Weekend Carnivore

I love it when I discover a new favourite food.  When I was in Barcelona last month, I ate a lot of my meals from an up scale salad bar. It was full of a delightful array of olives and some of my favourite vegetables such as artichokes and sundried tomatoes.  One of the vegetables that was frequently part of the salad spread was hearts of palm.

I have had hearts of palm a few times in the past but only in small quantities and years apart from each serving. For some reason, it was on this trip that I discovered that I really like hearts of palm. I thought that perhaps it was just that quality of the ingredients that the hotel used which made the difference.  So, when I got back home to London I decided to buy a couple cans and see if  I still enjoyed the taste.  I ate the entire can of hearts of palm within a few moments of opening it. So, I guess that was a yes!

Hearts of palm is a vegetable that comes from the inner core of some varieties of palm tree. Which makes it sound very exotic indeed. The taste is similar to an artichoke heart with a slightly smoother texture.  They are also very low in fat and calories.  That has to be a winning combination in any food.

Part of why I enjoy vegetarian cooking so much is that there is always a new vegetable or fruit like this to discover and when you do chances are they are really healthy for you too. Which gives me plenty of excuses to play around and find new recipes for these ingredients.   Which is exactly when I have been doing with hearts of palm.  One of my favourite new heart of palm recipe is this hearts of palm and spinach dip recipe. It is reduced fat but certainly not reduced flavour.

Hearts of palm and spinach dip

Hearts of palm and spinach dip recipe

Ingredients:

15 grams spring onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
55 grams frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of excess liquid
100 grams hearts of palm, from a can, drained
100 grams reduced fat mayonnaise
60 grams reduced fat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Using a mini chopper or a food processor, blitz together the spring onions and crushed garlic until the onions are finely chopped.
2. Add the defrosted spinach and pulse until that is broken up and about the same size as the onions. It won’t fully get to that size but try your best.
3. Add in the hearts of palm and pulse once again. This time you want these to be slightly bigger than the onions.
4. Add the mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice. Blitz until everything is well combined but not too thin.
5. Scrape everything into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour.

Serves: 6

Avocados are a gift from the gods to those of us on a diet who are missing creamy foods. Sure, they pack a fair amount of fat but the good news that it is all super healthy unsaturated fat. So, not only do they do your tastebuds good your brainpower too.

As I have mentioned before, I love dips and spreads. Sadly though,If I am ever going to shift the rest of this weight then I either have to pretend they don’t exist or come up with healthier versions. That is what I have done with this creamy avocado and lime spread.

I came up with it some months ago when I was looking for something to quickly fill me up and tickle my tastebuds. I know that a lot of people use lemon juice with avocado but I have found that lime really works very well to lift the creamy texture of the avocado and give a real zip to the spread.

With a little bit of salt in the mix that lime and avocado combination becomes a real culinary match made in heaven. To me, this is one of those cases where it really is important to use coarse sea salt rather than the normal table salt. The slight crunch really works to bring the flavours of the creamy avocado and lime spread bursting forth.

Since its creation, I have used this avocado and lime spread in any number of ways. I have been known to spread it simply on some toast in the morning instead of butter or jam. Scooping it up with some tortilla chips has a certain charm too.

However, as of late, my favourite use for the creamy avocado and lime spread has been to make a quick and healthy lunch. I have been spreading it high on some crisp breads and then topped it with slices of cucumber and cherry tomato.

As summer approaches I can see myself adding a piece of fruit on the side and calling that a perfect hot weather lunch.

Avocado and Lime Spread

avocado and lime spread

Ingredients:

1 small avocado
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon Greek yoghurt

Directions:

1. Scoop out the flesh of the avocado
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender or mini chopper.
3. Pulse for between 15 and 30 seconds until the mixture is smooth.

Serves: 1

All this fluke warm weather we have been having in London has gotten me thinking about summer eating.  Hot evenings of eating hearty salads for meals are just around the corner. With those light meals I know we are also going to be craving refreshing desserts.

My husband really enjoys those ice pops you can get in a any number of unnatural colours from the corner store. This year, I thought I would try my hand and learning to make my own healthier versions of those frozen ice pops. Also, with a little imagination I thought I might be able to come up with some interesting varieties to keep the idea fresh throughout the summer.

Not only will they be far better for both of us but they don’t actually require all that much effort or money to produce. The ice pop molds are available at any number of supermarkets at this time of year. I picked my set up at Ikea for just over a pound. Apart from the molds, the cost comes down to whatever you decide to put into your ice pops.

