Tag: healthy lifestyle

Fatteh

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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.

Vegan Pumpkin Soup

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Warms the soul as well as the belly!

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

  • 200g butternut pumpkin
  • 4 large carrots
  • 125g can coconut cream
  • 4 fresh sage leaves
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • Chives to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200*C and roast the pumpkin and carrots until soft and golden. Allow to cool slightly.
  2. Place the roasted pumpkin and carrot, sage, rosemary, stock and coconut cream in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Alternatively, place the mixture in a large bowl or saucepan and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
  3. Serve hot with chives on top.

One Tray Mediterranean Chicken Bake

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This is one for those ‘cooking when you can’t be bothered cooking’ kind of days!

Ingredients 

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 2 medium zucchinis
  • 500g mushrooms
  • 2 red capsicums
  • I head of broccoli
  • Herbs of your choosing – I used my favourite garlic lovers mix from Gewurtzhaus but a clove of garlic and a generous sprinkle of mixed herbs or parsely + oregano will work just fine!

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180*C. Line a baking dish with paper or grease with olive oil.
  2. Chop the zucchinis, broccoli and capsicum into roughly even sized chunks.
  3. Place the vegetables on the bottom of the dish, then place the chicken on top, covered with a little olive oil and the herbs of your choosing.
  4. Cover with alfoil and bake until cooked through (about 30 minutes). Remove from oven when chicken is just cooked (as the veggies will be cooked underneath). Serve hot or use as meal prep to fill the freezer!

Honey I Stuffed the Pumpkin

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While we’re all getting into the full swing of our New Year resolutions, I thought I’d share a few of my recipes from the festive season – starting with this stuffed pumpkin.

I’ve seen many variations of this concept over the past few weeks, and mine is nothing fancy. But it was super easy and vegan / gluten friendly too!

Ingredients

  • 1 large butternut pumpkin, halved
  • 1 cup black rice
  • 200g vegan cheese (I used a vegan version of Persian fetta)
  • 1 tbsp each of sunflower seeds, cranberries, pepitas
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp lemon infused olive oil

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200*C.
  2. Place the pumpkin halves cut side up on a baking tray. Remove the seeds and bake until soft enough to scoop out a portion of the flesh in the middle (about 30 minutes).
  3. Cook the rice as per the instructions (or you can cheat by using a supermarket microwave version). Mix the rice with the seeds and olive oil until well combined.
  4. Scoop out a small portion of the pumpkin flesh. Fill the hole with the rice mixture, then top with the vegan cheese and bake until the pumpkin is soft (another 15 minutes should do).
  5. Serve hot, or portions can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for 1 month. Enjoy!

Best Ever Veggie Patties

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What do you get when you mix protein-rich chickpeas, nutty LSA and a tasty range of vegetables from the market? Some of the best veggie patties I’ve ever made!

Ingredients (makes 12) 

  • 100g pumpkin
  • 100g sweet potato
  • 1/2 small head broccoli
  • 150g baby spinach
  • 1 x 400g can chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup LSA (linseed, sunflower seed, almond meal)
  • 1 large egg
  • herbs from the garden – sage, thyme, parsley, chives, tarragon

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200*C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Chop the pumpkin and sweet potato into small pieces and roast until golden and soft (approximately 30 minutes).
  3. Place the roast pumpkin and potato, broccoli, spinach, chickpeas and herbs into a food processor and process until combined. Add the egg and LSA, and mix well.
  4. Heat a large frypan over medium heat with a small amount of olive oil. Roll 2-3 tablespoons of mixture into balls, place onto the pan and flatten with the back of a spatula. Lightly brown both sides  (don’t cook all the way through).
  5. Transfer the patties to a lined baking tray and bake until firm (approximately 30 minutes). Serve as veggie burgers, as part of a buddha bowl, or as a delicious snack straight from the fridge!

Raspberry Chia Sauce

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I went to cooking school in Paris. While I was there, we learned how to make “Canard avec fruites rouge” (duck with red fruits), which was essentially a pan fried duck with amazing raspberry sauce. In my usual habit of trying to recreate things, I tried to make my own raspberry sauce, but with a slightly thicker texture – and so this raspberry ‘jam’ was born. Note that it is supposed to be tart like cranberry sauce rather than sweet like strawberry jam, so don’t get a fright if you put in on your toast and something tastes a little odd!

Ingredients 

  • 200g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/8 cup white chia seeds
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 1 tsb balsamic vinegar (flavoured ones work well here, I used fig and guava with success)

Method

  1. Using a fork, gently mash the raspberries. Add the water and vinegar and stir to combine.
  2. Add the chia seeds and continuously stir until starting to thicken. Put aside in the fridge for 5 minutes and stir again (if too thick at this stage, add small amounts of water until it thins out). Return to the fridge until ready to serve.

For example – roasted turkey with spinach, slaw and a sweet potato and pumpkin smash! 

Honey Mustard Pumpkin Seeds

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Don’t throw out your unwanted pumpkin seeds – turn them into this tasty snack instead!

Ingredients

  • 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 1 tsp honey

Just multiply the recipe for bigger quantities, works a treat! 

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180*C and line a tray with baking paper.
  2. Toss the pumpkin seeds with the honey and mustard, then roast until golden – be vigilant as these can burn quickly, then only need 8-10 minutes max!

Vegan Mushroom and Cauliflower Soup

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Soup-er easy, nourishing, heart-warming and vegan – it’s just like a big hug in a bowl!

Ingredients (serves 4) 

  • 250g mushroom cups
  • 1 small whole cauliflower
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 litre stock of your choice (vegetable if you’re vegan, chicken if you’re not)
  • 150g shimeji or enoki mushrooms
  • brown rice to serve

Method 

  1. Preheat the oven to 200*C. Chop the cauliflower and the mushroom cups into small pieces of roughly equal sizes. Leave the shimeji mushrooms whole. Spray the vegetables with olive oil, and roast on a lined baking tray until the mushrooms are squishy and the cauliflower is browning / crispy around the edges (approximately 15-20 minutes).
  2. Cook the brown rice as per directions on the packet.
  3. Place the roasted mushroom cup pieces, cauliflower, garlic and stock in the blender, and blend until smooth. Top with the brown rice and shimeji mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper to taste.