Category: Lunch & Dinner

Broccoli & Pea Buckwheat Pasta

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Pasta

Easy dinners, easy dinners. It’s all about easy dinners that you can just throw together quickly. Usually the meals that are considered ‘easy’ or ‘convenient’ are not particularly healthy so I’m always trying to invent new ones to add to the website so I can go back to them when I am short of time.

I’m trying to keep my folate and calcium levels up during my pregnancy so broccoli is a must-have in my diet right now. Buckwheat also helps control blood sugars which is essential during pregnancy to prevent gestational diabetes, and avocados, well, you all know how I feel about this wonder-food!

Ingredients

Enough buckwheat pasta for two people – double up all ingredients if you need more. (you can also use brown rice pasta or quinoa pasta. Try and stay away from processed pastas, even if they’re gluten free.)
A head of organic broccoli
1 cup frozen peas
1 ripe avocado
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 tbsp lemon juice
5 Brazil nuts
Handful pine nuts
1 clove of garlic
Handful fresh mint
Pinch Himalayan salt

Method

Cut your broccoli into florettes and add to a pan of boiling water. Once it’s been in for five minutes, add the peas and leave for around three minutes until all the vegetables are ready but not too soft. Drain, and set to the side until you are ready to use them. Rinse the saucepan and add the pasta and boiling water and begin to cook as per packet instructions.

While this is cooking, make your vegan pesto sauce. Add the avocado, olive oil, lemon juice, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, garlic, mint and salt to the food processor and process until totally smooth. If it is too thick, add a little more oil and lemon juice. Taste to see if it needs more salt or lemon.

Drain the pasta once it is ready and return it to the pan, then add in the vegetables and pesto sauce and turn heat on low just to heat the vegetables and stir to heat it all through.

Serve once hot.

Enjoy!

Love,
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

Easy Cheesy Green Pasta

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Green Cheesy Pasta

I’m always looking for new dinner ideas – preferably ones that don’t take hours and are healthy and I got this idea from my Abel & Cole organic fruit and veg box and it’s the perfect veggie dinner option for the whole family, I guarantee they’ll all love it! I am using cheese in this recipe when we very rarely add dairy to our recipes. I get high quality, organic cheese and, if you’ve read our article about dairy, you’ll see that we strongly suggest limiting the consumption of cow’s milk products to once a week. During my pregnancy, I have chosen to have cow’s milk products once or twice a week. That way I am limiting my intake to ensure my gut and immune system stay strong (of course with the help of probiotics), but I am also not cutting it out totally, leaving the baby susceptible to intolerances when he / she is born.

Ingredients

Enough brown rice pasta for however many people you’re serving
Extra virgin olive oil
Handful of almonds, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup breadcrumbs (or a gluten free alternative)
1 head of broccoli
5 leaves of spring greens
3 small leeks or 1 large
150-200ml almond milk
Some grated mozzarella
A sprinkle of nutmeg
A pinch of chilli flakes
Oryx or Himalayan salt and ground black pepper

Method

In a frying pan, gently toast the almonds until just coloured. This should make your kitchen smell amazing! Put into a bowl and set aside.

Put the pan back on the heat and add a splash of olive oil, then the minced garlic, followed by the breadcrumbs and stir until golden. Set aside in a separate dish.

Cook the pasta as per packet instructions.

Put the pan back on the heat with a little more olive oil and add the broccoli and stir around for a few minutes before adding the greens and leeks. Cook these until they start colouring, then add a couple of tablespoons of water to help steam the broccoli. Add some salt and pepper and cook until the broccoli looks slightly coloured but crisp and not soggy.

Drain the pasta and leave in the colander then add the almond milk to the saucepan and gently heat. Add the nutmeg, then put the pasta back in, along with the vegetables, followed by the almonds, then add the mozzarella (gauge how much you need for it to melt and not be too sickly).  Stir everything really well.

You can either add the breadcrumb mix now and stir a little, or you can serve up the pasta into bowls and top them with the breadcrumb mix.

Serve immediately – it will be devoured!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Roasted Butternut and Goat’s Cheese Salad

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Roasted Butternut & Goat's Cheese Salad

Most days I make myself a big salad for lunch. I had some roasted butternut and brown basmati rice left over from dinner the night before, so I made this delicious and filling salad. I generally don’t eat dairy but I do love to have goat’s cheese every now and then. I buy chèvre from the Organic Emporium, which is made from the milk of goats who roam freely on the Witteberg Mountains.