For my first attempt at making my own frozen ice pops I went for a kiwi and lemon ice pop recipe. My mother in law had recently been staying with us and left behind several kiwi fruits. I didn’t want them to go to waste and I was sure I could work them into the recipe. For the lemon, I went with a diet cloudy lemonade.

For any American readers, in the UK lemonade means a carbonated drink such as Sprite. However, the cloudy version is much closer in taste to what Americans think of as lemonade. The only difference is that it is carbonated. However, I am sure this kiwi and lemon ice pop recipe would work with non-carbonated lemonade too.

It really couldn’t be much easier to make these kiwi and lemon ice pops and the great thing is that a total of three ingredients goes into the recipe. I can’t even begin to think how many chemicals go into the ones we had been buying!

I am looking forward to a summer of trying out new ice pop varieties. I am sure the possibilities are endless. I am even thinking of “adult” cocktail varieties that could be done.  There is some ginger wine in my fridge that is begging to be used.

Kiwi and Lemon Ice Pops

Kiwi and Lemon Ice Pop Recipe

Ingredients:

80 grams kiwi flesh
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup cloudy lemonade

Directions:

1. Purée the kiwi flesh. You can use a traditional blender or a stick blender to do this. I went with the stick blender.
2. Stir in the honey.
3. Pour in the cloudy lemonade and mix everything together until well combined.
4. Pour into the ice pop molds and freeze overnight.

Makes: 6 ice pops

There is a party in my mouth and you are all invited!

Okay, well maybe that is a tad extreme but I have been on an adventure with this recipe all day. I woke up with an idea for a new dip recipe floating in my head. By the time lunch came around I just knew that I had to try it out and see if the new dip recipe I had dancing in my brain would work. Caution was thrown to the wind and I decided to have a crisps and dips lunch.

I was aiming for a creamy dip recipe but I didn’t want to go the normal onion or spinach dip path. Instead, I thought that mixing together some Italian themed ingredients was the way to go. I knew that I wanted sundried tomatoes to be a key feature to the new dip recipe and that I wanted to use low fat cream cheese as the base.

A good rummage in the fridge helped be bring my plan together. You can’t have something Italian without garlic. So, a few cloves had to go into the dip recipe. Then, I thought that throwing some green olives could add a nice hint of salty depth to the dip. Lastly, I threw in some lemon juice and zest in an attempt to lift the whole flavour of the low fat dip.

The results of the dip experiment? Yummy! All of the fresh flavours work very well together and make the taste buds pops. Plus, the light cream cheese means all the lovely creamy dip texture is there without nearly as much fat as you would think. Perhaps best of all, it takes a total of 30 seconds in the mini chopper to make!

Easy Sundried Tomato and Olive Dip

East sundried tomato and olive dip

Ingredients:

1 cloves garlic, minced
25 grams pitted green olives
50 grams sundried tomatoes in oil, drained but leave a bit of the oil clinging
200 grams light cream cheese
1 teaspoon lemon juice
zest of half a lemon

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients into a mini chopper or food processor and use the pulse setting for about 30 seconds until everything is mixed up but there is still a bit of texture to the tomatoes.

2. Get the crisps and enjoy! It would probably be really yummy spread on a bagel too.

Serves: 4

I hopped across the Atlantic again this week. My younger sister gave birth to her first child on the 14th. That was followed closely by me buying transatlantic ticket to meet my nephew and help out a bit. When I spoke to my sister on the phone shortly after she had given birth, she met my call with “you have to make me cookies”. Drugs, are a wonderful thing.

After a bit of probing, we established that it was oatmeal raisin cookies that both my sister and her husband were craving. Of all the cookies in the world they could ask for, they picked one that I had never actually made myself. I went on a hunt to try to find what I thought would be the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie recipe to celebrate the birth of my nephew.

After all that searching guess what oatmeal raisin cookie I finally ended up making? The oatmeal raisin cookie recipe on the back of the Quaker Oats box! You know what though? It was a pretty outstanding cookie recipe. I guess they really do know their oats!

The best thing out them is that since they include oatmeal, you can make a fairly convincing argument that they are acceptable as a breakfast food. At least that is what I am telling myself!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups Oats, uncooked
1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4
2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4. Add combined flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
5. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Makes: 4 dozen cookies

The new year has arrived and yet again many of us are hanging our heads in dietary shame. Things have been bad enough in our home that I am not even allowing myself to step on the scale for the next month. If I see the number without having a whole month to do damage control I may end up beyond depressed. If I didn’t gain ten pounds I will consider it a result. Yup, that bad!

