Category Archives: food

Pea and feta fritter

Posted in eggs, food, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, Uncategorized, vegetables, vegetarian by

Ingredients:

Cup full of frozen peas – cooked and cooled

1 red chilli – deseeded and finely chopped

3 spring onions finely chopped

Juice of half a lemon

100 ml of milk

Gluten free plain flour

3 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

Seasoning – salt, pepper, 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Small block of feta cheese cut in to small chunks

Method:

Put milk, eggs and lemon juice into a jug and mix well. Add onions, chilli, peas and seasoning and baking soda. Add a tbsp at a time of flour and mix well. Continue to add flour until a thick batter consistency achieved.

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Heat and lightly oil (coconut oil or olive oil) a frying pan or griddle and spoon mixture on to the heated surface. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

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Serve with home-made dip of cucumber chopped in to small cubes and mixed with Greek yoghurt.

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Salad – quail eggs, fresh figs, mozzarella and tomatoes

Posted in eggs, food, food is medicine, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, salad, superfood, Uncategorized by

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There is something so delicious about fresh figs in a salad. Quail eggs are little powerhouse packets of goodness – I am so lucky to have my own hardworking ladies.

I served this salad on a gluten free wrap  and added shredded cabbage, onion and carrots- once rolled was difficult to eat but well worth the challenge!

Avocado salsa

Posted in food, gluten free, healthy eating, salad, side dish, superfood, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian by

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Ingredients:

1 avocado  – cut in to cubes

1 papaya peeled – deseeded and cut in to cubes

1 small red onion  – chopped in to small pieces

Handful of fresh coriander – roughly chopped

2 red chillies  – deseeded and cut in to small pieces

Juice of 1 lemon and lime

Method:

Put all ingredients in to a bowl and mix gently

 

Red pesto

Posted in dressing, food, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, superfood, Uncategorized by

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup drained sundried tomatoes

Handful fresh basil

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup pine nuts

1-2 cloves of garlic

1 red chilli pepper (optional)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Using a food processor blend tomatoes, basil and garlic in to a coarse paste.

Add all the remaining ingredients and blitz for 10 seconds.

 

 

Cauliflower, quinoa and chick pea bake

Posted in food, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, superfood, Uncategorized, vegetables, vegetarian by

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Preheat oven to 180c / Gas 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of rinsed and cooked quinoa

1 cauliflower cut in to small florets

1 tin of chick peas – drained

Coconut oil

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsps cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

(or any combination of your favourite spices)

Method:

Arrange the cauliflower, chickpeas and quinoa on a baking tray and sprinkle with the spices. Dot the mixture with coconut oil. Place in oven. After 10 mins remove and gently turn the ingredients to ensure all coated with coconut oil. Return to oven and bake until cooked and  – about 30 mins.

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Perfect eaten on its own or served with a poached egg on top. Also a great alternative accompaniment for a curry. Delicious cold as well.

 

Date and walnut cake

Posted in cake, food, gluten free, specialised diet, superfood, Uncategorized by

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Preheat oven to 180c / Gas 4

30 x 23 cm cake tin (12 x 9 inch) greased and lined

Ingredients:

250 g stoned and chopped dates

40 g butter

300 ml boiling water

3 large eggs (2 if using non gluten-free s r flour)

350 g gluten-free self-raising flour

150 g dark muscovado sugar

150 g chopped walnuts

125 g ground almonds

Method:

Soak the dates in the boiling water – allow to cool

Mix all other ingredients together and add the soaked dates (I don’t drain the liquid off)

Bake in the centre of the oven for 50 mins – 60 minutes or until cake is firm to touch

Turn out and cool.

I don’t add icing to my cakes but a lemon icing would taste good with this cake – topped with walnuts.

Vegetable curry

Posted in food, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, Uncategorized, vegetables by

Preheat oven to 180c / gas mark 5

Ingredients:

Curry paste- 2tsp ginger puree, 2tsp garlic puree, tsp curry powder, 1tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp chilli powder and a splash of water.

1 onion chopped

1 pepper coarse chopped

1 potato diced into small cubes

3 carrots diced

1 courgette  cubed

Small cauliflower

Tin of chopped tomatoes

Method:

Sauté onion, pepper and potato cubes in a casserole dish. Add curry paste and tomatoes. Add carrots and courgettes and stir. Place cauliflower in the centre and bake in oven until vegetables are cooked.IMG_20160425_201046

One week…

Posted in food, fructose free, gluten free, meat free, specialised diet, Uncategorized by

So…one week has passed and I have not eaten any meat at all (I have had some fish) and I cannot believe how much better I feel. The sluggish feeling has gone completely.

It has however made me realise how ‘alternative’ diets are still not readily catered for and I wonder if they ever will be. Let me explain what I mean. Yesterday, I spent a glorious day  helping out at a function with several people. All the helpers had lunch provided – a picnic. A picnic with standard fayre – an assortment of tasty looking sandwiches, crisps and delicious looking cake. It wasn’t an event ahead of which you would state you are gluten-free, fructose free and meat free – so having helped at previous functions I knew to take my own food.

The point I’m trying to make is that I couldn’t eat any of this ‘normal food’.

When my husband and I go out for dinner it can be quite disheartening when I look down the menu to see only a couple of items that I can choose from and a few more for him because he is only gluten-free..

Now I know, and I’ll say it before you do, that these diets choices I have made are from personal choice not a medical directive so maybe I should suck up and shut up. But, there are millions of people out there for whom a change of diet is a necessity to stay well.

I wonder when the balance of ‘normal’ food to ‘different diets’ will shift?