6th April 2015

Veggie crumble recipe

If you are looking for a vegetarian recipe to polish off your long Easter weekend, I'd highly recommend this veggie crumble recipe. It is a very versatile recipe so almost any vegetable left over in your kitchen will do. Any lamb leftovers would of course compliment this dish nicely too! 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For the filling

About 600g mixed vegetables that you like, such as:

Carrot

Parsnip

Squash

Potato

Swede

Leek

Pepper

Kale

3 garlic cloves crushed

1tsp oregano dried

1tsp thyme dried

For the crumble

200g plain or wholemeal flour

100g butter, softened

50g cheddar cheese grated

Handful of porridge oats

Ground black pepper

2tbsp sunflower or pumpkin seeds (optional)

For the sauce

50g butter

50g plain flour

800ml vegetable stock

Salt & Pepper

Handful grated cheese (optional)

Lemon juice (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Chop or slice all of the vegetables into roughly equally sized pieces and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan and melt the butter until it bubbles slightly. Add the crushed garlic, chopped leek and herbs and cook until soft.  Set aside into another bowl.

To make the sauce (using the same pan), melt the butter and add the flour and stir well for another minute. Gradually add the stock gradually stirring as you pour- to avoid any lumps. The sauce should eventually thicken. Season and add some grated cheese or just a squeeze of lemon juice.

Add the freshly chopped vegetables to the sauce and cook gently for ten minutes, stirring often.

Meanwhile for the crumble, put the flour into a mixing bowl. Chop the butter into little cubes and add it to the flour. Using your fingers rub the flour and butter together. Keep going until it looks like breadcrumbs (a few lumps are OK!) Stir in the oats, cheese, pepper and seeds (if using). Set aside.

Carefully pour the saucy vegetables into approximately a 3.5 litre square baking dish.

Sprinkle the crumble all over the top of the vegetables. You should cover all of them up and have a nice thick crumble topping. Drizzle olive oil all over the crumble.

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the crumble is bubbling and golden-brown. If necessary to help brown, place under the grill for a few minutes.

Remove the crumble from the oven and leave to cool slightly before serving.

Total time (prep and cooking): 1 hour 30 minutes. 
Suitable for: Vegetarians. 

Other meal ideas: Delicious served with crusty bread,salad leaves, lamb leftovers.

RAW CHOCOLATE  MOUSSE RECIPE 

My husband, a Canadian chocoholic could not be fooled that this was similar to your every day heavy cream-chocolate-egg and butter mousse.  I, on the other hand much prefer this lighter healthier version.  I am sure my daughter thinks she is eating real chocolate mousse! I experimented two different versions of this raw mousse recipe using mashed banana and avocado independently. It was hard to decide which one we preferred. The avocado added such creaminess and banana such sweetness. In the end, I decided to add them both! I have also used a combination of coco and cacao powder, as I did not wish to compensate for the bitterness of cacao powder by adding even more maple syrup. Overall, it is an excellent way of getting more potassium into your day and contains all the added benefits of heart-healthy mono unsaturated fatty acids. A perfect family dessert! 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana mashed
1 avocado mashed
1/2 cup (80 g) dates pitted

125 ml chilled coconut cream or use the top of a can of full fat coconut milk

1 tbsp coco powder
2 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp chia seeds

3-4 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla essence

¼ tsp cinnamon

Pinch of sea salt
Handful of nuts of your choice

Method:

Place the coconut cream/milk in the fridge overnight. Soak dates in a bowl with water- enough to cover the dates completely.
When ready to make the mousse, drain the dates into a large bowl and combine all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. Spoon the mousse into teacups or small ramekins. Place in the fridge overnight to set.
Use a pestle and mortal to bash the nuts of your choice (or throw into a blender). I used green pistachios nuts- their vibrant green colour looks fantastic against the dark chocolate. 

Keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Total time (prep and cooking): 10 minutes plus 12 hours to set.
Suitable for: Gluten/dairy free, vegetarian, vegan, and egg free.

Other meal ideas: Use as a healthy chocolate spread.
Delicious served with berries too. 

