Tag: healthy living

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.

PB and J biscuits

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I saw the divine Reece Hignell and Jess Lemon (from Australia’s Masterchef ‘Back to Win’) share an epic 3 ingredient peanut butter biscuit recipe on Instagram.

So I thought, “let’s make it PB&J – but healthy?”

The original recipe is just 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of peanut butter and 1 egg, mixed together into balls and flattened with a fork, baked at 170*C for 12 minutes.

I changed mine up a little and used:

  • Baked at 170*C for about 15 minutes, then drizzled with Noshu low sugar white chocolate chips and served with a dollop of Natvia low sugar raspberry spread – bliss!

    • 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.

    Pie Maker Savoury Muffins

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    After a recent baking spree for night shift, I can now truly appreciate why people are going nuts over these pie makers!

    You’d be surprised at what people can create in such a short space of time with one of these (a real bargain considering they’re only $29 from Kmart). For some epic recipe ideas, definitely look up the Australian Kmart pie maker recipe group on Facebook!

    As part of my experimentation, I made an old recipe of mine, a cross between a muffin and a frittata – a fruffin if you will (because mufftata sounds a bit risky).

    I made two different flavours of these by changing the spice, otherwise the base recipe is the same!

     

    Ingredients (makes 12)

    Method

    1. Turn on the pie maker.
    2. Beat the eggs, then add the milk, flour, yogurt and spice mix and stir well to combine.
    3. Place spinach leaves at the base of the pie mould, then pour 1/8th cup of filling mixture on top. Place a small piece of cheese, then add another dollop of filling mixture to cover.
    4. Cook in the pie maker until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes). These will cook more evenly the more full the mould is.
    5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge if they don’t all get eaten!

    Pumpkin, banana and rhubarb loaf

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    This was an experiment I’ll admit, but it was a rather delicious one. This is a great way to use up any leftover roast / boiled pumpkin as well as old bananas. The rhubarb is entirely optional and was just what I had in the fridge!

    Ingredients 

    • 1/2 cup flaxseed meal, 1/2 cup buckwheat flour and  1/2 cup vanilla pea protein  –> BUT you can substitute ALL of this with 1.5 cups of plain flour of your choice + 1 tsp vanilla
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 2 over-ripe bananas (must be over-ripe for this to work!)
    • 100g roasted or boiled pumpkin
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 cup almond milk (or whatever milk takes your fancy)
    • 2 tbsp Nuttalex olive oil spread (or just use butter or coconut oil)
    • If using rhubarb – bake 4 stalks of rhubarb until soft, then mush with a fork until it forms a rough puree

    Method 

    1. Preheat the oven to 200*C and line a brownie tin with baking paper.
    2. Place the pumpkin, banana, milk, eggs and butter in the blender and blend until smooth.
    3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flaxseed, buckwheat, protein powder and baking soda, then stir in the mixture from the blender until well combined.
    4. Pour into the baking dish and swirl in the rhubarb by placing small blobs on top and dragging through the mixture with a butter knife.
    5. Bake until firm and risen (about 25-30 minutes). Allow to cool, the cut into slices (I find it easier to cut into 9 chunks, and then cut these in half through the middle).

    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!

    Pumpkin Poulet Patties

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    These are based on my turkey rissoles, and make for some great chicken burgers (although they’re just as tasty on their own too!).

    Ingredients (makes 8 large patties) 

    • 500g chicken mince
    • 1 small piece sourdough
    • 1/4 cup quinoa flakes
    • 100g pumpkin
    • 1 egg
    • herbs: 2 sprigs dill, 4 sprigs parsley, 6 tarragon leaves

    Method

    1. Preheat the oven to 200*C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
    2. Chop the pumpkin into small pieces and roast until soft (~ 20 minutes). Leave the oven on.
    3. Place the bread in a food processor and process into crumbs. Add the mince, egg, herbs and pumpkin until combined, then stir in the quinoa flakes.
    4. Heat a large fry pan over medium heat with a small amount of olive oil. Roll 2-3 tbsp of mixture into balls and drop onto the pan, squishing with the back of a spatula. Lightly brown both sides of the patties, then remove from the pan, place on the oven tray and return to the oven until cooked through (~ 15-20 minutes). Serve hot or cold.

    Served above with a beetroot and cauliflower dip (essentially my lemon beetroot hummus but with roasted 1/2 head small cauliflower instead of chickepeas).

     

    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! I’ve also thrown in buckwheat groats and tigernuts to increase the volume before and they taste amazing. 

    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!