Chocolate avocado mousse (yep, avocado)

Raw chocolate mousse – serves 4
Ingredients:
1 large avocado
1 banana
1 tablespoon coconut oil
3 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons honey, agave nectar or maple syrup or 4 medjool dates
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 tsp chilli flakes or chilli powder (optional)

Blitz all the ingredients in food processor or blender adding a little water or nut milk if too thick. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Peanutty soba stir-fry

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)

1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons reduced-salt soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)

1 tbsp miso paste

2 garlic cloves, finely diced or grated/crushed

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated

300g stir-fry vegetables (any veg you like)

1 onion

1 handful fresh basil or coriander

1 teaspoon chilli powder or fresh chilli

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

100g soba (buckwheat) noodles

Method:

Mix the peanut butter, chilli, 100ml of boiling water, soy sauce, fish sauce, miso and chilli in a bowl to make the satay sauce. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and add the ginger, garlic and onion to soften. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir-fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. In the meantime, cook the buckwheat noodles until tender, drain and add to the pan. Sprinkle with the basil or coriander and serve. (You could also add chicken, king prawns or tofu).  

Sweet potato gooey brownies

These brownies are vegan and gluten-free yet are still as gooey as proper brownies should be!

Ingredients:
Dry ingredients
3 tbsp coconut flour
30g ground almond
3 tbsp shredded coconut (you could also use chopped walnuts or pecans)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
2 tbsp raw cacao nibs (or dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 large sweet potato (peeled)
3 heaped tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp honey or brown rice syrup/malt syrup
100ml coconut/almond/rice milk

Method:

Steam or bake the sweet potato until tender. Melt the coconut oil and blend the sweet potato, coconut oil, honey and vanilla essence in food processor until smooth.
In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients together and slowly add the wet mixture, stirring in the milk slowly.

Grease a baking tray with coconut oil and spoon the mixture into the tray, smoothing over with a knife.

Bake in the middle of a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for around 25 minutes.

Leave to cool and then cut into squares. For an even more decadent treat, serve with a dollop of whipped coconut cream.

Spinach and sweetcorn quinoa breakfast muffins

These delicious muffins are a great breakfast on the go, or a healthier alternative to a sweet afternoon cupcake! You could experiment with any other flavours - feta cheese, dried or fresh herbs, peppers or sun dried tomatoes.

Ingredients: Makes about 18

200g Spelt flour (you could use any other flour)

120g Quinoa flakes

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 egg

80ml olive oil

250ml almond milk (or any other type of milk)

100g fresh spinach, finely chopped

150g sweetcorn kernels

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. 

Combine all of the dry ingredients and then stir in the spinach, sweetcorn. In a glass jar, combine the egg, olive oil and milk, whisking with a fork until well combined. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients using a fork until combined well.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases (it makes around 14 large or 20 small). Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve, or serve warm. 

Nutritional info per muffin:
179 calories
6g fat
5g protein
1g sugar

Cauliflower pizza (yes really)

I've been meaning to try this for ages and had been a bit dubious about whether you could really make a cauliflower pizza base taste good - and you can! Result. This is going on my weekly menu.

Ingredients:

For the base
1/2 cauliflower head
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (makes it taste better but is not essential - you could use dried herbs, a little mustard or just salt, pepper and chilli flakes)
 1 egg
chilli flakes
salt and pepper
dried herbs (optional)

For the topping
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 fresh tomato
2 garlic cloves
handful of fresh basil
1/2 grated courgette
black olives
1/2 tin anchovies
30g strong cheddar/any cheese
sweetcorn or any other veg
chilli flakes
olive oil

To make the base, grate the cauliflower and cook in microwave for around 7 minutes until tender.

Leave to cool and then stir in the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper, dried herbs if using and egg. Combine well. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and press cauliflower into pizza base shape. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for around 15 minutes (until golden brown and crispy).

In the meantime,  blend the tomato, garlic, tomato puree and basil in food processor or blender. Spread on top of the pizza, with the courgette and rest of the toppings.
Bake again in oven for around 15 minutes.

Peanut butter cups (Who needs Reese's?!)

No Hershey's in sight

I have to confess, if I could eat Reese's Peanut butter cups everyday, I would. But as a nutritionist I'd probably have to do this in secret!
So instead, I decided to try making healthy peanut butter cups - with less sugar, raw cocoa and super-fat coconut oil. They took less than 30 minutes from start to finish - bonus for when you're needing to scratch that sugar craving itch!
Now I wouldn't recommend guzzling these like fruit, they are after all still sweets. But one a day as a post-dinner treat? Go for it!

Ingredients:

Peanut layer

• 3 tbsp no-added sugar peanut butter (Meridian or Whole Earth are good brands)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp rice malt syrup (or you could use honey)
•  Chocolate layer:
• 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp rice malt syrup
• 1 tbsp warm water

How to do it:

Using a food processor, blend all of the ingredients for the peanut layer. Spoon into small cake cases or silicone cake trays. Using a knife smooth the peanut layer. Harden in the fridge for around 15 minutes. To make the chocolate layer, melt the coconut oil and then stir in the rice malt syrup. Add the cacao powder and warm water, mixing until smooth. Cover the peanut cups with the chocolate and cool in fridge for around 15 minutes until set.

Enjoy! x

Gluten-free Banana and chocolate bread

As I was getting a bit bored of my buckwheat porridge I decided to make a not-too-sweet banana bread to have for breakfasts (ok, and morning, afternoon and evening!) this week.
I was worried the almond flour might leave it a bit dense but it was really light and fluffy. I added a few superfoods (chia, raw cacao) and prunes to give it a bit more sweetness. Delish.
(This recipe is an adaptation of Hemsley and Hemsley's banana bread.)





Ingredients:
2 large ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp rice malt syrup
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp lemon juice
230g ground almonds
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp raw cacao nibs
sprinkle of Himalayan salt
2 tbsp chopped prunes
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds (you could use any seeds or chopped nuts)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C and line a loaf tray with baking paper.

Mash the banana in with the melted coconut oil and mix well. Add the syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, lemon juice, prunes, bicarb and salt and mix well.
Stir in the ground almond, chia, cacao nibs and mix well until thoroughly combined. Pour into the tin and bake for just over an hour.
Serve warm or toasted!