Category: Nutritious

For the times when you realise you should probably eat something with some healthy stuff in it.

Overnight Strawberry Oats

Overnight Strawberry Oats

 

Recipe

Makes 1 large jar

Time: 5 minutes, plus chilling time overnight

Ingredients

  • 60g porridge oats
  • 85ml milk (I used almond milk)
  • 100g strawberry yoghurt
  • 2-3  large strawberries, diced
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds

Method

  1. Mix all the ingredients in a large jar (I used a jam jar).
  2. Cover and let sit overnight to enjoy in the morning!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Aubergine Shakshuka

Aubergine Shakshuka

This is one of my family’s go-to comfort foods at the moment – ras el hanout aubergines, tomatoes, feta and a baked egg on top! You can make it in minutes and there’s always enough to share around!

Recipe

Serves 3-4

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 2 aubergines
  • A little oil for frying
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tbsp ras el hanout
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 500ml tomato passata
  • 3 eggs
  • 50g feta

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Cut both aubergines in half, and then cut each half into four to make 16 long wedges.
  3. Fry the aubergine with a little oil, over a medium heat until browned. Take the aubergine out of the pan and place to one side until needed.
  4. Top and tail, peel and then finely dice the onion. Add it to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes until soft. Meanwhile peel and finely chop the garlic.
  5. Add the garlic to the pan and fry for another minute. Then add the ras el hanout, paprika, tomato puree and sugar and stir to combine. Next add the passata and mix. Finish with a seasoning of salt and pepper.
  6. Pour the sauce into an oven-proof dish. Arrange the aubergines over the top. Crack the eggs over the top of the dish and then sprinkle over the feta.
  7. Cook the dish for about 7 minutes in the oven until the eggs are softly cooked.
  8. Serve warm with some bread to mop up the juices!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Veggie Stack Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Veggie Stack Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Summer has hit and what screams summer more than a good BBQ? Normally I’d reach straight for the beef burgers when at a BBQ, but after these I don’t think I’d look for the meat again!

Recipe

Makes 4 burgers

Time:

Ingredients

  • 4 beetroot burger buns (see recipe below) or regular burger buns

For the Crispy Aubergine Steak

  • 1 aubergine
  • 100g breadcrumbs
  • 50g sesame seeds
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika

For the Sweet Potato Fries

  • 1 large sweet potato (or 2 medium)
  • 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika

For the Filling

  • 1 garlic clove
  • 50ml mayonnaise
  • 2 balls of mozzarella
  • 2 beef tomatoes
  • A few handfuls of fresh basil
  • 4 tsp pesto

Method

  1. Begin by making the crispy aubergine steaks. Cut the aubergine into 1cm wide discs.
  2. Place the discs into a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and leave for 30 minutes to rest.
  3. Wash and then dry the aubergine.
  4. In a wide bowl mix together the breadcrumbs and salt.
  5. In another bowl beat together the eggs, salt, pepper, and paprika with a fork.
  6. Take one of the aubergine discs, dip it into the egg mixture so it’s coated all over and then dip it into the crumb mixture so it’s covered all over with crumbs. Repeat with the rest of the aubergine.
  7. Fill a deep, wide frying pan with about ½ cm deep of oil and place over a medium high heat. (A good way to check the temperature it to take a leaf of a fresh herb or something equivalent and throw it into the oil, it should bubble and simmer like crazy. Remove the herb and then you’re ready to go!).
  8. Carefully place the aubergine steaks into the oil and deep-fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
  9. Take the aubergine out of the oil and place on a plate lined with kitchen roll to soak up the excess oil.
  10. Now make the sweet potato fries. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
  11. Wash and then slice the sweet potato into batons. Place them into a bowl and add the oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Stir until evenly coated and then tip out into a large roasting tin.
  12. Spread the fries out so they are as spread out as possible and then roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, stirring them halfway through cooking so they crisp up evenly.
  13. Whilst waiting for the fries to cook move on to the rest of the fillings. Take the garlic and crush it into a bowl. Add the mayo and mix to combine. Set to one side until needed.
  14. Take the mozzarella and slice it into discs about ½ cm wide. Do the same for the beef tomato.
  15. Now assemble the burgers! Slice your burger buns in half. Spread 1 tsp of the pesto over the base bun and 1tsp of the garlic mayo over the top bun.
  16.  Place one of the aubergine steaks on top of the pesto. The layer up some of the spinach leaves, tomato, mozzarella and basil. Place the top bun on top and enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 

Healthy Banana Split

Healthy Banana Split

Something that’s really hard to balance when you’re trying to eat healthy is that end of a meal slump when you want something sweet but not so sweet it’ll spike your blood sugar. This is where these beauties come in! I used to eat banana splits a lot as a child, piling them high with sweets, ice cream and chocolate, but now I’ve found a way to make them healthy and just as delicious! Start with a banana and some yogurt (whatever variety you like) and then you can top that with whatever you want. Personally I like a mixture of fresh fruit with some nuts and a little bit of super-dark chocolate, but you can top yours with whatever you fancy – which is partly what makes it so good!