All of which means it is time to get serious again and shift this weight. I am so sick of stagnating with my weight loss. Which is more or less what I have done for the past year. I know I can get to the finish line. It just requires me to focus and and not be sidetracked.

So, to usher back in my diet blinkers I am starting the healthy eating over with a new version of – what you must know by now – is pretty much my favourite dish. What you have to love about hummus is that once you have a basic hummus recipe down you can play with it in any number of ways. Even changing up just a few ingredients can make, what tastes like, a totally different hummus recipe.

In addition to jump starting the diet efforts, I am also aiming to use up things lurking in the back of my fridge before I allow myself to buy any ‘new and interesting’ items. I am always wanting to try new things but then I end up with half a jar of something that I don’t know how to use in enough ways to finish off.

Preserved lemons are something I was playing with not too long back. When I opened the fridge to try and brainstorm for a new hummus recipe, sure enough, that partially used jar of preserved lemons was sitting right there between the fish sauce and the the mango wasabi mustard. After a bit of contemplation, I took up the challenge.

Guess what? It turns out preserved lemons can work really well in a hummus recipe. Since both have Middle Eastern origins that shouldn’t be too shocking, I suppose. Plus, most hummus recipes include lemon juice. So, the basic flavours are already accounted for in the classic recipe.

Most things I have read about how to use preserved lemons in recipes, only includes using the skin. I couldn’t find anything about using the preserved lemon pulp but it felt so wrong to just throw them out. I threw them into the mix rather than throwing them away and it turns out that it actually really worked. I think that is because they carry the salt content. So, if you just either skip or limit the salt in the rest of your hummus recipe it works well and you haven’t wasted any of the lemon.

I have a feeling this won’t be the last hummus recipe I develop over the next year as I try to continue down the scales. If they all work this well, I will be a happy – hopefully smaller – woman.

Preserved lemon hummus

preserved lemon hummus recipe

Ingredients:
1 (400g) can chickpeas, drained but the liquid reserved
1/4 cup tahini
3 cloves garlic
2 preserved lemons, including the pulp, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons reserved chickpea juice
freshly ground pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste, if required
fresh parsley and lemon zest, to garnish

Directions:

1. Put the chickpeas, tahini, garlic and preserved lemons into a blender or food processor.
2. Blitz in short bursts, pushing the mixture down when needed until everything is combined.
3. Add the chickpea juice and mix for a few more seconds. If you want it less thick you can always add more of the juice.
4. Taste a bit and decide if you need to add any salt. If you do add the salt and pepper. If not, just the pepper and mix for a couple seconds.
5. Roughly chop parsley and zest a lemon.
6. Serve topped with the parsley and lemon

Serves: 2 to 4

Every year millions of children throughout the Halloween-celebrating world are presented with the glorious orange spheres. They approach them with initial joy, gut them and carve them with as much Halloween spirit they can muster as visions of bags full of candy dance in their heads. Then, comes the inevitable morning of Novemeber the 1st and it is all down hill from there for those once loved pumpkins. If they are lucky, they hang around on the porch for another few days before rotting into oblivion.

Time for us to end this cycle! Folks, pumpkins aren’t just for Halloween!

Joking aside, there really are many recipes that can be made with pumpkin rather than simply carving funny patterns in them. Even if your only purpose for buying the pumpkin is to to carve it you can still preserve its dignity as a food item by making good use of all those seeds you have to scoop out.

Learning how to roast pumpkin seeds, or in this case toast pumpkin seeds, really is very easy and can take very little time at all. Toasting pumpkin seeds only requires, a pan, a tiny bit of oil and some seasoning.

Once you have the method for toasting pumpkin seeds down, you can experiment with all sorts of seasoning combinations. The only limit is your sense of adventure. I have found that most combinations that work with nuts will usually work with toasted pumpkin seeds too.

Since, I was making this particular batch of toasted pumpkin seeds for Halloween, I decided to make them nice and spicy. Now, I am a spice wimp. What I think it spicy is usually barely even hot for real lovers of hot food. So, by all means feel free to add more chilli powder if you really like things hot and spicy.

Spicy toasted pumpkin seed recipe

spicy toasted pumpkin seeds recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, freshly removed from the pumpkin
1 teaspoon chilli infused olive oil or olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder, I used mild but go with your own spice comfort levels
1 hearty pinch, sea salt

Directions:

1. Rinse off the pumpkin seeds trying to remove as much of the pulp as possible. Pat dry.
2. Put the pumpkin seeds in a bowl and toss with the oil.
3. Heat a skillet until very hot and then turn down to medium.
4. Add the oil-tossed pumpkin seeds and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. They are ready when they have started to go golden brown but they can quickly burn so be careful to watch.
5. Remove from heat and carefully transfer the pumpkin seeds to a bowl.
6. Add the chilli flakes, chilli powder and sea salt to the toasted pumpkin seeds and toss to evenly distribute.
7. Let the toasted pumpkin seeds sit for a couple minutes just to allow them to crisp up and then serve.

