by Victoria Lucas, founder of girls’ swimwear label, Willow Swim
With Australia Day just around the corner, I am planning on taking my girls, Willow and Olive, for a swim at the beach followed by a picnic in the park for lunch. And no picnic is complete without a basket full of goodies.
As it’s a day of celebrating, we’ll be making some of our favourite Aussie treats, however, we’ll be putting a healthy spin on the traditional recipes.
Think lamingtons as bliss balls, Vegemite scrolls that can be made with vegan pastry, vegan sausage rolls and more.
Scroll down for five picnic-perfect recipes to celebrate Australia Day on January 26.
1 // Lamington bliss balls
Plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, dairy free
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup cashew butter
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1-2 tbsps coconut oil melted
Coating
- 1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Method:
- Add all ingredients to a whizz until combined (adjust ingredients as needed to form a dough-like consistency).
- Roll mixture into 2cm balls.
- Melt chocolate for coating.
- Dip balls into melted chocolate and then coat with desiccated coconut
- Set in fridge for 1-2 hours
2 // Vegemite wheels
Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of puff pastry (vegan pastry available)
- 2 tbsps Vegemite
- 1/2 cup grated cheese (vegan cheese available)
- 2 tbsps coconut oil
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Lay the pastry sheets on a flat surface. Cut each sheet in half so that you have four rectangular sheets of pastry.
- With the back of a spoon, spread the Vegemite evenly over the entire surface of all sheets of pastry.
- Evenly sprinkle the grated cheese over all sheets of pastry leaving 1cm from the edge.
- Roll the pastry creating a snail like shape leaving the edge where you did not put cheese to be the last of the roll. This folded edge needs to be on the bottom.
- Cut 1cm slices and place on a baking try lined with baking paper.
- Brush coconut oil over the top of each roll.
- Cook in an oven for 15 minutes or until golden.
3 // Sausage rolls
Vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, lactose free
Ingredients:
- 4 sheets of puff pastry
- Coconut oil
Meatloaf
- 2 tbsps coconut oil
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups boiled sweet potatoes
- 3 cups mushrooms chopped and sautéed in 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 cups nuts of choice
- 1/2 cup seeds of choice
- 1 tbsp thyme (fresh or dry)
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1 tin lentils
- 3 tbsps tomato paste
- 2 tbsps passata
- 1/2 cup almond meal or breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
- 1 pinch of salt
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- To make the filling, blend all meatloaf ingredients in a whizz until combined.
- Lay the pastry sheets on a flat surface. Cut each sheet in half so that you have four rectangle sheets of pastry.
- Scoop out meatloaf laying a snake like shape along the edge of the pastry sheet. Make sure your snake is 2cm wide and 2cm high. Complete this step for each pastry sheet.
- Roll the pastry sheet making sure the end fold is on the bottom once rolled.
- Brush with coconut oil and cut into 3cm pieces.
- Bake in an oven for 20-25mins or until golden brown
4 // Tomato wheels
Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of puff pastry (vegan pastry available)
- 4 tbsps passata
- 1/2 cup grated cheese (vegan cheese available)
- 2 tbsps coconut oil
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Lay the pastry sheets on a flat surface. Cut each sheet in half so that you have four rectangle sheets of pastry.
- With the back of a spoon spread the passata evenly over the entire surface of all sheets of pastry.
- Evenly sprinkle the grated cheese over all sheets of pastry leaving 1cm from the edge.
- Roll the pastry creating a snail like shape leaving the edge where you did not put cheese to be the last of the roll. This folded edge needs to be on the bottom.
- Cut 1cm slices and place on a baking try lined with baking paper.
- Brush coconut oil over the top of each roll
- Cook in an oven for 15mins or until golden.
5 // Fruit sticks
Ingredients:
- 12 skewers
- 12 Strawberries
- 24 raspberries
- 24 blueberries
Method:
- Soak skewers in water overnight.
- Wash fruit and cut off the green leaves from the strawberries.
- Push each layer of fruit onto the skewers creating a fun pattern.
You might also like: Soul Food: Pistachio matcha balls, Soul Food: Sweet potato and almond butter brownies and Soul Food: Activated charcoal detox smoothie with hemp granola.
