Fatteh

This is my version of Fatteh, a traditional Middle Eastern dish usually made with crispy baked flatbread, yogurt and chickpeas. My version has slightly more spice, and while usually eaten for breakfast, this is a dish that also makes for a super quick and easy dinner!

Don’t eat this with utensils – the mess is half the fun!

Ingredients (for 2):

  • 1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained
  • 1.5 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Ras El Hanout
  • 1/4 cup almonds, flaked or crushed
  • Lebanese or Turkish bread (as much as you feel like really)
  • Olive oil

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200*C. Cut up the bread into pieces, spray with olive oil and bake until golden and crispy.
  2. In a fry pan on medium heat, toast the almonds until crispy. Set aside.
  3. In the same pan, cook the garlic in the olive oil until fragrant. Add the chickpeas, honey and Ras El Hanout and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
  4. To serve, place the Greek yogurt in a bowl and top with the chickpea mix and almonds. Serve alongside the toasty bread.

Pumpkin Spiced Porridge

It’s only cold here for about 3 months of the year, which means there are 12 weeks of prime-pumpkin-porridge-tasting time to be enjoyed!

Ingredients (serves 2) 

  • 200g butternut pumpkin
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 cup quinoa flakes
  • pinch of pumpkin spice (I use 1 tsp cinnamon with 1 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
  • coconut or Greek yogurt and flaked almonds to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200*C. Skin and chop the pumpkin into small pieces and roast until soft and golden (approx 20-30 minutes).
  2. Place the pumpkin, spices and almond milk in a blender and process until smooth.
  3. Use the ‘pumpkin smoothie’ as a base to cook the quinoa flakes, on a saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously (particularly the bottom so it doesn’t stick) until the flakes are soft and the mixture is thick and creamy. If you need to add more liquid, add more almond milk as you go.
  4. Top with yogurt and flaked almonds just before serving.

Tip: The most time-consuming part is roasting the pumpkin. So, roast a large pumpkin early in the week so that there’s plenty on hand to make porridge whenever you fancy!

Sassy Shakshouka

I bake these ahead of time and freeze them for the perfect quick, protein-loaded, ‘throw in the microwave and then eat in the car’ style breakfast while I’m rushing to work of a morning!

Baked eggs with mushroom, cherry tomato, spinach and seeds 

Makes 2 servings (of 2 eggs each). Preheat the oven to 200*C. Grease the ramekins with olive oil, then line with a small handful of spinach. Place 2 button mushrooms and 2 cherry tomatoes on top of each ramekin, followed by the eggs (1 each in a small ramekin or  2 in a large). Sprinkle with 1 tsp of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, then bake for 10 minutes until the egg white is cooked through.

Baked eggs with broccoli, peas, beetroot and macadamia dukkha 

Makes 2 servings (of 2 eggs each). Preheat the oven to 200*C. Grease the ramekins with olive oil, the roughly chop the broccoli florets and place at the bottom. Add 1/8 cup frozen peas in each ramekin, then 1 baby beetroot finely sliced. Top with the eggs and a sprinkle of dukkha, then bake for 10 minutes until the egg whites are cooked through.