In today’s post, I’m sharing recipes for a delicious, quick and easy strawberry jam and ‘treat snack’ that the family has been loving lately: No Bake Strawberry Tarts ♥
But before I do so, there’s an occasion that I must mark on this blog – Lil’ L’s first strawberry picking outing. I’d been dreaming about this moment for years.
Continue reading “Healthy Snacking – No Bake Strawberry Tarts. Dairy Free. Vegan.”
For this month’s Suma Blogger’s Network entry, I’d like to share one of my favourite quick ‘n’ easy evening meals. I’ve used the Italian name for this dish ‘Tagliatelle con Verdure’ as the English equivalent ‘Ribbon Pasta with Green Vegetables’ just sounds far too plain and boring for such a beautiful dish.
For me, Tagliatelle con Verdure is the perfect pasta dish for this time of year. It’s much lighter than cheesy or cream-based pastas, and the addition of peas and tender green leaves make it taste fresh and Spring-like.
This dish also happens to be incredibly simple and quick to make. It’s ready in just 20 minutes, and there’s very little prep or chopping involved. It’s perfect for busy week day nights, but also for weekends when you want to prepare something quick for friends and family.
I always use wholegrain pasta as it contains more vitamins and minerals than white pasta (plus my family prefers the coarser texture and nuttier flavour of the wholegrain varieties). At the moment, the health food shops in the UK stock a much wider selection of wholegrain pastas compared to the supermarkets. Pastas made from ancient grains like spelt and kamut are amongst my favourites. For a gluten-free option, ribbon pastas made from maize are available (like this one from Le Veneziane).
In today’s recipe, I used organic whole wheat tagliatelle from one of my favourite pasta companies – la BIO IDEA – which produces its pasta using traditional methods dating back to 1911.
I often keep jars of antipasti in the fridge, as they’re great for throwing into pasta dishes, salads and sandwiches. I especially love the jars of sun-dried tomatoes packed in herb-infused olive oil. The oil is great for loosening up pasta ribbons, as well as adding extra flavour.
Pea shoots are currently in season here in the UK and I adore their fresh pea flavour and tender texture. If you can’t get hold of pea shoots, baby spinach or rocket (arugula) would make good substitutes.
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This pasta dish is full of the fresh flavours and colours of Spring. Ready in just 20 minutes, it’s perfect for busy weekday nights or weekends when you’re looking for a quick and easy dish to prepare.
Serves 4
Hands on time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 9 minutes
Ready in: 20 minutes
Ingredients
300g / 10½ oz wholegrain tagliatelle (e.g. whole wheat, spelt or kamut. For a GF option, use maize)
107g / 1 cup fresh or frozen fine green beans, trimmed and halved
75g / ½ cup fresh or frozen green peas
6 sun-dried tomatoes in herb-infused olive oil, drained and chopped (reserve the oil)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 medium courgette (zucchini), quartered lengthwise and sliced
40g / 2 cups pea shoots (or sub with baby spinach or rocket arugula)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSP pine nuts, toasted (or sub with sunflower seeds)
Method
Prepare a large pan of salted boiling water and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Three minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the beans and peas to the pan. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and return to the pan. Drizzle in ½ TBSP of olive oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes and stir through.
While the pasta is cooking, dry fry the pine nuts in a large frying pan (skillet) on a medium heat, stirring regularly. As soon as they start to brown, remove from the heat and set to one side.
Heat 1 TBSP of olive oil (from the sun-dried tomato jar) in the frying pan and cook the courgette until it starts to brown. Stir in the garlic and continue cooking for another minute or so. Stir in the pea shoots until they just start to wilt then remove from the heat.
Once the pasta is cooked, combine it with the contents of the frying pan. Stir in the sun-dried tomato pieces. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Divide between four warm bowls, add a sprinkling of pine nuts and serve.
This pasta dish can also be eaten cold and any leftovers make a great addition to lunch boxes.
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If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear your feedback ♥ Do leave me a comment below or post a photo on my Facebook or Twitter pages. Hearing from readers always makes me smile xx
What’s your favourite Spring-time dish?
