So I decided to pick a few pumpkins up…

One to carve!

And one to cook!

I saw a recipe in a magazine for pumpkin mash potato which gave me the idea to make this delicious potato bake recipe, I love using different squashes as alternatives to potato as I find them so much tastier. Take a look at my Spiced Roasted Butternut Squash recipe for another tasty dish perfect for warming you up on a cold winter night!

I LOVE the combination of sweet in with a savoury dish and the flavours in this work great together to form a delicious taste of autumn with the fresh in season fruit and veg. This can be served as a side like you would potato or even served with a simple salad like I had for my dinner was delicious!

Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1.2kg (trimmed weight) of pumpkin flesh
• 4 eating apples
• 1 medium potato
• 3 oranges
• 150ml of milk (I used LactoFree)
• Pomegranate and coriander (optional)
• Two tablespoons on dairy free spread (I used Pure)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220c. Roughly chop the pumpkin in to medium sized pieces. Peel and core the apples and cut in to pieces along with the potato.
2. In a large saucepan melt the spread to grease the pan and add the pumpkin, apple and potato. Stir frequently for 10 minutes until softened.
3. Squeeze the juice of three oranges in the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cover pan and leave to simmer on a low heat for a further 10 minutes.
4. Drain off excess liquid from the pan and lightly mash. Transfer in to baking tray and place in oven for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and drizzle the milk over the baking tray, season further if desired and place back in oven for 10 – 15 minutes until golden and crispy.

               

 I enjoy the taste of butternut squash roasted without any seasoning but ever since trying it with this Bart -Ras El Hanout spice I can’t imagine wanting to cook it any other way!  I first had this spice with a delicious risotto and really enjoyed the warm Moroccan taste it carries through a dish.

I don’t get along very well with spicy food, the same as many people living with stomach problems but it doesn’t mean I don’t like a warming flavour in my meals. I use a lot of paprika in place of chilli, as it is a warming flavourful spice without being hot and leaving that spicy after taste.  What staple herbs and spices do you keep in your kitchen to add flavour without upsetting your stomach?

Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 Butternut Squash
• Seaseme Oil
• Bart’s – Ral El Hanout Spice 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220c. Cut the butternut squash in half and remove the seeds inside with a spoon. Peel the skin and then chop in to small bitesize pieces.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the butternut squash and the oil. Mix well until the oil has lightly coated the cubes.
3. Spread the cubes out evenly on a baking tray. Take the Ral El Hanout spice and carefully sprinkle over entire tray, give the tray a shake to spread the spice out more and coat the cubes.
   

   Once coated, give the tray a good shake and stir everything round to ensure all the cubes are covered with the tasty spice and oil!

4. Place in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes until golden orange and crispy!
   

   This honestly tastes so good I could eat an entire tray to myself.... and very nearly did! Enjoy

I usually avoid any wheat or gluten bread choices as they leave me very bloated but even though these Old El Paso corn wraps are not wheat free they have never flared up my intolerance so I enjoy them from time to time at lunch and dinner! As with most intolerances it’s the overeating of a food product which builds up the intolerance and its subsequent reactions so keeping this is mind I don’t over eat these. What really gave these wraps some flavour was my mixing the chopped lettuce in a bowl with my leftover peanut and orange sauce from my dinner last night, you can find the recipe to make this delicious sauce and some tasty spring rolls by clicking here.

A useful tip I learnt from this was to grating the Sheese was a perfect way to serve it, many vegan cheeses have strong flavour and slicing can not only be more difficult than with normal cheese but a slice can sometimes be too strong. By grating it, it made it easy to slightly melt on the tortilla when in the pan and would be a perfect way to serve the cheese in a salad to avoid lumps; these small grated pieces will carry the cheesy taste through many dishes.

This is a really healthy and flavourful lunch that you can prepare in under ten 15 minutes and it beats a sandwich and crisps! Let me know any of your favourite quick and healthy lunch ideas and share the recipes below!

Recipe

Ingredients:

• Chopped lettuce lightly tossed in my homemade peanut orange sauce
• Old El Paso corn tortilla
• Thin slices of cucumber and tomato
• Grated Sheese (or any vegan cheese)
• Handful of Quorn Chicken Style Pieces
• Humus

Method

1. Slice the tomato and cucumber in to thin slices which will bend easily when wrapping the tortilla later. In a bowl mix the lettuce with a light serving of peanut sauce (if you don’t have time to make the sauce just mix with humus) and sprinkle in a little pepper for seasoning. Leave both aside for later.
2. Grease a frying pan and lightly fry the Quorn pieces for ten minutes until golden brown. Take the corn wraps and lightly spread on humus and a sprinkling of grated sheese. When the chicken is done remove from frying pan and place in a bowl, using the same pan transfer the tortilla in to the pan and leave to warm for around 30 seconds slighting shaking the pan to avoid burning or sticking.
3. Remove from pan on to a plate and top with chicken, lettuce, and the sliced cucumber and tomato. Wrap and use a small tooth pick to hold in place is needed. Enjoy with a side salad for a light tasty lunch!
   