Serves: 4

I feel so Masterchef or Top Chef by saying something has been done ‘two ways’! One time wouldn’t it just be great if they simply admitted to the judges that they were just trying to impress them by sneaking in more dishes than the challenge required? For me though, this one is more about me having one recipe which I have simply changed a few things on in order to make the two different recipes. Near enough everything in the recipes are the same apart from some different spices.

My spice and herb cabinet is overflowing. I am always buying stuff to try and use it a few times before it moves to the back never to been seen again. I would love it if you could just buy a spice by the pinch or the tablespoon for those times when you just need that little bit for one recipe. Recently, I have decided to challenge myself into finding ways to use some of those herbs and spices which have been lurking unloved for far too long.

The other day, I had a sudden craving for flatbreads but didn’t really want to do anything that involved yeast and letting things rise. I just never plan my cravings far enough ahead to factor in the time for yeast to do it’s thing. In the back of my head, I recalled a quick flatbread recipe that didn’t involve yeast. I used that as a base and decided to experiment.

The first combination I tried for the flatbread recipe was garlic and cumin. In both cases, I used the powdered variety of the garlic and the cumin to that it would mix smoothly into the dough. I ended up really liking this version of the flatbread recipe. They were especially nice with some hummus and they reheated really well the next day. I stored them in the fridge in some foil and simply stuck them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they were back to true form.

Garlic and cumin flatbread recipe

garlic and cumin flatbread recipe

Ingredients:

250g strong white bread flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (use the sea salt if at all possible..it makes for a really nice texture within the flatbread)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
125ml warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and create a hole in the middle.
2. Mix the water and the oil in a jug.
3. Slowly pour the water and oil mixture into the hole in the middle of the dry ingredients. While doing that, you want to be slowly pushing the dry mixture down into the wet to incorporate it.
4. Once finished pouring in the water and oil mixture, gently mix with your hands until it comes together as a dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. You don’t need to add extra flour unless it is really, really sticking. Otherwise just go with it until it feels like a proper texture.
6. Divide the dough into eight equal sized balls.
7. Roll each ball out until they are about the size of a pita bread.
8. Heat a pan until it is really hot and then turn down the heat to a ‘high low’. You could use a griddle pan if you want put I don’t have one.
9. If you wish, you can lightly oil the pan at this stage but mine turned out fine without adding any extra fat.
10. Put a few flatbreads at a time into the hot pan.
11. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and then transfer to a serving dish and enjoy. Seriously..that easy!

Serves: 8

With that flatbread recipe having worked so well, I got a tad more adventurous the second time around. For what feels like forever, I have had a container of the Middle Eastern dukkah spice blend hanging out in the cupboard. I first had it at a food fair where olive oil covered bread was then dipped in the dukkah before eaten as a snack. It really was tasty!

However, once I brought it home I just didn’t really know what to do with it. Since I associate flatbread with Middle Eastern food, I wondered if I could make use of it in this recipe. I think it worked out pretty well. It certainly has a different texture to the first batch but in a good way. Plus, I rolled these out thinner to make them bigger and feel like a different sort of bread.

I suspect, that how much dukkah you would need in the recipe will depend on a number of factors. Firstly, as it is a blend rather than an out and out spice, different blends are going to taste different. Secondly, my dukkah has been sitting around for a while and no doubt has lost a good deal of the potency it had when originally purchased. So, when making your own version of this flatbread recipe, just keep that in mind and go with what your instinct tells you.

Dukkah spiced flatbread recipe

dukkah flatbread recipe

Ingredients:

250g strong white bread flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (use the sea salt if at all possible..it makes for a really nice texture within the flatbread)
3 tablespoons dukkah
1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
125ml warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Put all the dry ingredients and the coriander and lemon zest into a large bowl and create a hole in the middle.
2. Mix the water and the oil in a jug.
3. Slowly pour the water and oil mixture into the hole in the middle of the dry ingredients. While doing that, you want to be slowly pushing the dry mixture down into the wet to incorporate it.
4. Once finished pouring in the water and oil mixture, gently mix with your hands until it comes together as a dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. You don’t need to add extra flour unless it is really, really sticking. Otherwise just go with it until it feels like a proper texture.
6. Divide the dough into 6 equal sized balls.
7. Roll each ball out until they are about the size of a small tortilla.
8. Heat a pan until it is really hot and then turn down the heat to a ‘high low’. You could use a griddle pan if you want put I don’t have one.
9. If you wish, you can lightly oil the pan at this stage but mine turned out fine without adding any extra fat.
10. Put a few flatbreads at a time into the hot pan.
11. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and then transfer to a serving dish and enjoy. Seriously..that easy!

