Marinated Zucchini Salad
Sunday, May 31, 2015A simple marinated zucchini salad from Donna Hay. Raw zucchini salad can be rather dull, but when very thinly sliced, they soak up the flavour of a vinaigrette perfectly through marinating. This fresh, tasty recipe will come in handy when zucchini starts producing in your garden.
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- Place the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, chilli pepper, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Cut zucchini crosswise into thin round slices with a knife or a mandolin. Add the sliced zucchini and red onion if used, to the marinade and toss to coat. Allow to marinate for 10 minutes. Place on a serving plate and top with the chopped chives to serve.
Apricot Einkorn Cake with Almond and Maple Syrup
Monday, May 25, 2015This apricot cake, sweetened with maple syrup and applesauce, and nutritiously delicious with einkorn flour and almond meal, comes together fairly quickly and can easily be tweaked to include whatever seasonal fruits are available. Enjoy it warm or at room temperature with a dollop of thickened cream or simply dusted with icing sugar.
Apricot Einkorn Cake with Almond and Maple Syrup
adapted from taste
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- Lightly grease a baking pan (22cmx20cmx4cm) with butter and line the base and the sides of the pan with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Whisk together the ground einkorn, almond meal, baking powder, and cinnamon. In another saucepan, mix together almond milk, maple syrup and applesauce.
- Beat the butter until light and pale. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Add in half of the flour mixture and mix. Now mix in liquid mixture, then the rest of flour mixture until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the apricot halves, cut side up, over the batter.
- Bake in the middle of hot oven for about 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Asparagus with Truffle Oil, Egg and Tomato Dressing
Monday, May 18, 2015Green asparagus, boiled in salted water until crisp tender, served with a dressing made with hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, fresh herbs and truffle oil. Low-carb, high in protein and fiber, gluten-free and the combination of flavour make this salad a perfect spring time lunch.
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- Cut the tomatoes into 5mm thick dices. Place them in a sieve over a bowl and reserve the strained liquid. Roughly chop and parsley and slice the chives into rings.
- Half the eggs and crumble one egg yolk in a small bowl together with truffle mustard, white wine vinegar, and reserved tomato juice. Whisk until everything is combined. Beat in truffle oil and sunflower oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Finely chop the remaining egg whites and egg yolk. Stir chopped eggs, diced tomatoes and herbs into the dressing. Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavours to develop.
- In a large, deep skillet, add enough salted water to reach a depth of 2 inches. Bring it to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook until crisp-tender, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice water and let stand until chilled. Drain and pat dry. Arrange the asparagus in a serving dish, drizzle with prepared dressing.
Eggplant Fans with Yoghurt
Tuesday, May 12, 2015In celebration of World Hunger Day on the 28th May, I have challenged myself to create this delicious eggplant recipe that comes in below the poverty line – at just 33pence / 45cents per head to support the MyVoucherCodes/World Hunger Day campaign, helping people lift themselves out of poverty as well as raising money for the charity World Hunger Project.
If you are looking for more gourmet options rather than being stuck on this budget friendly version, then use some homemade tomato pasta sauce with fresh herbs and olive oil instead and replace the yoghurt topping with a creamy Parmesan sauce as the original recipe has recommended.
Can you put together a delicious and healthy dish for just 33p a head? Challenge your frugal cooking skills, help spread awareness and raise money for charity by signing up here.
Eggplant Fans with Yoghurt
90cents / 66pence
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- Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Cut the eggplants in half, keeping the stem end intact. Place an eggplant half, flesh side down, on a work surface. Use a sharp knife to cut 6 long slits from below the stem to the base. Use your hand to press down on the slices to form a fan. Repeat with remaining eggplant.
- Divide the tomato sauce among 2 baking dishes. Place the eggplant fans on top. Cut tomato into 10 slices lengthways. Place a slice between each eggplant slice. Sprinkle with the garlic and thyme. Drizzle each with one teaspoon of sunflower oil. Bake, swapping the trays halfway through cooking, for 35 minutes or until the eggplant is golden and tender.
- Season the yoghurt with salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Divide the eggplant fans among serving plates and spoon over the yoghurt.
Stuffed Sweet Pointed Peppers with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts
Thursday, May 07, 2015These stuffed peppers, adapted from lidlkochen, are creamy, sweet, crunchy and made the perfect summer party appetizer. If you don’t like goat cheese, they also work great with Feta. Sweet pointed peppers are a lot sweeter than ordinary sweet peppers and they also have a thinner skin, and can be eaten either raw or cooked.