   Pile up all the tasty ingredients on the warm tortilla.....

   

   ...Wrap up and enjoy!

The sauce is probably my favourite part of this dish, it’s a perfect match with the spring rolls but I enjoy it so much that I often make some up just to use as a dipping sauce with some veg sticks as afternoon snack.

This tasty sauce takes two minutes to whip up and goes great with cucumber and carrot sticks as a healthy snack!

I used sesame oil in place of olive oil, there are so many different choices and alternatives to oils available and I take full advantage of the choices and enjoy trying them out. I recently bought this organic sesame oil at my local health food store for around £5 however I saw sesame oil in Tesco the other day down the Jamaican food aisle for less than £2. Sesame oil goes well with this dish in particular as it is often used as a flavour enhancer in Chinese cuisine and carries a lovely nutty flavour through the dish.

In moderation different oils carry many health benefits; sesame oil is a good source of vitamin E, which has anti-oxidant qualities. It has also been linked with lowering cholesterol and the high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids helps to control blood pressure. It also contains high levels of magnesium and calcium along with other vitamins. I have personally found too much oil tends to have negative side effects on me such as headaches, which is why I have resorted to using low calorie sunflower spray when frying and baking as a way to cut back on too much oil all together. However small amounts of oil in your diet are healthy, just be more conscious when using oil and think about swapping to alternatives like sunflower sprays when preparing some foods.

I picked up the rice paper wraps at a Chinese food store near me, an important tip when wrapping these is to ensure you fill them enough so you don’t end up with more wrap than you do filling and the wrap will then become quiet thick and glutinous so try to avoid piling the excess wrap all in one place as you will end up with on thin side to the roll and one thicker side.

I found this really short and helpful video on YouTube to show you how to wrap the rolls correctly to spread the paper evenly and avoid clumping, click here to watch now.

If you haven’t used rice paper wrappers before you will find straight out the packet they are hard and very easy to break, here is a video from the same channel as above on how to soak them in water to prepare the wrap to be used. Click here to watch the video.

This is what the wraps look like before you lightly soak them, I found an old shallow round dish to dip them in...

You can enjoy these raw however I did chose to cook mine as I find it dries the water from the wrap up making it slightly crispy and it takes away what can be a soggy rice texture if soaked in water for too long. These are perfect for entertaining as you can prepare them before guests arrive and then pop in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes just before serving!

Recipe:

Makes approximately four rolls, the measurements aren’t so important in the spring rolls, just use as much as you think you’ll eat!

Ingredients:

Peanut and Orange Sauce (Serves 2 – 3 people)

• 2½ Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• ¼ Tbsp. sesame Oil
• 1 squeezed orange
• ½ Tsp. paprika
• 1 Tsp. ginger powder or raw root ginger to crush in

Chinese Chicken Spring Rolls

• ½ bag of Quorn chicken style pieces
• ½ a pepper
• ½ tin of chick peas
• 4 spring onions
• ½ tin water chestnuts
• Large handful of shitake mushrooms
• Spring roll, rice paper wrappers

• 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c and line a baking tray and lightly grease. First prepare the peanut sauce by combining all the ingredients and mixing well with a spoon until all ingredients are combined.  Leave aside.
2. Next prepare your veg filling for the rolls, begin by chopping the pepper into short straight sticks and thinly slice the water chestnuts and mushrooms. Take two of the spring onions and chop in to small circles, then take the other two and cut them to form longer strands as shown in the picture. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
3. Lightly grease a frying pan and add the chicken style pieces, lightly fry for five minutes until turning golden brown and then add all the veg, leaving the longer strands of spring onion aside. Fry for a further five minutes until cooked through (make sure not to overcook, the rolls taste much nicer if the filling still has some crunch!)
4. 
5. Dip the rice paper under water for about ten seconds, shake and place on chopping board (be aware the wraps continue to soften once out the water so don’t over soak). Fill with peanut sauce, veg and chicken mix out the pan and the spring onion strands you left aside earlier. Optionally, sprinkle on a little pepper, ginger powder or other seasoning to give them an extra kick. Wrap as shown in video above, avoiding an uneven pile up of the wrap on one side. Place on baking tray and repeat. If you experience any breakage, you can always wrap them again for a sturdier roll or restart all together. I had one with a tiny hole in and you’ll find once you cook them the rips tend not to get any worse.
   