22nd March 2015

CAULIFLOWER CRUST PIZZA

This pizza recipe uses ground cauliflower florets as a base rather than flour. I urge you to try this versatile pizza as I think you will be pleasantly surprised. It also contains more nutrients than your average pizza as cauliflower is rich in potassium and high in vitamins A and C. I have counteracted the cauliflower's rather bitter taste by adding ground almonds for a hint of sweetness. At first I found putting this pizza straight into the oven on a baking tray or pizza stone resulted in a soggy base. The answer to getting a lovely crusty one is to use a cast iron pan – cooking it on the hob first and then into a hot oven. It is best eaten warm. My daughter however found it more appealing in a soft tortilla wrap with houmous- always likes to be different!

Makes 2 pizzas
Ingredients:
Base
1 cauliflower (florets)
80g ground almonds
1 tbsp dried oregano
3 eggs beaten
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil 

Tomato base 
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 garlic clove, crushed
pinch of cinnamon
Salt and pepper

Topping
Chorizo cut thinly
1/2 yellow pepper thinly sliced
125g ball mozzarella (drained)
25g parmesan grated

Handful of basil leaves to garnish (optional)


Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Chop the cauliflower and blend to a rice-like texture in a food processor. Add the ground almonds, oregano and egg (the texture should be more loose and sticky than traditional pizza dough).
Warm the olive oil in a cast iron pan over a medium heat for a few minutes. Then mound half of the cauliflower mix into the centre of the pan then carefully use a spoon to spread it out (save the other half for another pizza). Make it a little thicker at the edges to create a ‘crust’. After 3-4 minutes, over a medium heat remove the pan from the heat and bake in the oven for a further 25 minutes, or until golden.

To make the topping, blend together the canned tomatoes with the purée, garlic and cinnamon. Season well. Set aside. 

Meanwhile prepare for the pizza topping. Thinly slice the chorizo and fry for a few minutes each side. Slice the pepper very finely and set aside.

Remove the pizza from the oven and spread the tomato sauce over base, scatter the chorizo, peppers,tear up the mozarella ball and dot around the pizza. Finally sprinkle parmesan cheese all over. Place back into the oven for a further 5- 10 minutes until golden brown. 

Before serving, shave over a little more cheese if desired and scatter with the remaining basil leaves.

Total time (prep and cooking): 1 hour

Suitable for: Gluten free

Other meal ideas: Delicious served with a crunchy green salad

IRISH SODA BREAD RECIPE

In celebration of Saint Patrick's Day this week, or the Feast of Saint Patrick I thought I would make Irish soda bread. It is terrific loaf to make when time is of the essence, as it contains sodium bicarbonate as a leavening agent (instead of the more common yeast where proving is required). In my recipe, I have served this delicious bread with my father's very own flavourful marmalade. My father has been making marmalade at the start of every year for as long as I can remember. The kitchen always ended up in a sticky mess, which drove my mother crazy! However, the end result was always worth it- a years supply of marmalade! You can of course serve it with any jam of your choice or simply melted butter. Even though I won't be able to tuck into this loaf (gluten intolerant), I know my family will!

Recipe from BBC Good Food

Serves 6

Ingredients:

250g plain white flour

250g plain wholemeal flour

100g porridge oats

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

25g butter (in chunks)

500ml buttermilk

Butter and Jam

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C.

Dust a baking sheet with flour. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then rub in the butter. Quickly pour in the buttermilk and using your hands bring the dough together (handle it very, very gently). Next shape it into a flat, round loaf measuring 20cm/8in in diameter. 

Place the loaf on the baking sheet and score a deep cross in the top (to help the bread to cook through.) Bake for 30-40 minutes until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If it isn’t ready after this time, turn it upside down on the baking sheet and bake for a few minutes more.

Transfer to a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel (this keeps the crust nice and soft) and leave to cool. 

It is best eaten on the same day and broken into quarters. 

