Blueberry and Lemon Muffins

This is a brilliantly easy and delicious muffin recipe, taken from the Silver Spoon sugar website - www.silverspoon.co.uk. I've added a walnut and sugar topping which adds tasty crunch. To make chopping the nuts super easy, I crushed them in my mortar and pestle.

Ingredients:

350g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

40g soft brown sugar

35g caster sugar

grated zest of 1 lemon

150g washed, drained fresh blueberries

75g dairy free margarine, melted

2 large eggs, beaten

300ml rice milk

25g walnuts, finely chopped

1 Tbs demuera sugar

To make:

1) Turn the oven to gas mark 6, 200 °c and line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases.

2) Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugars and zest, stir then mix in the blueberries.

3) Mix the walnuts and sugar and set aside.

4) Beat the eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Add the milk and margarine.

5) Make a well in the flour mix and pour in the wet ingredients.

6) Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together so they are combined - but there will still be lumps that will cook out.

7) Divide the mix out between the muffin cases and top each with a good sprinkling of the walnuts and sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and well risen.

8) Leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12

Smoked Salmon Pasta for One

I feel a bit wrong calling this a recipe - it's more a mixture of flavours that work deliciously together - but I guess that's a recipe, isn't it?

This is my ultimate dinner for one indulgence. It's something that the boy wouldn't be fussed on, so when I'm home alone and want to treat myself, this is it. Plus it takes almost no time to make.

My mum has always loved the pasta and smoked salmon combo, and would probably eat it every night if she had her way, so this is really inspired by her. Right down to the angel hair pasta which she favours with salmon.

Ingredients:

8 spears of asparagus

80g angel hair pasta

80g cold smoked salmon flakes

2 Tbs fresh dill, chopped

1/4 red onion, very finely diced

1 tsp capers

Juice of 1/4 lemon

Freshly ground salt and black pepper

Lemon wedge to serve

1) Trim the thicker ends from the asparagus and place in a small pot. Pour over about 2cm of boiling water and cook for about 3-4 minutes until tender.

2) While the asparagus is cooking, bring another pot of water to the boil, add salt and the pasta. Cook according to the packet (normally only 2-4 minutes - be careful not to overcook).

3) Use this time to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

4) Drain the pasta and toss a little olive oil through to stop it sticking. Add the smoked salmon flakes and gently mix them through the pasta with a spaghetti server to get the flavour throughout. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well - make especially sure that the dill is mixed throughout.

5) Squeeze lemon juice over the asparagus spears and season generously with salt and pepper.

6) Serve the pasta with asparagus on the side and a lemon wedge.

Serves 1 blissfully.

Tofu, Quinoa and Mango salad

This dish takes its inspiration from a Marks and Spencer crayfish salad that really isn't similar in any way, except for the use of mango. I used to think that mixing fruit with savoury dishes was an abomination, but done with the right flavours, it can be a match made in heaven.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is an exceptionally nutritious grain and contains all 9 amino acids to make it a complete protein. The tofu adds an extra proteinous boost.

This would be great as a summer meal; there are lots of flavours and textures working together here, and they do get on rather nicely.

Ingredients:

For the tofu...

400g block tofu, diced

soy sauce

juice of 1/4 lemon

heaped teaspoon of crushed garlic

1cm grated ginger

For the dressing...

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp crushed hot chili

1/2 tsp tamari soy sauce

1/2 Tbs rice vinegar

1 Tbs sweet chili sauce

1/2 Tbs water

2 Tbs fresh, chopped coriander

1/8 tsp brown sugar

And the rest...

1/2 c quinoa

50g mangetout, cut in half

1/2 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 small iceberg lettuce, shredded

1/2 mango, cut into small pieces

1/2 avocado, diced

1/4 bunch fresh coriander

To serve:

Fresh coriander, chopped

Lemon wedges

To make:

1) Put all the tofu into a shallow bowl and drizzle with soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and ginger. Cover and refrigerate to marinate overnight or for at least an hour.

2) Turn the oven to gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Put it into the oven to heat up for a couple of minutes, then lay the tofu evenly out on it. Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, turning once.

3) Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together and set aside.

4) Put the quinoa in a small pot with 1 and a half cups of water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes until the quinoa is cooked and the water absorbed.

5) Put the hot quinoa into a large bowl and mix in half the dressing. Leave it to sit while you blanch the broccoli for 3 minutes and the the mangetout for 1 minute.

