Happy foodie holidays

I'm currently on holidays with my family in France and going to the local food markets is getting me very inspired for new food ideas! Everything is so beautiful, I had to take few pictures and share with you on my blog. Here's only a small selection of what I found on the market today...

I'm loving the fact that my boys are very keen to try new flavours and dishes that they wouldn't have accepted back home. They are eating more fish and grilled prawns which is great to see!

Have a lovely sunny holidays everyone and please keep checking my blog for new recipes inspired by my travels!

M O R O C C A N chicken

The summer is definitely here and the warm weather made me think of this old recipe I found in 'Baby Led Weaning' by G. Rapley, when my babies were a bit smaller... Another family favourite, filled with fragrant spices, just perfect for warm summer dinners. Cumin, cinnamon, chilli powder, chickpeas, courgettes, chicken, fresh parsley, coriander and mint... close your eyes and you will find yourself in Marrakesh! Oh how I wish...

Prep time 10 minutes, cooking around 40-45 mins

This is what you will need:
coconut oil
one medium size onion, chopped
1 packet of organic chicken thighs
1 medium size courgette - chopped
1 can of chickpeas - drained and rinsed in water
2 teaspoons of ground cumin - lovely spice with lots of health benefits including treating colds, insomnia and extremely good for digestion
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of chilli flakes or powder - if you like heat add a bit extra
black pepper to taste
juice of half a lemon
handful fresh coriander chopped
handful of fresh parsley chopped
optional handful of fresh mint chopped
250ml of chicken or veggie stock - I tend to use half a stock cube, my favourite ones are Kallo (less salt) or if you can use home made stock
This dish goes really well with either quinoa, rice, couscous or millet, the choice is yours  - cook enough for 4 people, or if you're cooking for kids it will be enough for a family of 5

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and add chopped onions, fry for few minutes. Add cumin and cinnamon and fry for few more minutes mixing it all together. Add the chicken thighs (one packet usually has 6 thighs), fry them for couple of minutes turning so the chicken browns a bit. Next add stock, chopped coriander and chilli, wait for the stock to start boiling then lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes. In the meantime boil a pan of water and cook either quinoa, rice, or millet according to packet instructions. If you're using couscous you won't even have to cook it, just pour hot water over the dry couscous to slightly cover it, then cover the bowl and after few minutes stir with a spoon to check if it's soft enough to eat. I like adding a tablespoon of olive oil to make it more creamy.
After simmering your chicken for 25 minutes, add chickpeas and courgette. Cover the lid and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the courgette and chicken thighs are soft.

Once cooked take off heat and add chopped herbs - parsley and if using, mint, add black pepper and lemon juice. Transfer all to a large serving bowl together with your preferred grain.

It might be a slightly more time consuming dish, but I promise it tastes lovely and feeds a large family.

And lets hope the sunny days stay for a bit longer....

Rice flour C H O C O L A T E cookies

I was searching for a nice baking recipe to use rice flour with and I found these delicious chocolate cookies. Rice flour is gluten free, which makes it much kinder to our digestive system. This recipe comes from EatGood4Life blog, with small changes by me. Ask your kids to help make these, they are very easy and fun to do together.

Prep time 10 minutes, baking 10-12 minutes, depending on how big you will shape your cookies you should get around 20

Ingredients:
2 organic eggs
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon of good quality vanilla extract
3/4 cup of brown sugar or coconut sugar (it's very similar to brown sugar, but with a hint of caramel)
1 and 1/2 cups of rice flour (best to use brown rice flour if not just rice flour will work well too)
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
half of the bar of a dark chocolate bar
pinch of sea salt

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking try with baking paper. In a bowl place the dark chocolate chunks and put it over a boiling pot to melt. In a separate mixing bowl add eggs, sugar and oil and mix until combined. Next add your melted chocolate and vanilla extract, keep mixing. Add the remaining ingredients - rice flour, baking soda, pinch of salt, cocoa powder and keep mixing until all is combined together. With a tablespoon scoop out a dollop of cake mix onto the baking tray and shape to a round blob, gently press with your fingers to flatten it slightly. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes - the cookies will still feel quite soft, but take them out, place on the cooling rack and once they cool down they will get a firmer consistency.
Chocolate is always a good idea and as far as I'm concerned it's healthy too!

Nutty warm kale and quinoa salad

This delicious filling salad, is one of the easiest and quickest meals to prepare! I love using quinoa, as it gives a nice break from pasta or rice and is gluten free. Very easy to cook and adds a lovely nutty flavour to any dish. To make my salad you will only need a handful of ingredients and under 20 minutes to prepare. This dish is full of protein, fibre and green goodness.