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- Put the nuts in a dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Remove and leave to cool. Roughly chop the pine nuts.
- Pull the needle-like leaves off the rosemary sprigs and finely chop them.
- Mix together the fresh goat cheese, half of chopped rosemary leaves, orange zest and crème fraîche in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Fill the pointed pepper halves with the goat cheese mixture and sprinkle with the rest of rosemary leaves.
Aubergine Stacks with Red Lentils and Quinoa
Saturday, May 02, 2015This simple, natural gluten free recipe for a satisfying, tasty red lentil-quinoa eggplant salad stack is full of all the things a balanced, nutritious meal requires: vitamins, fiber, carbohydrates, and protein.
Quinoa is a delicious whole "grain" that is easy to digest, full of high quality complete protein, fiber, and magnesium. Nutritionally mighty lentils are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber and also provide good amounts of protein and minerals.
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- Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse in cold water. Cook the quinoa in a pot of boiling water for 10-15 minutes until tender, drain well, then set aside to cool.
- Rinse and drain the red lentils. Pop them in a pot with 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for about 5 minutes until tender yet firm.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Spray the eggplant with olive oil spray. Add half the eggplant to the pan and cook for 6 minutes each side or until tender and golden. Repeat with remaining eggplant.
- In a bowl, place the quinoa, red lentils, tomato, red onion, and spring onions in a bowl. Drizzle over the balsamic vinegar and the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
- Layer the eggplant slices with lentil-quinoa mixture, finishing with a slice of eggplant. Top with some salad leaves. Drizzle over some balsamic cream over to serve.
Eggless Turmeric and Aniseed Einkorn Cake / Sfouf
Monday, April 27, 2015Sfouf is a famous Lebanese delicacy infused with aniseed and turmeric spices. Traditionally it's made with semolina flour and lots of sugar. I have tweaked the recipe found on SBS to fit my taste featuring homeground einkorn flour, pure stevia powder and mango puree. The recipe is rather forgiving, so feel free to use other grains (spelt makes a great substitute) and nuts. The cake is traditionally cut into squares or diamond shapes before serving, that’s why it is called Sfouf, meaning “rows” in Arabic.
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- Grease and line a 20cm springform pan with parchment paper. Place aniseed powder and water in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Cook for 2 minutes or until reduced to about 60ml. Turn off the heat and cool the mixture aside.
- Whisk milk, mango puree, pure stevia powder, oil and aniseed mixture until well combined. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Sift flour, baking powder and turmeric in a large bowl, then make a well in the centre. Pour in milk mixture, whisking to combine, then pour into the prepared pan. Scatter with pine nuts and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Beetroot and Lentil Salad with Wasabi Caviar
Monday, April 20, 2015This salad, quick and easy to prepare, is full of protein and fibre and so deliciously filling and good for you. It is naturally gluten-free and works beautifully as a substantial lunch or side dish. Unlike most legumes, lentils don't need to be presoaked, but they still offer all the same protein and fiber benefits and an excellent gluten-free carb source.
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- Rinse the lentils and put them in a saucepan with plenty of lightly salted water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, decrease the heat to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes. Drain well, discard the bay leaf, then transfer to a large bowl.
- Place sliced beets in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle some salt over and add in balsamic. Bring to simmer and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until thickened and syrupy.
- Whisk together walnut oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Add to lentils. Toss to coat.
- Add the glazed beetroot and arugula to the lentils and gently toss together. Season to taste. Transfer to a serving plate and add some wasabi caviar on top and serve immediately.
Coconut White Chocolate Shortbread with Einkorn and Oats
Monday, April 13, 2015These buttery make-ahead bars feature tender flaky shortbread topped with a thin layer of melted white chocolate and toasted coconut chips. It is quick and easy to make and great to bring to a party.
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- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8x10-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough overhang on two opposing ends to use as handles. Whisk together einkorn flour, rolled oats, coconut blossom sugar, baking soda and salt. Add in butter pieces and mix until incorporated.
- Place the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in the center of hot oven until nicely golden brown at the edges, 18 to 20 minutes.
- Melt the chopped white chocolate chips in a double boiler set over simmering water. When the crust is finished, remove it from the oven and let sit 5 minutes. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the crust, then sprinkle with the toasted coconut chips. Cool completely, then carefully lift from the pan and cut into squares.