Category: Dips, Dressings, Sauces & Spreads

Beetroot Hummus

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beetroot-hummus

Being half Israeli, hummus is one of my favourite foods and a staple food in my house. With so many gorgeous beetroots around at the moment, this is a great way to get the beetroot into you and your kids in a fun, colourful and yummy way!

Beetroots are so good for us for many reasons. They are high in iron and folate so wonderful to eat through pregnancy and they are also wonderful for the blood and heart. Eat beets!

Ingredients

1 tin organic chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
2 small raw beetroots (or 1 large)
Quarter cup purified water
2 tbsp tahini paste
5 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
Half tsp Himalayan salt
4 cloves garlic, minced

Method

Steam the beetroot in a steamer until soft.

Once soft, put them in the blender and once blended, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Garnish with olive oil and coriander.

Love & health,
Lauren

 

Gluten Free Seed Crackers (Suitable For Kids)

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seed-crackers-for-kids

A friend of mine shared this recipe after I ate these at her house. The reason they’re so great for children is that they’re a little bit soft on the inside which makes them less of a choking hazaard. Crackers that are too hard are not so great for babies – Braxton always gets bits stuck in his throat then gags!

I altered this recipe slightly to make it vegan (egg free).

For some reason I always think crackers will be really time-consuming to make but they’re not at all. This was so easy and went down really well with my lot.

Ingredients

120g buckwheat flour
120g oats
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g groud flax seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp chia seeds
½ tsp Himalayan salt
Sprinkling of mixed herbs
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
600ml water

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, making sure to mix well and get all the flour from the bottom.

It should be fairly thin and spreadable on the tray. If it seems too thick, add a little more water.

Pour onto the prepared tray and smooth out.

Bake for 15 minutes then remove and cut into squares with a pizza cutter or thin blade knife.

Put back in the oven for another 35-40 minutes.

Leave to cool before cutting fully again with the knife.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Love & health,
Lauren

Vanilla Cashew Butter

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IMG_6120

I have the biggest backlog of recipes waiting to go on the blog but this turned out so unbelievably amazing that I had to share it with you! I’m a nut butter fanatic at the best of times but this has now trumped peanut and almond butter. It is so creamy and sweet and wow – just delicious! We finished one jar of it within 2 days and this is the second jar. Requests are coming in from the family now to make more for everyone. You seriously have to make this and spread it on anything – or just eat it off the spoon, whatever, just make it! Oh, and it’s really high in protein so great for spreading on toast for the kids. I actually spread a bit of it on Braxton’s porridge bars for him.

So easy to make and only 2 ingredients – there’s just no need for store bought!

Ingredients

1.5 cups cashews
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla pod

Method

You will need a high-speed blender for this, a normal blender won’t break it down enough unfortunately. I love the Vitamix – you can literally make anything with it!

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the cashews on a roasting tray and put in the oven for 10 minutes, until they go golden but not burnt – keep an eye on them.

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Once they’re out the oven, put them in the blender with either a tsp of vanilla bean paste or the insides of a vanilla pod scraped out and turn the blender up to the highest variable until it starts breaking it down into a thick butter – about 3 minutes.

Once it is a bulky consistency, get it all off the bottom with a spoon, then turn down the variable and the speed and start again on a low speed. Gently increase the speed keeping the variable on low. Over the course of about 3-4 minutes it will make it runny. You should wait until it goes really runny even though you think it might be tasty when it is thick. It’s worth the wait!

Vanilla cashew butter 1

Love and health,
Lauren

Multi-Seed Gluten-Free Crackers

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Crackers 1

I have to thank Lisa Roukin from My Relationship with Food for this recipe. I saw it on her website and just had to make them! I’ve adapted it from hers slightly.

I’m eating six small meals a day now instead of three larger ones so healthy crackers are the best choice for at least one of those meals! I ate this along with some homemade hummus and Moroccan matbucha but you can have with anything you like. They are so much easier to make than they look and are just super yummy and nutritious.

Crackers 3Crackers 4

Ingredients

70g ground almonds
2 tbsp buckwheat flour
20g pumpkin seeds
20g sunflower seeds
20g flaked almonds
25g flaxseed, sunflower & pumpkin (linwoods)
15ml coconut oil,
60ml cold purified water
Pinch Himalayan or Oryx Desert salt

Topping
1 handful flaxseed, sunflower & pumpkin (linwoods)
1 handful pumpkin seeds
1 handful sesame seeds

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F, gas mark 2, 150°C (130°C fan-assisted).

In a food processor add all the dry ingredients and salt and pulse a couple of times, then add the coconut oil and water, blend until slightly sticky texture (do not over process) leave a little texture for crunch.

Have two sheets of parchment paper, collect the dough from the food processor, shape into a square in the center of one sheet of the parchment paper, flatten slightly. Cover with the second sheet of parchment paper and roll to 1/4 inch (or less thick). Using a sharp chefs knife, trim off the edges and even into a square. Make the squares by cutting into equal strips (4 x 3).  Press the toppings into each square (I divided 1 handful of each topping on 4 squares).