For this month’s Suma Blogger’s Network entry, I though I’d share one of my latest treat obsessions – Vegan Florentines ♥
I’ve been dreaming about Florentines ever since I saw them on display in the patisserie shops of Venice and Florence a few years ago. I’d never seen anything quite like them before. They looked so dainty yet totally decadent with their dark chocolate bottoms! I was pretty sure that they’d be full of dairy and off limits to me, but I was excited about the thought of creating a vegan version one day.
This week I finally got round to a little Florentine experimentation in the kitchen.
After a quick internet search, I discovered that Florentines are typically made with cane sugar, honey, butter, candied cherries, candied citrus peel and almonds. Since I’m not a fan of the first 4 ingredients, and I know a lot of my readers aren’t keen on candied peel, I ended up subbing 5 of the 6 ingredients. The almonds stayed 😉
The cane sugar and honey was swapped for coconut sugar and maple syrup, which gave the Florentines a wonderful golden hue and caramel-like sweetness. Instead of candied cherries and citrus peel, I used dried cranberries and orange zest. This gave the Florentines a fresh, citrussy flavour which I absolutely loved. The butter was exchanged for non dairy spread or organic aroma-free coconut butter.
I’ve done 6 trials so far this week, playing around with different ingredient ratios and combos. All have tasted delicious, but I was striving to bake a Florentine that was super thin with the traditional ‘lacey’ texture on the underside. By the 4th trial, I’d cracked it.
Once cooled, I then added the classic Florentine wavy chocolate bottom.
These Florentines are my new treat obsession. I absolutely love their texture – crisp on the outside, chewy in the centre with a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate bottom. Plus the flavour combination is so lush. The citrus zest gives them a wonderful lift while the dark chocolate makes them feel decadent.
Another great thing about this biscuit is that each one only contains 1 tsp of mixture which, in my eyes, makes it totally acceptable to go back for a second or third 🙂
‘M’ and Lil’ L seem to love them as much as me. I’ve made 72 so far this week, and there are very few left in the biscuit tin! I also took along a sample to my Tuesday night study class and they were a big hit!
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If possible, I recommend weighing the ingredients rather than using tablespoons as it’s more precise. I find that the shape and ‘lacieness’ of the Florentines varies depending on the size of the fruit and nut pieces, and the type of flour or fat used. Regardless of their shape, all are totally delicious!
Makes 12
Hands-on time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 8 minutes
Ready in: 40 minutes
Ingredients
27g / 1 oz / 3 rounded TBSP flaked almonds
27g / 1 oz / 3 TBSP dried cranberries
Zest of ½ unwaxed / organic orange
27g / 1 oz / 2 TBSP dairy-free spread or organic aroma-free coconut butter
27g / 1 oz / 3 TBSP coconut sugar
27g / 1 oz / 1½ TBSP maple syrup
18g / ⅔ oz / 2 TBSP fine wholemeal (whole wheat), chapatti or gluten-free flour mix
80g / 3 oz dark chocolate or ½ cup dark choc chips
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F. Line two large baking sheets with non stick baking paper.
Place the almonds in a frying pan (skillet) and dry fry for a few minutes, stirring regularly. As soon as they start to brown and become fragrant, tip them onto a plate and leave to cool. Once cool, finely chop the nuts or scrunch them in your hands to break them up.
Finely chop the cranberries. Zest the orange.
In a small pan, gently heat the non dairy spread / coconut butter. Once it has melted, whisk in the sugar and syrup. Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour until fully incorporated. Stir in the nuts and fruits. You want to get the mixture as uniform as possible so that the Florentines spread evenly as they bake.
Drop six rounded teaspoons of mixture onto one baking sheet. Be sure to space them out well to give them room to spread. Add another six teaspoons to the second baking sheet. Using damp fingers, press down on the Florentines to flatten slightly and shape into circles.
Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 8 minutes, or until the edges of the Florentines have browned. Leave to cool. (They will be very soft when they come out the oven, but they firm up as they cool).
Once the Florentines are completely cool, prepare the chocolate coating. Place the chocolate pieces in a heat proof bowl set over a pan with an inch or so of water (make sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl). Gently heat the water and stir the chocolate until it has fully melted. Remove from the heat. If the chocolate is very runny, keep stirring it until it has thickened slightly. Using a knife, coat the bottom of each Florentine with chocolate, then wiggle a fork along the chocolate to form a wavy pattern. Leave the chocolate to set.
