Hummus goes Moroccan

An afternoon spent replenishing all my condiments and dips. This is one of my favourites. Think hummus but with a Moroccan kick. I had this in a restaurant a few years ago and was told it was called Bessara. Made …

Popeye pesto…

Time to do a pesto top up! This weeks “1 min to make” pesto is spinach and sunflower seeds.I picked up some beautiful spinach leaves in the market in the Ballincollig market earlier.

Into a blender pop a handful of spinach, a cup of sunflower seeds, 2 cloves of garlic, a generous glug glug glug of olive oil and season to your liking with salt and pep. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth and delicious. Quantities above will fill two small Kilner jars shown in the photo. 

Yumtastic!

Love
Louise

x

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Rainbow salad with the power of teff! Mouthwateringly delicious.

I remember the day I had this for dinner! all I was in the mood for were some beans and greens and this is what was created! Yum… Teff, pinto bean and violife red pepper cheese cake with romanesco broccoli, string and broad beans with wasabi soy cream and spicy plum dressings. 

I had never eaten or heard of teff until a few weeks back when I got chatting to a lovely lady in well and good health food store in midelton and decided to give it a go.

 So here we go! This is a simple one even if it looks a bit busy. For the greens. Boil your greens of choices and drain.

  Wash and chop your mixed leaves and set aside.

I decided upon a wasabi soy dressing: Soy cream Mix in 1 tablespoon of wasabi powder A mix of salt and pepper A dribble of agave and a squeeze of lemon juice. Yum! Plum dressing: (this was leftover from Sundays market) A handful of plums chopped and popped in a saucepan with a generous pour of agave syrup. Heat until caramelised and lovely Flavour with a pinch of cayenne pepper, garlic powder and cinnamon, a scoop of mustard, a splash of cider vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Hand blend and you’re done. Sounds complicated but so quick to make and it packs a serious punch. It worked wonders on the rice rolls Sunday but compliments the wasabi cream perfectly here.

For the teff bean cake. Boil 100g of teff in 200ml of water. Reduce to a simmer until all the liquid is soaked up. I mashed in a tin of pinto beans and 3 slices of Art of Zen Foods violife red pepper cheese chopped into small cubes Fill a metal ring on a baking tray and bake for 20 min at 220c or until the cheese is gooey.

Remove and fry off top and bottom in a wok/pan until toasted. No seasoning needed as the dressings have a real kick.

Love

Louise

x

Damson in disguise!!!! The best sweet and sour dipping sauce you will ever taste

I make this yummy dipping sauce quite often but  this time it was a little different as it was for a client for her event so I was excited for all their guests to try it but also apprehensive that it might just be me who thought it was amazing….Thankfully it got a big thumbs up.. yippee and they happily smothered it all over the stuffed rice and seitan rolls.

This sauce is great for marinating too! It tastes like a mixture of Christmas and sitting in a Chinese restaurant and who doesn’t love both these things.

Pop the ingredients below into a pot and bring to a boil, reduce, blend and leave for a few hours to let the flavours merge. This had three hours just relaxing taking in the kitchen views and it made all the difference. This is very much a flavour to your liking sauce so interpret to suit yourself. (Personally I am a chilli addict so would normally spice this baby up)

2 cups of damsons or plums work well too.
Generous squeeze of agave syrup
Splash of apple cider vinegar
Teaspoon of nutmeg, chinese 5 spice, cinnamon, garlic powder (a cross over of cinnamon here as it’s in 5 spice too but I think it’s the key to the warmth here yum)
A tablespoon of ginger paste
A nice pour of soy sauce
Pinch of salt and pepper

Voila!

Love Louise

x

Jaaaaaammmtastic!

My very favourite super addictive goes with just about everything gooey spicy pepper jam. This one takes a little time and a little love but it is worth it.

Place two punnets of cherry tomatoes, 100 ml of balsamic vinegar, a handful of chilli flakes and 250g of coconut sugar in a pot. Boil, reduce and hand blend to a purée.

Roast 4 red peppers in the oven for half an hour or until they blister at 180c. Remove from oven, skin, de seed and chop up. Add to the tomato mix and hand blend again.

Simmer for 2 hours or longer if you can. Cool, pop into jars and try and forget how much sugar is in there ahem ahem….

 

Now where are my crackers…..

Love
Louise

x

Hello there yummy olive and mango tapenade…..

The tapenade to beat all tapenades…. Delicious mango and olives with a kick of garlic and rocket.

Using you hand blender blitz the following:
A handful of rocket
The flesh of 2 mangos
A cup of green olives
2 cloves of garlic
A pinch of salt and pepper
A generous pour of olive oil
A mini squeeze of agave

The perfect companion for dairy free cheese and yummy crackers or alternatively mix in a little soy cream and add to your favourite pasta.

Simple and tasty and takes less that 5 min to make. Happy days!

Love Louise

x