Love it!

BUBBLES!

Who doesn't love bubbles? Bubbles in the bath, bubbly champagne, bubbling jacuzzis, bubbles that you blow around you in the wind while pretending to be a fairy... *ahem*

This is my first go at making a bubble drink. The "bubbles" are tapioca balls that I got from the asian market, and are exactly the same ones as I found on this blog.

There are so many different recipes for bubble drinks. You can put them in smoothies, have them with iced coffee, iced tea, cold green tea / fruit tea, soya milk, rice milk, etc. The possibilities are endless! I have an awesome idea in my head for a white russian alcoholic bubble drink!

I made mine with rice milk and a dash of vanilla essence, as I'm pretty new to this and wanted to keep it simple. The packet of tapioca balls I got said to boil them for 5 minutes and then mix them into a sugary solution (I used xylitol). I should technically have a massive oversized straw to suck the tapioca through as I drink, but I have no idea where to get a straw that big! I might get smaller tapioca balls next time.

For more information on bubble drinks have a look at the Wikipedia page!