Aubergine, Sweet Potato & Chickpea Balti - A Low Fat Balti Hit

So my obsession with sweet potatoes is clearly continuing. I've been trying to maintain a healthy diet lately with the run up to Christmas well and truly here.However last Monday to Friday was a real dieters struggle was a series of dull boring low calorie dinners, and left me longing for the weekend to hurry up for my treats.

This week I decided I couldn't face another week of roast veggies and quinoa for 5 days on the trot. I don't think I can actually face roast veggies and quinoa again for a very long time. I wanted to make a meal I could look forward to, so I set about making this delicious, sweet and spicy vegetable Balti curry. It's gorgeous.
The perfect amount of fiery heat and the long slow stew of the vegetables lent a sweet and delicate flavour to the dish. The addition of spinach was because, 'why not'! It's super healthy, and packed with iron. I had half a tin of chickpeas leftover so decided to bung them into the mix too. They are a great source of protein and help you stay fuller for longer, or so I'm told. I must say they did the trick as I was completely stuffed at the end of my meal and didn't long for the chili con carne I had made the rest of the family.

I have enough for tomorrows dinner also and I'm looking forward to it already. Of course leftover can also be frozen if you are unable to take the same dinner two days in a row. I myself get like that sometimes, but I suppose it depends what the offering is. In this case, I'm certainly not dreading it. I can't wait.

Serves 4ish

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine, cubed
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 1/2 can chick peas
• 500g of passata 
• 1 tbsp balti paste
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 ginger piece, diced
• 1 large handful of baby spinach leaves, washed
• 1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil
• 2 tbsp of low fat natural Greek yogurt

To Serve
1 Small portion of brown rice per person

Method

1. Get a heavy based saucepan on a medium heat and add the sliced onions, garlic, ginger and oil.
2. Fry them for a minute or so, then add the balti paste.
3. Fried off the paste for another minute or so and add the aubergines & sweet potatoes.
4. Add the passata and stir well to combine.
5. Partially cover and simmer on a low heat for 40 minutes.
6. Add the chickpeas and one table spoon of yogurt and stir well
7. Simmer for another few minutes.
8. Season well with salt and pepper and add the spinach leaves. Turn the heat off immediately and gently stir the spinach leaves through until wilted. The add the parsley.
9. To serve, top each portion of curry with the second table spoon of yogurt and serve with a small portion of brown rice. (Mine is flecked with a small bit of black quinoa)

Maple Spiced Sweet Potato Muffins

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.....

I've been absent of late from blogging. I had  to take a time out towards the end of our busiest B&B season ever. Things got very hectic and on top of doing Bed & Breakfast 24/7, I also have the two little monsters to look after. So in the end, something had to give and alas I'm afraid it was my blog! Now that we have closed for the season and I had some time to recuperate, I delighted to be back experimenting, photographing, tasting, and blogging all my favourite recipes!

And this is a wonderful recipe to return with!! These muffins, though not intentional, and bursting with Christmas tastes and smells! And with December starting tomorrow, this recipe is a highly appropriate come-back!

Last night I put down too many baked sweet potatoes for the dinner. Here I was thinking one of the kids would finally fall in love with baked sweet potatoes, instead of eating mashed regular potatoes. To no surprise, there was no such luck, leaving me with two spare baked sweet potatoes.

I let them cool fully and put them in the refrigerator over night. I remembered last winter experimenting with butternut squash muffins, and they tasted great. Howerver I totally forgot to write down how I made them, so I thought, with these spare baked sweet potatoes, I should really try to recreate that recipe again, and this time record the ingredients.

The spices used in the recipe and wonderfully Moorish and the use of oil and maple syrup give the muffins a great moistness. My kids adore muffins, and these muffins are a great way of hiding sweet potatoes in their diet. They are going to be the perfect lunchbox snack.

