Tag: easy healthy meals

Black Rice with Roasted Butternut, Spring Onion & Pumpkin Seeds

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Black rice

In parts of Asia, black rice was given the name ‘forbidden rice’, as it was reserved only for royalty due to its health benefits. It is very high in fibre and antioxidants and is a super anti-inflammatory.

Add to that some butternut squash which is also an anti-inflammatory (and because the contrast of colours look so great!) and some spring onion and pumpkin seeds for calcium, and we have a winning dish.

I bought this black rice ages ago and only got round to cooking it now and this dish is really delicious and so easy to make.

Ingredients

125g organic black rice
2 spring onions, chopped finely
1 butternut squash, chopped in small squares
Handful of pumpkin seeds
Extra virgin olive oil
Organic, natural maple syrup
Balsamic vinegar
Himalayan salt

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Put the rice in a saucepan and cover generously with boiling water and put on a high heat. Once the water starts bubbling, stir, turn the heat down to low and put the lid on. Keep an eye on it. It should take around half an hour to cook.

Peel the butternut squash and cut into small squares. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and a bit of salt, mix well, and put it in the oven for half an hour.

Once the rice is ready, take it off the heat and put it in a bowl. Add the butternut, spring onion and pumpkin seeds.

Drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar, no more than a tablespoon, and drizzle with some maple syrup, then add a pinch of salt, stir, and serve. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Potato & Spinach Frittata

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Frittata

Healthy yet easy to make dinner ideas – it’s a constant battle right?? We’re trying to add as many of our lunch and dinner recipes to the site as possible to help you all out with easy dinner ideas for the whole family. This one was a winner and I served it with a fresh salad of lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radish, carrot and spring onion.

Ingredients

6 organic free-range eggs
2 potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
Half a bag of spinach
About 8 cherry tomatoes
Handful of parsley
Splash of almond milk
Salt & pepper (I used Oryx desert salt)
Coconut oil or spread of choice for the pan

Method

Boil your potatoes (already sliced) for no more than 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cut up the tomatoes into quarters, roughly chop the parsley and wash and drain the spinach.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, then add the almond milk, salt and pepper.

Melt the oil or vegan butter in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the egg mix, then add the potatoes, pushing them down so they are semi-covered by the eggs. Then add the rest of the veg and do the same thing.

Turn the heat to medium-high and let it cook for around 5 minutes. While it’s doing this, turn on your grill.

Once the frittata has cooked on the bottom, put the pan under the grill for a further few minutes, until you can see it has cooked through.

Serve with a crisp, fresh salad.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Pasta with Sweet Potato and Sage Sauce

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Sweet Potato Sage Pasta

Raine and I seem to be so in sync with each other that even though we’re on other sides of the planet, we both made a variation of the same dinner tonight! So she has posted her Butternut & Sage Pasta and here is mine, made with sweet potatoes instead…

People always ask me what can you make for dinner when you’re vegetarian, so I like to experiment with easy, tasty and healthy recipes that people love. This is one of them. The sage is probably the best part of this recipe – I just love the taste. This recipe is seriously indulgent but gluten free and dairy free as well as full of nutrients.

Ingredients

Brown rice pasta – enough for two servings
1 sweet potato
About 10 sage leaves
Handful pine nuts
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Half cup almond milk
Garlic salt
Himalayan salt
Black pepper

Method

Peel and chop the sweet potato then steam or boil until soft enough to mash.

While it’s boiling, heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, then add the garlic, pine nuts and sage and cook until pine nuts are roasted and sage is cooked. Once this mix is ready, put in a bowl and set aside.

Start boiling your pasta with a pinch of Himalayan salt. Brown rice pasta usually takes around 8 minutes.

While this is boiling, drain your sweet potato and mash it. Add it to the pan (which you don’t need to wash after the sage and pine nuts) with the milk and mix on a low light until it resembles a thick sauce.

Do not over-cook the pasta. As soon as it’s ready, add it to the pan with the sweet potato and mix it all in, then add the garlic, pine nuts and sage, some garlic salt and pepper (and salt to taste if you want) and mix it all around for about a minute or two, until hot, then serve.

Have a good week everyone.

Love & health,
Lauren