The Florentines will keep for a week or so in an airtight container. In warm houses, it’s best to store them in the fridge. They also freeze really well so it’s worth making a double batch and freezing some. That way, you’ll have a stash ready for coffee mornings, surprise visitors or whenever a sweet craving strikes.
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Unwaxed Citrus Fruits
Unwaxed lemons are widely available, but unwaxed oranges are a little harder to come by. In the UK, they are currently available in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco. If you’re only able to find waxed oranges, you’ll find tips online on how to remove the wax. The wax on citrus fruits often contains shellac (from the lac beetle) or beeswax, making them unsuitable for vegans. Organic citrus fruits are unwaxed, which makes them vegan friendly 🙂
You’ll find Suma products available to purchase in UK independent health food shops. You can also bulk buy many of their products from Amazon.
I have always loved waffles. There’s something about those cute indented squares that makes them such a pleasure to eat. I especially love them this time of year, warm straight from the waffle maker or toaster. They make such a yummy breakfast or mid-afternoon snack.
Lil’ L shares my love of waffles and can easily get through a dozen a week. He says there are two Autumn/Winter foods that he’ll never get sick of and that’s apple crumble and waffles!
These vegan waffles are so easy to make! It’s simply a case of blending up the ingredients (I use my Froothie for this job), scooping the batter into the waffle maker and waiting 3-4 minutes. And then they’re ready to eat!
We use a slightly thicker version of our breakfast pancake batter for these waffles. To replace the egg, we use a banana or two small-medium organic apples. On balance, I prefer the texture of the waffles made with banana as it’s slightly firmer and more robust. The riper the banana, the stronger the flavour will be in the waffles. For the mildest flavour, use ripe yellow bananas rather than brown ones.
The batter also includes wholegrain flour and oats for protein and slow release energy. The waffles happen to be fat free and cane sugar free too. This means they’re scrumptious and healthy, so perfect for treating the kids (and yourself!) Lots of Lil’ L’s friends have tried these waffles and they’ve all given them a big thumbs up.
While his friends tend to prefer them with a simple drizzle of maple syrup, Lil’ L loves to fill his squares with little pieces of chopped walnuts or pecans, for some crunch…
… while I love to top mine with raspberries and chopped almonds ♥
The waffles in the photo below were made using GF flour. I was so delighted to find that the recipe works gluten-free too as it means all our GF friends can tuck in too 😀
We make the waffles small enough so that they’re easy to pick up, fit in the toaster, and so you can scoff two or three at a time (‘cause one waffle is never enough 😉 ). We often make them as an afterschool snack, then leftovers get stored in the fridge for breakfast the next day. A quick warm through in the toaster and they’re ready to be served.
Here’s how we make our basic vegan waffle…
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Makes around 10 waffles
Hands on time: 20 minutes Ready in: 20 minutes
Waffle batter
1 ripe banana, sliced
180ml / 6 fl oz / ¾ cup soya milk
140g / 5 oz / 1 cup wholemeal (wholewheat) flour (or use a GF flour mix if needed e.g. Doves GF Brown Bread Flour)
50g / 1¾ oz / ½ cup rolled oats (use certified GF, if needed)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
2 TBSP maple syrup
1 tsp oil or coconut butter, for greasing
Suggestion toppings
Maple syrup
Chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
Fresh or frozen berries
Method
Place the milk and banana in a high speed blender and blend until smooth (alternatively you can use a bowl and hand blender). Add all the remaining batter ingredients and blend to combine. The batter should be thick, but pourable. Add a touch more milk if needed, to attain the desired consistency. (If you’re using GF flour, you will need around 4 tablespoons of extra liquid). Pour the batter into a bowl and leave to rest for a few minutes (this can happen while the waffle maker heats up).
When the waffle maker is hot, brush with oil or coconut butter using a silicone brush. Drop two tablespoons of batter into each of the four waffle quads. Close the lid and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes before checking (with the VonShef Waffle Maker, I leave the waffles until the green light goes out). If the waffles are golden brown, they are ready. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack while you prepare the remaining waffles.
