Tartines with Roasted Tomatoes and Mint Pesto

This week another recipe review!  We have gone back again to the trusty BBC Good Food for this recipe: Tartines with Roasted Tomatoes and Mint Pesto 

For full ingredient list and method follow the above link.

But in brief:

Cut tomatoes in half, place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Season well with salt and pepper.

Toast your bread to your liking.

Make the pesto by putting balsamic vinegar, olive oil and mint in the blender (BUT DONT BLEND YET)

Take the garlic cloves and rub then on the toast.  Then, pop these garlic cloves into the blender with the other pesto ingredients.

Toast the pine nuts then also add these to the blender.

Blend the pesto.

Rub oil on the toast.

Smother the toast in the ricotta. MMmmmm

Take the tomatoes from the frying pan and pop them in the oven.  Once they are cooked put them on the toast and season to your taste.

Generously drizzle the pesto over.

All that is left to do now is eat up and enjoy.  We think this goes perfectly with the butternut soup we blogged about here.

Oh Look What We Found!

We were doing our usual searching of the internet for new recipes and ways of reducing our meat intake and we stumbled across this amazing blog article by Honest Cooking.

Our Favourite Meat Dishes Go Vegetarian

In this article they take your favourite meals and give you a way of making a vegetarian equivalent. They link to recipes which look great and I think you will agree look just as good as those meaty ones we love!

So why not check out this article and try one of the recipe?  Could they be a new favourite?

We will definitely be trying some of these recipes when we get back from our travels and will let you know how we get on. If you try any be sure to send us a picture on our Facebook page and let us know what it was like!

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

As the nights are drawing in and the weather turns colder, a hearty dinner is just what's needed. Try this delicious spinach and ricotta cannelloni to keep you warm on those long cool nights....

For the tomato sauce: fry 3 chopped garlic cloves in a splash of oil and then add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sugar, salt and pepper and a small handful of chopped basil.

For the topping: stir 3 tablespoons of milk into a bowl with 1 x 250g tub of mascarpone, a good pinch of nutmeg and seasoning.

For the filling: pour boiling water over 750g of fresh spinach to wilt it. When cool squeeze out the excess water, then roughly chop it up. Mix in a bowl with 85g of Parmesan and 2x 250g of ricotta cheese. Fill 400g of cannelloni tubes with the filling, then layer the tomato sauce , cannelloni and top with the mascarpone topping. Sprinkle the top with chopped buffalo mozzarella, grated Parmesan and a handful of torn basil leaves, then bake at 200 degrees for 35 mins.

Soup Season #3

Time for another soup recipe!  This time its a BBC Good Food recipe found here.  The BBC Good Food website is a firm favourite of ours.  It has so many recipes on it and they are also so easy to follow. You can't go wrong!

For full ingredients lists and recipe instructions follow the link above to the recipe but in short........ this recipe involves:

Chopping up the ingredients and lightly frying.

Adding the stock and simmering away.

Blend the soup until it is smooth.  OR if you like a chunky soup, remove half the soup, blend the other half and pop the chunky half back in.

And there you go, serve with your favourite crusty bread or a sandwich.

Recipe review:

As we have come to expect with the BBC Good Food recipes, this is easy to follow.  It uses simple ingredients which can be picked up in even a small supermarket.  It is quick and produces a delicious soup.  Make it in a large batch and you can even freeze portions.

A Plant Based Diet

Diet fads come and go like the seasons, but now people seems to be talking about making "life style changes" rather than short diets.  For some currently this seems to be extending to following a plant based diet lifestyle.

But what does this mean exactly?  Does this mean you can only eat plants?  Isn't that just rabbit food? Wouldn't I be starving?  How could that be good for me?

Well check out this article we found that explains all.  

Now going fully plant based is pretty hardcore, but what about doing one plant based day a week? Or one plant based meal a day?  Or just changing your normal breakfast to a plant based version?  Small changes can make a difference and add up.  Doing one small change at a time is the best way of making a sustained change, rather than the classic fashionable diet fad pattern that means it last about 2 weeks (or is that just me?)

Need inspiration..... well YouTube is our go to place.  Just type in "plant base diet" and see the huge about of videos that come up full of recipes, ideas and motivating vlogs!

A Day in the Life of a Flexitarian #1

Welcome to the first of a new series: A Day in the Life of a Flexitarian.  Here we document our day, what we have eaten and how we made it.  It is hoped that this will demonstrate the variety that is possible through a Flexitarian life style!

So lets kick things off!

