Happy New Year to you if it’s not too late to say it.  I can feel a tad ambivalent about New Year.  Having already broken one of my New Year’s resolutions I feel I am not off to the best start but perhaps things can only get better.  I do acknowledge that for some reason the change in year on the calendar does give me a little kick to change things I have been procrastinating about even if I don’t always follow through with said changes.  I’m thinking about them.  Surely that’s a good start?

Way back in the dim and distant past or a couple of weeks before Christmas I made this carrot cake found on Lottie + Doof.  I only had time to snap one picture and I’m going to link to the recipe because I followed it pretty much exactly.  It was delicious and hearty and the warming spices are just the thing at this time of year.

Recipe here

Predictably for New Year we are on a bit of a health kick around here and I have many recipes I am eager to share here in the (I hope) not too distant future.  I’m currently dealing with a toddler who is existing on a self imposed diet of peas, grapes and yoghurt.

In other news we’ve discovered an amazing gluten free and vegetarian cafe, Cafe Meon, which is absolute heaven as far as I am concerned.  The food is amazing and my carnivore hubby even loves it.  I cannot express how exciting it is to eat out somewhere and not have to think about checking everything with the chef.  The entire menu caters for people like me.  Added to this is the fact the cafe is housed in the beautiful Chesapeake Mill selling antiques and vintage wares so I get to combine two of my favourite things, food and antique browsing.  Website here.  Pictured above, their beetroot burger which so far is my favourite thing on the menu.  They also do fantastic cakes and hot chocolate.

Gluten Free Mexican Chocolate Almond and Pistachio Cookies

I’ve just munched down two of these before 9.30am and I had breakfast as well so I can’t say I was starving hungry.  I didn’t even eat them properly with a nice cup of tea and a book in hand.  I picked at them.  I took half a cookie from the tin, just to fuel me through the washing up.  The other half as a reward for doing the washing up.  I then decided that if I was eating cookies I would require a cup of tea but before the kettle was even boiled, oh look at that, another half eaten.  Finally I made it with my tea and the other half cookie to my laptop.  So there you have it, so delicious I can’t even wait for the kettle to boil.  That’s recommendation enough I think.

I found this recipe on My Darling Lemon Thyme, a brilliant blog full of delicious gluten free creations.  I’m going to be lazy and link to the recipe because I followed it almost exactly.  The only changes I made were to use cacao powder instead of cocoa and to use pistachios chopped up in the cookie instead of almonds because...have you seen the price of almonds lately?  The end result is a densely chocolate cookie with a nice kick from the cayenne pepper which apparently I can’t stop eating.

Recipe here.

Lately...

How time flies when you disappear off to have a baby...  Lately I’ve been spending my sleep deprived days getting to know our gorgeous little boy.  Things are a little chaotic.

In my last week of pregnancy I suddenly found the urge to cook but the seasons also changed on me and now this cherry crumble looks a little wrong.  Throw in plums or blackberries or whatever autumn fruit tickles your fancy.  Recipe here from Green Kitchen Stories along with impossibly beautiful photography.

I also made these incredible sugar free cookies.  In fact I took a batch to give me much needed energy while I was in labour.  Ha, that didn’t happen.  Labour and food did not go together.  This recipe is so good.  I’ve managed to make a couple of batches since and can’t stop munching my way through them.  Recipe here from A Sweet Spoonful.  I used pecans, pistachios and cacao nibs in place of the walnuts. Make sure you top with flaked sea salt.  Don’t skip this part, it’s key to the overall taste of the cookie.

Now that autumn is well and truly under way I’ve been getting back in to soup in a big way.  I’ve been making batches of this curried sweet potato soup at the weekends and I also made a parsnip version of this carrot and ginger soup and added a pinch of cumin to spice things up a little.  So glad it’s parsnip season again!