While the waffles are cooking, prepare your toppings.
Serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkling of your favourite nuts and berries.
Any leftover waffles can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Heat them through in the toaster before serving.
Products used in this recipe (UK Stockists)
Tesco Chapatti Flour, Doves Spelt Flour or Doves Farm Gluten Free Brown Bread Flour
Mornflake Superfast Oats, available from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, The Co-operative
Clarks Original Maple Syrup, available from most major UK supermarkets
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Forks are optional 😉
We purchased our waffle maker last October while it was on sale, and we’ve been really happy with it. It’s easy to use and, even with all our batter experimenting, we’ve yet to have a single waffle fail (which is pretty incredible!) The machine’s simple to clean too… while it’s still warm (but not scorching hot) I just wipe it over with a piece of kitchen towel.
While I’ve seen the waffle maker selling at a range of prices these past couple of months (the RRP is £64.99) you can get some amazing offers if you keep a watch out. It’s currently selling for £24.99 on Amazon and, at this price, you can’t really go wrong. We use ours 3-4 times a week and have made hundreds of waffles, so we’ve definitely had our money’s worth.
I’m not sure how many of my readers have waffle makers, and it seemed a bit unfair to share a waffle recipe without giving you the opportunity to make some yourself, so I contacted Designer Habitat and they have kindly offered to give away a VonShef Quad Waffle Maker to one of my lovely readers ♥
To be in with a chance of winning, simply leave me a comment under this blog post answering the question featured in the Rafflecopter below. Do make sure you tick the box in the Rafflecopter to register that you have done so. There are a number of additional ways you can enter in order to increase your chances of winning. You will find these listed in the Rafflecopter. All entries will be verified prior to the winner being selected.
This giveaway is open to UK residents aged 18 and over (sorry international readers)
The closing date is Friday 16th January 2014 at midnight GMT. The winner will be selected at random and notified by email. The winner will have 7 days to respond. If they fail to do so, another winner will be selected at random.
New to Rafflecopter? It’s pretty easy! Simply click on ‘Use Your Email’ and enter a name and your email address (rest assured it won’t be published anywhere). You can also log in using your Facebook account, if you wish. A quick demo of how to use Rafflecopter can be accessed here.
* If you experience any technical problems when trying to enter the Rafflecopter, let me know in the comments section below and I’ll submit your entry for you *
Good luck everyone! xx
For my last recipe of the year, I thought I’d share one of our favourite Winter drinks – Orange Spiced Hot Chocolate. It’s really easy to make and tastes amazing!
I love the chocolate and orange flavour combo, especially this time of year ♥
How about you?
You can buy ready-made orange flavoured hot chocolate blends, but I find they often contain a lot of cane sugar. I don’t tolerate cane sugar well these days (especially in drinks) and just one cup of the shop-bought blends can leave me feeling queasy for a good hour or so, which is no fun at all :/ My sweeteners of choice for this drink are coconut sugar or maple syrup. Both add a delicious caramel-like sweetness to the drink.
This winter, my preferred milk for this drink has been Oatly. Just a few seconds of whisking produces the most amazing froth! I buy the long life ‘Ambient’ cartons that are fortified with calcium, riboflavin, D2 and B12 (the one in the blue carton). The Oatly milks contain very low levels of gluten so, if you’re super sensitive to gluten, it would be best to use another milk such as soya, almond, rice or coconut drinking milk. I’ve used all of them, and they all work well in this drink. It’s just that some are thinner, and some froth better. All taste good though!
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Makes 1
Hands-on time: 5 minutes Ready in: 5 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup non dairy milk
½ TBSP cocoa powder
½ TBSP coconut sugar or maple syrup
¼ tsp pure orange extract
Cinnamon stick
Method
Give the carton of milk a really good shake, then pour a cup’s worth into a small pan. Gently heat through. When warm, whisk in the cocoa powder using a balloon whisk. When fully incorporated, whisk in the sweetener and orange extract. Taste test, and add more sweetener or orange extract, to taste. Pour into a cup and serve with a cinnamon stick.