Breakfast

Today for breakfast it was a smoothie made with almond milk, natural yoghurt, frozen summer fruits, milled flaxseed, wheatgrass powder and bee pollen!  What a way to start the day delicious and packed full of nutrients.

Mid-morning

Packed full of anti-oxidents this green tea was a mid-morning boost.  This green tea from Tescos is flavoured with blueberry and raspberry which gives it a fruity twist.

Lunch

For lunch we had the kidney bean, carrot and cumin burgers (recipe: here).  This was served with a cucumber and avocado salad.  To dress it we mixed some sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.  The sesame oil has a strong taste which works really well!

Pre-run snack

Before going for a run we needed some energy!  So we had a banana, chocolate protein shake.  This was made by blending almond milk, a banana, chocolate protein powder and a tablespoon of porridge oats.  The banana makes this smoothie so thick and creamy and the protein powder and the oats make it really filling without being too heavy.  Perfect to give that energy boost before exercise.

Tea / Dinner

This was a bit of an experiment! Here is how it was made.

Ingredients:

• 1 x white potato
• 1 x pack baby corn
• 3 x peppers
• 1 x punnet mushrooms
• 1 x leek
• 1 x bag of spinach
• 1 x vegetable stock cube
• 200ml milk
• 3 x tbsp natural yoghurt
• Brown rice
• 1 x pack of Old El Pasto Creamy Poblano Pepper spice mix

Method:

1. Add the milk to a slow cooker and mix in the spice
2. Chop all the vegetables (except spinach) and add
3. Add stock cube and hot water.  Add enough so that there is liquid covering about half the depth of the vegetables.
4. Cook in the slow cooker until the vegetables are soft and cooked through (approx 2-3 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low)
5. Add in the spinach and stir through (if on low switch it to hot to help with spinach to wilt)
6. Season with salt
7. Cook brown rice as per instructions
8. Stir in yoghurt
9. Serve!

So that was a day in the life of a flexitarian today!  Remember to let us know what your flextiarian days look like!  Why not send it in via Facebook?

Soup Season #2

As we spoke about in last weeks post, its Soup Season.... the best thing about when the weather get's colder.  So here is another soup recipe for those colder evenings or as a tasty lunch.  This one has Asian influences thanks to the coconut milk and again is super easy to make.

Carrot and Coconut Soup

Ingredients

• 6 x Large carrots (chopped)
• 1 x Onion
• 1 tsp x Fresh ginger cut finely
• 2 tsp x Chilli powder
• Vegetable stock
• 1 x Tin coconut milk
• 6 x Spring onions (sliced)
• Fresh coriander (finely chopped)

Method

This can be done in a slow cooker or just on the hob.  The method is for the hob, but if using a slow cooker basically put the top 5 ingredients into the slow cooker, cook on low for 8 hours.  Blend and add the bottom three.

1. Fry the onions in some oil.
2. Add the carrots and ginger and fry for a couple more minutes.
3. Add the stock, season with salt and pepper and add the spices.
4. Simmer until carrots are very soft (the softer the better for a smooth soup).
5. Blend!
6. Add the coconut milk, spring onions and coriander and mix through.

And that's it!  Remember to let us know if you make this soup, what did you think?  Also, post a picture of your soup to our Facebook page!

Do you have a soup recipe that you would like us to try?  If so send it to us on Facebook.

Meat Free Monday

It's Monday tomorrow.  Could you do a meat free one?

Meatless Monday's "Launched in 2003, Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, working in collaboration with the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Our goal is to reduce meat consumption by 15% for our personal health and the health of the planet. We provide information, news, recipes and free promotional materials to help individuals, schools, restaurants, hospitals, food companies and entire communities to start each week with a commitment to eating healthy, environmentally-friendly, meat-free meals." (direct quote from linked website)

This is a GREAT recipe to check out for recipes and also a good place to find some further information about why reducing your intake is good not only for your health and your wallet but also for the environment!

Similarly, Meat Free Monday's "Launched by Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney in 2009, Meat Free Monday is a not-for-profit campaign which aims to raise awareness of the detrimental environmental impact of eating meat, and to encourage people to help slow climate change, preserve precious natural resources and improve their health by having at least one meat free day each week." (direct quote from linked website)

So with so many websites providing information and recipe ideas..... do you think you could do a meat free day?  Why not do tomorrow....... why not do your very own Meat Free Monday.

Go on...... you might just get hooked.

Let us know what was your menu on your meat free day by sending us a message on our Facebook page.