Roasted Summer Vegetables and a Rosy View

There is a rose in our garden coming out in full bloom.  If you knew what bad gardeners we are you would be impressed.  A few weeks ago my husband cleared an over grown and mostly dead flower bed which had been doing a good deal of looking very ugly for the past year.  We took ourselves off to the garden centre and set about buying plants having no clue what we were doing except that we wanted a few hardy shrubs and a rose bush.  We returned home somewhat out of pocket but with a car boot full of promise.  My husband dutifully planted everything while I idled with a book in a chair offering up helpful and sometimes not so helpful directions.  He planted, we watched, we waited.  The centrepiece of our new flower bed is an English rose bush and I’m happy to report this morning there are two lovely heads in bloom.  The rosemary we bought is thriving, the fuscia is doing well.  As for the others, the less said about those the better.  You can’t win them all.  The tenuous link to this salad being that we can now sit outside and enjoy our lunch with a decent view.

I’ve been enjoying roasted vegetables in various incarnations so far this summer.  I buy whatever is in season but the main players have been fennel, courgettes, carrots, tomatoes and of course kale.  In this version I used up some potatoes and threw in an avocado but I’ve also mixed roasted veg with pasta, quinoa and even millet.  The flavour comes from the roasted veg as they caremelise in the oven, the lemon zest adds a bright note to the whole affair, toasted nuts or seeds add crunch and of course goats cheese for tang.

Serves 2

1 large potato peeled and cut in to chunks

2 carrots peeled and sliced to your liking

½ large fennel bulb or whole bulb if smaller, cut in to wedges.

8 or so small plum tomatoes cut in half or quarters if larger

1 bunch of kale or other greens

1 avocado peeled and sliced

Handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted

Goats cheese

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Zest of half a lemon

Teaspoon rosemary

Preheat oven Gas Mark 7, line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Parboil the potatoes, drain and set aside to steam.  Prepare the other vegetables.  Add the potatoes, carrots and fennel to the first baking sheet.  Sprinkle with rosemary and olive oil.  Place on the shelf of the oven.

Lay the tomatoes cut side up on the other baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil and roast in the bottom shelf of the oven.  Keep an eye on the vegetables, turning occasionally.  Everything should be done after about 40 minutes.  The vegetables should be golden and the tomatoes should be beginning to caremelise.

Once the vegetables are ready add the kale to the baking tray to allow it to slightly wilt for about one minute.  Remove from the oven and grate over the lemon zest.  Serve up the roasted vegetables and kale in bowls, top with the tomatoes, avocado, goats cheese and pumpkin seeds.  Season to your liking.

The Hard Drive and the Mashed Potato

Do I need to explain my absence here or shall I just get on with it?  Sweep it under the carpet, dust off the blog and carry on...well, I'll tell you this, it's very dull.  My lap top hard drive failed, it took two weeks to fix but then I badly hurt my neck while washing my hair and couldn't type for another two weeks.  That's it, told you, unbelievably dull. This cake however, is anything but.

Back in the murky mists of time or February, I received a lovely card from my friends mother and inside was the recipe for this cake torn out of the Guardian.  I love post like this!  The cake not only sounded delicious, passion fruit and lime has to be a winner, but it also included mashed potato in the ingredients list.  This had to be tried immediately.  I had heard about mashed potato in gluten free cakes before.  I've had my eye on a recipe for a lemon drizzle version on BBC GoodFood for a while.  Don't be put off.  You really cannot tell the cake includes mashed potato and it gives the crumb a lovely moist texture and also makes the cake quite springy.

Gluten Free Passion Fruit and Lime Drizzle Cake Recipe from The Guardian

150g soft butter
150g soft light brown sugar (I used demerara)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 passion fruit, pulp scooped out
Zest of 2 limes
300g cold mashed potato
200g ground almonds
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

For the topping:
*The original recipe calls for 175g icing sugar, sifted, Juice of 1-2 limes and 1 passion fruit, pulp scooped.
I had to adapt things here as I had no icing sugar and I'd run out of passion fruit so for my topping I used 2 tablespoons of demerara sugar and the juice of two limes.  I combined these in a saucepan and heated until the sugar had dissolved.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180C, 350F.
Grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin.
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the eggs and combine.  Stir in the passion fruit pulp, lime zest and mashed potato until you have a smooth batter.  Fold in the ground almonds and baking powder.
Transfer the batter in to the cake tin and bake for 1 1/4 hours until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  If the top of the cake is getting a little too well done loosely cover with foil.  I found I needed to do this.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cake is cool user a skewer to create holes in the top of the cake and pour the topping mixture over.