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, remove from the oven leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Crackers 2

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Lauren’s Favourite Avocado Salad

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Avocado Salad

Avocados are one of my favourite foods. They’re so rich in fibre and mono-unsaturated fatty acids that keep the heart healthy and you can do so much with them… I have them on their own, cut in half with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and scoop it out with a spoon, or spread on Biona gluten free bread with some lime juice and salt or in a salad like this…

Ingredients

2 ripe organic avocados
1 hard-boiled egg
2 spring onions
Juice of one lemon
Drizzle of olive oil
Himalayan salt & black pepper to taste

Method

Make sure you pre boil your egg so it’s ready. Get a medium sized bowl as it’s quite messy so you don’t want to prepare this in the same bowl that you will be serving it from and mash your egg into really small pieces with a fork.

Then add the avocado and mash that too, followed by the rest of the ingredients until it’s all mashed in together. Serve with other salads or with a bread or cracker of your choice.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Tahini / Tchina (depending on where you’re from!)

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Tehini

Sorry for the strange title… in the west, this is called Tahini (the paste itself is called that) but in the Middle East, where this originated, it’s called Tchina. Whatever it’s called, it’s yummy, easy to make and is one of the best sources of calcium out there. So if you read our article about why to stay away from milk and you are wondering where to get your calcium, tahini is one of the best places to find it.

Ingredients

3 tbsp tahini paste
Quarter cup purified water
5 tbsp lemon juice
Half tsp Himalayan salt
Half tsp garlic salt
Quarter tsb paprika
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil

Method

Spoon the tahini paste into a medium size bowl (it gets quite messy so you want to make it in a separate bowl to the one you’ll be serving it in), then add the water and mix really well. You will see it go from a weird texture to smooth quite quickly and it will become much more pale. If it still seems quite thick (it should be relatively runny) then add some more water; gauge it for yourself. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Taste to see if it needs more of anything and add to your taste. Transfer to a smaller bowl.

Great with other dips and salads (have a look on both those pages on our website for more ideas) and with bread or crackers.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Moroccan Salad

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Moroccan Salad

This is a really delicious way of having all the spices of Moroccan food but having the benefit of having raw veggies in it. I whipped this up today for a Friday night dinner party I’m hosting tomorrow and it’s really delicious…

Ingredients

2 carrots
1 beetroot
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp organic runny honey

Method

Gently heat the vinegar and honey together in a saucepan then set aside.

Peel and grate the carrots and beetroot into a bowl, then add the vinegar and honey mix, followed by the spices and mix really well.

Serve straight away or keep in an airtight container for 5 days.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Moroccan Matbucha

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Matbucha

Matbucha… the absolute staple in every Moroccan’s fridge, and at its best when it has just been made and is still warm. It’s something I grew up eating. My mum would make it every single Friday and we’d have massive spoonfuls of it on big chunks of hot bread. Now I tend to favour healthier breads but the matbucha stays the same! This is my mum’s original recipe (thanks Marge!) I hope you all love it…

Ingredients (this makes enough for a couple of people. If making for a dinner party, double the ingredients)

1 tin organic chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cloves garlic, sliced in half
Half a red chilli, chopped (add the whole thing if you like it really hot!)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt (I use Himalayan salt)
1 tsp sugar

Method

Chuck it all into a smallish saucepan and simmer on a low heat for about an hour. Yes, it really is that easy! Do taste along the way to see if it needs more paprika, cumin, salt or chilli.

Enjoy your taste of Morocco!

Love,
Lauren

Vegan Pesto

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Vegan Pesto

A quick and simple recipe for a yummy, healthy pesto that also happens to be high in vitamins and vegan…

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado
Quarter cup extra virgin olive oil
5 tbsp lemon juice
5 Brazil nuts
Handful pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
Handful kale
Pinch Himalayan salt

Method

Simply place all the ingredients, apart from the kale, into a food processor and blitz until fully incorporated. If it’s too thick add some more olive oil. Once ready add the kale and blitz once more until you can see little bits of the kale incorporated.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Original Arab Israeli Hummus

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Original Hummus

Firstly, please excuse the poor quality of the picture; my husband took my camera to work so I’m using my phone and it’s a bit ‘shadowy’. Anyway, onto the important part! HUMMUS! I’ve already posted on here my Turmeric Hummus and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus recipes, but I thought I’d do plain, original hummus.

There is a place in Jaffa (Israel) where I go to every time I’m there. It’s run by Arab Israelis and if you didn’t know about it, you’d never go in because it looks like a dive! It’s one small room with wooden tables, plastic chairs and the only thing they serve is hummus and drinks! They make the hummus in the morning, early,  and they close when it runs out. You go in (no later than midday otherwise there’s none left) sit down, they ask what you want to drink and then bring you a plate of hummus and some pitta bread and you just sit there dipping away. It’s seriously the most amazing tasting hummus in the world and I’m trying to replicate it myself and this is the closes I have come…

Ingredients

2 tins organic chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
Quarter cup purified water
2 tbsp tahini paste
5 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
Half tsp Himalayan salt
4 cloves garlic, minced

Method

Simply blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender until completely smooth – it really is as easy as that! Enjoy with gluten free bread, crackers, rice or quinoa cakes or veggies.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren