store cupboard recipes

creamy bean hummus

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Beans make a smoother paler paste than chick peas, and I sometimes like that. I know versions of humus are everywhere. And bean humus can be served as an alternative to hummus and is a great healthy store cupboard standby. It’s also perfect if you are dairy free and want an alternative to butter that is healthy. They are now saying that margarines and damaged fats are really bad for you, so things like hummus are a much better and tasty alternative. I like to serve it with bread drizzled in a little olive oil, see my scorched bread recipe in the index, and dry fried in a frying pan till it’s got a slightly overdone crunchy chargrilled flavour with a nice thick layer of the bean humus and with salad and pine nuts on top. Its great with roast veg on it too or its fab with crudités or tortilla chips as a dip.

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caramelised roasted red onions

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These onions are roasted until they are caramelised and sitting in an unctuous balsamic syrupy sauce. This recipe pays tribute to the humble onion as a vegetable in its own right. They are fab with a roast dinner or as a side dish and they are also great at room temperature along side salads and bread. But apart from being delicious, studies  have shown that rosemary has amazing anti ageing properties, ten percent of the population in the town of Acciaroli in Italy are over 100 years and scientists are putting it down to the rosemary in their diet and scientific studies have also shows that rosemary helps maintain and improve brain function and memory. So I’m adding Rosemary to my diet whenever I can, which is easy as I love the taste and smell.

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guacamole

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Guac is the perfect tasty health food and this recipe is bursting with vitamins. Everyone  has their version of it and this is my version , it is silky smooth, except for the chopped red onion and tomatoes on top. It’s got all the authentic Mexican flavours of lime, chilli, oregano and cumin and it has a bit of a kick. You can put in half the chilli if you prefer it milder. I have eaten this ever since I went on the Fit for Life diet years ago. I’d have it on toasted rye bread with butter, but now I’d just make it with bread brushed with olive oil, roasted and sprinkled with a pinch of salt. It’s a lovely combo of crunchy, creamy and spicy and it’s super delicious. Perfect for lunch as it takes minutes to make.

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chewy vegan florentines

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I took a Mary Berry recipe for Florentines and converted it to a vegan recipe, so they are dairy free. What is missing in some vegan baking is the luxurious taste of fine ingredients and interesting textures. These Florentines are chewy, tasty and very lux, perfect for a special occasion or just with coffee as a treat.
I’m testing them out later on friends, and I won’t tell them they are vegan then I’ll get back to you…..yay! They loved them and couldn’t tell they were vegan.

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chewy pavlova meringue

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This nude pavlova is perfect at Easter and can be made in advance and frozen unfilled. It’s also great served at a dinner party or instead of a birthday cake. It’s gluten and dairy free. That said, a good meringue is crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle, and made with great ingredients. I got this recipe from the BBC good food website and its easy and delicious and works perfectly. You can layer whatever fillings you want on top and I can guarantee it will be popular when you serve it. It looks and tastes magnificent. Just don’t fill it too far ahead of time as it might get soggy.

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the perfect roasted fries

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It’s the simple things that are the best and I love fries as much as the next person. No carb free living for me, and I don’t care if I have a muffin top, life’s too short to be eating just ‘clean food’. Food should be delicious, beautiful and sensual and a bit of what you fancy. I eat mostly healthy food which is unprocessed with lots of vegetables, fish and of course cake. I don’t have a microwave and am still mistaken for someone at least fifteen years younger so I must be doing something right.

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vegetarian laksa bowl

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This laksa is my version of the delicious  coconutty creamy sweet and sour Thai broth. Although more of a meal. It’s got soft boiled eggs and roasted tomatoes with spinach and leeks. It works because they are all flavours that work well together. It’s perfect for a midweek supper or on a date night. Once you have made the laksa paste you can keep it for a long time in the  freezer for future use. The laksa jars in the supermarket aren’t as good and fresh tasting, but they are fine if you can’t be bothered to make it.

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roasted cauliflower with creamy tahini dressing

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This trad Lebanese cauliflower salad, which Ralph made recently, is so delicious that I had to get the recipe from him and put it on the blog. It’s got the great combo of flavours from the sweetness of the pomegranate seeds popping in your mouth, to the tangy sesame nutty dressing. It’s crunchy and creamy and totally dairy free and vegan. You will also love it if you love roasted cauliflower. If only all healthy eating was this divine.

Recipe 
Serves 2-3 as a side.
 

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower
1/4 cup of Tahini
Juice of 2 lemons
A handful pomegranate seeds
A handful of roasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A sprig of chopped parsley
A few tablespoons of water
Salt and Pepper

mashed peas on toast with parmesan

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I love peas and always have, and will always be excited if I know they are on the menu, and I try and find any excuse to put them in a recipe. I have wanted to make mashed peas on toast for ages, and now I have knocked one up for the blog. It’s a delicious mix of crunchy bread with the delicate pea mash and the flavours of the Parmesan and balsamic vinegar. Bloody delish and great as a canapé or starter or as a snack.

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date paste

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I have been wanting to use dates to sweeten cakes and other foods for a long time. Sugar is something I try and cut out as much as possible and I tend to use maple syrup instead, except in cake baking as it’s a bit more complicated as the ingredients are integral to the recipe working. So I have been reading up about the best way to use dates as a sweetener and it seems that making your own date paste is deffo the best way to incorporate them into a recipe. So far I have also read that if a recipe uses a cup of sugar, you can then add two cups of date paste but you have to bear in mind there’s more water content in the date paste and it’s not as sweet as sugar. It also keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks and let’s not forget that dates are one of the major ingredients in sticky toffee pudding. So what could go wrong flavour wise…? I will try it out in my recipes, and am really interested which flavour cakes and even biscuits it will work with…plus it will sweeten things like oatmeal for breakfast.

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