Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Another purely pictorial post (for the moment, anyway). These chocolate birthday cupcakes were my first foray into gluten free baking, and I was more than a little nervous, imagining dry, gritty cakes. But far from it, they were moist and enjoyed not only by the gluten-free Birthday Girl, but the other party goers too. I was surprised at how easily I could just sub out standard flour from a normal recipe for a gluten-free variety. Adding a little extra liquid, they came out really well.

Dairy Free Baby Shower Cupcakes

A pictorial post... but these little beauts are dairy free and topped with vegetarian jelly beans...

Iced in pale pink, yellow and blue as the baby's sex is a surprise, they went down a treat.

Springtime Stew with Celeriac Puree

So the low cal diet plan got a little interrupted with last minute dinner guests. I had to change tack and carb things out a little, simply to make the veggies go further. Last night I picked up where I left off with this veg laden, lighter version of a stew. Instead of the traditional mashed potato, rice or cous cous accompaniment, I went for celeriac. It's lighter tasting and much lower in calories than potatoes.

Ingredients:

For the stew...

low fat cooking spray

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 leek, finely sliced

1 large carrot, cut lengthwise and chopped

1 red capsicum, chopped

1 small eggplant, diced

1/4 head of broccoli, chopped into small florets

1 courgette, sliced lengthwise and chopped into chunks

1 tin cannellini beans

1 Tbs tomato paste

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1/2 Tbs vegetarian gravy granules

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 c water

1/4 c red wine

1 Tbs nutritional yeast

20 fresh basil leaves, chopped

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

For the puree...

1 celeriac, chopped into big pieces

1/2 tsp celery salt

Black pepper

To make:

1) In a large pot, heat some low fat cooking spray and add the onions. Cook for 2 minutes before adding the garlic and cooking for another minute. Add the leek, salt, pepper and celery salt and stir well, then cook for another 2 minutes.

2) Add the rest of the vegetables (except the beans) and cook, stirring every now and then for 8 minutes, then turn the heat down, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

3) While the stew is cooking, boil the celeriac in plenty of water until soft (about 10 minutes).

4) In a small bowl, mix together the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, gravy granules, sugar, water and wine. Add this to the vegetables with the nutritional yeast and cannellini beans and mix well, then cover and cook for 10-15 minutes (until all veggies are tender), adding the fresh herbs 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

5) Puree the celeriac with a stick blender and spoon onto plates. Serve the stew over the puree.

Serves 2 to 3.

Spring Green Patties with Salmon and Ribboned Carrot Salad

Day 2 on the consciously low carb, low cal plan - I wanted to do something a bit more exciting than just salmon and veggies. A really fresh tasting meal, the patties complimented the salmon really well and the carrot salad added crisp sweetness.

Ingredients:

2 large salmon fillets

For the patties...

200g shredded spring greens

1/2 large leek, sliced

1 egg

Salt & pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard

2 Tbs chickpea flour (or any kind you want to use)

For the carrot salad...

2 large carrots, trimmed and peeled

Small handful of fresh corriander, finely chopped

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Juice of 1/4 lemon

To make:

1) Season the salmon as per the salmon and roast vegetables recipe and wrap in tin foil. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes on gas mark 6, making sure the foil is folded together to seal.

2) Cook the spring greens in a pot of boiling water and drain. Sautee the leeks with a small amount of low fat cooking spray and add the vinegar when just about done. Turn out on a chopping board and chop into small pieces.

3) Mix the spring greens with the leeks in a small bowl, add the egg, salt and pepper, nutmeg, mustard and chickpea flour. Mix well and put into the fridge while you make the carrot salad.

4) Use a vegetable peeler to 'ribbon' the carrots (run the peeler down the length of the carrot) into a medium sized bowl. Toss in the corriander, lemon zest and lemon juice.

5) Shape the spring greens mix into patties and fry over a medium high heat for 4 minutes each side.

6) Place the salmon on the patties and pour some of the juices from the foil over it. Serve the carrot salad on the side.

Serves 2.

Virtuous Veggie Stir Fry

After a weekend in Barcelona, a birthday to celebrate and general summer socialising, this week calls for a low carb, low cal dinner menu.