This is not so much a recipe as just telling you how to throw it together…

Firstly cut up some butternut and drizzle it with olive oil. Sprinkle ground cinnamon, ground cumin, himalayan salt and a little bit of coconut sugar over it. Roast at 200 C for 30 – 40 minutes until tender. Allow to cool.

In a big bowl combine baby spinach leaves, rocket, mini rosa tomatoes, cooked brown basmati rice, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and the goat’s cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the cooled butternut and toss to coat everything with the oil and vinegar.

Health and happiness!

Love,
Raine

Courgette Pasta with Sauteed Mushrooms and Vegan Pesto

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Zoodles

OK I may have gone a little overboard with the sauce, it’s just so yummy! But you may want to tone yours down and add less sauce, or as much as you want to get it as creamy as you like.

It seems that everyone is jumping on the spiralizer bandwagon these days which is great! All these utensils give us more resources to be able to cook healthily more often, and in less time. It honestly takes about 60 seconds to put two courgettes through a spiralizer. I decided to go for a tagliatelle shape this time. I had some mushrooms and leeks in the fridge along with my courgettes so decided to mix all three together and the result was delicious. Added to it my creamy Vegan Pesto, you can’t go wrong! Either as an accompaniment to a meal or as a meal itself with some salad – just yum!

Ingredients

2 courgettes (zucchini)
About 6/7 chestnut mushrooms or any smallish mushroom
1 leek
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 x vegan pesto recipe

Method

First spiralize your courgettes and set aside. If you don’t have a spiralizer you can use a potato peeler. (Spiralizers are quite cheap and really great to have around.)

Chop your mushrooms and leeks.

Heat some olive oil in a deep saucepan and when hot, add the mushrooms and leeks. Stir for a while, until the mushrooms start to release juices, then add a little salt and pepper. After about 7-10 minutes, once they smell delicious, gently pour away the excess liquid.

Put the saucepan back on the hob and add the courgette. Mix well, then add the pesto sauce and mix around until all is hot. Serve hot and sprinkle a few pine nuts on the top.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Roasted Cabbage Wedges

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Roast Cabbage Wedges

My weekly Abel & Cole organic fruit and veg box often came with cabbages over the winter, which we love in my house, but I wanted to try and find something new to do with them and I found the easiest way to make them as yummy as possible! A great accompaniment for any meal…

Ingredients

1 cabbage, cut from the base into wedges
2 cups organic vegetable stock
1 onion or leek, whichever you have around, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Spoonful of olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180.

Heat the olive oil in a pan then add the onion. Once it turns transparent, add the garlic and cook for about a minute before adding the cabbage wedges.

Let them brown on each side before turning over so you brown all sides just slightly before transferring them to an oven dish.

Once in the oven dish, pour the stock over then put in the oven for around 30-45 minutes.

So yummy!

Love,
Lauren

Zoodles with Roasted Fennel, Sage & Salmon

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Zoodles with Roasted Fennel, Sage & Salmon

I recently bought a spiralizer and have been excited to start playing with it. I would definitely recommend getting one if you want to eat more healthy food… it was super easy to use and this dish was just as satisfying as a regular pasta. Maybe even more so because I felt so good after eating it!

Roasting the fennel gives it a beautiful caramelized liquorice flavour, which pairs so well with the sage, lemon & salmon. If you don’t eat fish you can simply omit that, and you’ll still have a gorgeous, fresh and healthy supper.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 large bulb of fennel
12 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
60ml olive oil
a handful of fresh sage
380g zucchini
another 2 tbsp olive oil
200g hot-smoked salmon

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Use a mandolin to finely slice the fennel. You could just use a sharp knife, but using a mandolin is quicker and easier. Peel the garlic and just use the heel of your chef’s knife to smash them up a bit – you still want biggish pieces. Place the fennel, garlic, lemon, olive oil and sage in an ovenproof dish. Season with himalayan salt and black pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes, until the fennel has caramelized and has a sweet aroma.

