Tag: easy

Figs grilled with cinnamon & honey

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#figs #summer

I had the last few summer figs kicking around, looking delicious and taunting me with their exquisiteness. So I chopped them into quarters, drizzled them with honey, dusted them with cinnamon, and grilled the juice right out of them.

If you want somewhat specific instructions, here you go.

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Cut the tops off the figs, then cut them into quarter wedges.
#figs #honey #cinnamon #grilled

Lightly grease a baking tray with mild olive oil or butter, and pop the figs on there. Drizzle with honey. Dust with cinnamon. Add a couple of spoons of water to the tray (to mix with the honey & fig juices). Slide the tray into the middle of the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until they are sticky and soft. Remove and COOL. Listen to me on this, hot figs be BURNY hot.

Once they are cooler than burny hot, eat with a scoop of mascarpone, Greek yoghurt or icecream. Drizzle the juices from the pan over each serving. If you’re feeling super fancy, you can top this with some pistachios or pine nuts.

#figs #grilled #honey #cinnamon #compote

Do you like figs? Do you ❤ figs? How do you eat them?

These figs have topped some chia seed pudding for my breakfast today. The fig-honey juices have added just enough sweetness.

Grain-Free Tahini Waffles

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Adapted from the original recipe which uses cashews: Grain-Free Waffles by Danielle Walker

If you tried my Tahini Cookie recipe, or are thinking about getting a jar of tahini and wondering what to do with the rest of it, look no further! As always, my recipes are tweaked, so use your judgement on the consistency of the batter; you may need a little more flour or non-dairy milk.

PREP TIME: 12 mins / COOK TIME: 10 mins / TOTAL TIME: 22 mins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 eggs for almond meal, 3 eggs for coconut flour (I used medium)
  • 1/3 cup (75g) tahini
  • 1/3 cup (75ml) almond milk 
  • 3 tablespoons honey, maple or date syrup
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ teaspoons baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons coconut flour (1/5 cup) or 1 cup (115g) almond meal
  • A pinch of cinnamon & nutmeg (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat your waffle iron.
  2. Combine the eggs, tahini, non-dairy milk, honey/alternative and melted coconut oil in a blender. Pulse & blend until the batter is smooth & creamy. 
  3. Add the salt, baking soda, and chosen flour, then pulse & blend again for about a minute until the dry ingredients are mixed in.
  4. If the waffle iron requires oil, brush on a little coconut oil (both sides). Pour the batter into the waffle iron so it just covers the bottom portion of the iron. DON’T overfill as I did; these waffles rise nicely and you’ll waste valuable eating time doing clean-up!
  5. Cook the waffles for about a minute or so, depending on your waffle iron. If they lift easily with a fork when you open the lid, they are ready!
  6. Repeat until you run out of batter. 

Serve with date syrup, honey or maple syrup.

Quintessential Quinoa

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Unlike wheat or rice, quinoa is a complete protein – containing all eight of the essential amino acids, and recognised by the UN as a super-crop for its health benefits. It is also gluten-free and easy to digest. Thrive Cuisine have a useful guide on the differences between quinoa and couscous, and more recipes! Use these easy instructions from The Kitchn if you’ve never tried making quinoa from scratch before.

I have to be honest: on a work day, I use Merchant Gourmet Red & White Ready Quinoa, or supermarket own-brand variants, to save on time & sanity. I don’t have a microwave (cue horrified gasps) so I open the pack and heat the quinoa on a tray on the bottom shelf of the oven, while the veggies are roasting on the top shelf. This makes the quinoa slightly crunchy, a good balance to the softened veggies.

Jewelled Quinoa with Roasted Carrots & Beetroot

Quinoa

  • Peel & cube 3 beetroot and 4 carrots
  • Toss them in olive oil, salt & pepper and some cumin powder
  • Pop them in the oven at 200C/400F, on the top shelf.
  • Set your timer for 20 minutes.
  • Heat the quinoa on another tray on the bottom shelf at the same time, or follow the instructions on the packet.
  • Toss them all together at the end with some mixed salad leaves and voila, easy lunch or dinner! You could also add some leftover chicken or sausage on the top for a more substantial meal.