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffins

• 225g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 140g light brown sugar
• 75g raisins
• 175ml milk
• 30ml maple syrup
• 60ml olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 150g of cooled baked sweet potato
• 2 tbsp of mixed seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Line a muffin tray with muffin cases.
3. Sieve the flour, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl.
4. Add the brown sugar  and raisins and stir to combine.
5. In a jug, add the egg, mashed sweet potato, maple syrup, and milk and whisk thoroughly to combine.
6. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients from the jug.
7. Stir until all is combined and a batter is formed.
8. Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin case. Scatter each muffin with some mixed seeds.
9. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. 
11. While the muffins are still hot, brush the tops of the muffins with some maple syrup. This with help make the tops sticky and crunchy and the maple syrup will also soak into the hot muffins.

Smoothie Bowl - On the Bandwagon & Loving it!

So anyone on Instagram will have noticed an increased presence in smoothie bowls in the Instafeed, people are going gaga for them. And sure why not, they are stunning to look at, and could quite possibly be the healthiest meal you will eat.

I adore them and now I'm hooked!! So versatile and pretty, there really is no right or wrong recipe, it's a little bit of what you fancy.

The premise though is, using a basic smoothie recipe as the base for the bowl. I would recommend making the smoothie slightly thicker than you would if you were going to drink from a glass.

Finally the toppings, you can mix anything from seeds, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, chia seeds, quinoa. Whatever you fancy. These couldn't be healthier if you tried.

Here's the recipe for one of the smoothie bowls I make most often

Ingredients

Smoothie

• 1/2 a banana
• 1 tbsp of hemp protein powder
• 2 tbsp of almond milk
• 4 tbsp of frozen mixed berries
• 1 tsp chia seeds

Toppings

• 1 tsp of chia seeds
• 1 tbsp of chopped pineapple
• 1 tbsp of melon
• 1 tbsp of mixed desicated coconut/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp of walnuts, chopped

Method

1. Blitz your smoothie ingredients and pour into a bowl.
2. Top the smoothie with the selected toppings

Rhubarb, Apple & Ginger Jam Muffin Surprise

I call these buns, Muffin Surprise, because you can't tell what type of muffin you are eating until you sink your teeth into one. These are a very simple muffin mixture recipe, with my secret ingredient.....my divine homemade Rhubarb, Apple & Ginger Jam.

I cannot get enough of this jam, I'm literally obsessed. Not content with having this dreamy jam on scones and toast, I love to slather my pancakes with it, my french toast,heat it and top is over vanilla icecream (my fave), and now sneaking a spoonful into my muffin mixture.

Here's how to make the Rhubarb Apple & Ginger Jam

Ingredients

• 500g rhubarb, diced
• 300g of peeled chopped apple
• 1 inch piece of peeled ginger, diced
• 800g of granulated sugar
• 2-3 tbsp of water

Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or so until the jam has thickened. It will thicken further when cooled. Pour into sterilized jars (I sterilise the jars in the dishwasher). 

See!!! It's that easy, no excuse not to make your own jam, seriously!!

Rhubarb, Apple & Ginger Jam Muffin Surprise

Ingredients

• 225g plain flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 160g sugar
• 170ml milk
• 1 egg
• 75g melted butter
• Rhubarb Jam

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Sieve the flour and the baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar
3. Whisk the egg, milk and butter in a jug.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir through until incorporated into a muffin batter
5. Put 1 tbsp of batter in each muffin case, followed by half a tsp of jam in each case, then divide the remaining batter into all the cases.
6. Bake in the centre of the oven for 22 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven once baked and cool on wire rack

(Tip you can use shop bought jam of any description for this recipe to substitute the homemade jam)

My Bombay Potatoes - Simple ingredients, Awesome Flavours

The humble spud is getting yet another make over here. Where would I be without my potatoes! I simply adore them and quiet frankly could inhale them; mashed, chips, boil, cubed, any which way I love them. Being Irish, this comes as no surprise, but there are many other countries who champion the potato also.


Take Spain for example, Patatas Bravas or papa bravas are my one most beloved foods EVER! Then of course you have your french fries and your roasties from the likes of Europe and America, and Italy are doing their own thing with potatoes in the form of Gnocchi, as per my most recent Gnocchi recipe.