Meanwhile, spiralize the zucchini into noodles and flake the salmon. When the fennel comes out the oven, add the zoodles, additional olive oil and salmon. Toss together in the hot dish to warm everything through. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary with more himalayan salt, black pepper or lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Pan-fried Kingklip with Exotic Mushrooms, Spinach and Canihua

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Pan fried Kingklip with Mushrooms, Spinach & Canihua

As I don’t eat meat often, I try to eat fish once a week. Whether you eat meat or are vegan or vegetarian, it’s very important to be aware of your protein intake, especially if you train regularly. While it’s perfectly possible to get enough protein on a vegan diet, you have to be much more aware of it and put in more effort. It won’t happen by accident! That said, fish is a great clean source of protein for those of us who are not vegan.

Kingklip is a deep sea fish widely found in the coastal waters of southern Africa. It is low in fat and as well as being high in protein, also contains calcium, iodine and iron. If you cannot get kingklip you can use another solid white fish for this recipe.

Canihua is a close relative of quinoa and is native to the Andes. It is gluten-free and scores higher than quinoa in levels of protein, iron, magnesium and calcium. It has a similar flavour to quinoa, but the grains are much smaller.

Ingredients (serves 2)

150g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
150g shimeji mushrooms, separated
6 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil for frying
2 big handfuls spinach, sliced into ribbons
2 tbsp organic tamari
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp raw sesame seeds
1/2 cup canihua (or quinoa)
400g fresh kingklip (2 fillets), skinned

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Place the canihua in a small pot with 1 cup of water and 1/4 tsp himalayan salt. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and cover with a lid. Simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the grains are cooked, about 20 – 25 minutes.

Slowly fry the mushrooms in some olive oil until they start to brown. Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the spinach and stir. Add the tamari and lemon juice and quickly put the lid on so that the steam will cook the spinach. After a couple of minutes remove from the heat. Add the honey, sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and place the kingklip down. Fry until golden and crispy then turn and do the same on the other side. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and roast for about 5 – 7 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. The flesh should be opaque and starting to flake, but not dry.

To plate, put the canihua on the bottom, then the mushrooms and spinach, and top with the fish. Squeeze some lemon over the top and enjoy.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Vegan Dinner Plate

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Veggie Plate

Just look how yummy life can be as a vegan! I’m not going to write a long post here, it doesn’t need it! Just going to get straight on to the recipes…

For the sweet potato mash:
Peel a sweet potato and boil. Once ready, mash it in a bowl with some almond milk, salt, pepper and sprinkle with paprika

For the brown rice:
Add half a cup of brown rice to boiling water. Once it starts bubbling, turn down the heat to low, give it a stir, and put the lid on. It will take a good half an hour to cook properly. You can also add a tsp of Bouillon or other organic vegetable stock for taste.

For the salad:
Drain and rinse a tin of chickpeas and add to a bowl.
Cut up a red onion, some cucumber and some dill and add to the bowl.
Drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil, Himalayan salt and pepper.

For the sauteed mushrooms:
Chop a box of mushrooms, one onion and one clove of garlic.
Add the onion to a non-stick frying pan with some coconut oil. After a minute add the garlic, then after another minute add the mushrooms. Sautee for around 7 minutes until you can smell they are ready – you’ll know what I mean! Add some salt and pepper and you can add paprika or other spices if you like.

Add all to a plate and enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Avocado Toast

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avocado toast

Breakfast and lunch don’t have to be difficult, sometimes the best things are the most simple… I am obsessed with avocado, it is just the best fruit (yup, it’s a fruit!) as it is nutritious and filling at the same time, not like eating a bowl of lettuce! With avocado you really feel satisfied. Avocados are healthy fats. The majority of fat in avocado is oleic acid which is a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been linked to reduced inflammation and been shown to have beneficial effects on genes linked to cancer. It’s high in protein and the perfect plant-based post-workout lunch or breakfast! If you are eating well, you don’t need to stay away from healthy fats like avocados and nuts, your body will love them…

Ingredients

1 avocado
2 slices organic gluten free or granary toast
1 lime
Pinch of Himalayan salt and ground black pepper
Chilli flakes (optional)

Method

Toast your bread then mash the avocado on top of it and squeeze the lime on top. Finish off with the salt, pepper and chilli flakes if you want them. So delicious.

Happy lunching!
Love,
Lauren