   I like to drizzle a good helping of the peanut sauce IN the roll before wrapping so drizzle some on top if you want extra peanut sauce, like me!

6. Place in oven for 5 – 10 minutes. Take out and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
   

   Have a spatula or knife handy when taking them off the tray, being made of rice these wraps can be sticky and tear when pulled away from the tray too quickly, so wiggle them off slowly!

   7.  Serve with Peanut sauce on the side for dipping! 

   

   Enjoy! Let me know what you think and how yours turn out!

With this in mind I decided to make one of my all-time favourite dishes, peanut chicken. It’s so simple to make and gives the chicken such a moist yet crispy taste, best of all it’s a healthy way to give a dish flavour without using a packet sauce full of sugar and salt.

I’ve made this chicken to top salads and stir frys but tonight I was just making a quick dinner for myself and topped it on a bed of warm spinach and veg. If you do try it, post picture of what you chose to serve it with and let me know what you thought!

Recipe:

I had to make the sauce tonight with Worchester sauce as you’ll see from the pictures but I usually make it with a light soy sauce. To be honest I hardly noticed the difference but if you are making the chicken as a Chinese inspired dish I would recommend a soy sauce in place! I was using cooked chicken as there was half a roast chicken left over from the night before so I decided to use that. If you’re making with an uncooked chicken breast, I’d recommend slicing the breast and filling with the peanut sauce and coating all over breast then place on a tray, cover completely with tin foil to avoid burning the coating and cook in the oven at 220c for 20 minutes. I then take it out the oven and lightly fry for a few minutes to make crispy. Either way is delicious!

Ingredients:

Serves 1

 For the Chicken

• 1 chicken breast cooked and shredded
• 2 tbsp. of peanut butter
• 2 tbsp. of Worchester sauce
• A pinch of chilli flakes
• 5 tbsp. of tomato passata

For the veg and spinach

• A handful of spinach
• ½ tin of sweetcorn
• ¼ tin of chickpeas
• ½ a carrot chopped
• 2 chopped mushrooms
• 3 tbsp. of chopped tomatoes

Method:

1. In a bowl mix the peanut butter, Worchester sauce, chilli flakes and tomato passata until combined, leave aside.
2. Grease a pan with low cal spray and lightly fry the mushrooms, sweetcorn, chickpeas, carrot and chopped tomato. Leaving on a low heat.
3.  Place the peanut butter mix in the microwave for 30 seconds until warm. In a separate pan, grease with low cal spray and begin to light fry to chicken, add the bowl of sauce to the pan ensuring all the chicken in being coated in the mix. Keep the chicken moving for about five minutes until hot and slightly crispy. Add more tomato passata if the pan needs more moisture to stop the chicken from burning rather than adding more oil.
4. Take the spinach and add it to the veg pan to wilt. Mix in with the veg and heat for about 1 minute, keeping the spinach moving so it doesn’t shrivel up.
5. Place the veg and spinach on plate and top with chicken. Enjoy!
   

   The crispy shredded chicken with the warm soft spinach is perfect for a healthy warming meal as the nights are getting colder!

 

The tempeh out of the packet sliced in to thick strips ready to fry.

With my wheat and dairy intolerances, I stay away from any noodles except for rice noodles. If you haven’t tried them before they are a much lighter taste and very thin compared to thick egg noodles. The sauce I made to top the dish uses a simple base of tomato pasata, making it very easy to prepare fresh. By mixing the pineapple with the tomato base it resembled a sweet and sour type sauce and also has a strong kick from the ginger. Using the fresh root ginger in the sauce also has many health benefits,  ginger has been proven to have anti-inflammatory effects and is good for those suffering with gas, bloating and stomach cramps.

After trying the dish I will definitely by having Tempeh again, not only was it full of flavour it’s also very nutritious including being a great source of protein (100 grams contains around 200kcal and 18grams of protein, which is more then found in tofu!). I personally found it had more of a nutty, than chicken like taste which I had read many places but either way it was delicious and I’m very pleased to have found something new to add to a meal!  Try some for yourself and let me know what you think of it, try your local health food store or failing that have a browse online to order.

