Tag Archive for 'healthy food'

Vegan chocolate and banana tea loaf

banana and chocolate tea lof

banana and chocolate tea lof

One of my main guests over the Christmas hols was my eldest son, ex vegetarian recently turned vegan. ARGHHHH! I have got to say , much as I respect vegans, they aren’t the easiest people to cater for. Plus, although a vegetarian myself, I simply love eggs and dairy products ( I couldn’t live without my beloved parmigiano) and use them a lot in my everyday cooking. So I sheepishly asked him whether as a Christmas present he might entertain the idea of reverting back to vegetarianism  for a few days (just to make my life easier?), but the answer was NO (“nice try, mum!!”). That left me with one of 2 choices: cooking separate meals or going vegan for the duration of his stay. I plumped for the second option as I didn’t fancy cooking two different dishes at every meal. I am not that much of a masochist.  Vegan we temporarily became then and you’ll be pleased to hear I survived the eggs and dairy embargo relatively unscathed (not sure about my intestines, but that’s a different story and one you won’t want to hear). Continue reading ‘Vegan chocolate and banana tea loaf’

Poppy and sesame seed crackers

poppy and sesame seed crackers

poppy and sesame seed crackers

Hello everyone, just back from my holidays in Slovenia and Italy so I am not quite in the swing of cooking just yet. I am still in a state of thermal shock after diving from 35 plus degrees to 15! Yeek! But that’s England for you. Mind you: I must say it was far too hot on the continent, even for the likes of me! Anyway, yesterday, out of the blue, I decided that the moment had come to try to make some crackers. Eh? Why yesterday and why crackers….? I have never made them in my life. God knows! Still…why not, eh? I like crackers and , let’s be honest, they are better than biscuits, from the point of view of excessive calories. I need to shed some pounds after the strudel excesses I submitted my poor body to in the past few weeks. So no more sweets for a while, and bring in the healthy crackers. I scoured the internet and ended up with a recipe which is a mixture of many. The results were quite promising:  a nice , crunchy texture with loads of omega 3 seeds on the top.  Ideal to have with hummus or cheese. I will try some other recipes in the future, of course. I will keep you paged. Continue reading ‘Poppy and sesame seed crackers’

Red rice salad with grilled vegetables and toasted almonds

red rice salad with grilled vegetables

red rice salad with grilled vegetables and toasted almonds

Yes, my dear Candi! Another healthy recipe from me. I really must stop and blog a highly calorific cake instead. I am getting kind of boring. The thing is  I wanted to introduce to the community of amateur cooks like myself a recipe taken from a very interesting new book I got at Christmas called Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour. As the title suggests these are all recipes from the Middle East, and beyond (apparently). The recipes all look very colourful and appealing. Mouth wateringly so. The only snag sometimes is getting hold of the ingredients. You would struggle to find some of them in your local supermarket. For example in this recipe one of the ingredients was dried barberries. EH? I have heard of many berries but barberries have never crossed my culinary path. I wouldn’t have a clue what they look like. Anyway, no harm done. I used cranberries instead and very successfully too. This dish would make a vegetarian person very happy. It’s healthy, it’s tasty. What more can anyone wish for? Continue reading ‘Red rice salad with grilled vegetables and toasted almonds’

The ultimate nut roast

the ultimate nut roast

the ultimate nut roast

First of all happy belated New year to everyone! Sorry for the absence but I have been too busy to blog during the holidays, partly as I was engaged in a major decluttering exercise (but that’s a different story!). What I am about to share with you here is the nut roast I made for my son at Christmas. He always asks for one and I dutifully oblige. All the previous nut roasts I made were lentil based but this year I decided to ring in the changes. This one contains mushrooms, parsnips, nuts and chestnuts as the key ingredients and it’s wrapped in savoy cabbage leaves. The result is a very moist and flavoursome dish. My son was very complimentary about it and said it was one of the best he had ever had – and he has eaten a few, I tell you. I spotted it in the Guardian. It’s by Felicity Cloake. I definitey will not wait till next Christmas to make another one! Continue reading ‘The ultimate nut roast’