Recipe

Serves 1

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Banana
  • 3 tbsp Greek Yogurt (or yogurt of choice)
  • 1 Passion fruit
  • A handful of fresh Berries (I went for strawberries and raspberries)
  • 1 Chunk (about 50g) of 100% cocoa chocolate
  • A few Coconut flakes
  • 1 tsp Runny honey
  • Optional extras (granola, nuts, melted chocolate, peanut butter, ice cream etc)

Method

  1. Peel and then slice your banana in half and splay out on a plate or in a bowl.
  2. Spoon the yogurt generously over the top, sandwiching the two banana halves.
  3. Prepare your fruit toppings, for example halve the passion fruit and scoop out the seeds and then hull the strawberries. Scatter the fruit over the top.
  4. Grate the chocolate over the top of this, sprinkle over the coconut flakes and finish with a drizzle of honey. Add any extras you want to the mixture and the enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 

Walnut Falafels with Beetroot Hummus

Walnut Falafels with Beetroot Hummus

This summer I’ve been on a healthy food pilgrimage – slowly crawling towards finding enough tasty meals that will benefit my waistline, whilst also keeping my culinary fancies happy. So you could say I was pleased as punch when I first discovered beetroot hummus. I never thought I’d be one for messing around with the wonder that is traditional hummus – why mess with perfection right? But this stuff is really cool. It’s kind of earthy, rich hummus with the most incredible colour. I mean can you be sad when you have something this bright on your plate? The artist in me is very, very happy with this.

There is also this massive trend at the moment for making falafels out of everything left right and centre. Name an ingredient, someone somewhere has probably tried making a falafel out of it. Millennials and vegans eh? Anyway, the other day I had some beetroot hummus on this amazing spicy aubergine dish and they served it all with a walnut sauce – something I’ve never tried before but it was really good! So I thought hey, why not make some walnut falafel to go with my pinker than pink hummus? And boy jove, it works!

Recipe

Serves 2 (with lots of hummus left over!)

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Falafel

  • 1 Small onion or shallot
  • 1 Garlic clove
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 75g Walnuts
  • 150g Chickpeas
  • Zest of 1 Lemon
  • ½ tsp Paprika
  • 1 Small egg (or a 50/50 mixture of water and oil if you want to make these vegan)
  • Salt and pepper to season

For the Hummus

  • 250g Raw Beetroot (about 2 small beetroot)
  • 400g Chickpeas, drained
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
  • 1/2 tbsp Ground cumin
  • A large pinch of Salt

To serve

  • A handful of Rocket leaves
  • A sprinkling of Feta cheese

Method

  1. Begin by making the falafel. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Chop the ends off the shallot and garlic, peel and then the finely chop them.
  3. Put half the oil into a small pan and put over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and fry for 2-3 minutes until starting to caramelise. Then add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes before taking off the heat.
  4. Tip the onion, garlic and walnuts into a food processor and blitz until coarse. Add the chickpeas, cumin, lemon zest and paprika and blitz again until the chickpeas are just broken down and the mixture is coming together – you want it to be more breadcrumb-like in texture than like a puree.
  5. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and pulse again to mix. Then add the egg and pulse to bring the mixture together as a dough.
  6. Divide the mixture into 10 small balls. Place these onto a lined baking tray and then leave in the fridge to chill for at least half an hour.
  7. When ready to bake take the falafels out of the fridge, drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and then put into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp.
  8. Meanwhile make the hummus. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the beetroot and then leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender. Drain the water from the beetroot and leave to cool.
  9. When cool enough to handle take off the roots, stalks and peel the beetroot. Then roughly chop the flesh and put it into a food processor.
  10. Add the chickpeas, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper into the processor and then blend until smooth and creamy. Taste the mixture and if needed season with some extra salt, pepper, paprika or cumin.
  11. Serve the warm falafels with a dollop of the hummus, a sprinkling of feta and some fresh rocket!

Note: this also works really well as a wrap for eating on the go! Just layer up the hummus, rocket, nuts, feta in a line on a wholemeal wrap. Then crush and sprinkle over pieces of the warm falafel and roll up!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x