But surprisingly potatoes feature heavily in Indian cooking. A large proportion of Indians are vegetarians and potatoes are quiet often used in curries. This is a recipe for a 'dry' Indian Potato dish, a side dish I always order in Indian restaurants,the delectable Bombay Potatoes. A spicy potato dish using some great fragrant spices and tomatoes. It packs a real punch in the flavour department and is super healthy. There are so many different versions, but here is mine:

Ingredients

• 2 large rooster potatoes, peeled & cubed
• 1 onion, half diced, half sliced
• 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and diced
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 tsp of coriander seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Salt & pepper
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (I use mild)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 tbsp of oil (I use Irish Rapeseed oil)
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into wedges
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Method

• Put a large pan of salted water on the boil and par-boil the potato cubes.
• Meanwhile, blend roughly the diced onion, the ginger, the garlic, the cumin, the coriander, the mustard seeds, turmeric, chili powder and garam masala.
• When the potatoes are cooked, after approx 6 minutes, drain and allow to steam for a couple of minutes.
• Get a large deep frying pan on a medium heat and add the oil. Then cook out the blended spice mixture for a few minutes. 
• Then add the potato cubes and the tomato wedges, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if the dish looks like it's too dry and 'catching'
• Before serving, scatter with coriander leaves.

This is the perfect side dish to any roasts, or in Indian it is simply enjoyed with some naan bread and pilau rice.

Chocolate Caramel Bites - Speedy Sweet Canapes

This post isn't even a recipe, I couldn't call it that, as these bites are just a simple assembly job. In saying that they taste amazing, too good not to share! I love to have something nice and sweet greeting all my guests arriving to the Bed and Breakfast. Sometimes I have time for cupcakes or brownies,  but there are some busy days when I don't have enough time for anything other that pimping up melted chocolate!

For these little bites from heaven, I use all butter shortcrust pastry case from Marks and Spencers. I have made these from scratch before using shortcrust pastry, but these shop bought ones are great, especially if you are on a time budget

A staple in everyone's pantry should be Nestle's Carnations Caramel Sauce, it's awesome! So good in so many treats.

The final ingredients were some dark chocolate and some candy sprinkles. Here's the assembly recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 can of Carnation Caramel
• 1 100g bar of good dark chocolate 
• Sprinkles
• Ready made mini  all butter shortcrust pastry cases

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts
2. Place 1/2 tsp of carnation caramel in each pastry case
3. Pour 1/2 tsp of melted chocolate over the caramel and place your sprinkle of choice on the melted chocolate.
4. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes and they are ready to eat.

Perfect for a tea party, last minute guests, or a canape for a drinks party. I myself put them on a table in the hallway of my Bed and Breakfast, so chocolate is the first thing that my guests see when they walk through the door.

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I love Gnocchi, those gorgeous pillowy potato dumplings Italy made famous! They are so versatile and a fantastic change from regular pasta every once in a while. You would be surprised how simple it is to make your own. Plus making your own has the added benefit of no preservative or additives. Just a few simply ingredients and you are done!

Ever the health conscious, well I like to do a little balancing act of 20% bold awesome treats, and 80% sinless tasty meals; I've decided to make gnocchi even healthier. Normally made with white potatoes and white flour, I'm mixing things up a bit using whole wheat flour, and sweet potatoes instead. I love how by making little grooves in the gnocchi, your sauce sticks to them, making for a very tasty vegetarian meal. I like to go meat free on a Monday after maybe over eating at the weekends. This is the perfect antidote to a weekend of over indulging, but still packed with goodness and flavour!

