A Beetroot, Feta & Quinoa Salad

I have a tremendously healthy salad recipe for today. One that we had last night and has left me vitalised! Low fat, high in protein and fibre and so very tasty. I felt so good eating it and I still have some left over for lunch.

Perfect for a summer’s evening with a cheeky glass of crisp white wine if you want 😉 I’ll be experimenting and creating more salads this season. Can’t wait to share them with you all.

I will be serving some @ Angie’s Fiesta Friday Party

Have a terrific day! Much love D x

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quinoa
1 raw peeled and grated beetroot
3 spring onions finely sliced
1 big tomato roughly chopped
1 tin roseca/borlotti beans rinsed & drained
Feta cheese crumbled (low fat)
Handful of sunflower seeds
1tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 tsp garlic granules
Salt to taste

METHOD

Put the quinoa to in a small saucepan and cook upon instruction. I tend to cook it like pasta. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer for 15 to 18 minutes. Drain and set aside

In a large bowl add the rest of the ingredients in order according to the pictures. Leaving the beetroot til the end..ish. This way you cab minimize the addition of the deep pink colour to the salad

Crumble in the feta last and fold in

Serve alone or with some buttered whole grain pitta bread

I will be serving some @

A Minty Fruit Smoothie

We are going to have pizza tonight, so an hour before I decided to line my stomach with a fresh minty and fruity smoothie.  This way I’ll feel a little less guilty knowing that I have fruit in my tummy before I consume huge amounts of pizza yumminess!

INGREDIENTS

1 small banana peeled
7 strawberries
1 pear sliced into chunks
A few sprigs of fresh mint
1 cup pineapple juice

METHOD

Blitz all the ingredients in a Nutri Bullet or blender until smooth

Serve with some ice or add a little water if the smoothie is too thick

Carrot, Strawberry & Ginger Smoothie

Every morning we have a new flavour of smoothie. Having Mr Shivaay Delights working from home gives me the opportunity to spoil him with healthy breakfast shakes.

If I forget then I will be subtly reminded to make him one. So I guess he is enjoying the smoothies that come flying out of our kitchen.

Keep your eye on more fruity and nutritional smoothie recipes coming up!

Hope you’re all are having a beautiful day. Much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

1 medium carrot peeled and chopped
Handful of strawberries
2 apples cored and chopped
Dash of orange juice
Fresh ginger to taste

METHOD

Put all the ingredients into your blender/nutri bullet.  Blitz to a fine blend

Add more water if too thick to achieve desired consistency

Blueberry & Super Seed Smoothie

I do not get through much fruit unless its in a cake on a cake or around a cake!

So having invested in a smoothie maker is the best thing I could have done for me especially! I love chewing on seeds but am not partial to the goji berry. Which is extremely good for you.

This way I get all my antioxidant goodness in the one glass first thing in the morning and I’m ready to face the day with a healthy outlook…until I eat the naughty treat I shouldn’t have had at lunch…lol 😉

I’ll be putting up more of my smoothie recipes. I hope you enjoy them friends!

INGREDIENTS

Large handful of blueberries
1 medium banana
1 satsuma
Sprinkling of seeds and goji berries
Water

METHOD

Using the NutriBullet or a blender.  Place all the ingredients in and blitz til desired consistency

If too thick, stir in more water…

Protein Chapatis

Ok…So these looks like normal chapatis?!  Soft fluffy Indian flatbreads. To a point they are and then I was sneaky and blitzed some cooked QUINOA in my NutriBullet! And blended to a pulse

Add it to the mix of flour a little sunflower and boiling hot water to firm a dough.  Cooked them on a flat griddle and voila protein filled quinoa hidden into our daily bread…

Loving my NutriBullet!!!