6) To the quinoa, add the red onion, lettuce and coriander. Mix well. Next add the mango and slightly cooled broccoli and mangetout. Add the avocado last, gently stirring through with the remaining dressing.

7) Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Serves 2.

Moroccan Chickpea Bites

This is so simple to put together, it takes almost no time and makes a great starter. You could make the patties large and serve as a main course. If you are having people over, make the mix the night before and simply shape them and put in the oven before your guests arrive.

Ingredients:

400g can chickpeas, drained

1 small courgette, finely grated

1/8 of a red onion, finely chopped

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp dried mint

1/2 tsp Moroccan seasoning (or 1/4 tsp each of ground cumin and coriander)

juice of 1/4 lemon

salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

Chopped fresh coriander

Good quality fresh tomato salsa

To Make:

1)Heat the oven to 190°c or gas mark 5.

2)Put the chickpeas in a food processor and blend until smooth and paste like.

3)Turn the chickpeas into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, then mix well and season to taste.

4)Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight.

5)Shape into small patties and bake for 20 minutes, turning the patties half way through.

Serve sprinkled with the coriander and the fresh salsa on the side.

Black Forest Tofu Cheesecake

Before I adopted a dairy free diet, I'd never given even the slightest thought to vegan desserts, why would I? So when I said no to milk, I got curious about the illusive tofu cheesecake. After tasting a few VERY bland examples, I have come up with a recipe that is delicious, SO easy to make, and produced a product that has been licked from the plate by unsuspecting tasters, always shocked when I tell them it's tofu. Now I am not saying this is healthy, but without the presence of cream, cream cheese etc, it is a healthier alternative and exceptionally indulgent.

One thing I would point out, is that you need to beat the tofu really well to get a smooth consistency and get rid of any white flecks.

It's best made the the day before you want to serve it.

Ingredients:

For the base

200g dairy free ginger nuts, broken

2 Tbs dairy free margarine, melted

For the cheesecake

1 400g pkt of silken tofu (hard variety)

1/4 c soft brown sugar

1/4 c caster sugar

1/4 cup cocoa, sifted

1 tsp vanilla essence

100g dark, dairy free chocolate. Set aside about 20g to serve, then grate half of the remaining chocolate and finely chop the other half

200g fresh cherries, halved and stoned. Finely chop half, and reserve half for serving

Icing sugar to dust

To make:

1) Lightly grease a lose based 20cm cake tin, line the bottom with some baking parchment and turn the oven to 180°c or gas mark 4.

2) Put the biscuits in a food processor and whizz until they are fine crumbs. Add the softened margarine and pulse again so the crumbs bond together when pressed. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the tin and cook for 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to cool completely.

3) Discard any excess liquid from the tofu and put it into a large bowl. Beat well with an electric whisk.

4) Add in both sugars and cocoa and blend until smooth with the whisk. Add the vanilla essence and mix.

5) With a wooden spoon, stir in the grated and chopped chocolate and the chopped cherries. Mix together well, pour over the cold base and use a spatula to smooth the surface.

6) Bake for 25 -30 minutes, take out of the oven and cool in the tin. The top will crack a little and should be coming away from the edges. Refrigerate (still in the tin) for at least 2 hours until thoroughly set.

7) Remove from the tin and serve topped with the remaining cherry halves and the rest of the chocolate, grated, then dust with icing sugar.

It tastes best if you take it out of the fridge and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Delicious with plain soy (or dairy) yogurt.

Salmon and Roast Vegetables

Salmon is bursting with health properties. It's high in omega 3 which is good for brain development, healthy skin and hair, and studies have shown anti cancer properties and reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease. Plus it tastes delicious.

This is a dish I have been making for years and it never fails to please. The richness of the salmon goes especially well with sweet roast vegetables, like sweet potato, carrot, red onion and butternut. You can use whichever veggies you like, the below is simply a suggestion. I do try to aim for a spectrum of different colours to keep it visually interesting as well as delicious. All the vegetables have different cooking times, so it's a matter of just adding them in at different points. Remember - the vegetables will shrink while cooking, so don't be overwhelmed by the quantities (and they always taste delicious the next day if they last that long!). Generally I allow an hour to cook and prepare this meal.