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 2/3 tbsp of olive oil, extra virgin
• Salt & pepper
• The sauce of your choice,  My Parsley Pesto, is a particular favorite

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, and bake the sweet potatoes for 50 minutes. If you are short on time, prick each sweet potato many times, wrap in kitchen paper and microwave for 6-7 minutes.
2. Once baked, slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the soft potato, discard the skins. Allow to cool. 
3. Add salt, pepper and the oil, and mash the potatoes well.
4. Add the flour to the mashed potato and knead to a well formed dough, add more oil if too dry or more flour if too wet.
5. Dust your work surface with flour and turn out the dough, giving it a brief knead. 
6. Roll the dough out to a sausage rope.
7. Cut the rope into 1 inch intervals.
8. Using a wet fork, stamp each gnocchi, to give a slight indent.
9. Place a pan of water on to boil with a generous pinch of salt.
10. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cool for a couple of minutes. When they float, they are cooked.
11. Stir through your sauce/pesto of choice and enjoy.

Red Quinoa & Smoked Salmon Sushi - A Low GI Alternative to Sushi Rolls

Nori Maki is my favorite sushi!! I adore the taste of the nori seaweed paper and the sweet and tangy rice vinegar soaked sticky sushi rice! I've been hooked ever since my Sushi for Beginners class in Ballymaloe (see previous blog post here). I've been obsessed lately with trying to eat foods with a low GI, and trying to pair the correct foods together. I was shocked to see sushi rice so high on the glycemic index (89). Not one to say good bye to my beloved nori maki rolls, I set about trying to find an alternative for the high GI rice. After all, every other part of the rolls are extremely healthy.

That's when I discovered that the awesome quinoa could do the same job as the rice. I have developed quite an obsession for red quinoa, I love the crunchier texture over white quinoa, but they both still have the same nutrient make up more or less. I'll admit that white quinoa is fluffier and probably be easier to work with from a 'sticky' perspective, but I think that the red quinoa just has more flavor, dammit!! :)

There is something so satisfying about rolling nori maki rolls. I can't put my finger on it, it's reminds me of make and do as a child and has a fun playful aspect to it. It's actually childsplay to make and you'll find that you become more confident and accomplished as you progress from rolling your first roll to the final one.

I have an endless supply of gorgeous fresh smoked salmon in my kitchen from the Bed and Breakfast so I robbed some for my dinner to make these rolls. We get our salmon delivered to the door from a local supplier and it's definately worth buying your smoked salmon locally. There is no comparison with the cheaper supermarket alternatives. If you don't like/have smoked salmon you can use pretty much anything, prawns, crab, or go completely veggie, and have a rainbow of peppers and cucumbers. There are no rules!! Afterall, I'm not even using rice!

I will say you can't have sushi without wasabi, pickled ginger or soy! Now that's a deal breaker! I love the hot hit you get from wasabi, so I spread it on my salmon in the roll, but if you're not that hard core, just plant a blob of it on the side of your plate and dip in the roll after. The 'hot hit' though is an addictive feeling.

Here's the recipe to my favorite, but use this as a guide and substitute in the ingredients you like

Makes 4 Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup of red quinoa
• 2 cups of water
• 4 tbsp japanese rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 4 nori sheets, try to source a sushi rolling bamboo mat also. They are usually sold along side the nori sheets. It makes rolling so much easier.
• 50g of smoked salmon, sliced thinly
• Thinly sliced variety of peppers, carrots, and cucumber
• 1 tube of wasabi
• soy sauce
• pickled ginger

Method

1. Firstly you must cook you quinoa. Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan, bring to a boil, add the the quinoa and cook on a simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Drain well.
3. Spread the quinoa out in a dish and mix in the vinegar, salt and sugar and make sure everything gets well coated.
4. Allow the quinoa to cool.
5. Get your bamboo rolling mat and place in front of you.
6. Wave a sheet of nori over the hob, careful not to burn, but just to heat slightly to make the sheet more pliable.
7. Place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat, shiny side down.
8. Spread a thin layer of quinoa over the the whole sheet, out to the edges, leaving a small space at the top side of the sheet to seal it. 
9. Lay the smoked salmon and the vegetables (whichever combination you prefer) on the side nearest you. Careful not to over fill as the roll will burst if over filled. I know this from vast greedy experience.
10. Dab the empty edge of the nori sheet with rice vinegar using your finger. This is your glue.
11. Carefully , as tight as you can, start rolling the the roll, away from you.
12. I like to cut the ends of the sushi rolls normally for a cleaner finish, and these ends are cooks treat.
13. Cut the roll in half, and then cut those halves in half, and finally , cut those pieces in half. You should have eight pieces, for small bites. you can make them bigger, but the sushi etiquette is to be able to eat your roll in one mouth full, and I don't know about you, but my mouth isn't big enough for anything bigger than 1/8 of a roll at a time.