Soup Season #1

Summer is over.......booooooooooo, BUT that means Soup Season is here................ yeahhhhhh!!!  So here is a quick and easy soup recipe to kick start the season of all things warm and delicious! Special thanks to SB for this recipe.

SB's Slow Cooked Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 x Butternut squash - cubed
• 2 x Sweet potatoes
• 1 x Onion (diced)
• Vegetable stock
• 1.5 tbsp x Ground cumin
• 3 x Cloves of garlic

Method (.....wait until you see how easy this is)

1. Put everything in a slow cooker on the low heat setting.
2. Cook for 8 hours. (you could have it on overnight, or while your at work)
3. Blend.

Yup..... that's it!

If you don't have a slow cooker fear not, you can just cook in a normal soup pot until veg is soft and blend!

Salad Selection

Salads are great for lunch.  It is an easy quick way of getting on your way to your 5 a day. Saying this, the classic lettuce, cucumber and tomato combo soon gets dull to say the least. Well help is at hand.  Please find below two quick easy and exciting salads that will have you counting down the minutes to your lunch break!

Salad #1

The first one is wilted spinach, cherry tomatoes, cress, fresh mozzarella and soy sauce.

Salad #2

The second one is wilted spinach (in soy sauce), mozeralla and avocado, all microwaved together and plenty of Cajun spice over the top.

How To: Keep An Avocado Fresh?

The Avo-saver! My New Favourite Kitchen Gadget

Introducing my new favourite kitchen gaget...... the AVO-SAVER!  A handy wee tool for keeping that unused half avocado fresh until I use it the next day!  No more avocado going brown, no more wasted avocado going in the bin.  I LOVE THE AVO-SAVER!

So what is it and how does it work?

I like to think of the avo-saver as a little avocado hammock.  This plastic tool basically hugs half an avocado so tight it keeps it fresh!

You simple add half an avocado, with the stone in, into its bed.

You then pull over the stretchy plastic avocado seat belt.

This then clips in.  Because there are different "belt holes" and because it is stretchy you can make this nice and tight no matter what size of avocado you have.  One size fits all!

And that is that!!!!

Horray for the avo-saver!

What are your favourite kitchen gadgets and gizmos?  We would love to hear about them!

Clean Eating Peanut Butter Oat Bars

So it was a "cake and coffee" day at work.  This means the staff room is full of sugary treats all trying to temp you.  Although they taste lovely, being full of refined sugar means they will give a spike in blood sugar levels, leading to a wee boost in energy........... before the crash.  That sluggish feeling is not nice and makes the rest of the working day much harder.

So this recipe is filling and contains protein and best of all is only sweatened using natural sweeteners.  This means that they will give longer lasting energy and will avoid that spike and crash pattern.

They are so easy to make...... we are talking under 10 minutes.  They don't involved any baking, but just set in the fridge.  So a good one to do the night before and leave in the fridge overnight. SIMPLES!

Ingredients

• 3 x cups of porridge oats (if you need the recipe to be gluten free just get gluten free oats)
• 1.5 x cups of peanut butter (look at the ingredients - lots of peanut butters contain refined sugar.  Try the "wholenut" ones - they usually do not have added sugar)
• 3/4-1 x cup of honey
• What ever you want to add in.  This could be nuts, seeds, dried fruit, shredded coconut.  Try different combinations!

Method

1. Add the peanut butter and honey to a pan and gently head while mixing together.
2. Once all combined and softened a bit pour into a bowl.
3. Add the oats slowly mixing as you go.
4. Once the oats are all coated in the honey and peanut butter mixture add your extra ingredients.
5. Line a baking tray or a tupperware tub with grease proof paper.  Pour the oaty mix in and press down.
6. Drizzle a small amount of honey over the top.
7. Leave in the fridge to set (over night if you can - but less is fine if your short of time)
8. Cut into pieces and enjoy - GUILT FREE!

Marscapone Courgetti / Zoodles

Courgetti ("spaghetti made of courgettes") or Zoodles ("noodles made of zucchini") is something we have heard about for a while now, yet never tried.  Luckily my sister has a Spiralizer.  This is a machine that can cut vegetables (e.g. courgette or carrot) into noodles. This means you can take your favourite spaghetti or noodle dishes and take out the carbs, replacing them with veggie goodness.

Now you may think that the £25-£30 for a the Spiralizer machine is a bit steep until you know you would get your use out of it.  Well we have just found this alternative, which is a hand held version for under £5.  We have just purchased this, so will give it a go and let you know.

So here is a cheesy Italian dish that used "courgetti" as it's base!