Starting as I mean to go on, Mnday's meal was this vege packed stir fry. It has a light but tasty flavour, with the added health benefits of miso. Miso has a fairly strong flavour but is a really delicious addition to soups, stir fries, stews etc. The thing to remember with Miso is that it contains good bacteria, so it needs to be added at the end of cooking when it won't be heated for too long - or you'll kill said bacteria.

I've not been too specific on times for this one, as it does depend on how well done you like your vegetables.

Ingredients:

Low fat cooking spray

1 large onion, sliced

6 vegetarian sausages, cut into strips

1 large carrot, sliced into thin batons

1 medium head of broccoli, cut into small florets

1 yellow capsicum, thinly sliced

1 large courgette, cut into rounds

Handful of green beans

4 medium mushrooms, sliced

Handful of mangetout

Small handful coriander, chopped

For the sauce..

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs rice vinegar

1 tsp honey

2 Tbs water

1/2 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 Tbs chopped fresh ginger

For the miso mix...

1 Tbs miso paste

1 Tbs water

To make:

1) Start by mixing the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and the miso and water in another bowl.

1) Heat a few sprays of cooking spray in a wok over a medium heat and add the onions. Stir fry for about 2 minutes and then add the vege sausages. Stir fry this for about 2-3 minutes until everything begins to colour.

2) Add the carrots and stir for about 2 minutes, then add the broccoli and capsicum, cook for 2 minutes. Add the courgette and sauce and stir well.

3) Add the green beans and mushrooms to the pan and stir until the mushrooms begin to soften.

4) Turn the heat up to high and add the mangetout and coriander with the miso mix. Stir quickly until the liquid reduces (only about 1 minute).

Serves 3 (or 2, including 1 hungry, post-gym boy).

Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Koftas

Our flat happens to be situated above an exceptionally good Indian takeaway shop. Sometimes the scent is just too much when coming home from a long day at work. Today was one such day, so I set about creating an Indian inspired feast of my own. These koftas have been forming in my mind for a while, so I was more than happy to put them into practice.

Ingredients:

Low fat cooking spray

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 onion, finely sliced

1 tsp garam masala

1 clove garlic

4 medium carrots, grated

1/2 tin of chickpeas, lightly mashed

A good handful of fresh coriander, chopped

2 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

3 Tbs chickpea flour, plus extra for rolling

To make:

1) Turn the oven to 200°c and line and oven tray with foil. Spray with cooking spray.

2) In a mortar and pestle, grind the cumin and coriander seeds. Warm a small pan over a medium heat, spray some cooking spray and then add the ground seeds. Cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes until aromatic.

3) Add the onion and stir for 2 minutes before mixing in the garlic and the rest of the spices. Cook, stirring, until the onion is soft.

4) Add the grated carrot and stir well to combine, then cover and leave to cook for about 5-10 minutes until the carrot is very soft.

5) Tip into a bowl and add the chick peas, coriander, lemon juice and salt to taste. Then stir in the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

6) Shape into balls and roll in some flour. Place on the baking tray and cook for 20 minutes, turning once at about 12 minutes. Serve as part of an Indian meal with chutney and plain soy yoghurt.

Makes 6.

Savoury Muffins

These muffins are so simple to make and are a tasty weekend lunch option. Serve with salad and chutneys for a really tasty meal.

Ingredients:

1 c wholemeal flour

1 c plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

3 Tbs nutritional yeast

1 Tbs parsley, chopped

1 Tbs basil, chopped

1 small shallot, diced

2 Tbs courgette, grated (about 1/4 of a courgette)

1 Tbs celery, chopped

Black pepper

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 c rice milk

1 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp Worchester sauce

To make:

1) Turn the oven to 200°c and prepare a 12 hole muffin pan.

2) Sift the flours, baking powder, salt and smoked paprika into a large bowl. Add the nutritional yeast and herbs, and stir well.

3) Tip in the chopped vegetables and olives, stir well and make a well in the middle.

4) Mix the egg, milk, oil and Worchester sauce together in a small bowl.

5) Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the dry ingredients and gently fold together until just combined.

6) 2 thirds fill each muffin hole and cook for 15 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack and serve with chutney.

Makes 9.