Tag: vegetarian

Snack

Roasted Cashew Nuts

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve found myself reaching for chocolate and crisps in an evening as I’ve been so tired from looking after a toddler 24/7. I’m doing a lot more yoga and walking than I have for a long time so I don’t feel guilty for eating these things. However, I do feel like I’m now ready for some healthier options so this week I’ve made home roasted cashew nuts.

They hit the salty and the sweet craving whilst the cashew nuts are packed full of iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, phosphorus, and manganese, you just need to make sure you don’t eat all of them in one go as they do contain 2tbsp of maple syrup!

I have made these with a mixture of cashew nuts and peanuts before which worked well, so I imagine they would work well with most combinations of nuts if you wanted to mix it up a bit. You can also play around with the flavour combinations too, I find that cinnamon works well.

Ingredients for Roasted Cashew Nuts:

  • 250g raw cashew nuts
  • 2tbsp maple syrup
  • 2tbsp low salt soya sauce or tamari
  • 1/2tsp Chinese 5 spice

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4
  2. Mix the maple syrup, soya sauce and Chinese 5 spice together in a bowl
  3. Add to cashew nuts and stir until coated
  4. Place the cashews in a single layer on a lined baking tray and cook for 20 minutes, stir half way through
  5. Remove them when they start to turn brown, the nuts will be soft but will harden when they cool
  6. Allow the nuts to cool, and then break up and store in an airtight container

I’d love to hear how you get on with this recipe, so pop a comment below. If you’d like more healthy snack ideas the check out my other snack recipes

Snack

Vegan Fruit Scones

These vegan fruit scones are super quick and easy to make. Until recently I’d never made scones, and then inspired by a holiday in Scotland I decided to make cheese scones for my toddler. When they came out of the oven they looked and smelled delicious, however, I was unable to eat them due to being lactose intolerant so I decided to play around and came up with these vegan fruit scones.

I tested them on my baby yoga class and at my mini retreat and they went down a treat! I served them with my heathy chia jam and some coconut cream. To make the coconut cream I simply got a can of coconut milk, placed it in the fridge for a couple of hours and then scooped the thick cream off the top of the milk.

These vegan fruit scones have no added sugar they are simply sweetened by the dried fruit and you can use whatever dried fruit you have, raisins, sultanas and apricots work well. This makes them a great snack for toddlers too.

Ingredients for Vegan Fruit Scones:

Makes 14 mini scones

  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 40g melted coconut oil
  • 140ml almond milk
  • 50g dried fruit

Method:

  1. Pre heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7
  2. Line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper
  3. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl
  4. Melt the coconut oil and add to the flour
  5. Use a spoon to mix the coconut oil into the flour until it has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs
  6. Add the dried fruit and stir well
  7. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in a little bit of the milk
  8. Using your hands fold in the milk, keep adding the milk and folding until you have a dough, the dough will be slightly wet
  9. Place the dough on a chopping board or clean surface that has been dusted with flour
  10. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes
  11. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is about 2cm thick
  12. Using a biscuit cutter cut the dough into scones
  13. Place the cut dough onto the baking trays, leaving enough space between the scones for them to expand
  14. If you have any dough edges left you can knead them again, roll them out and cut more scones
  15. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes
  16. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe why not check out my other vegan recipes?

Lunch, Uncategorized

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Salad

I find it can be hard to think of things to have for lunch especially if like me you’re not a big fan of sandwiches. Many of my clients also struggle with what to eat at lunch time.

I’m a big fan of leftovers and often I advise people to make more of their evening meal and have it for lunch the next day. However this dish is good if you are working from home or maybe on a weekend when you have a little bit more time but don’t want to spend to long doing prep work.

For a long time I wasn’t a fan of roasted chickpeas, I just didn’t get it! However, I tried again recently and realised why everyone raves about them! I think the trick is to roast them on a high heat so that they go super crispy.

So why do chickpeas feature so heavily in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes?

Chickpeas are cheap, versatile and have many health benefits too. As well as being a good source of plant-based protein they are a great source of fibre which means they are great option for diabetics as they may help to improve blood sugar, insulin and lipid levels.

According to some research the high levels of fibre may also help to reduce cholesterol and are therefore a good option for people who are at risk of heart problems, however, they should be consumed in moderation by people taking beta-blockers.

Due to the high levels of protein chickpeas are great to add to vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Ingredients

Serves 2

  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 courgette
  • 150g button mushrooms
  • 1 tin chickpeas
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • pinch chili flakes
  • 3 large handfuls of spinach
  • 1 lime
  • chili oil or olive oil

Method:

  1. Heat the oven to 200C/ gas mark 6. Put the oil on to two oven trays and heat in the oven
  2. Cut the sweet potato, mushrooms and courgette into large chunks
  3. Rinse and drain the chickpeas
  4. On one tray place the sweet potatoes and chickpeas, on the other place the courgettes and mushrooms. Sprinkle both with chili flakes and seasoning and shake well. NB I found that putting them on separate trays helps the chickpeas to go crispy
  5. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until the potatoes, courgette and mushrooms are soft and the chickpeas are crispy
  6. Cut the avocado into bite size pieces
  7. Place the spinach onto plates and then top with the remaining ingredients, drizzle with lime juice and chili oil, to taste

If you’d like more tailored information on how to fit healthy eating into your life then why not email me for a consultation?