Products used in this recipe
Oatly Enriched Oat Drink
Green & Blacks Organic Cocoa
Biona Organic Coconut Sugar or Clarks Original Maple syrup
Star Kay White Pure Orange Extract (bought from Lakeland)
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Have a wonderful Christmas everyone ♥
I look forward to catching up with you in 2015!
As part of their Healthy Smiles campaign, SimplyHealth invited me to take part in a competition to design a recipe using ingredients featured in their Infographic for healthy teeth. As soon as I saw the list, the recipe that sprung to mind was my family’s favourite Chinese stir fry ♥
It features three of the six ingredients listed in the Infographic’s ‘Eat It’ column – purple cabbage, carrot and ginger. If you drink a glass of water with the meal, then follow it with a cup of green tea, then we’ve got all bar one of the ingredients covered (we’ll forget about the last one, salmon!)
This stir fry takes 20 minutes or less, so it’s perfect for busy week day nights or as a cheap, tasty (and healthy!) alternative to a weekend takeaway. It has a beautiful, distinctive Chinese flavour thanks to the Five Spice seasoning, which is a blend of star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper.
Instead of eggs, we much prefer the texture and flavour of scrambled tofu in this stir fry. It’s so easy to make. You simply squeeze the excess water from the tofu (no need to press it), and crumble it into a wok…
… then stir in some soy sauce, garlic, ginger and a touch of turmeric to give it a lovely golden yellow hue.
The stir fry vegetables are then added to the wok, along with a sprinkling of Chinese Five Spice, some cashews and a little vegetable stock.
After a couple of minutes, the noodles are stirred in. (We prefer to use wholewheat noodles in this stir fry as they have a chewier texture which works well in Chinese dishes, but do sub with rice or other GF noodles if needed).
We add a final drizzle of soy sauce, then it’s done!
This meal is so speedy and simple to make. It has to be the perfect Chinese Fast Food!
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Hands-on time 20 minutes Cooking time 10 minutes
Ready in 20 minutes
Ingredients
200g / 7 oz wholewheat noodles (or use rice or other GF noodles, if needed)
½ TBSP oil
1 TBSP soy sauce (or tamari for a GF option), divided
1 block of firm tofu (about 400g / 14oz)
2 garlic cloves, minced
thumb-size piece of root ginger, peeled and finely grated
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 large bag of mixed stir fry vegetables (about 480g / 17 oz / 6 cups of beansprouts, white cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, broccoli, onion, red pepper)
70g / ½ cup cashews (optional)
½ – ¾ tsp Chinese Five Spice
Method
Prepare a large pan of boiling water. Cook the noodles for 4 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and return them to the pan. Drizzle in ½ TBSP oil and stir through to coat the noodles. Set to one side.
While the noodles are cooking, prepare the stir fry. Drain the tofu and squeeze to remove excess water. Crumble the tofu into a non stick wok or deep sided frying pan (skillet). Drizzle ½ TBSP soy sauce into the pan and stir fry on a medium-high heat for a minute or two. Add the garlic, ginger and turmeric, and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Dissolve the vegetable stock in 4 TBSP of boiling water and add it to the pan along with the vegetables, cashews and Chinese Five Spice. Stir fry for 4 minutes. Add the noodles to the wok along with the remaining ½ TBSP soy sauce. Stir to thoroughly combine. (I add the noodles in small batches rather than in one go as I find it easier to combine them this way). The stir fry’s now ready to serve.
Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a day or two. Heat through in a non stick wok or frying pan before serving.
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Products used in this recipe (UK Stockists)
Cauldron Foods Original Tofu, available from the chilled aisle in most major UK supermarkets
Kikkoman Less Salt Soy Sauce, available from most major UK supermarkets
Suma Five Spice Seasoning, available from health food stores and via Amazon (Other Chinese Five Spice blends can be found on the spice aisle in supermarkets).
Blue Dragon Wholewheat Noodles, available from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons
Chopsticks are optional 😉
I would LOVE to be able to use chopsticks. I’ve tried so many times but I’m utterly useless. I’m the one in Chinese restaurants that has to put their hand up and ask for a fork. Shame on me!
