Category: Nutritious

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

Chicken Ramen

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Ladies and gentlemen, I have flu. Like really bad flu. Like the rip your nostrils out, shove a fog horn down your throat kinda flu. So whilst I was going to do something more halloween-y for today’s post, I’ve resorted to what I’d actually want to be eating right now – this soothing bowl of chicken ramen soup. Think of this as pot noodle+. It’s pretty quick to make, and I can safely say that no matter how hung over, ill or dead you are, you will be able to make this. So if you’re like me right now and you feel like the walking dead, rustle yourself up (or find a nice person to do that bit for you) and glug down a decent bowl of this and I promise you you’ll feel a little bit better.

Recipe

Serves 2

Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Chicken Breasts
  • 1L Chicken stock
  • 2 ‘Layers’ of Noodles
  • 4 Spring onions
  • 2 Handfuls of Baby spinach

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Put the chicken breasts on a sheet of tin foil and then wrap it up around the chicken so the join of the foil is on top. Then put this in a small roasting tin and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked all the way through (so it’s not pink inside).
  2. Put the chicken stock into a pan and heat up. (You can make this by putting 1L of water into a pan with a chicken stock cube and bringing it up to the boil.)
  3. Add the noodles and boil until they’re soft but not too floppy.
  4. Meanwhile take the spring onions and chop the tops and tails off them. Then finely slice them into little discs. Add half the spring onions to the stock, keeping the other half for later.
  5. Once the chicken is ready slice it into 1cm slices.
  6. Ladle the stock into 2 bowls. Then portion the noodles between the bowls.
  7. Top with the slices chicken breast, the rest of the spring onions, and a handful of baby spinach on each bowl. Serve!

(Note: If you don’t have an oven you can chop the chicken into chunks and then poach it in the stock until it’s cooked all the way through!)

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Frozen Smoothie Bowl

Frozen Smoothie Bowl

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There’s this new food trend (new in the sense I’ve only known about it for a couple of months, but it’s probably been around for centuries) called ‘smoothie bowls’. These are basically smoothies, often made with frozen fruit, then topped off with all kinds of healthy nuts, seeds and fruit to make them look really pretty. For a long time now I’ve been looking for ways to make my diet healthier as I’ve been living off my bakes and comfort food for way too long, so here’s the new nutritious side of my food.

These bowls are great because you can get all kinds of frozen fruit all year round and it’s way cheaper than fresh fruit so you can have vitamin-packed fruity bowls for breakfast whenever you want! Like with all smoothies this would also be a great way of using up leftover fruit, so if you’ve got it bung it in. This is also probably the simplest thing I’ve ever made on here, it’s literally two steps and two easy steps at that, so if you’re looking at it and thinking ooo that’s effort, trust me it’s easier than it looks!

Recipe

Serves 2

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the smoothie

  • 170g Frozen cherries
  • 130g Frozen raspberries
  • 50g Frozen blueberries
  • 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp Maple syrup (or honey)
  • 1 Banana, peeled

To top (all optional)

  • Handful of Cashew nuts
  • Handful of Ground almonds
  • Handful of Flaked almonds
  • 1 Banana, sliced
  • 50g Dark chocolate, chopped finely

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients for the smoothie into a blender or food processor and whizz together until smooth. You might need to let the fruit defrost a little first so it’ll actually crush up.
  2. Spoon the smoothie into two bowls. Top with the sliced banana, nuts and chocolate. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Canadian Salad

Canadian Salad

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Have you heard I went to Canada this summer? Yup, in case you didn’t already know, a few weeks ago I crossed the pond once more on a spontaneous summer get away. As my sister used to live out there she and I spent our three weeks staying with her friends, going to tones of insanely good BBQs, and generally soaking up the stunning landscape. There’s something so relaxing and creatively inspiring about the mountains and the rivers out there. I found myself sketching for the first time in years (ironic as I’ve been doing an art course the past year), voluntarily exercising, and actually stopping and thinking rather than just hurtling through life like I usually do when I’m at home.

I also found myself eating more creatively – partly because I was on a tight budget and also because I was doing a lot of cooking with my sister who’s a fitness fanatic and eats way more vegetables than I’m used to! Whilst I’ve called this Canadian salad I didn’t actually make it when I was over there because food was generally expensive and this has lots of components to it. The reason for the name is that I first came across a variation of this at restaurant up the side of a mountain in Lake Louise. I’ve never seen something like this before and it tasted amazing so I thought I’d make my own, e voila!

The reason I love this salad so much is that it’s relatively healthy but it’s also sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving. The combo of the fruit, the spiced pecans and the cheese is one of those things that shouldn’t work but just does. If you’re not a sweet-toothed person I’d recommend coating the pecans in just the butter and cinnamon, and leaving out the sugar so that the only sweetness is coming from the natural sugars in the fruit. This also originally had daikon in it (I hadn’t heard of it either, apparently it’s a vegetable like a radish), but as I couldn’t find one in Aldi this one is daikon-less, but you could use radish if you want some peppery-ness in here.