Here's what you need:
quinoa (allow around 40g per serving)
2 garlic cloves crushed
generous handful of kale
mixed seeds for sprinkling
coconut oil
few drops of lemon juice

Method:
Rinse the quinoa in cold water before cooking to remove the bitterness. In a pan, boil water and cook quinoa according to packet instructions - it should take 15-18 minutes. In a separate pan boil water and once boiled add kale just for few minutes to par boil it. In the frying pan add a dollop of coconut oil and crush two garlic cloves, fry for a minute. Add rinsed kale, fry for couple of minutes then take off heat. Once the quinoa is cooked drain it and transfer to a serving bowl. Mix in the kale, squeeze a few drops of lemon and sprinkle with mixed seeds - I quite like pumpkin and sesame seeds but anything will go. Enjoy, told you it's quick!

G I N G E R N U T biscuit

Well, the weather must have forgotten it's summer as it's been raining a lot in London today... School is nearly out and the kids schedules are more relaxed so we had extra time for baking after pick up.
I wanted to make something that would give us much needed warmth.
This recipe comes from the food programme 'Eating Well' by Hemsley sisters. What I absolutely love about it, is that it's very easy to make and packed with goodness! Gluten free and with no refined sugar added, just natural ingredients and beautiful aroma. It will hit you with spice and warmth from the first bite.

Prep time 5 minutes, baking 12 minutes

Here's what you need:
250g of ground almonds
3 tablespoons of ground ginger
teaspoon of baking soda
4 tablespoons of date syrup or maple syrup
unwaxed lemon zest
pinch of salt

Here's what to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Put all the ingredients into a food processor or kitchen mixer, blend until all is combined, it will now resemble breadcrumbs. Stop mixing and pour the ginger crumbs onto your baking tray and now shape with your hands to form a large ball. Once done divide into two smaller balls. On your baking tray start shaping your biscuits (roughly two tablespoons worth of the mix) shape into a round blob then flatten gently with your fingers. You should get more or less 12 biscuits. Bake on the middle tray for 12 minutes. Cool on the cooling rack. Make a nice cup of tea, grab a biscuit and enjoy a warm kick of the ginger spice - just like a summery hug on the beach, it is SUMMER after all!!

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Freshly pressed juice

Fresh juice is a great way to get the kids to eat more veggies and fruit. I love making this simple juice for myself too, it has lots of health benefits and tastes delicious. Plus you can show the kids how it's made so they know where the delicious orange liquid comes from.

Prep time and juicing around 10 minutes altogether

Here's what you need:
4 large carrots
3 apples
fresh ginger - add as much as you would like, when I make it for myself I add a little bit extra, but as it changes the flavour quite significantly and kids sometimes prefer a less tangy taste, so a teaspoon of ginger would be ok 
fresh turmeric root - one teaspoon of turmeric would work, but you can add a little bit more

Fresh ginger and turmeric are fantastic ingredients to add to a juice. Packed with flavour and health benefits, will boost your immune system and act as an anti-inflammatory.

If you're using organic fruit and veg you don't have to worry about peeling them, just wash properly and cut into smaller parts. If not organic, I would recommend pealing the skin.
Add all the ingredients into a juicer, not all will fit at once, so keep on adding more while the juice is being pressed. Adding few drops of lime or lemon would make it extra fresh.
Enjoy!

  

Cream of broccoli with roasted pine nuts

Green soup, another favourite in our house. It's filling, creamy, packed with goodness and super easy to make! It's nice to get the kids used to eating soups, and this one can be enjoyed all year long for sure.

I use broccoli as the main vegetable in this dish, but it's also nice to add additional veg like green peas, kale or courgette.

Prep time with blending 10 minutes, cooking 10 minutes

Here's what you need:
1 or even 1 and 1/2 large broccoli - we only use the florets
two bay leaves
two garlic cloves
one organic stock cube, either vegetarian or chicken one will work, I like using Kallo cubes as they have less salt
1 sachet of bouquet garni
if using extra veg try either a handful of shredded kale, or half a cup of frozen peas or a few slices of courgette - you can add all 3 if you like
black pepper
1/3 of teaspoon of turmeric - turmeric is one of my favourite spices, I try to add it to any dish where possible even to scrambled eggs!! and it works great in soups. It's definitely a super spice - warming, anti - inflammatory and full of anti-oxidants.
handful of grated cheese - cheddar or any type you fancy will work
handful of pine nuts
cream for drizzling
fresh parsley for sprinkling

Here's what to do:
Cut your broccoli into florets, wash them and put into a pot, cover with water, not too much of it as you want the soup to be more of a cream than a watery consistency. Add garlic, bay leaves, bouquet garni, turmeric and one stock cube. If you're using extra veg add them too. Bring all to boil, then simmer until the broccoli is soft.  Once done take off heat, remove the bay leaves and the bouquet garni sachet. Put everything in a blender then mix, try not to use all of the water at first and keep adding according to how creamy/watery you would like it to be. Once all blended transfer back to your pan and add grated cheese while the soup is still hot so the cheese melts nicely. Add black pepper to taste. In a small not stick pan fry the pine nuts, only for couple of minutes so they're nice and brown. Pour the soup on the plates then sprinkle roasted pine nuts, drizzle with a little bit of cream and top it up with some fresh parsley, done, easy, yummy and good for you!! And wouldn't it be lovely to serve the soup in a bowl like this one...