Butternut Squash, Pecan, Goat’s Cheese and Honey Toasts

I suppose I have to admit that winter is upon us.  The leaves are dropping from the trees in rapid succession, some of them are already bare, others are hanging on to their golden nuggets until those blustery winter winds finally win the battle and send them heading to the ground.  Soon we’ll be hanging Christmas decorations (most of you probably already have) and before we know it welcoming in a new year.  I’m not quite ready to let go of autumn yet so I’ve been taking quite a few photos of our weekend walks before winter is well and truly here and I forget all about those sometimes golden, sometimes grey skies.

I am also enjoying all things butternut squash.  You have been warned.  Last weekend when I was hunting around for something to eat for lunch I reached for the River Cottage Veg book which always seems to yield something tasty and easy that I can throw together.  The recipe uses sourdough as the bread of choice, which I am sure would be the way to go, however since I’ve yet to try making gluten free sourdough, sub whatever gluten free bread you have.  It will still taste fantastic, I promise.  Here the slightly sweet, caramelized flavour of the roasted squash is balanced out by melted goat’s cheese, toasted pecans and it’s all finished off with a drizzle of honey.  I threw in some kale too, but you should expect that of me by now.

Recipe adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 2

A handful of toasted pecans (or nut of choice)

1 tablespoon olive oil

200-250g butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite size cubes

2 leaves of cavolo nero kale (optional) stems removed and chopped

1 teaspoon dried rosemary or thyme

50g goat’s cheese (I used hard goat’s cheese, you could also use cheddar)

2 thick slices of gluten free bread, toasted

A trickle of clear honey

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F

Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Lay the squash out in a single layer, sprinkle with rosemary and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast for about 30 – 40 minutes until the squash is tender and beginning to caramelize around the edges.  If you are using the kale I add this to the pan five minutes before the squash is ready.  You just want the kale wilted in the heat of the oven.

When the squash is nearly ready light the grill and lightly toast the bread.  Remove from the grill and top with the squash, kale, goat’s cheese, pecans and finish with a drizzle of honey.  Return to the grill and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Roasted Butternut Squash Rice Bowl

I’m making an early appearance this week due to a hectic weekend ahead.  I’ve a free evening, home alone with too loud Bon Jovi to keep me company (sorry neighbours).  Rather than stare at the walls I thought I’d talk to you lovely people instead.

I feel like I should almost apologise for posting yet another of my rice bowls but I can’t seem to stop making them.  Once I discovered the magic that some toasted nuts, dried fruits and a bit of goat cheese can bring to a bowl of brown rice and vegetables it seems to be an unstoppable express train headed for my mouth.  You can totally make it your own and just throw in whatever combination of roasted vegetables, nuts and dried fruit you want.  I’m having a thing for butternut squash at the moment so here I used it to add a vibrant touch of orange to my bowl of rice.  There is no end in sight to my love affair with pistachios and for a little festive seasonal colour I used cranberries as my dried fruit of choice.  Kale or some sort of green always makes an appearance.  I made a quick dressing out of olive oil and maple syrup.  Honey would be a good sub.  I think roasting the butternut with a little maple syrup would also be a good plan.  I don’t think I need to write this one up.  Here’s the bones of the recipe, mix it up to suit your own style and tastes.  I roasted the butternut for 35 minutes at Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup and Windy Weather

Here in the UK it’s a batten down the hatches and pull the draw bridge up sort of situation.  It’s windy, rainy and horrible out there and more grim weather is on the way.  Making soup seems like the ideal solution and while I love a pot of soup simmering on the stove, this one can actually be made in 15 minutes so it’s perfect if you are impatient and more to the point, hungry.  The earthiness of the sweet potatoes works perfectly with the warming ginger and the curry paste gives it a nice kick.  The toasted almonds give it a smoky fragrance and a lovely crunch. It’s quick to make, simple and filling.  I snapped the instagram below on a lovely autumn day in my local park, just to remind us autumn isn't all gale force winds and heavy rain!

