Almond brownies

DESSERT


I have never met anyone who doesn't love brownies. Come on, with their gooey middle and crispy top and their creamy sugaryness, they are surely irresistible. Notably, they're not the healthiest dessert, but with this recipe you're quite close to it. You can always substitute the sugar with a more natural fructose, like honey or syrups of your taste. 

I give you a recipe that is suited to the dairy intolerant like moi, and gluten free for the lot of you poor souls who can't have flour. These brownies produce a state of mind of sublime nirvana, taken from my friend Charlotte's reaction when she first tasted them. Her eyes like saucers, she claimed these were the best brownies she'd ever tried. I hope she's right and you can tell me when you make them too!

Enjoy!

Easy on tummy: very
Budget: a bit pricey for the almonds
Dairy free Gluten free

Preparation: 10 min  ›  Cook: 20 min 

Ingredients:

• 3/5 cup of sugar (muscavado and granulated mix or either)
• 1/3 cup of sunflower oil
• 2 large eggs or 3 small/medium
• 3/4 cup of ground almonds
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• chef's dark chocolate drops (optional for chunks)

Method of preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 C. 

Beat the eggs with a hand mixer, add the sugar and then the oil and beat them until fluffier, airier texture appears.

Add the ground almonds and the cocoa and mix well with a butter knife/spoon. You can add broken up chocolate drops inside as an optional treat. 

Pour the mixture in a greased tray by making sure it's about 2cm deep so choose probably a smaller tray. 

Bake for about 20 mins until set, pierce some holes with a fork to let the air out! When cooked, leave outside and let them set before you cut them.

Yums for tums!

Nepalese Red Lentil Dhal

MAINS

Budget: small

Easy on tummy: extremely

Preparation: 10 min  ›  Cook: 45 min 

This warm, hearty recipe is a staple for the spicy yet subtle Nepalese cuisine. It is usually served with bhat - a boiled grain, usually rice, and vegetable curry - tarkari. It is absolutely one of my favourite meals - it is an explosion of beautiful flavours and very calming and filling for your tummy. I have adapted this recipy from to suit me, the heat of the chillThese ingredients will make you a large pot to last you a few days, even if you live with a very hungry man!

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 tbs ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 1 fat tbsp of butter (optional but really tasty)
• 1 carton of chopped tomatoes (or fresh)
• 3 cups or red lentils
• 1 bunch of chopped fresh coriander to taste

Spices mix:

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes or 1 small chilli pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander (cilantro)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper

Method of preparation:

Mix all of the spices together in a small pot. Chop the garlic, onion and ginger separately. 

Place a large pot on the hob. Pour the oil and the mix of spices and cook them for 2 mins, stirring incessantly and avoiding burning. You will feel the fragrance of the spices being released. Add the finely chopped onion, garlic and ginger with a bit of water, stir and cover with the lid for about 5 mins. Keep the temperature at medium.

Rinse well the lentils. Add the butter and the chopped tomatoes to the pot, stirring well. Add the lentils and stir them, put the lid on and again leave for 5 mins to cook. 

Add enough water to cover the lentils. The lentils will absorb the water soon, so every 5-10 mins keep adding a bit of water to avoid burning. At the end you should have a creamy, soft and warm texture. 

Add fresh coriander on top for serving. It should smell fantastic!

Masti garna!

Layered Butterbean bake

MAINS

Budget: small

Easy on tummy: very

Preparation: 10 min  ›  Cook: 45 min 

This is a very quick vegetarian recipe inspired by Japanese and Italian cooking. The sauce is carbonara-like and the stir-fry contains fresh green vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes
• 1 courgette
• 1 leek
• 1 can of butterbeans
• 100g feta cheese (sheep's and goats' milk)
• 2 tbsp Sunflower oil 
• a hadfull of chives
• 1 onion
• 1 carton of chopped tomatoes

Method of preparation:

Chop the potatoes in very thin slices, same with the courgette. Chop the onion in fine pieces. 

Start with the sauce. Pour the sunflower oil in a frying pan, heat it up and gently fry the onion until it's sweated. Add a clove of garlic (optional) and pour the chopped tomatoes, stirring well. Turn the heat to medium and keep cooking for about 10 mins.

Start layering the dish by alternating the sauce, potatoes, courgette, leek, butter beans, feta and chives. Make sure to finish with potatoes on top with a bit of chives, this will make a nice crispy top. Pour half a glass of water over it, it should soak through to the bottom and help cook the potatoes.