Lemon and almond polenta cake

Zesty, crunchy, delicious, mood lifting polenta cake is one of my favourites. Whenever I bake it it pretty much disappears the same day...
I found this recipe one rainy afternoon somewhere online and baked it together with my boys. Polenta is an interesting ingredient that adds extra crunch and by using ground almonds instead of flour we get a nice gluten free alternative.

Prep time 10 minutes, baking time 1 hour 15 minutes 

Ingredients:
225g of unsalted butter
225g of caster sugar, you can also use brown or coconut sugar
3 free-range eggs from happy hens
225g of ground almonds
115g of polenta
1 teaspoon of baking powder
zest of 3 unwaxed lemons, plus a bit of lemon juice
icing sugar, for dusting
fresh fruit for decoration

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Grease and line with baking paper, a round cake tin - standard size would work. Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, beat until pale and light (if the butter comes straight from the fridge let it soften in room temperature for a bit before using, or slightly melt it over a pot with boiling water). Gradually add eggs, whisking all the time. Add ground almonds and keep mixing. Then with a large mixing spoon fold in polenta, baking powder, lemon zest and for some extra freshness and tanginess few drops of lemon juice. Mix to combine all. Pour the cake mix into your lined tin, transfer into the oven and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until just set and golden-brown. Don't worry if the cake doesn't rise much, ground almonds and polenta will make it quite flat, but it's still delicious! Once baked take out of the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack. To finish off dust the cake with icing sugar and decorate with some fresh fruit. Cut yourself a big slice before the kids grab it!!

Easy salmon pasta

I get asked to cook this dish at least twice a week, every week! And I don't mind as it's super easy, quick and delicious. Plus smoked salmon is packed with Omega 3.
It's a great dish all year long as you can change the veggies according to the season. 

Prep time 5 minutes, cooking 10 minutes 

Here's what you need:
Pasta - whichever shape you fancy
1 packet of smoked salmon - alternatively smoked trout will work too
1/2 pot of single cream
frozen or fresh garden peas
green veg - you can be quite creative here, I tend to use what I can find in the fridge depending on the season, my recommendation would be either broccoli, asparagus, kale or green beans 
juice of half a lemon - if you don't want it to be too tangy add less
black pepper
fresh dill

fresh dill from my garden 

Here's how to do it:
In a pot boil water with a pinch of salt and cook your pasta according to packet instructions. If you're using additional green veg, add them for the last 5 minutes of cooking your pasta, into the same pot. Drain pasta and veg together.
Heat up a not stick frying pan, add salmon. Fry for few minutes until it changes colour and with a wooden spoon break into small pieces. Add frozen peas. In a small bowl mix cream with black pepper and lemon juice, pour into the frying pan and take off heat. Add chopped fresh dill. Mix the boiled pasta and green veg with the salmon sauce. Enjoy, I promise it's delicious for the whole family!!

healthy C H O C O L A T E spread !!

Chocolate glorious chocolate! My boys would eat chocolate all day everyday, if they could.... So how do I make it more healthy? I came across this recipe watching a food programme 'Eating Well' by Hemsley sisters. What really appealed to me was that it looked very simple to prepare and had lots of amazing ingredients, making this chocolate spread nutritional and healthy, a prefect combination. The verdict - it's super easy to make and absolutely delicious!!

Preparation time altogether 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans
4 table spoons of cocoa powder
4 table spoons of honey - you can add more or less honey depending on how sweet you would like it to be
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
2 teaspoons of good quality vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
100g of hazelnut butter

Mix all ingredients in a food processor, and if you prefer a more smooth consistency keep it going for a bit longer. Put in a jar and keep in the fridge.
Black beans are the hidden gem in this chocolate spread and they add lots of healthy benefits - rich in protein, fiber, omega 3, vitamin B1, B9 and anti-oxidants.
And who said chocolate is bad for you? 

How do you like your eggs in the morning?

Breakfast is a very important meal, but quite often doesn't get much attention. When I have a bit extra time to cook in the morning I treat myself to something more special.
This simple egg recipe, with a twist, will give you a great start to the day!

Prep time 3 minutes, Cooking 5 minutes

Here's what you need:
handful of washed chopped kale
2 free range eggs
coconut oil
pinch of sea salt
pinch of turmeric

Method:
In the frying pan heat the oil then add kale. Fry for a minute, add your eggs - you can leave them to be like fried eggs or if you prefer mixed them up with kale using a fork to create kale scrambled eggs. Sprinkle with a pinch of turmeric and sea salt. Take off heat and enjoy.

