Sometime beige on beige tastes anything but. The main ingredient in this sauce is cauliflower and it can be used on pasta instead of bechamel sauce, it also works well as a substitute for mashed potatoes! I’m a little addicted…
VANILLA YOGHURT PANNA COTTA
This weekend is clearly all about cooking for me! My boyfriend and housemates are away and I have been so tired that I’ve been losing my voice this week, so I am trying to rest. And this is my version of resting ha. I’ve made this a couple of times now, and this version uses maple syrup to sweeten and vanilla and tangy greek yoghurt to flavour. I’ve served it with candied nuts, warmed berries, fresh berries, lime all are good and I’m sure you can come up with you’re own delicious combinations so I am just posting the actual panna cotta recipe here, sans toppings. I have even had this for breakfast (whoops) with some light and crunchy superfood muesli!
MUSHROOM, PEA AND SPINACH RISOTTO
Risotto is severely under rated, I promise it is more than ‘wet rice’ or ‘savoury porridge’ (although The Katering Show‘s episode about this is a hilarious must watch for any foodie, as are all their episodes ). Once you’ve made it a few times it also becomes pretty easy and you can totally multitask and don’t need to spend the whole time laboriously stirring the pot! The other thing they have going for them is that you can make an impressive meal for very little money. And I’m a teacher so being frugal is kind of important haha. The below recipe is for a basic mushroom risotto with spinach and peas. I’ve added thyme and sage as these are lovely with mushrooms, and lemon as this is so good with the peas. You could add chicken as well! Get stirring…
‘POPCORN’ CAULIFLOWER FLORETS WITH YOGHURT, FETA AND BASIL SAUCE
WARNING: these are very addictive, I almost ate a whole head of cauliflower by myself and that amount of cauli would do bad bad things to me… a narrow escape… Very narrow, I kept moving them further and further away from me and eating more each time I moved them. Idiot.
ZUCCHINI, PEA AND MINT SALAD
This salad tastes like summer. Eat it by itself. Eat it with a vegetable gallette. Eat it with barbecued lamb or chicken or fish or steak. Mix it with pasta. Just do yourself a favour and eat it. It’s super quick and simple to make, tastes great and looks pretty. It’s also full of stuff that’s good for you. Green stuff, good fats, great things. So stop reading these words and skip down to the recipe.
CHOCOLATE AND BERRY MUFFINS
I have a problem. I really like baked goods. Especially in the afternoon, anything sweet really, although fruit just hasn’t been cutting it lately. I need more. But when I eat too much processed food and sugar I sleep really badly; then I’m tired; and then I want more sugar in the afternoon to stay awake. It’s a sugary, circular battlefield. To solve this ‘problem’ (really I’m using that term in a pretty fast and loose way – my problem is on the pathetic side!) I’m trying to find low fructose, whole food solutions that are free of refined sugar to stop this cruel circle. Saving lives over here, solving world problems and the like haha.
GLUTEN FREE QUINOA PANCAKES
I hate wasting food, and the other night when I made the KALE, LENTIL AND POMEGRANATE SALAD I made way too much quinoa and had a container of it sitting in my fridge waiting to be eaten. I really wanted to use it today and felt like something that would feel indulgent because it’s Friday and that’s always worth celebrating (even if I am still on holidays right now..)!
KALE, LENTIL AND POMEGRANATE SALAD
For me, summer means salad and BBQs and this salad is delicious with barbecued anything! It has great flavours and textures and is full of a variety of nutrient dense ingredients. I think kale has such fantastic flavour and texture when it’s treated correctly… but sometimes big undressed pieces of it can seem grassy or have a bit too much bite. Whenever I use it raw in a salad I like to roughly shred it and allow it to soak up flavour, it keeps its great texture still but doesn’t over power other ingredients. The lentils and quinoa keep mean that it works as a whole meal as well as in smaller portions as a side.
MIDDLE EASTERN INSPIRED BBQ CHICKEN
I am by no means claiming that this is a traditional middle eastern dish but it was those flavours I was thinking of when I came up with this. This is super easy to do, and full of flavour. You can get your butcher to butterfly the chicken for you or do it yourself (it’s really easy to do and you can always find a tutorial online!). I have also cooked this in the oven and it works just fine, but you don’t get the smoky char of course! Delicious served with the KALE, LENTIL AND POMEGRANATE SALAD 😉
AVOCADO AND FETA MASH
Avocado. Maybe the most posted food item on my Instagram feed. Thus I figured it was time to have a post dedicated to one of my favourite breakfast sides, this tangy fresh and delicious avocado and feta mash. I almost wasn’t going to bother as it’s so simple but it’s so good so here we are. It’s great just with crackers or as part of a big shared brunch spread or just smeared on to your toast… maybe with an egg on top! If you’re not a coriander fan you could replace with either basil, mint or flat leaf parsley. The lemon can be replaced with lime and sometimes i put a clove of garlic or a pinch of paprika or cumin in to change the flavour profile depending on what I’m serving it with. But this is the basic recipe. This makes enough for 4-6 pieces of toasts depending on how generous you’re feeling!