Hearty Chicken and chipotle stew

Ingredients: Serves 4

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
500g skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 carton of tomato passata (or tinned tomatoes)
1 onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
20g butter
1 tsp smoked chilli flakes
1/2 tsp dried thyme
250ml chicken stock (or I used a chicken and noodle cuppa soup!)
50g dried wholewheat pasta (I used penne)
50g frozen peas (optional)
Black pepper

Method:

Heat the butter in a large casserole dish over a medium heat, add the garlic and onion and saute until softened. Turn the heat up and add the chicken thighs, browning evenly. Add the remaining ingredients minus the peas and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for around 30 minutes. Add the frozen peas 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time and leave the lid off for the final five minutes to thicken the sauce slightly.
Serve! If you're extra hungry add some green veg and crusty bread to serve. Or a dollop of creme fraiche and fresh herbs for an tasty touch.

Raw vegan cacao tart

Ingredients:

For the base

200g almonds

5 medjool dates (destoned)

150ml coconut oil (melted)

50g dessicated coconut

For the topping

250g unsalted cashew nuts

1/2 cup raw cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup agave syrup

150ml coconut oil

50ml water

Method:

Soak the cashews in a bowl of water for an hour. You can use them unsoaked but it gives a much smoother texture if you can soak them first. 

In the meantime make the base. Blitz the almonds in a high powered food processor and then add the dates, coconut oil and dessicated coconut. Blend until well combined. 

Press into a non-stick springform cake tin and put in the freezer while you make the topping. 

When the cashews have finished soaking, drain and rinse and then put in your food processor with the rest of the topping ingredients. Blitz until really smooth. NB if you're still left with a grainy texture you can finish off in a Nutri Bullet or Nutri Ninja to get a really creamy consistency. 

Pour the mixture over the base and put in the fridge to cool for at least an hour or until ready to serve.

Chickpea-free hummus!

So this recipe was one of those lucky mistakes that I often make when experimenting in the kitchen! I was trying to make a tahini dressing for an aubergine salad bowl but when I didn't add enough lemon juice and water I came up with this AMAZINGly creamy hummus-like dip. I honestly couldn't get enough of it. I fear I now may have it every day for the next two weeks until I OD.

It's so simple and quick to make and you can make a big batch and keep in the fridge for a few days (yeh right ;-)).

Creamy as anything

Ingredients: Serves 1-2

2 tbsp tahini (sesame seed puree)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cloves of roast or marinated garlic (I used Cypressa chilli Sicilian style) - if using raw, use 1/2 clove
Splash of olive oil (I used the chilli oil from the jar of garlic)
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional!)
1 tbsp miso paste
Black pepper to taste
1/4 cup of hot water (more if you want to make it more of a salad dressing vs a dip)

Method:

Blitz everything in your food processor/blender until smooth!

Golden latte - for all your aches and pains!

Lots of you will have heard me raving about the benefits of turmeric recently - from reducing tooth ache, helping with joint inflammation and even helping with depression.
But aside from eating tons of curries, it can be tricky to get turmeric in your diet. So why not try this delicious alternative to your cappucino? As this drink doesn't contain caffeine, it's a perfect pre-bed calmer.

Ingredients:

1/2 inch fresh turmeric, peeled (or 1/2 tsp ground turmeric though the flavour won't be as mellow)
Pinch of black pepper (helps with the absorption of turmeric)
1 tsp coconut oil
200ml your favourite milk (I like almond or oat)
Sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg or any other spices you like
1 tsp honey or other sweetener

Method:

In a blender, blitz the turmeric, spices and milk until smooth. In a small pan, heat the coconut oil and add the milk mixture. Warm over a gentle heat and then serve with a tsp of honey or sweeten to taste.

Retreat recipes - vegan energy balls

There's no need to fork out on expensive healthy vegan snacks when you can whip some up in minutes. The best bit about these nutritious protein balls is that you can substitute any of the ingredients for whatever you find in your cupboard or supermarket (within reason of course). One of our attendees suggested adding rum to the cacao balls, not a bad shout!

We made ours using the amazing Vitamix  but you can use any high powered food processor or blender.

Most of these will keep in the fridge for around a week, or can be frozen.





Simple apricot coconut balls

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of soft dried apricots (or if using the harder ones, soak in a little boiling water for around an hour before to plump up!)

½ cup desiccated coconut

An additional ¼ cup of desiccated coconut

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (optional)

Blend the apricots and 1/2 cup of coconut in a food processor, until they are combined and smooth in texture. You may need to add a little extra water.

Place the additional ¼ cup of coconut onto a tray or large plate.

Roll the apricot mixture into balls (about a heaped teaspoon per ball). Place the balls onto the tray where you put the additional coconut. Roll the balls until they’re all covered in coconut. Serve straight away or place the apricot balls into an air tight container and refrigerate.


Lime and matcha bites 

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted cashews

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Juice and zest of 2 limes

2 tablespoons syrup (malt, honey, coconut)

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder (optional)


Blend all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Roll into small balls and place on aluminium foil on a baking sheet. Refrigerate until set and keep refrigerated until ready to eat. You can roll in extra desiccated coconut to finish.

Apple pie bites

Ingredients

1 cup pecans or walnuts

1 cup dried unsweetened apple rings (or 2 fresh apples, decored and quartered)

¾ cup pitted dates

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

pinch of himalayan salt

1/2 tsp ginger


If using fresh apple, blitz in the food processor and place between a few sheets of kitchen roll to absorb the excess moisture. Break the nuts down in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until a dough forms. Roll into balls. Refrigerate.

Raw cacao coffee truffles

Ingredients

1 cup pitted Medjool dates (about 15 whole dates)

½ cup almonds or other nuts

¼ cup raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder if you can’t find raw)

2 tablespoons ground coffee

1 tablespoon chia seeds or other seeds (optional)

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla essence


Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until the almonds are in very small pieces and the mixture holds together when squeezed. Using wet hands, form into twelve 1-inch balls.

Curried pumpkin and lentil soup

Ingredients:

1/2 pumpkin, roasted

100g cooked red lentils

1 onion, diced

1 celery stick, chopped

1/2 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp coconut milk

1 tbsp green thai curry paste

500ml vegetable stock

Method:

Cut a medium sized pumpkin, cut in half,  de-seed and cut into large slices. Roast in the oven at around 180 degrees C for around 30 minutes, or until tender and starting to caramelise. Remove from oven, cool and scoop flesh away from the skin. 

In the meantime cook lentils until tender according to instructions on packet. Drain. 

In a large saucepan, melt the coconut oil and add the onion, celery and curry paste. Sweat for around 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer over a low heat for around 20 minutes. Blend, add salt and pepper to taste and serve with fresh coriander.