Tart bursting with flavour and nutrition! MUST TRY!

I have the PERFECT recipe for you. This is it, look no further. I have found the holy grail of flour less quiche and boy is it delicious ( thanks to Honestly Healthy!!) Not only delicious but can easily be altered to be completely vegan, gluten free and paleo. Um hello! Winning. So after a long time I have decided to share this secret with you. It is perfect if you want to impress someone, have people over or make for a picnic! Just do it! the best part of it is that it is sooooo super easy. Stupidly simple. 

Enjoy this recipe and please please please feel free to share the love!

Incredible, Delicious, Mouthwatering Summer Tart!

Ingredients

Crust: 

200 g ground almonds (raw)

Handful basil

4 Tbs Sunflower Oil

1/2 tsp Caraway seeds

Himalayan Salt ( to taste )

1 Tbs Water

100 g pumpkin seeds (raw)

50 g Sunflower Seeds (raw)

Marinade:

2 cloves garlic

4 Tbs Sunflower or Rapeseed Oil

1 Tbs fresh Thyme sprigs

Himalayan Salt

Cracked Black Pepper

2 Tbs Vinegar (balsamic or if completely gluten free use apple cider vinegar)

Filling 

400 g Spinach

500 g Tomatoes (I used a mixture of cherry tomatoes and whole large tomatoes)

75 g hard goats cheese (eliminate if vegan.)

Method

Pre heat your oven to 175 C. Line a tart tray/tin with baking parchment. In a blender ( I always use my trusted old vitamix but any other one will do!) add the almonds, basil, sunflower oil, caraway seeds, water and half of the pumpkin seeds. Pulse the mixture till it becomes smooth. Simply turn it on and off till it is all combined. Add the rest of the seeds and gently pulse for a few time just so you keep the texture of the nuts a little rougher. 

Press the mixture into the baking parchment in the tin. This will make the crust. Make sure it is evenly pressed and comes up the edges properly. Use your fingers and be as precise as you can. Place in the oven for 25 -35 mins or until it becomes golden!

In the meantime quarter your four large tomatoes and halve the cherry tomatoes. make sure you use premium tomatoes! The sweeter and juicier they are the better the tart will be!!Chop the garlic finely. In a big bowl combine the ingredients for the marinade and place the tomatoes in the marinade. Place the dressed tomatoes and marinade in the oven and roast the tomatoes for 10 mins in the oven. 

While the tomatoes are in the oven, take the spinach and place it in a cauldron. Bring a kettle to boil and pour over the spinach and let drain off. pour cold water after and then squeeze out the remaining moisture using your hands or paper towels. Chop the spinach finely and drizzle gently with olive oil. 

Remove the crust from the oven and press the spinach at the base of the tart and add the tomatoes on the top. Sprinkle with grated goats cheese (tofu if vegan or nothing at all) and garnish with thyme or basil! 

Place in the oven for 20 mins and serve immediately or let cool and have later! Either way its absolutely amazing!

Enjoy!

Raspberry chia coconut porridge

This morning I found some frozen raspberries in my freezer. Yum I thought and perhaps I shall warm them up with yoghurt, for an indulgent post run & yoga morning workout. Then I remembered  I have a super busy day running around London for work and then finish my shift late today and thought perhaps no. I need some thing more. So I made this amazing new recipe I choose to share with you all. I call it the Raspberry Chia Porridge (no oats though), Its full of fibre and coconut to sustain you for many hours on the run. Delicious hot or cold! :)

Raspberry Chia Porridge

Ingredients

1/ 2 Cup frozen raspberries

1/2 Cup coconut milk (I used Eco Mill unsweetened)

1/3 Cup desiccated coconut

3 Tbs Chia seeds

Method

Gently defrost the raspberries in the coconut milk on low heat. Let absorb and simmer for 5 mins. Add the chia and coconut and let simmer for another 5 mins. Stirring occasionally. When all the milk is absorbed and the chia are swelling remove from heat and let sit for another 5 -10 mins. 

Serve with banana, or kiwi and a dash of coconut yoghurt or greek yoghurt. Add homemade granola for added crunch or flaked almonds and goji berries. 

Enjoy!