Ingredients:

For the salmon

2 fillets fresh salmon, skinned and boned

1 Tbs soy sauce (s)

1 tsp crushed garlic (s)

Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tsp) (s)

1 tsp clear honey (s)

1 cm fresh ginger, grated (s)

1/2 tsp dried dill (s)

Ground black pepper (s)

For the vegetables

1 tsp celery salt

Freshly ground back pepper

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced lengthways ten cut into 2-3cm cubes

1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 6 wedges

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 2 cm cubes

1 red or yellow capsicum, thickly sliced

a small head of broccoli, cut into small florets and precooked for 1 minutes in the microwave

1 large courgette, sliced thickly

6 mushrooms, quartered

To serve

capers

lemon wedges

To make:

1) Marinate the salmon with all of the ingredients listed under 'for the salmon'. Rather than mixing them all first, I just place the fillets in a shallow, flat based bowl and pour each one over the salmon one by one, diving the application evenly among the two. Leave in the fridge to marinate until needed, turning once.

2) Turn the oven to 200 °c or gas mark 6. Line 2 oven trays with tin foil and a drizzle of olive oil. Start by putting the carrots on a tray on their own in the oven for 10 minutes, then add the onion, capsicum and sweet potato across both trays, making sure they are evenly spread. Sprinkle over celery salt, pepper, dried rosemary and another drizzle of olive oil. Toss everthing together and return to the oven. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes before adding the broccoli and courgette and turning everything again.

3) After another 25 minutes, add the mushrooms and toss everything really well.

4) Make a space on the tray with the mushrooms for the salmon and add the fillets, pouring any left over marinate over the fillets (this will cook nicely into the vegetables). After 10 minutes of cooking, put the salmon under the grill for 5 minutes, or until cooked through and the edges are charring.

5) Serve on a platter with lemon wedges and capers.

Serves 2 with leftover veggies.

Creamy Celery and Celeriac Soup

This soup is a dieter's dream when trying to shed a few of those Xmas pounds. It is so creamy, that it's hard to believe it's just veg. Plus it's super easy to make.

This was originally a Weight Watchers' recipe that has evolved a little over time.

Ingredients:

Low fat cooking spray

1 large onion, diced

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp celery salt

ground pepper

1 large celeriac, diced

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 stock cube

1L boiling water

1 bay leaf

To make:

1)Cook the onion over a medium low heat with some cooking spray for about 5 minutes, until soft but not brown. Add the garlic, celery salt and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

2)Add celery, celeriac, bay leaf and stir together, then crumble in the stock cube and pour in the water.

3)Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until veggies are really soft.

4)Remove the bay leaf, pour soup into a blender and give it a really good blend so it's very smooth.

Serves 4

"Butter" Biscuits

While January should be the month of detox, I was the very happy recipient of a biscuit press this Christmas, so of course testing was a must.

This press also functions as an icing gun, which was why

I originally wanted it. But the biscuit press really is a little bit fabulous. It shapes the dough out like Danish butter biscuits.

A few things to note when using a biscuit press - I had to use a bit of trial and error.

1) Use a recipe formulated for a biscuit press (like below)

2) Obviously recipes with chunks in them won't work as the chunks will get caught in the press

3) Don't use baking paper or a greased tray or the dough won't stick - use foil to line your baking trays and don't grease it

You can either ice the biscuits together, like I have, or sprinkle them with some demura sugar and cinnamon before cooking.

The recipe below is halved from one that I've had for ages, hence the half egg - the original full quantity would make lots of biscuits, perfect for gifts or events.

Ingredients:

3/4 c dairy free spread

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 an egg

1 Tbs soy milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 3/4c plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

To make:

1) Turn the oven to 190°c or gas mark 5.

2) Cream the spread and sugar until pale and fluffy

3) Mix in the egg, vanilla and soy milk until well combined.

4) Sift in half the flour and baking powder at a time and mix it really well after each addition until you have a smooth dough.

5) Load up the biscuit press and push the cookies out onto your foiled tray. Bake for about 20 minutes, but check after 15. They should be slightly golden.

For the icing...

Ingredients:

1 heaped Tbs dairy free spread

1 c icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

a few drops of hot water to mix

then for whatever flavour you'd like, add:

Cinnamon creme

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Chocolate and hazelnut

1 tsp cocoa

2 Tbs very finely chopped hazelnuts

Lemon

omit vanilla and replace with lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

Mix the spread and icing sugar together and then add the other ingredients. You may need to add a little more liquid or sugar to get a smooth but firm icing. Pipe onto the underside of one biscuit and sandwich another on top. Dust with icing sugar.

Makes about 50 individual biscuits.