Key Lime Energy Balls

100g Almonds

100g Cashew Nuts

150g Dates

50g Vanilla Protein

3 Limes, Juiced

50g Desiccated Coconut

Soak the dates and nuts in cold water in the fridge overnight. Empty the water and blend in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. It should look like a dry mixture. Roll into 50g balls.

Apple Pie Energy Balls:

1tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground nutmeg
50g Rolled Oats

10 Pitted dates
2 small apples, peeled and sliced
75g Almonds
2 tbsp Raw Peanut Butter
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
15g Flaxseed, to roll in

Soak the dates in cold water in the fridge overnight. Blitz the oats and dates in a food processor until combined. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Should look like a dry mixture. Roll into 50g balls.

This cornbread is great served grilled alongside your favourite Mexican inspired dish!

Makes 8 Slices

Ingredients

50g butter

1 small onion, chopped

225g fine cornmeal

140g plain flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1½ tsp salt

568ml buttermilk, (or same quantity semi-skimmed milk with a squeeze of lemon juice)

2-4 jalapenos/ green chillies, chopped

200g cheddar, grated

Method

Firstly, preheat the oven to 210C fan/ 220C, then line a 23cm cake tin or ovenproof frying pan. Next, Melt the butter in a separate frying pan. Cook the onion over a gentle heat for 5 mins until softened.

Meanwhile, tip all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Beat together the buttermilk and eggs in a separate bowl, then stir in the buttery onions. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined and you have a batter.

Pour the batter into the cake tin or frying pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25 mins until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 mins, then turn out, cut into wedges and serve.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts

1tbsp Honey

1tbsp Olive oil

2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed

1tbsp Wholegrain mustard

1tbsp Chopped tarragon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Cup of Millet/Quinoa/Mixed Grains

40g Cucumber, diced

40g Mango, diced

4 Leaves of Basil

1 Bag of mixed leaves

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Splash of olive oil

Pinch of salt

 2 Peppers (whichever colours you prefer)

2 Red onions

2 Courgettes

1 Packet of vine tomatoes

Method

Put the millet into a medium saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water, before adding a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and leave to cook for 20-25 mins or until there is no liquid left, add a little olive oil, stir and leave to cool. 

Preheat the oven to 220c. Butterfly the chicken breasts and marinate for at least 25 mins in the honey, olive oil, garlic, wholegrain mustard and tarragon, add salt and pepper to taste. Whilst this is marinating you can start to prep the grain salad and roasted veg.

Roughly chop the veggies and drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and roast in the oven for 25 mins. Then pop the chicken breasts in the oven for roughly 17 mins, depending on their size.

Once your grains are cool, stir in the diced cucumber, mango, chopped basil, salt and pepper, mixed leaves and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

This recipe is so fresh and delicious, serve with cooked noodles or rice.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp veg oil

1 onion, diced

thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 small red chilli 

2 lemongrass stalks, bruised with a rolling pin

1 heaped tbsp medium curry powder

1 heaped tbsp light muscovado sugar

small bunch coriander

400g can coconut milk

450g skinless cod/pollock/hake fillets (any white fish)

220g pack raw prawns

1 lime, halved

Method

Heat the oil in a wide frying pan, then cook the onion for 5 mins. Increase the heat a little, stir in the ginger, garlic, shrimp paste, chilli and lemongrass, and cook for 2 mins. Add the curry powder and sugar, and keep stirring. When the sugar starts to melt and everything starts to clump together, add the coriander stems, coconut milk and 2 tbsp water, then bring to a simmer.

Add the fish to the sauce, then squeeze over half the lime. Pop on the lid and simmer for 5 mins more or until the fish is just cooked and flaking, add the prawns and continue to cook for a few mins.

Taste for seasoning, adding a squeeze more lime to the sauce if you like. Finish with coriander leaves.

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 Large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 

3 cloves garlic, crushed

600g lean beef mince

8 slices of chorizo

400g chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

8 mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, diced

½ tsp sea salt

100 g mozzarella

50 g cheddar

500 g Greek yoghurt

500 g cottage cheese

1 egg

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Preheat your oven to 190°C.

Slice the sweet potatoes into long wide thin slices. Place the sliced sweet potato in a pre-heated oven to cook for 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the cottage cheese with the egg, yoghurt, olive oil and finely chopped parsley. Mix well and then set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pan. Once hot, add the dried oregano, salt, garlic, onions and cumin. Once sweated down turn up the heat and add the lean beef and chorizo. Cook this until it becomes well-browned. Once the meat is well-browned, remove it from the pan and set aside.

Then, add in the mushrooms and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Return the cooked beef and add the tomatoes and tomato puree into the pan and stir to mix well.

To assemble the lasagne, use a 9x16 casserole dish and create the first layer with the pre-cooked sweet potato slices. Make the slices overlap so there are no spaces. Pour out half of the meat sauce over the sweet potato slices and spread out evenly. Pour out half of the cottage cheese mixture over the meat sauce and spread evenly.

Repeat these three steps with another layer of sweet potato slices, meat sauce, and then the cottage cheese. Top with a thin layer of sliced fresh mozzarella and cheddar and then place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

This recipe produces the perfect, fluffy rice. Feel free to flavour this by adding spices to the rice before cooking.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup of basmati rice

water

sea salt

Method

Put rice into a medium saucepan, cover with 1/2 an inch of water and add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat to the lowest possible setting. Pot the lid on and cook until all the liquid is gone (about 20-25 mins).

Best served with my Kadala Curry recipe and/or Dhal - these can be found in my blog.

Serves 2, or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

1 cup red split lentils

2 cups water

1tbsp butter/oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cardamom pods

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp turmeric

2 small green chillies

½ tsp garam masala

1tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

salt

Method

In a medium saucepan bring the water to the boil, add the turmeric and garam masala and lentils with a generous pinch of salt. Leave this to simmer with the lid on for 20-30 mins or until cooked (flakey consistency), it will be quite, but as it cools slightly, it will thicken up. 

Once this is finished cooking, heat the oil/butter in a frying pan, add the garlic, cardamom pods and cumin, cook for a few mins, then add to the dhal. Finish with fresh coriander. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the paste:

2tbsp oil

1 onion, diced

1tsp fresh or dried chilli

1 small bulb of garlic (9 cloves), crushed

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1tbsp ground coriander

2tbsp ground cumin

1tbsp garam masala

2tbsp tomato puree

For the curry:

2x400g cans chickpeas, drained

400g can chopped toms

100g creamed coconut

100g fresh spinach

½ small pack of coriander, chopped (can use frozen)

Salt, to taste

Method

In a large pan, heat the oil, then add the diced onion with a generous pinch of salt. Sweat this down on a medium heat until soft and transparent. Meanwhile, in a food processor, blend together the garlic and spices until they have formed a paste. Add to the onions, once cooked.

Continue to cook this out for 5 mins, to take the bitterness away from the spices and release their full flavour. Stir in the tomato paste and cook out for another 5 mins.

Then add the chopped tomatoes with another pinch of salt, leaving to simmer with a lid on for 5-10 mins. 

Next, add the coconut and chickpeas, put the lid back on and cook for 5 mins. Finally, add in the spinach and stir until wilted down. Top with fresh coriander and serve with basmati rice and dhal.