Clean Mango Salsa

Seeing as it is bbq season creeping up upon us here in Europe with the warmer weather finally arriving I thought I would share one of my favourite salsas. This is super simple, yet delicate and delicious. If you have something spicy then this is perfect to balance the spice out. I paired it with BBQ Cajun Spiced chicken thighs and homemade guacamole and steamed corn on the cob. Perfectly filling and nutritious!

Clean Mango Salsa

1 ripe mango

1 small red onion

5 springs curly parsley (or coriander)

3 large tomatoes, seeds removed

1 Tbs Sunflower Oil

1/2 Tbs Vinegar, Apple Cider

2 Pinches Himalayan Salt (High in Minerals and excellent to use!)

Method

Simply chop the mango, tomatoes, and red onion into small pieces. The finer the better. Make sure they are all roughly the same. Combine and add the oil, vinegar and salt. Chop the herbs and stir in gently. Let sit aside for roughly an hour and serve with choice of mains. 

This is fantastic with anything spicy. Specially spicy seared tuna! Yum!

Enjoy 

Clean Mango Salsa

Serving suggestion. Grilled Cajun Chicken, Steamed Corn with Himalayan Salt, Guacamole

Nutty Quinoa Power Lunch!

Hello all! 

So sorry for the silence for the past couple of weeks. I have got a new job and with that some hours that take some getting used to. So my precious kitchen hours have been put on hold, but its all for the greater cause of being able to make a living, right!?

Anyhow, I have snuck in a few hours finding some yummy things for you all to try. This for example is my nutty quinoa and vegetable salad. So good, so gluten & dairy free and so vegan! I hope you all enjoy! 

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa (white, red or black)

1 large broccoli

2 carrots

1 zucchini

1 pack green beans

1 handful brazil nuts

1 handful walnuts

1 handful pecan nuts

2 Tbs chia

3 Tbs black sesame seeds

Dressing 

1/3 cup Olive Oil

5 Tbs Tamari Soy

2 Squeezes of Agave (to taste)

1 cm of fresh ginger grated

3 Tbs Rice Vinegar

Method

Chop the raw (washed and dried) broccoli, carrots and (peeled) zucchini into small cubes. Steam the beans for a few minutes then immediately pour cold water on them and chop them into smaller pieces with the other vegetables. Feel free to add whatever veggies you have lying around your fridge. Add the vegetables to a large bowl and add the quinoa. Chop the nuts finely or add them to your Vitamix or blender and blitz quickly till they are in smaller pieces. Add them to the quinoa and vegetables. Last drizzle the chia and sesame seeds on the mixture. 

In a separate bowl add all the dressing ingredients. Be careful here and add as much as you like depending on your own taste and preferences. I adore ginger so I tend to use a lot of it. The agave is just to balance it all out. However, skip it entirely should you be on a no sugar / sweet diet. 

Note: I use no salt in this recipe and if you want to, then try and stick to himalayan salt it contains minerals and has health benefits. 

Add the dressing to the quinoa and place in the fridge for 2 hours. Serve on its own or with salmon! 

Enjoy x

Guilt and Gluten Free Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips

Hello all!

 So I have gotten my bake on and always wanted to try a gluten free version of banana bread. Now as I am a total chocolate addict I simply HAD to add the choc but it is easily removed. If you use dairy free chocolate the recipe becomes vegan as well. Its a win - win recipe. This is perfect for freezing as well and just wrapped in baking parchment and stuck in the toaster for when you have people over for tea! Or just eat the whole thing... although I would not recommend that to anyone. 

Happy Banana Bread Baking!

Ingredients

2 Cups Gluten Free Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

2 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp salt

1 Tsp Xantham Gum (unless you are using all purpose flour which already contains the gum)

3 Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 C Rapeseed Oil / Coconut Oil

2/3 C Agave Nectar/ Maple Syrup

2/3 C Almond Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Ripe & Mashed Bananas

1/2 C Walnuts

2 C Dark Chocolate Chips (use dairy free if you can)

Method

Preheat the oven to 165 c. Lightly coat a loaf tin with oil. I chose Coconut Oil. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Then carefully add the oil, agave, almond milk & vanilla to the mixture. Use a spatula to fold in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips and walnuts. Make sure they are combined well and pour over to the loaf tin. Bake in middle of oven for 35 mins. Check that it is well done by putting a toothpick in it and if it comes out clean its done. 

Enjoy!