Uber Healthy Falafel: serves 4 (20 mins prep, 15 - 30 mins cooking)

these falafels are the best healthiest i've found...

Ingredients
3 tbspn olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can green lentils, drained and rinsed
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon tahini paste
[optional - 100g gruyere cheese]

Method
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and cook the chopped onion over a low-medium heat until soft but not coloured.
Add the garlic, ground cumin and cayenne for another 30 seconds or so.

Tip the chickpeas and lentils into a food processor (or use a hand blender) to blend them until coarse. Add the contents of the frying pan (onion mix), the tahini, egg and the parsley and blend again until nearly smooth.
(Add the cheese here if you're using it and stir well)

then form the mixture into patties,  and either pan fry or bake in the oven at 180 C for 25 - 30 mins.

Red lentil and cauliflower stew: serves 6 (prep 10 mins, cooking 45 mins)

this is comfort food at its best...

Ingredients

·       4 tablespoons olive oil

·       2 medium yellow onions

·       6 cloves garlic, minced in a garlic crusher

·       8 stalks celery

1    1 tablespoon ground cumin

·       1 teaspoon turmeric

·       2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

·       2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

·       2 cans chickpeas, drained

·       2 cans chopped tomatoes

·       2 cauliflowers, diced

·       2.5 litres chicken stock

·       2 cups of red lentils

·       2 bay leaves

method

1.     Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a large pot with olive oil over medium heat until softened (about 5-10 mins). Finely dice the celery while the onions and garlic are sautéing, then add to the pot and continue to fry gently for 2-3 minutes more.

2.     Add the cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper to the pot. Stir and cook the spices with the vegetables for 1-2 minutes.

3.     Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), chickpeas (rinsed and drained), and cauliflower. Stir the pot until everything is well mixed.

4.     Add the stock and bay leaf, turn the heat up to high, place a lid on the pot, and allow it to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add the lentils. Stir and let it come back up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Let the soup / stew simmer on low, with the lid, for 30 minutes.

5.     After simmering for 30 minutes, the lentils should be tender. Remove the bay leaf and give the stew a taste.

Eastern Bean Stew - prep 10 mins, cooking 50 mins, serves 12

Adapted from none other than Yotam Ottolenghi, this is one of my favourites...

Ingredients

2 tins chickpeas, drained

2 tins butterbeans, drained

3 onions, diced

5 garlic cloves, minced in the garlic crusher

1 tsp turmeric

450g yellow split peas

4 litres chicken stock

70g parsley, chopped

30g dill, chopped

70g coriander, chopped

300g fresh baby spinach

200g spring onions, sliced

3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

juice of 4 limes

Method

In a large cooking pot, add a small amount of olive oil and sweat the diced onions and garlic over a low heat for up to 10 minutes.

Stir in the turmeric.

Add the chickpeas, butterbeans, split peas and stock to the pan and simmer for 30minutes.

Add the herbs, spinach, spring onions and white wine vinegar and cook for 15 more minutes.

At the very end, add the juice of the 4 limes and stir well.

Chicken and vegetable pie: serves 4 (prep time 15 mins; cooking time 40 mins)

great for all the family!

500g diced chicken (or turkey if you prefer)

1 red onion, sliced finely

4 balls of frozen spinach

1 heaped tablespoon of flour

½ packet of chestnut mushrooms quartered

1 carrot diced finely

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard

300ml chicken stock

1 tsp thyme

filo pastry

Put 1tbsp olive oil into the frying pan and cook the chicken for 3 minutes.

Add to the frying pan all the other ingredients except the pastry.

Leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Put the chicken mixture into a shallow dish.

Cover with the filo pastry – lay it on in individual sheets if possible. The important thing is to separate out the sheets so there is air between the layers.

Put into the oven and cook on 180 for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry looks cooked.

Harissa prawns and cauliflower cous cous. (serves 2, prep 25 mins, cooking 1 hour)

This is my new favourite thing. It takes a while to prepare and is a bit of a faff in lots of pans, but is unbelievably tasty and well worth the effort. Dinner guests will be in awe :)

Harissa Prawns
10-12 big prawns
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp harissa paste
3 garlic cloves, crushed
juice of 1 lemon

Roast veg
1 small pumpkin or squash (I use 1 or 2 Gem Squash)
1 courgette, cut into chunks
1 red pepper, cut into chunks

Cauliflower cous cous
1 small cauliflower (approx 250g)
100ml chicken stock
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
30g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
15g mint leaves, roughly chopped

Yoghurt sauce
150g natural yoghurt
1tbsp harissa paste

Start by marinating the prawns. Pop them in a bowl and cover them with a well-mixed oil, harissa, cumin, ground coriander and garlic. (everything except the lemon juice which is for later). Set aside in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C, place the chopped veg into a roasting tin, cover with oil and roast for 35-40 minutes.

Whilst the vegetables are roasting,  make the cauliflower cous cous.  Cut the cauliflower into chunks, place in a food processor and blitz until it resembles cous cous.
Fry the cauliflower cous cous for one minute in a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil. Then add the chicken stock and cook for 5 minutes. 
Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, the coriander and mint and the roasted vegetables.

Now it's time to add it altogether.  
In a large frying pan over a high heat, add the prawns and lemon juice for one minute.   Then pop this on top of the cous cous and roast veg mixture.

To server, make the yoghurt sauce by mixing together the yoghurt and harissa.

Mexican courgette and mushroom (serves 4, prep time 10 mins, cook time 10 mins)

This is a Mexican Twist on a Deliciously Ella recipe.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 4 small courgettes, sliced finely
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced finely
• 120g brazil nuts
• 4 ripe avocados
• juice of 4 small limes
• 25g fresh mint leaves, diced finely
• 25g fresh coriander, diced finely

First, blitz the brazil nuts in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs.

Next, start to gently fry the courgettes and mushrooms in olive oil for 5 minutes. 

Whilst these are cooking, scoop out the flesh of the avocados and add to the food processor, along with the lime juice. Blend well.

Now, mix together the avocado paste with the courgettes and mushrooms and add in the mint and coriander leaves. 

quick, healthy and tasty!

Spanakopitta variation [serves 4; prep 5 mins; cooking 40mins]

I've accidentally created a great take on a spanakopitta. I had some ingredients in the fridge and it all worked out rather well. I prefer this version to the previous version.

600g frozen spinach
8 broccoli florets
300g cottage cheese
230g jar of red peppers, drained and chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 small white onions, diced
2 sprigs of mint leaves, chopped
150g filo pastry

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Simmer the spinach and broccoli until soft and drain throughly. Squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible.
Meanwhile, fry the onion over a low heat until soft and a bit see through.

Add all the ingredients together (except the pastry) and blast with a hand blender until relatively smooth.

Put the green paste into a pyrex dish, top with the pastry and bake for 25-30 minutes.