Total time (prep & cooking): 50 minutes

CHOCOLATE & BEETROOT CAKE RECIPE 

I have to admit I did struggle to decide what to make for Mother's Day. What treat would I like and appeal to other mothers too?  Since becoming a mum I rarely put myself first, so this was a nice change. In the end it was an obvious choice - a healthy moist chocolate cake that is adaptable for all.  Generally I find most gluten free cakes on the market too sweet, dry and expensive. My recipe uses spelt flour but I was happy to discover that rice flour worked just as well. I have never used beetroot in a cake before and boy does it work well!  It adds natural sweetness, earthiness, richness and moisture. Also what better way to hide a vegetable - one I am sure my daughter wouldn't fancy on a plate - than in a cake! I can assure you the mess from grating raw beetroot is definitely worth it. Baking with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter also made a nice change. So what better way to celebrate Mother's Day than with a delicious healthy chocolate cake. 

Inspired and adapted from 'The Green Kitchen' cookbook

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

150ml extra virgin olive oil

120ml honey and or maple syrup

50g dark chocolate broken

250g raw beetroot grated

3 eggs beaten

200g spelt/ rice flour*

2 tsp baking powder

5 tbsp cacao powder

A pinch of sea salt

Icing sugar to decorate (optional)

* Gluten free

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Grease a (10 in) bundt cake tin or grease and line a 20 cm cake tin.

Warm the oil in a pan over a very low heat. Add the maple syrup/honey and chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and add the beets and eggs.

In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking and cacao powder. Then stir this into the beet mixture.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes in a bundt tin and 35-40 minutes in a cake tin- or until slightly cracked on top and a little sticky inside.

Before removing from the cake tin, allow to cool for roughly 15 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar if extra sweetness is desired. 
This cake is best served warm with berries and yoghurt.

Total time (prep and cooking): 1 hour.

Suitable for: Gluten/dairy free, and vegetarian.

Other meal ideas: Delicious served with berries and Greek yoghurt.

8th March 2015

APPLE PURÉE RECIPE

Every couple of months I tend to make a batch of apple purée.  I use leftover eating apples from my fruit bowl- so any type will do. It is a terrific natural sweeter and can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. It is handy to have on standby and it doesn't take long to make. I tend to split my batch - keep half in the fridge and freeze the rest in ice cube trays. I hope you find it as useful as me!

Ingredients:

x2 eating apples

2 tbsp water

¼ tsp cinnamon

Squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

Chop the apples into quarters (I like to leave the peel on for more flavour). Place in a medium sized pan and add water, cinnamon and lemon juice. Place over a medium heat for ten minutes (until soft), stirring occasionally. Once cooled, place the cooked apple in a food processor and blend until smooth. 

Store in a sealed container in the fridge or spoon into ice cube tray/s and place in the freezer.

It keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days in the fridge or for months in the freezer.

Total time (prep & cooking): : 30 minutes

Suitable for: Dairy/gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and egg free.
Other meal ideas: Mix with yoghurt/porridge, use to sweeten soups and stews.

1st March 2015

SLOW COOKER VEGETABLE RISOTTO RECIPE

This is a good recipe when things are hectic at home. As it’s made in a slow cooker, you don't need to stand stirring over a hot stove for hours. Coconut milk might seem a surprising ingredient in a savoury risotto, but this is the secret to its delicious creaminess. I made it after returning from a mini break away, (can it ever be a "break" with toddlers?!) and was much appreciated by a tired and hungry family!

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1 cup (200g) short grain/arborio rice (white or brown)
1 can coconut milk (full fat or light)
2 cups (500 ml) vegetable stock
Handful of parmesan finely grated 
Handful of squash or carrot finely grated
1 tsp parsley (dried)
Salt and pepper

Method:
Add rice, milk and stock into a slow cooker. Stir/mix well and turn cooker on ‘Low’ for approximately 2 hours. If possible stir every 30 minutes. Roughly 5 minutes before the total cooking time is complete, add the grated squash/carrot and parmesan. To serve, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley if desired.

Total time (prep and cooking): 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Suitable for: Gluten/dairy free, vegetarian, and vegan.
Other meal ideas: Serve with cold meats and or a crunchy green salad. They are also great for left overs as little rice patties dipped in beaten egg, bread crumbs and then pan fried.