Cook for about 45-50 mins on 180 degrees, depends on the oven.

The result is quite apetising, it should be creamy from the feta and tomato sauce and earthy from the potatoes. 

Bon apetit!

Smoked Cod with Peppers and Garlic Potatoes

MAIN

Easy on tummy: extremely

Budget: small to medium

Dairy free, gluten-free, suitable for pescetarians

Preparation:5-10 min  ›  Cook: 20 min 

Here is another Mediterranean inspired dish. I love how quickly they take to prepare and how incredibly delicious they are. Forget about greasy deep-fried beer batter, this is light and healthy, with sweet tones from the peppers and spicyness from the potatoes.

Ingredients:

• Smoked Cod fillet (deboned) or alternative smoked white fish
• 2 bellpeppers
• 3 fresh tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 lemon, squeezed
• dill
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• garlic sauteed potatoes - refer to previous recipe 

Method of preparation:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

Place the fish over foil in a flat baking tray. Arrange the chopped peppers and tomatoes around it. Pour the squeezed lemon or leave whole chunks of it. Season with salt, pepper and dill. 

Close the foil over the fish, but leave a small pocket of air over it. Bake for 15-20 mins on 180 C.

Meanwhile, prepare the wild garlic sauteed potatoes, which take also about 20 mins so you can start them with the fish. If you don't have any wild garlic leaves, you can use spinach. 

Kαλή όρεξη!

Vermicelli Vegetable soup

SOUPS

This soup is great for a starter, or simply on its own as a light meal. It's great if you have a cold and need warm healthy food!

Budget: Very cheap

Easy on tummy: Excellent

Preparation: 10min  ›  Cook: 20 min  > Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 onion

1 red pepper

2 carrot

4 potatoes

75g vermicelli

1 bunch of fresh parsley

2 tsp iodised salt

black pepper to taste

Method of preparation:

1. Finely dice the vegetables. Heat the sunflower in a deep pan. Add the onion, fry for 2 mins on medium high heat. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook for further 7-8 mins until they soften, making sure there is a bit of water on the bottom to avoid sticking or burning. 
2. Cover with water, add the salt and cook on medium heat for further 10 mins. Add the vermicelli and break them up a bit. Make sure you stir well the mix as they might lump together. In 2-3 mins they should be cooked. 
3. To serve, add fresh parsley on top and grind some black pepper to taste.

Grilled Asparagus Brunch

BRUNCH

Easy on tummy: eggcellent
Budget: medium
Dairy-free, Yeast-free, Suitable for vegetarians

Preparation:10min  ›  Cook: 10 min 

This is the perfect alternative to a full English breakfast. It has very high alkalinity due to the asparagus so it's great for your tummy!

Ingredients:

• a bunch of asparagus
• 10-12 cherry tomatoes
• 4 eggs, poached
• avocado and cucumber salad (refer to previous recipe)
• simple flatbreads (refer to previous recipe)
• black pepper
• olive oil

Method of preparation:

Slice the asparagus in half along the stem and then chop it in thirds. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Place the asparagus and the tomatoes on a tin-lined tray and coat well in olive oil. Grind some black pepper over it. Bake in grill for about 10 mins on 180-200 C until pleasantly cooked but not charcoaled.

Meanwhile, in a deep pot put hot water and bring to boil. Add a few swigs of malt vinegar to the water. Break the eggs one by one in a glass and carefully pour each egg into the bottom of the boiling pot. It should coat itself in a few minutes and you will have a perfect poached egg. 4-5 minutes for hard-boiled poached eggs or 2-3 for a more runny result should do it!

I garnish this meal with the green salad mentioned in the previous recipe, which should take about 5 minutes to make if you chop fast. Then I have it with the flatbreads which suit my yeast-free diet, but you can have it with any bread you like. 

Note: To make it more interesting, you can add mushrooms and grill them with the asparagus. I personally only have shiitake mushrooms as they don't have as much natural yeasts.

Avocado and Cucumber salad

SALAD

easy on tummy: excellent 
budget: small to medium

Preparation:10min

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado
• half a cucumber
• 2 spring onions
• two handfulls of spinach
• 1 gem lettuce
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil

Method of preparation:

Chop the cucumber and avocado very finely. Slice the salad onion in rings. Chop the lettuce and the spinach and mix everything.Season with balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste. 

Easy-peasy!