Recipe:

Serves Two

Ingredients:

• 125grams of Tempeh
• Half a lemon
• Paprika
• Rice Noodles (I used a handful per person, like serving spaghetti)

For the sauce:

• 250grams of tomato passata (half the carton)
• 125 grams of chopped mushrooms
• A quarter of an onion
• 250grams of sweetcorn (a large tin)
• 4 slices of tinned pineapple
• 1 large finely chopped root ginger

Method:

1. Finely chop the onion, grease pan with low calorie spray and fry onion alone first until burnt. Add the mushrooms, pineapple, ginger and sweetcorn and leave to fry on a medium heat.
2. Put a pan of water on the boil for the noodles. Chop the tempeh in to thick slices like shown in the picture above, cover in lemon juice and sprinkle on paprika.
3. Put the rice noodles in the pan and leave to boil for 10 – 15 minutes. While they are boiling, pour the tomato passata, chilli flakes and lea and perrins over the veg and leave to simmer on a low heat to keep hot until ready to serve.
4. Grease a frying pan and fry the tempeh for a few minutes either side until golden brown and crispy then take off heat and put aside to avoid burning. Once noodles are cooked drain them and then rinse under cold water, this will stop them becoming sticky, I also then fry them in a pan for a few minutes to crisp them up. Once noodles are drained and fried, plate up the noodles and top with the vege sauce. Fry the tempeh for 30 seconds each side before placing on top to ensure it’s hot. Enjoy!
   

   Don't wait until you have Tempeh in the kitchen, even without it the dish is delicious and the sauce is bursting with warming flavors.

When people think of potato skins, they often think of the greasy ones sold in the supermarkets with an overload of melted cheese topping and a very greasy potato skin; however with these you will find them crispy on the outside with a soft and tasty filling inside and not a drop of grease in sight!

By adding the chickpeas they give the veg mix some substance to fill the potato and also give the mix a creamier taste which means you don’t need to smother them in cheese. I use chickpeas in a lot of my recipes and feel they give a soft and creamy texture that you can otherwise lack in a lot of vegetable dishes. Plus they are a great source of protein that can sometimes be lacking when you are on a restricted diet due to stomach problems.

You can try all different combinations of spices and flavours with this recipe, so have a look what you have in the cupboard.  I chose the paprika and pickle to give them a warm punchy taste without it being overly spicy. I enjoy them as a meal on their own, with a side salad but they also make a great starter for a dinner party or as part of a buffet or as an accompaniment to a main meal for anyone else in your family.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 potatoes
• Handful (10) medium sized mushrooms
• Half tin of sweetcorn
• Half tin chickpeas
• Tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp Pickle
• 2 crushed ginger cloves OR 1 Tbsp of ginger powder
• Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Method:

1. Wash the potatoes, stab all over with a fork and place in microwave for 15 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, begin to dice the mushrooms in to small chunks. Heat up a frying pan and grease with cooking spray to prevent the vegetables becoming too oily, then add the mushroom, chickpeas and sweetcorn in to the pan.  Next, add the Lea and perrins, Paprika, Pickle and crush in the garlic. Leave to simmer on a medium heat.
2. Check on the potatoes, flip them over and continue to cook in microwave for a further ten minutes.  Add the tin of chopped tomatoes to the frying pan and leave to cook on a low heat for a further ten minutes.  While everything is cooking, prepare a lined tray ready to grill the potato skins in under once filled. You will also need two bowls ready to scoop the potato out when cooked.
3. Leave veg mix to one side and remove potatoes from microwave. Firstly chop each potato in half, so they can begin to cool inside. With a knife go round and carve out a circle slightly in from the edge where you will then scoop the filling out with a spoon, this makes it easier to get the potato out of the skin, whilst still keeping a sturdy skin that won’t break when filled with the mix. Scoop out each potato half in to a bowl and place the skin on the prepared tray, then place under the grill for 5 minutes to make the shell crispy.
   

   Make an outline with a knife before you try scooping potato out, it will give you much neater skins to fill!

4. While the Skins grill, separate half the potato mix in to a separate bowl then pour the veg mix in and mix together with half the potato to form the filling, mix in a sprinkle of pepper and a Tbsp of soya spread. Take the empty skins out from under the grill and fill each one with the mix giving a slightly heaped effect. Grill for a further five minutes until the tops are a nice golden brown and crispy.
5. Serve on top of bed of your favorite salad and add a drizzle of some balsamic vinegar on top. Enjoy!

If you're a cheese eater, try topping with cheese and grill until melted.