Got a quinoa recipe to share? Join the discussion below!

Peanut Butter Cookies

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The easiest instant-gratification peanut butter cookies with maximum flavour!

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Whole Earth Smooth)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup soft brown sugar
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (or the same in self-raising flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (skip this if using self-raising flour)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling

Instructions

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Preheat oven to 175C/350F. Cream peanut butter & butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to combine. Add egg & vanilla, and beat until creamy. Add flour, combine till batter looks like this.

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Line tray with parchment paper. Place granulated sugar on a plate. Roll cookie dough into balls & roll balls in sugar to coat them completely.

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Place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 12 minutes, until they are just brown around the edges.

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Remove from oven and let the cookies cool at least 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely.

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Serve with coffee & enjoy!

Potato, leek & pancetta mini-pies (GF, DF, SF, SyF, NF, PF)

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Mini-pies, rosti, muffins…the jury’s out on the name, but it’s unanimous: these are delicious! You can use sweet potatoes & red onions, *skip the cheese … the variations are endless.

Prep: about 20 mins /  Cook: 30-40 mins / Total time: 50-60 mins
Makes 9-12 mini-pies

Ingredients

2 medium sized potatoes – grated
1 leek – finely chopped (I like leek, you can use less)
A handful of pancetta, lardons or chopped bacon
1 medium egg, beaten
½ cup grated cheese*
Any herbs – mint, thyme, sage and chives – finely chopped, if fresh
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or a squidge of garlic paste

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

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Preheat the oven to 180C. Grate potatoes & pat & squeeze them dry.

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Brown the pancetta & add the leeks. Add in the garlic, herbs & season to taste.

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Cool the pancetta & leek mix before adding to the potatoes. Add the grated cheese & mix. Add the egg & mix. Put the mix into muffin tin (do not fill to top, press down to bind ingredients together) & pop in the oven.

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Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven.

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Serve with mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise or brown sauce!

Domesticated Momster

French knitting & scrap fabric necklaces

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We’re on half term this week, catching a much-needed breath, and we’re doing lots of fun, easy projects. I am a very basic knitter, and Little Miss was keen to learn, so we bought a Galt kit, which was well-stocked with needles and wool, but the knitter had hooks, which was tricky for little fingers, so we bought a Prym knitting dolly with round ends. Much easier! There is also a smaller version: Prym 4-loop Knitting Dolly.

We made some takeaway coffee cup holders (from this nice, simple pattern from Social Knitworking), a French knit necklace, a bracelet, and a fabric necklace with scraps of fabric from other projects (instructions here).

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Twisted Shrimp & Grits

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If you are truly Southern, you might want to look away now. This recipe was the result of utilising what was at hand to alleviate the desperate craving for shrimp & grits on this cold, rainy day. It hit the spot!

ingredients I USED

  • 500ml stock (I used chicken)
  • 1/2 romano pepper, chopped fine
  • 4 salad onions chopped fine
  • 2 padron peppers
  • handful frozen small shrimp
  • 1 cup polenta (dry)
  • Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, mixed spice
  • Olive oil

METHOD

Chop the vegetables as fine as you want them.

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Heat some olive oil in a deep pan, add the spices to release their aromas, and then add the vegetables and gently stir them. If you like, add a smidge of garlic paste.

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Then add most of the stock to the pan and gently simmer. Add in the frozen shrimp and turn off the heat. The shrimp will defrost and cook in the retained heat.

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Then make up the polenta as per the instructions on the pack, using the remaining stock & more water (I left mine a little runny). I mixed in grated Parmesan cheese to the cooked polenta, then plated…

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…and crowned the dish with the shrimp & vegetable concoction. This served 2, and took no more than 30 minutes from idea to table. Win!

#polenta #grits #peppers #shrimp #prawns #spicy

Laissez les bon temps rouler!