Serves: 6

If you wanted to make this flat breads three ways (ooh, I am so trendy..lol) you can just take out all of the seasoning apart from the salt and make the base flatbread recipe. They plain ones are good too and taste much like a pita.

The base flatbread recipe is great because not only is it very low fat but it also qualifies as a vegan recipe. On top of which, it takes just over 10 minutes from start to finish. Perfect for when you have that craving for some bread but can’t be bothered waiting for yeast to do that yeasty thing it does.

In the years since I moved to the UK, I couldn’t fail to notice some differences in the eating habits between the States and my new home. Largely, we aren’t all that different with what we eat but there are little variances that stand out over time. Often it is just differences in terms. For example, most people know that what Americans call chips are what the British call crisps and what the British call chips the Americans call fries. Other times though, it is more about our actual eating habits.

One of those that has been obvious to me as an American that has lived in the UK for so long is that the USA is much more of a a ‘chips and dip’ culture. By that, of course, I mean crisps type chips (confused yet?). In the States it just isn’t a party without a good selection of chips and dips. However, if I throw a party in the UK, the dips are often one of the last things selected by the guests. I can’t pretend to understand it because the love of dips is one of those American things I have just never been able to shake. If I am honest, I have no desire too either because what isn’t to love about a good dip? Perhaps it is that people think that dips are a bit down market but that doesn’t have to be the case at all. Really, hummus is just a dip by another name, isn’t it?

low fat carrot dip recipe

There is a problem with me having dips in my life these days though and it all comes down to fat and calories. If I am ever going to get my weight loss moving again and get to that magical 100 pounds lost (I am on an insanely frustrating and very long plateau) then I just can’t have anything high in fat. Even if it is as good as a dip!

Which means that I am always on the look out for low fat dip recipes that can help me satisfy my dip cravings whilst still tasting good. When I saw the carrot dip recipe over at the lovely Cupcakes and Cornwall blog I knew I had to give it a go. Pretty much the only ingredients in the healthy dip recipes are carrots, fat free Greek yoghurt and some spices. Who could argue with the healthy nature of that?

It turns out that the low fat dip recipe is also rather forgiving. For some reason, I forgot to cook the carrots in water for a few minutes before sticking them into roast. I remembered this about ten minutes into the cooking and decided to let them roast for another ten minutes to get them more tender. That worked just fine and when they came out they looked lovely and roasted with just a little bit of the tell tale black spots that come with a good roasting. By using cooking spray instead of the suggested olive oil, I managed to cut the already very low fat dip recipe down even more and they roasted just fine.

Once the carrots were roasted, the healthy dip recipe just couldn’t be easier to put together. I tossed the carrots into my mini chopper, threw in the spices and blitzed it for about 20 seconds. At that stage, I tasted it and it was really nice but I decided to add a little bit of garlic powder simply because I am a sucker for garlic in just about any dip. It would have been just fine without it too. I put the fat free Greek yoghurt into the mini chopper and blitzed it again for maybe 30 seconds and then the dip was done!

I cut up some lovely crisp celery and tore up some toasted pitas and had the low fat carrot dip for my lunch. With a healthy dip that tasty and easy around there is no reason for this chips and dips gal to shun them any longer.

If you are anything like me, you can often find yourself with a fridge littered with jars and tubs with just a little bit left in them. There isn’t enough to actually use it in a meal but too much to think about throwing it away. Especially, when we all know we have to be careful about food wastage.

My default in these situations has become to figure out how I can combine some of these little bits and bobs and put them on toast. After all, just about anything can go okay on toast – just about.

This time I really lucked out and found a pairing that turned out to be a culinary marriage made in heaven – ricotta and pesto. I had just a couple tablespoons left of both and just spread them both on toast. It was *so* good that I was seriously tempted to run out and get more ricotta and pesto right there and then just to have an excuse to make it again.

Ricotta and pesto toast recipe

ricotta and pesto toast recipe

Ingredients:

2 slices bread
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons pesto, fresh is best

Directions:

1. Toast the bread.
2. Spread each slice with one tablespoon of ricotta cheese.
3. Smear a teaspoon of pesto over the ricotta on each slice and enjoy!

Serves: 1 to 2