To serve, put a 'blob' of wasabi on the side of the plate, soy sauce in a dish and pickled ginger on the side. Dip and enjoy.

Bake it Easy - The Fastest Cookies I've Ever Made

I don't normally 'review' products, and in fact I'm such a keen baker that I wouldn't normally buy a 'mix'. But this cookie mix is something completely different, and left my highly impressed!So much so I felt I had to share. So this isn't really a review, but more of a recommendation!

 With the Bed & Breakfast in full swing, and with two kids under three years old, I'm constantly living on borrowed time. But that doesn't mean I want to comprise neglecting my baking time with my daughter Aoife. She is only three, but already a baking enthusiast! This mixture was great, as I knew exactly what in the mix and exactly what we were consuming, unlike some 'cookie dough' you can buy in the fridge section of the supermarkets.

I bought the Oatly Dotely mixture, which is a strawberry and oat cookie mix. It's divine. It reminds me a little of Hagen Daz Strawberry Cheesecake Ice-cream. I'm actually thinking that if you make your own ice-cream (sometimes I do when time permits), add these cookies crumbled into the final icecream to make a healthier Strawberry Cheesecake icecream.

The mixture in the jar is a layered combination of dried strawberries, oats, coconut, sugar and flour and vanilla. You simply just pour the contents of the jar into a bowl, and mix well. Then add cooled melted butter, honey and an egg (all mixed together), to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. The recipe at the back of the jar is a doddle to follow and it correctly states it makes 15 cookies, using a teaspoon to measure them out onto a baking tray. I drizzled melted white chocolate over the cookies, as a little weekend treat, and I place them at the Bed & Breakfast entrance as a nice little welcome treat for all my guests.

Kale & Cashew Pesto

I'm a huge pesto fan! I find it to be such a diverse ingredient in the kitchen, pairing it with pasta, potatoes, dressings, salads, stews, roasts and bakes; I always have one type or another lurking a kilner jar in the fridge. This is not the first pesto recipe I've blogged! Check out the following link for my previous pestos:

Basil & Almond Pesto
Parsley, Chilli, & Garlic Pesto
Rocket Pesto

You may notice in each of those pesto recipes I have left out the Parmesan cheese component, and this recipe is no different. This makes the pestos vegan friendly.I adore Parmesan cheese, but my husband is not a fan, so I've learnt to exclude it.

I've upped the super powers though for this particular pesto, Kale & Cashew nut. You can't get healthier than Kale, and it's currently enjoying a moment as THEE go to super  food. This is a super clean guilt free pesto that is packed full of nutrients. The cashews also really help bring a creaminess to the final pesto!

My fussy little three year old would live on pesto pasta given the chance, so this was the perfect way to sneak some kale into her diet. While she didn't take kindly  to the change in taste in the first bite or two of her 'usual' pasta. By the end of the meal she had a happy belly and a happy mommy!! If it passed the Aoife Test, then it will please the very fussiest of little eaters!

Ingredients

• 50g of raw cashew nuts
• 1 large handful of chopped kale leaves (no stalks)
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 1 chopped garlic clove
• Juice of a lemon
• 3 tbsp of flat leaf parsley

Method

1. Simply place all ingredients into a food processor and blitz until the desired constituency. I like to stop just before it gets 100% smooth, for a little bit of texture. 
2. Store in a kilner jar, or similar, with a layer of oil on the top to preserve the pesto.

I also spread this on some salmon fillets, then baked as normal in the oven, it was really tasty.