Lentil and chickpea curry (Serves: 3, Preparation: 25 minutes, Cooking: 25 minutes)

The lovely thing about this recipe (apart from the fact that it tastes really moreish) is that you can change the contents to change the flavour profile. Cauliflower goes really well, for example. In fact, you may notice that in the photo I didn't use chickpeas!

Basic ingredients

1 red onion, diced

1 tbspn olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red chilli, diced finely

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp curry powder

1" ginger, grated

juice of 1/2 lemon

Contents

100g red lentils

1 large carrot, grated

250ml stock

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

100g fresh spinach

A handful of chopped coriander

In a large saucepan, fry the basic curry ingredients over a low heat for a good 5 minutes, allowing all the flavours to combine. 

Then add the main contents, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Energising stir fry vegetables (Serves: 4, Preparation time: 30 minutes, Cooking time: 10 minutes)

If you get the balance of sauce and veg right, this is absolutely delicious. It tastes authentically Asian. Feel free to add some red chilli pepper if you like it hot. 

Stir fry sauce

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp thai fish sauce

1 tsp umbeoshi plum puree

1 tsp miso paste

1/2 tsp chinese 5 spice

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1" ginger, grated

Veg

60g mushrooms, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 carrot, in batons

1/2 chinese cabbage, sliced

 180g bean sprouts

150g sprouting broccoli

1 small tin bamboo shoots

a few cashew nuts

4 spring onions, sliced

handful of coriander

First , mix together all of the ingredients for the stir fry sauce in a small jar and shake well.

Then put a small amount of olive oil to a wok or large frying pan. 

Add all the veg except the coriander and spring onions and fry  for 3 minutes on a very high heat, stirring occasionally.

Pour the stir fry sauce over the vegetables and continue to cook for a furher 2 minutes. 

Stir through the coriander and spring onions before serving. 

Serve with brown rice or quinoa.

Refreshing Quinoa (serves 4, preparation 5 minutes, cooking 12 minutes)

Quinoa is a complete protein and very good for you. It's quick to cook and a good alternative to brown rice.  This recipe adds flavour to quinoa so it can be eaten as an accompaniment to any dish with or without sauce.

1 x 250ml cup of  quinoa

100ml white wine

1 garlic clove, crushed

500ml water

handful of flaked almonds

handful of shredded mint leaves

3 spring onions, sliced

juice of 1 small lime - don't overdo the lime

Put the quinoa into a saucepan on a medium heat for about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and let it sizzle for another 30 seconds.

Add the water and crushed garlic clove amd simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.

When complete, stir through the lime juice and toss in the spring onions, almonds and herbs to taste (you can use coriander or parsley instead of mint if you prefer). 

energy snack - potentially a bit naughty

Whilst on a yoga retreat in the French Alps recently, my lovely friend Sam accidentally invented the nicest snack ever. I have adapted it slightly here:


60g dried figs, cut into small pieces
150g slowly toasted whole almonds
150g slowly toasted whole cashews
1 tablespoon golden linseeds. 

Put all of the ingredients into a tupperware pot and shake it up. Take it everywhere you go for a filling and tasty snack.

The genius accidental discovery that Sam made in France was the combination of dried figs combined with linseeds. The linseeds adhere to the sticky interior of the figs and it tastes divine. 

As always, my number one tip for nuts is to put them in a dry frying pan on a really low heat for a good hour and let them slowly, slowly, slowly toast. It transforms a boring old nut into a  gastronomic delicacy.

I am eating barrelfuls of this mixture right now. I think it has superseded my love of flapjack. just. 

And why is it naughty? Because dried fruit is about 70% sugar. But the linseeds are very high in fibre and nuts are so healthy (especially almonds) that it's better than a million other snacks in the world. This is, after all, how I dare to live :)

Salad Days

I have recently become a bit addicted to salad. That sounds really boring and scarcely worth blogging about, but I'm loving it!

Salad fulfils the criteria of my diet: fresh ingredients, unprocessed, largely vegetarian, low GI. It's also quick, satisfying, varied, healthy and delicious.

I think the secret is having good balsamic and olive oil. I recently invested in really nice bottles of each and it makes a huge difference.

My favourite salad is really quite basic:

BASE
baby salad leaves
pitted green olives, halved
cucumber, sliced
grated carrot
diced red pepper
baby plum tomatoes

PROTEIN - choose from
fried halloumi
prawns
fish fillet (e.g. sea bass, mackerel or salmon)

DRESSING
balsamic and olive oil

OPTIONAL EXTRAS
toasted almonds
toasted cashews
fresh mint leaves
fresh coriander leaves


Today I was really late for a hair appointment and I threw the basic ingredients into a large tupperware pot (bar the carrot - there was no time!) along with a handful of fresh king prawns, grabbed a fork and trotted off. I ate it on the train and it was delicious - and so fast.

yay for salad!