Sometimes you just need cupcakes, right? But sometimes you don’t want to throw all your good intentions out the window. These little gems are a great mid-ground, they are still sweet but are made with fantastic whole food ingredients and are filling enough that you can stop at one (if, like, self control is a thing you have a handle on). They remind me of those delicious hazelnut gluten free cupcakes with the white chocolate icing and nut brittle that many Melbourne cafes stock. Except these use much less sugar, and are a mixture of buckwheat flour and hazelnut which ups the nutty taste. Fraser believes the pralined nuts on top make these ones, I think it’s the light but creamy vanilla, ricotta and cream cheese icing. Either way they are a delicious indulgence.
KALE, KIWI AND BANANA SMOOTHIE
I think everyone might have their own green smoothie recipe by now… and I’m sure you love your go to but I wanted to share mine. It doesn’t taste grassy or like kale at all but it’s full of it. I also love that vibrant green colour it goes – you just feel like your drinking health haha. And you are, this one has tons of vitamins and minerals, essential fats and fibre. Most importantly this tastes delicious.
CHIA AND OAT PORRIDGE WITH KIWI, BANANA AND PEPITAS
This is one of those recipes where the whole thing is almost in the title. But it’s very good. Really creamy and tasty with loads of nutrients. It’s also exactly what I need to eat at the moment as work has started again and I all of a sudden need to eat breakfast way earlier and thus stay full for longer. This does the trick.
ROAST POTATO SALAD WITH AN ASIAN VINAIGERETTE
I’m a little potato obsessed. I love all kinds and I also love that different potatoes have favourite ways of being cooked, it gives them their own little personality. Dutch creams love a good mashing, Russets make the best roasties and fries and kipflers, well those litlle nuggets of joy are perfect eaten with their skin on boiled or roasted. In this recipe I boil them then roast them and chuck them in a mayonnaise free roast potato salad of sorts. It’s served warm but would be fine the next day straight from the fridge too. The asian flavours make a nice break from my usual potato salad and lend the kipflers a welcome freshness. The texture of the soft coriander, crunchy nuts and the crispy potatoes is also great. Plus potatoes love salt and the dressing is all about that.
CACAO’N’NUT CRUNCH
This is the breakfast cereal my childhood dreams were made of. We were only ever allowed coco pops on holidays (when Dad bought those mixed packs of single serve cereal and we’d all fight over the coco pops), when we wanted them at other times we’d just liberally sprinkle our Rice Bubbles with Milo. Delicious. Well this recipe is my adult take on this, it’s full of nuts and seeds, and gets it’s coco pops likeness from the puffed brown rice and puffed buckwheat. It’s just like a chocolate milkshake only healthy 😉
SWEET POTATO AND CRISPY KALE FRITTERS
I’m really into making delicious meals out of what’s in the fridge and pantry at the moment rather than going and buying specific ingredients. It’s all in an effort to waste less and be more economical but it’s also kind of fun. Like playing ‘mystery box challenge’ with yourself – wow what a sad sentence! Anyway out of this habit has come some really great meals and this was one of them. Flavoured with ginger and turmeric and full of crispy edges and just tender sweet potato these are a great breakfast, lunch or light dinner idea. I highly recommend serving them with tangy greek yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon.
CHOCOLATE WAFFLES
Chocolate waffles that are light like a sponge cake inside with a crispy exterior, it’s like eating a little disk of chocolate sponge. This is my third waffles post. Is that ridiculous? I just really loves waffles… and not just waffles themselves but the waffle maker too. It just makes the best toasted sandwiches… I need to experiment with more food types in the waffle maker. But back to waffles. Waffles and chocolate. Chocolate waffles. These are gluten and refined sugar free. They’re actually not that sweet at all but have a bitter chocolate flavour that works well with the slightly nutty buckwheat. As they are just a little sweet the flavours of the waffle are brilliant with fruit toppings and maple syrup.
SAVOURY PORRIDGE WITH POACHED EGG, CORIANDER AND CHILLI
Savoury porridge… What the?! Well this idea is nothing new… think congee. It’s just my take on it and if I do say so myself (and I’m the one who ate it so I’m in the best position to call it) it was really delicious. Despite my boyfriend telling me not to ‘mess with porridge’, I will be making this very often, because sometime when you mess with stuff magic happens. It’s also full of nutrients: fibre and protein from the oats, protein and healthy fats from the egg, calcium from the tahini, and the vitamins and minerals provided by the coriander and chilli (and whatever other veges you top with). The tahini also lends a delicious rich creaminess to the porridge. Yum.
LEMON MERINGUES
My mum is an expert baker. She was a home economics teacher in New Zealand for years and has always been in charge of the dessert section of any family occasion or dinner party. And she does the. best. meringues. ever. No argument. She often makes the good old original kind, this amazing chewy coconut flavour and many others. Mum’s meringues are light and airy with a crispy outer layer and chewy centre. Just how I like them.
ORANGE AND MAPLE LAMB RIBS WITH SLOW ROASTED PUMPKIN PUREE
There is so much golden deliciousness in this recipe. The caramelised ribs with their orange and maple syrup marinade, spiked with chilli and paprika and the fragrant whiffs of cinnamon. You’ll be licking your fingers. You’ll also be using these sticky morsels of goodness to wipe up the pumpkin puree beneath them. By roasting the pumpkin to golden perfection first you get that delicious caramelised pumpkin flavour in the puree. It’s crazily good. With fresh coriander and salty feta to finish, the whole plate will disappear before you notice.