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food

The key here is to grate or finely chop your sweet potato in a food processor to save cooking time, however if you don’t want to do this then chop the sweet potato into chunks and simmer for longer until tender.  Grating can be very labour intensive which is why I cheat with a food processor!

Serves 2

1 large sweet potato, grated.  (mine was 500g unpeeled.)

1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil

1 shallot or small onion chopped

½ tablespoon fresh root ginger finely chopped

1 teaspoon curry paste (I used tikka masala)

500ml gluten free stock

Handful of toasted almonds

Peel and grate your sweet potatoes or whizz in a food processor which saves a lot of time and set aside.  In a saucepan heat the oil then add the shallot and sauté until soft, add the ginger and continue to cook until fragrant. Next add the curry paste and continue to cook for one minute.  Tip in the sweet potato and mix well.  Pour over the stock and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the potato is soft.  Allow the soup to cool slightly then whizz in a blender.  Return the soup to the saucepan and heat through.  Season to taste and serve with toasted almonds on top.  Some fresh coriander would be nice too.

Banana Bread Granola Bars

These granola bars have been giving my work day snacks a real lift over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve made two batches so far using a mix of different nuts, seeds and dried fruit and both were equally delicious.  By Thursday we’ve always run out.  I have a bad habit of getting home from work ravenous and these bars have been far too easy to reach in to the fridge for and start nibbling.  They are the perfect texture, slightly chewy but with bite.  It’s no surprise that nuts and dried fruit are made to work together, the chocolate takes them up a level.  For banana haters, you can’t really taste the banana but it works as a great binder along with the almond butter. 

The recipe comes from the beautifully photographed blog The First Mess which is packed full of tasty and healthy recipes.  Pop over there for the recipe and to see how chocolate drizzling can be accomplished neatly.  My first effort looked like the work of a small child not yet in control of their motor skills.  The second batch, photographed is only marginally better.

I used maple syrup instead of brown rice syrup because I didn’t have any.  You can choose your own combination of nuts, seeds and dried fruits/chocolate.  I used brazil nuts, pistachios, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, cranberries and cacao nibs.  Make them, your lunch box will thank you!

Find the recipe here.

Comfort Food: Almond Butter and Banana Toastie

Things have been so busy lately hence the silence in these quarters.  I don’t have anything decent to share with you as I haven’t had much time for cooking so here is my current comfort food obsession which can be thrown together in a few moments.  I’m sure you are no stranger to the whole concept of a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  You either love or hate the idea of this combination.  My husband wouldn’t go near one.  I however view this as the ultimate comfort food.  I graduated a few years ago from peanut butter to almond butter as my favourite sandwich filling, not just for the taste but the health benefits too.  Any kind of nut butter would work or chocolate spread would be amazing and totally indulgent.  Since it’s a grey October day I felt like a toastie was in order so I made an almond butter and banana toasted sandwich and it was scrumptious.  I probably could have gone a little more liberal with the almond butter, it should really be oozing out the sides of the sandwich but nevertheless, this was just what I wanted.  If I had more time and was a better food blogger, I would have made the almond butter myself, it’s good to have something to aspire to.  For now, shop bought will have to do.

I used a grill for this but I imagine you could also use a skillet.  Toast your gluten free bread on one side then remove from the grill and top the toasted side liberally with nut butter of your choice.  Place a layer of sliced banana on top then make a sandwich leaving the untoasted sides facing outwards.  Return the sandwich to the grill and finish off toasting each side of the bread.  Once golden brown remove from the grill and devour.