Ice & Bananas

Quorn Protein & Peas Curry

If you want something healthy, tasty and low fat, don’t go anywhere! I have created my non guilty version of the classic Indian matar paneer dish without the guilt! And the paneer?!
Fully packed with protein, which will keep you going for longer and stop you from snacking, especially if you have this curry for lunch. But don’t worry I know this maybe to healthy for some of you so my apple crumble recipe is coming up soon…

Enjoy, hope you’re all well…I am sooo excited as I have a lot more creative vegetarian dishes on the way!..until then, much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

300g Quorn chicken style pieces or soya chunks
2 cups frozen peas
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
½ tsp minced ginger
250g crushed tomato passata
Pinch of mustard seeds
Pinch of cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
¼ tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp ground cumin & coriander
Salt to taste
½ tbsp sunflower oil
Water for sauce

METHOD

In a large nonstick saucepan,  heat the oil on a medium heat with the mustard and cumin seeds.  Once they start to sizzle,  add the onion, ginger and garlic into the pan.  Sauté until translucent

Sprinkle in the garam masala, cook through for a minute or so. Stir in the tomato passata along with all the seasoning.  Let the sauce bubble then place the chunks of quorn into the saucepan.  Mix well, you may need a little water to help the tomato coat the quorn

Reduce the heat, cover and simmer the curry for 10 minutes.  Add the peas, stir and simmer for a further 7 to 10 minutes

Serve up with some rice or chapati

Fine Pressed Fruit Juices…James White

I was contacted by James White to sample their new range of freshly pressed apple juices.  Ummm…a fruity treat and non alcoholic, I was tempted immediately!

I had expected a few small bottled samples but how grateful was I when, three elegant looking glass wine bottles arrived all pristine and packed to perfection.  After unravelling the bottles out of the fun bubble wrap, my 4 year old son caught his eye on the rosé looking “Russet Apple Juice” an “Indulgently rich clear pressed English Russet”

I also received the Bramley and Cox apple juice too.  Those I shall be opening in due time…can’t wait! Especially as the first one I opened was stunning.  The russet apple juice had a very interesting flavour journey that it took my tongue through.  With notes of tang, then a little wild bitterness turning into the rosiest and sweetest of flavours.  I happened to have some Wensleydale, cranberry and blueberry cheese that I accompanied with the russet juice and found that as recommended it went extremely well with it.  It made the cheese taste that bit stronger and gave the berries in the cheese more oomph!

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Great for adults as a non alcoholic option to wine and as my son announced to to us all…it was AMAZING! To be honest he had most of it. I’m keeping the next two bottles away from him!  Or I may not be able to sample any…

Stunning Spice Blends @ Home

I found this chart on Pinterest and I have truly fallen in love with it.  So concise, simple and such flavoursome combinations, I just had to share.  Let me know how you like it friends!

Have a spicy day…Much love, D x

Low Calorie Onion Soup

I was checking my pantry for which vegetables I had to make a soup today especially as it’s very chilly here in the UK and everyone seems to have a cold and sore throat.  My husband being one of them, however he is very lucky! because I happened to find two bags of onions sitting there untouched.

All I could picture was a soothing hot onion soup with lingering notes of garlic dancing through the sweetness of the caramelized onions.  I looked up a few recipes and noticed that mostly all used a lot of butter and beef stock.  So I decided to create a vegetarian onion soup and low in calories!  Win, win for me…ultimate flavour and a healthier option!  It’s cooking on the stove right now and I can’t wait to tuck into a big bowl with a little mature cheddar and bread…
Oops less of the cheddar! Forgot…meant to be a low fat meal! 😉

Hope you enjoy my version of a classic soup…much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

3 medium onions sliced
1 clove garlic minced
1 tbsp low fat butter spread
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Sprinkling of sugar
1 litre vegetable stock

METHOD

Heat up the butter and oil in a deep saucepan, sauté the onions until soft on a low heat. Sprinkle with sugar and carry on cooking until caramelized, can take up to 15 minutes

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Add the garlic and cook through for a minute or two pour in the vegetable soup stock with salt to taste and simmer gently for 30 minutes

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Serve with some fresh baguette and cheese of your choice