Recipe

Serves 2

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 50g Pecans
  • 1 tbsp Unsalted butter (or soya margarine)
  • 1 tsp Brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 2 Handfuls of Baby spinach
  • Roughly 4 Strawberries
  • 1 Orange
  • 20g Dried cranberries
  • 20g Feta cheese
  • 1 tbsp Maple syrup
  • 20ml Balsamic vinegar

Method

  1. Begin with the candied pecans. Put the pecans, butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small pan and leave the butter to melt. Stir the contents a little so that the pecans are covered in the butter/sugar mixture and then leave to bubble up for 3-5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside for later.
  2. Scatter the spinach across two plates, or one large serving dish if you’re making a salad to share.
  3. Hull and halve the strawberries and scatter them over the salad. Then halve the orange and cut one of the halves into 6 wedges. Cut the skin and any pith off the segments and then arrange them over the salad.
  4. Next scatter the dried cranberries, feta cheese and candied pecans over the plate.
  5. To make the dressing put the maple syrup, 1 tbsp orange juice (you can get this from the other half of the orange) and vinegar into a small bowl or jug. Mix together and then drizzle over the salad. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 
Greek Salad

Greek Salad

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Next up as part of this banquet is this delish Greek salad. Traditionally a Greek salad is made up of the classically Greek ingredients Romaine lettuce, feta and olives to make a beautiful salty, sweet and refreshing salad all in one! This salad, like most, is very quick and easy to put together, and makes a delish light lunch on it’s own! In this selection of mezes though it acts as a great refreshing dish to pair with the warm, aromatic ones.

Recipe

Makes 1 Meze dish

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 Vine tomatoes
  • 5cm Length of Cucumber
  • 1/4 Red pepper
  • 2 Leaves of Romaine lettuce
  • 5g Feta cheese
  • A few Olives, halved
  • A Drizzle of Balsamic vinegar
  • A Drizzle of Olive oil

Method

  1. Take a sharp knife and quarter the tomatoes. Then slice the cucumber into quarters length ways, and then chop along the batons to make small pieces. Then dice the pepper into similarly sized pieces.
  2. Rip the lettuce into pieces and scatter the over over serving dish. Then scatter over the tomatoes, pepper and cucumber. Crumble the feta over the salad and then scatter the olives.
  3. Finish with a drizzle of the balsamic and olive oil and serve!

Thanks for reading!
Emma x
Asparagus, New Potato and Serrano Ham Salad

Asparagus, New Potato and Serrano Ham Salad

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To counter all the insanely indulgent patisserie and sweet bakes that I’ve been making the past few weeks, I thought it was about time for a salad. Especially when it’s this hot all the time, no one really wants to be eating anything warm and so salads are kinda my go-to thing. This salad can be served either hot or cold, so it’s a good one to have up your sleeve for all seasons.

I think the key to a good salad is to have a mixture of cheese/meat, green veg and then something more carb-based. In this summery salad the saltiness of the ham and the halloumi works beautifully with the earthiness of the asparagus and the broad beans. If you haven’t had halloumi before, it’s this gorgeous cheese which is cooked to give a slightly crisp outside with a softer inside that squeaks as you eat it. It’s pretty salty, but in a salad like this it’s incredible! Because of the serano ham and asparagus this can be a bit of a pricey lunch to make, so if you’re working to a budget you can get the same effect by using normal ham and cooked courgette strips.

Recipe

Serves 2

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 New Potatoes
  • 8 Spears of Asparagus
  • A handful of Broad beans
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 Block of Halloumi (about 225g)
  • A handful of Salad Leaves
  • 3 Pieces of Serrano ham
  • Black pepper to season

Method

  1. Put on a pan of water to boil. Then add the new potatoes and leave to boil for 10 minutes, until soft.
  2. Chop off the woody ends of the asparagus, about a thumbs length but this will vary depending on what kind you buy. Scoop the potatoes out of the water and then replace them with the asparagus, leaving them to boil for 5-8 minutes, until tender. Add the broad beans a few minutes before they asparagus is cooked to allow through to cook through.
  3. In another pan pop the oil and put over a medium heat. Slice the halloumi into pieces the thickness of a £1 coin. Then fry the halloumi for 2-3 minutes on each side so it goes golden brown.
  4. When ready start plating the salad. Scatter some of the salad leaves over the plate. Then cut the potatoes into wedges and scatter them around the plate. Then pop on the halloumi, asparagus and scatter over the broad beans. Finish with twirls of the Serrano ham, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of black pepper!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x