The Magic of Cucumber 🥒 🥒

Cucumber is my favourite vegetable! I am a fiend when it comes to cucumber – I just can’t get enough of it!

Cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc. 

Cucumber has enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients in the body to avoid headaches.

Cucumber has been used for centuries as a beauty product, it lightens, brightens, hydrates and tones the skin too!

Get eating more of this vegetable in your diet!

Kale Smoothie with Blueberries

Kale Smoothie with Blueberries

This is a delicious smoothie rich in iron, antioxidants and vitamin C. It tastes really nice too!

Ingredients:

2 cups of kale

1 cup blueberries

1.5 Tablespoons of plain, fat free Greek style yoghurt

200ml of unsweetened coconut milk – I use the Vitacoco brand

Method:

I used the Sainsbury’s sliced curly kale which isn’t really tender so I steam it for 10mins in my steamer which is 2 mins longer than the packet instructions.

Then blend all ingredients together in a blender or Nutribullet – which ever you prefer; for this recipe I just use my blender. Also use a dairy alternative yoghurt for a vegan smoothie.

Then pour into a glass and enjoy!

This is great for natural iron and to boost your energy. A great smoothie to start your morning! x

Homemade Yoghurt

I love to make yoghurt at home. Here is a simple recipe you can try too. Do let me know how you get on in the comments, below.

Ingredients:

1 litre whole milk

2 tbs of ‘live culture’ yoghurt

Method:

Heat the milk in a pan and bring to a boil. 

Transfer the milk in to a thermos or steel pot; you can also use a natural clay terracotta pot if you have one. I use this as it keeps the mixture warm to turn into yoghurt. 

Leave to cool until it is hand hot (approx. 46C)

Add the 2 tbs of yoghurt and mix well. Cover the pot and leave in a warm place for approx. 8-10 hours.

You could leave it to rest inside the oven on a very low heat. I just keep it overnight inside my microwave (turned off).

Savoury Lentil Cake (hanndvo)

This savoury, lentil cake is made with rice and different lentils. It is has a crisp outer shell and is soft on the inside. This is quite easy to make but preparation is key as is using the exact measures. This is an old family recipe; I have grown up eating this and it always reminds me of my mother. Enjoy x

Recipe will serve 6

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

1/4 cup toor dahl

1/4 cup urad dahl split with skin

1/4 cup chana dahl

1.5 tspn turmeric

1 inch ginger chopped

1 green chili 

1.5 tspn salt

2 tspn sugar

1/4 tspn asafoetida

1/2 cup yogurt

2 tbspns oil

1 cup butternut squash shredded 

generous squeeze of half lemon

1 tspn Eno fruit salt

For Seasoning

1 tbspn oil 

1 tspn mustard seeds

1/4 tspn asafoetida

1 tbspn sesame seeds

Also need

oil to grease the baking pan

8×8 baking pan

Method

Wash and soak rice and all the lentils in water for at least 4.5 hours.

After soaking, blend rice, lentils, ginger, green chili to a lightly coarse texture, (drain water beforehand). I use my food processor for this. Then add yoghurt, turmeric, salt, sugar and asafetida. Blend mixture again. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and let it ferment for about 11 hours.

Add the butternut squash, 2 tbspns of oil and lemon juice to the fermented lentil mix. Mix well. To make the savoury cake mix light and fluffy, we now add the Eno.

Grease the baking pan with oil and pour the fermented mix, spreading it evenly.

Sprinkle sesame seeds over the batter and set aside. 

In a pan heat some oil and then add the mustard seeds. Once these begin to crack add the asafoetida, turn off the heat. Pour this seasoning over the sesame seed topped batter mix.

Cover the baking pan with foil and place it on the middle oven rack; bake at 200c, preheated oven for 20 mins.

Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 mins until top of the savoury cake is light golden brown. 

Let the cake cool off for about 20 minutes. Cut them into desired pieces and serve with chutneys and a fresh green salad.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

850g ripe tomatoes (halved or quartered depending on the size)

1 large red onion (cut into chunky slices)

3 red peppers (deseeded and cut into chunky pieces)

8 cloves garlic (left whole in their skins)

Generous coating of virgin olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper

500ml vegetable stock

Chilli infused olive oil 

Basil leaves

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220C In a baking tray add the tomatoes, red peppers, onion and garlic; generously coat olive oil. Season it well with sea salt and black pepper. Mix it all around with your hands so that it is evenly coated.

Bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes until the vegetables are roasted and look slightly charred.

Pick out the garlic from the roasted vegetables and squeeze the juicy garlic flesh out of the skin and discard skin.

Boil the stock and add some chilli infused oil to it, and then add the vegetables and garlic

Puree with a hand blender to your preferred texture

Serve in bowl with a dash of chilli oil, basil to garnish. 

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

Making Healthy Juices

I love making healthy juices as a supplement to my diet. I love the taste, and feel so much better inside when I drink one of my health juices.

To get started with juicing at home I would recommend investing in a good juicer – it doesn’t have to be expensive! A Juicer will ‘juice’ your fruit/veg and separate the pulp from it; you throw out the pulp and drink the juice! Simple. 

Here are a few good options for juicers:

The above range of Juicers are all good quality and at different price ranges to suit your budget. All my juice recipes are created using a juicer. I usually use my blender to make smoothies or my Nutribullet which is also a blender that blends. It has all the pulp in it regardless of how much you blend it. It can’t turn into juice unless you separate the juice from the pulp.

Protein for Veggies

Are you a vegetarian? Or maybe thinking about becoming a vegetarian and worried about how you will get protein into your diet without meat? After all protein is essential for our health. 

Well fear not! 

Believe it or not, there is plenty of non-meat foods that can introduce protein into your vegetarian diet so that you are not lacking in nutritional needs.

Vegetarians should always have as wide a variety of foods as possible to ensure they get enough protein in their diet. Here is a brief list of vegetarian foods that are a good source of protein:

Tofu

Quorn

Nuts

Lentils

Soy beans 

baked beans

Red kidney beans

Haricot beans

Chickpeas

Dairy products also contain protein. Here’s a short list of how you can get your daily dose of protein with dairy:

Cheese

Milk

Yogurt

Eggs (I don’t eat eggs but if you do then they are a great source of protein)

Dairy products are higher in calories than the vegan (non dairy) sources of protein so they should be eaten in moderation, particularly if you are trying to lose weight (or keep the same weight!). You can of course buy low fat varieties of cheese and drink semi-skimmed or even skimmed milk, low fat yogurts and spreads.