My green goddess eggs are packed with goodness. Kale is one of my favourites and it works really well with eggs. It's a great source of chlorophyll, calcium, iron and vitamin A. Turmeric is anti-inflammatory, has antioxidant qualities and protects our liver from toxins.
Don't skip breakfast, try this recipe instead!

Noodle time...

Mummy what's for lunch? It seems like my boys are always hungry and quite often I have to create meals quickly, but I still try to introduce new recipes and flavours.

This is a very easy noodle dish, designed after my boys spent too much time watching 'Kung Fu Panda' and asked for noodles.

Rice noodles can be quite tasteless, but this recipe is packed with flavour!

Prep 5 minutes, cooking 10 minutes

Ingredients:
half a packet of rice noodles
cucumber
2 garlic cloves
ginger - add as much as you like, ginger improves circulation, is anti-inflammatory and great for boosting the immune system
sesame seeds
tamari sauce (I like using this instead of soy sauce as it has less salt)
sesame oil
optional spring onions

Method:
Cut cucumber into rectangle shapes and marinate with grated ginger, sprinkle generously with tamari sauce. Boil water and cook rice noodles, according to packet instructions. In a frying pan heat up sesame oil and add crushed garlic, fry for a minute. Add marinated cucumber, keep stirring and add extra tamari sauce. When the cucumber gets warm add (if using) chopped spring onions, take off heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Mix with cooked noodles and enjoy!

This dish is a great opportunity to introduce kids to using chop sticks. I found these fun ones in my local Tiger Store.
Inner peace Master Shifu!

Glorious banana loaf

This is our family favourite! Super easy and delicious, like a tropical breeze that will lift your mood instantly. You have to give it a try!

This banana loaf is gluten free, preservatives free and tastes of summer.
The recipe comes from 'Get the Glow' book by one of my favourites, Madeleine Shaw. Check out her website/instagram for more amazing recipes.

Prep time 10 minutes, baking 50 minutes

Here's what you need:
110g of melted coconut oil
250g of coconut sugar (it's almost like brown sugar, but with a hint of caramel, it's packed with nutriens and minerals with a low glycemic index providing 'slow-release' energy, definitely worth a try!) or alternatively brown sugar
4 ripe bananas
4 tablespoons of plant milk of your choice (coconut, almond, cashew nut)
1 egg
1 teaspoon of good quality vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
optional desiccated coconut
275g of rice flour, buckwheat flour or ground almonds
* I have tried all the flour combinations and I find that mixing 137g of ground almonds and 138g of buckwheat flour makes the nicest cake. Buckwheat is an ancient grain, becoming more and more popular. Rutin found in buckwheat can treat high blood pressure and increase circulation to hands and feet.

Method:
Mix all the ingredients by hand or electric mixer. Line the loaf tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180C.
Once all the ingredients are well combined, pour them into the tin and bake for around 50 minutes.
Leave it to cool and sprinkle with some coconut flakes. For an extra bit of indulgence spread some berry jam or home made chocolate spread (check out my other post to make that).

Enjoy all day every day!

Kale and chickpea summer pasta

Summer is here and to celebrate the warm, sunny evenings I created this super easy and delicious pasta, packed with nutrients and flavour.
If you like kale and chickpeas this is the one for you to try. My boys loved it too hooray!

Ingredients:
spaghetti pasta - half of the packet 
handful of kale
1 can of chickpeas
2 cloves of garlic
pure virgin coconut oil
olive oil for drizzling
half of lemon for juice
black pepper to taste
and if you fancy adding other veggies I highly recommend trying this yellow variety of green beans - adds extra colour and crunch 

Prep 5 minutes, cooking 10 minutes 

How to make it:
Boil pasta in a pan with a pinch of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil, so it doesn't stuck together while cooking.
In a separate pan boil water and add kale, just for a few minutes so it gets a bit softer, if you're using green/yellow beans add them too. 
In a large frying pan melt 2 table spoons of coconut oil and when hot add crushed garlic. Fry for a minute. Add previously cooked kale and if using green/yellow beans, fry for few minutes. Add chickpeas, drained and rinsed in water before adding. Again fry just till the chickpeas get soft and add a bit of olive oil to taste - the oils will create the sauce for your pasta so if the coconut oil evaporates add more olive oil. Take off heat, sprinkle with black pepper - to taste, and squeeze the lemon juice again depending on how strong you like it. Mix pasta with the vegetables and enjoy! I also sometimes sprinkle the dish with chia seeds, which adds extra crunch and omega 3 boost! Hope you/your family asks for few helpings like my boys do.