Vellutata di zucchine alla nocciola

Eh! solo Lucina deve postare cibo salutare? Eh no. Ecco qua per rimediare (anche per le prossime ricette che saranno dolci) una zuppetta veloce e davvero buona. Il sapore delle zucchine sta benissimo con le nocciole e così ho fatto questo esperimento. Continue reading ‘Vellutata di zucchine alla nocciola’

Asparagus, broad beans and herbs risotto

broad beans, asparagus and herbs risotto

This delicious risotto was made by my dear friend (and chemo buddy) Cairine who took pity on my broken leg (and on the fact I was home alone for the week ) and invited me over for dinner. What you must know is that cooking is not her forte (or so she says. I am beginning to doubt it, to be honest) so she was feeling slightly terrified at the prospect of cooking her favourite risotto to an Italian person  who, on top of that, runs a blog. But she needn’t be, as it was simply delicious! AND she used her iron cast pot (see photo below)! I helped her to stir it and to add the stock but she did it all on her own. The proof I really enjoyed it is that it’s now on my blog. So well done Cairine and thank you for the inspiration!! I’ll definitely make it again! By the way the recipe comes from the Riverford organic farm website. Continue reading ‘Asparagus, broad beans and herbs risotto’

Le simil camille

Non siete anche voi sempre alla ricerca di qualche merendina o snack che non lasci intasate le vostre arterie peggio che la tangenziale milanese alle cinque di venerdì sera? E’ anche una questione che il marketing di varie e note aziende ha ben sfruttato.  Per la serie cosa mi porto domani in treno a parte la solita mela che non mi sazia e mi lascia esposta indifesa alla tentazione-bar brioche e cappuccino? Questo è un tentativo. Una briochina leggera a base di carote, arancia e mandorle. Pochi grassi e non animali o idrogenati e qualche fibra in più. Ci sono tante ricette in rete, ne ho vagliate molte e poi ho fatto le mie modifiche (essenzialmente gli albumi a neve, per aggiungere leggerezza e diminuire i grassi). Continue reading ‘Le simil camille’

L’avventura del miso. Un guest post di Fabio Consonni



こんにちは,  ciao.

Il miso è un alimento/condimento che si presenta in forma di pasta, composto prevalentemente da riso, soia (o altri legumi) e sale fermentati a lungo. Il miso non pastorizzato ha spiccate capacità probiotiche ed è fonte di nutrienti essenziali ad elevata digeribilità. Numerosi sono i vantaggi derivanti dall’assunzione quotidiana di miso… ma soprattutto: è buono!

 

La mia passione per questo alimento mi ha condotto ad approfondirne lo studio ed infine alla sua lunga ed attenta preparazione, rispettando la tradizione delle comunità rurali giapponesi; senza alcuna aggiunta di conservanti e senza procedimento di pastorizzazione che ne degrada sapori e profumi oltre a inattivare gli organismi viventi contenuti. Continue reading ‘L’avventura del miso. Un guest post di Fabio Consonni’

Spiced plums and blackberries compote

spiced plums and blackberries compote

Well…. I’m here to confirm that the blackberry and apple loaf was a success at the book group on Tuesday. All ladies enjoyed it so I won’t get evicted just yet. :-)  Here is a very straightforward stewed fruit recipe containing, as promised, my blackberry friends. It’s ideal to serve with some yoghurt or ice cream. It makes a lovely light dessert and it can be made days in advance and stored in the fridge. It’s really simple. AND healthy, for a change. You can stew some sliced peaches with the plums and add other soft fruits at the end, like blueberries and strawberries. Continue reading ‘Spiced plums and blackberries compote’

Torta di carote, mandorle e albicocche, senza glutine e senza latticini

Potrebbe sempre capitare di avere a cena un amico celiaco e un altro intollerante ai latticini. Questa è la torta giusta. Sembra impossibile? A noi una volta è capitato di avere una vegetariana, una celiaca e una diabetica tutte per lo stesso pranzo (e pure di nazionalità e di età diverse!). Quindi meglio preparsi in anticipo a tutte le eventualità. Continue reading ‘Torta di carote, mandorle e albicocche, senza glutine e senza latticini’