Ingredients (for 3 people)

• 3 Courgettes

• 1 onion

• 3 garlic cloves

• A couple of handful peas

• 5 sliced Mushrooms

• Mascarpone

• Halloumi

• Oil of your choice

 Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Slice the halloumi cheese and fry until nicely golden brown on each side. While the halloumi is cooking finely chop the garlic cloves (feel free to use more or less than me- I like things garlicy!!) and slice the onion.
2. Once the halloumi is cooked take it out the pan and place to the side (I also chopped it up at this stage into more bitesize pieces). Then add the garlic and onion to the pan and keep on a medium heat for around 5-7 minutes. Add the peas (if frozen, if not then add them at the same time as the courgette) and the mushrooms. Keep cooking for another 5 minutes or so- until the onion is about 80% cooked.
3. While the onion and garlic is cooking away spiralizeyour courgettes ready to add in.
4. Once the onion, garlic, peas and mushroom mix has cooked to the 80% add in the courgette (and peas if they weren’t added in step 2)
5. Keep this on a medium heat for another 5 minutes or so- until the courgette has heated through and then reduce the heat to a low temperature. Add in the mascarpone and mix until the mascarpone has turned in a sauce. Add the halloumi back in a keep on a low heat until everything is heated through and cooked to suit you.
6. Serve straight from the pan and add some parmesan cheese on top.

A lot of the ingredients in this can be swapped/missed out so it’s very easy to make it suit your own taste. Also the quantities are to your own preference. In general I would do at least 1 courgette per person and around 70-80g of mascarpone cream per courgette. However having too much mascarpone is never a bad thing. I think it would also be great with broccoli, asparagus, spring onion and peppers so it’s a great recipe when you need to use things up in the fridge.

Mediterranean Beans with Lime Kale

Sadly summer seams to be over.  The nights are getting darker and the days are getting colder.  This is the time when I don't know about you..... but I feel the need for comfort food. This inevitably lead to stodgy carb heavy meals that probably are not hitting the highs in terms of nutrition.

So is it possible to get hearty warming comfort food that is still good for you?

Well....... we like to think this recipe hits that brief.

This bean stew is filling and hearty, the spices in the sauce make it lovely and warming.  It is served with lime marinated crispy kale which is packed full of nutrients and adds a crispy texture!

Ingredients

• 2 x tins of beans of your choice (we did cannellini and butterbean)
• 1 x onion
• 1 x red pepper 
• 1 x passata (or a tin of chopped tomatoes would do)
• Sun-dried or sun blushed tomatoes
• Pitted olives (we have used black but green or mixed would also work)
• Kale
• 1-2 x lime
• Smoked paprika
• Chilli powder or Cayenne pepper (decide which you prefer according to your spice likeness)
• Salt and pepper
• Tahini (optional - but this makes the sauce seem creamy - without cream - amazzzing! this really gives that comfort food feel)

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to about 190 celcius.
2. Chop the onion and lightly fry.
3. Chop the red pepper and add to the pan.
4. Once the veg is beginning to soften add the beans and the passata.  Once bubbling, reduce heat to a light simmer.
5. Add in your spices and seasoning.  Spicing is to your taste, we like it quite smokey and spicy so we would go for 2 teaspoon of paprika and the same of chilli pepper.
6. Add in the olives and the sun-dried tomatoes.
7. Simmer gently to allow the flavours to develop.  For around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. While your waiting get the kale and take out any thick stalks.  Put the kale in a sandwich bag.  Add some olive oil, salt, pepper and the juice of 1-2 limes.  Hold the end of the bag closed and "massage the kale" through the bag.  This sounds weird.... but this means the citrus from the lime will break down and soften the kale.
9. Lay the kale out on a baking tray and put in the oven for 5-10 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, you want to take it out when it has just started to go crispy.
10. Serve together in a big bowl and enjoy!!!

Pad Thai Spring Rolls

Time for another recipe review.  This time one of our lovely followers is reviewing a Minimalist Baker recipe...... their Pad Thai Spring Rolls.

This recipe is full of fresh flavours and lots of lovely colours.  Using only 10 ingredients this recipe is quick and easy to prepare for everything can be found in a large supermarket. Smaller supermarkets might not have a few of the items, but these could also be picked up in an Asian supermarket.

The Review:

The recipe was easy to follow.  The smells that filled the kitchen while cooking were great!  The assembly part of the recipe was a bit fiddly..... perhaps a bit of practice would help, but the end results was reached none the less and it tasted great!

This was a great recipe to try something a bit different.  It is also a quite impressive thing to do home made so perhaps one to bear in mind as a starter when hosting a dinner party!!