Trail Mix for Those Hangry Moments

I definitely suffer from the occasional bout of hangry.  The rough translation being for those occasions when you are so hungry you just want to scream and shout at everyone until you’ve pushed food in to your mouth.  So, I made trail mix to snack on in the hopes that such moments can be avoided.  I don’t like myself in those moments, I don’t like anyone in those moments.  Trail Mix to the rescue.

I’m always on the lookout for relatively healthy snacks I can munch on at work where my need for munching seems to be magnified by about a million.  I came across this useful information page from BBC Good Food about the nutritional benefits of different nuts.  I decided some sort of trail mix containing a good variety of my favourite nuts and seeds was just what I needed plus the extra protein boost would be another benefit.  I also added some coconut, oats and cherries to pad it out a bit.  You might be thinking isn’t this granola and yes, this would also make amazing granola, I can’t argue with that.  I just dialled down the amount of oats so that the nuts took centre stage.  Chuck it in a container and take it to work, eat it with natural yoghurt, use it as a dessert topping on ice cream.  Go nuts!  Sorry.

Makes about 1.5 pints.

The ingredient amounts here are approximate, use more or less to your liking.  There’s no set rules to follow.

25g (1oz) each for your choice of seeds, nuts and coconut flakes

75g (3oz) gluten free rolled oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

Handful of dried fruit of our choice

1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or extra virgin olive oil would work)

1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F

Mix the coconut oil and maple syrup together and set aside.  In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients apart from the dried fruit and the sugar.  Pour in the oil and syrup mixture and combine until everything is coated.  Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes checking at regular intervals to ensure nothing is burning and to turn the mixture over so that all sides are browned.  Coconut flakes can cook particularly fast so you might want to add these a bit later.  Once the trail mix is golden brown remove from the oven and add the dried fruit to the hot tray.  Allow the mixture to cool and the fruit to plump up a little from the heat given off by the baking tray.  Once completely cool store in an air tight container for up to two weeks.

Back on the Smoothie Game

Last year, every weekend morning you would find me in the kitchen busily making smoothies.  I was quite obsessed.  But then, like the fickle girl I can be, I just suddenly stopped.  I don’t remember why, how or when.  Suddenly that was it.  The one woman smoothie production line ground to a halt, my blender lay dusty and unloved for months.  When I saw this recipe on My New Roots it re awakened my inner smoothie making gene...stick with me here...and so I dusted off my blender and made the most amazing smoothie.  I think the problem was I just lost my inspiration.  I made the same smoothie every week.  I loved it but it just got old.  It reminded me I need to mix things up a bit and try different ingredients more often.  We still have the central game players, frozen banana, kale, almond milk but a few unexpected guests have turned up to make this smoothie way more interesting.  In particular it’s packed with protein which is something I don’t always feel features enough in my diet.  It also makes the best of summer fruits peaches and blueberries.  So make this smoothie, it tastes like heaven in a glass, thick and creamy with pops of fruit and it’s really good for you.

For those who are put off the whole frozen banana idea, all you need to do is peel and chop up your banana and stick it in the freezer on a plate for about an hour.  You want it frozen but it doesn’t need to be rock solid.  I’m sure you’ll be riveted to know that I do this first thing in the morning and then pop off and have a shower.  By the time I drag myself back downstairs it’s usually had a good 45 minutes in the freezer and is ready to use.  Freezing the banana just makes the smoothie extra creamy but it’s by no means essential.  Happy smoothie making!

Recipe very slightly adapted from My New Roots.

Makes 1 huge glass or 2 smaller ones.  This was plenty for myself and my husband.

1 cup blueberries, mine were frozen

1 frozen banana and frozen peach (same method as banana)

5 large basil leaves

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 teaspoon bee pollen (optional)

1-2 teaspoons pea protein powder (optional and use more if you like)

1 handful of kale, finely chopped and stems removed

200ml almond milk

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  I usually do this in stages starting off with the kale and almond milk and then adding the other ingredients one by one.  It’s easier on the blender that way.