Special Green Beans.

Because sometimes plain French beans just don't cut it! This would be nice as an accompaniment to a roast for a change, or you could even replace your chips with them for a healthier meal.

Recipe adapted from Simply Scratch

Ingredients:
2 packets green beans (or however many you want)
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 mugful breadcrumbs made from stale bread (3 or 4 slices would be plenty - I used the remains from gluten free loaf I'd made)
1 mugful finely grated strong white cheese (I used Cornish Gove, but Cheddar would be fine)
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Boil the green beans in salted water for 3-4 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water to retain the bright green colour. Pat dry. 
2. Get your station ready! Mix the grated cheese and breadcrumbs together in a bowl, with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Dip the DRY green green in the egg whites, then in the breadcrumb/cheese mix. Place on a baking tray.
3. Place the green beans in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown. Serve hot.

Lightened Up Broccoli Tart

I was asked to make something fairly healthy that my family could easily take to work/uni for lunch, so I immediately thought "broccoli". Not only is it the tastiest vegetable (not open for debate!), but it's high in iron and protein and for my gym-obsessed cousin that's just the ticket. I say this is "lightened up" as the recipe called for 250ml double cream, which I replaced with 0% fat plain yoghurt - bit of a difference!

Recipe adapted from The Great British Bake Off recipe book.

For the pastry: 

200g plain flour

100g cold unsalted butter

50g walnuts, finely ground (this adds a nice nuttiness you don't often get in a tart)

4-5 tbsp. ice cold water

For the filling:

1 head broccoli, cooked al dente in salted boiling water

250ml natural yoghurt (or substitute crème fraiche) 

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp each of parsley, smoked paprika and herbes de provence

150g grated cheese (I used Cornish Gove but Cheddar would work just as well) 

Instructions:

1. For the pastry, tip the flour and butter into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Rub the mixture together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the walnuts.

2. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until the mix comes together and looks like a dough. Knead the pastry then rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

4. Roll the pastry out between two sheets of cling film, remove the cling film and use the pastry to line a 25cm/10in tart tin.

5. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake for a further five minutes, or until pale golden-brown.

6. Whilst the pastry is baking, mix the yoghurt with the crushed garlic and herbs. 

7. Once the pastry is pale golden-brown, assemble the broccoli on the tart base, then smother on the yoghurt mix. Top with the grated cheese. 

8. Bake in the oven for around 35-40 minutes (less time if you're using a small tin) until cooked through. 

This made enough for one large and one small broccoli tart, with pastry left over, which I filled with leftovers from the fridge - chorizo, Boursin and coleslaw. 

Simple Broccoli Rabe.

The inspiration for this came from my last visit to the States, where we bought this from a little deli on the outskirts of St Louis. I've made it a few times, but this one is lighter as I've replaced the mayo I normally use for plain yoghurt. Try it for an alternative picnic dish - it's oh-so summery!

Ingredients:

2 heads broccoli

200 ml plain yoghurt

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. caster sugar

A handful of slivered almonds

A handful of dried cranberries

Instructions:

1. Cook the broccoli in salted boiling water until al dente.

2. Mix together the yoghurt, vinegar and sugar.

3. Drain the broccoli and add to the serving dish. Mix in the yoghurt sauce, and scatter the almonds and cranberries on top.

4. Leave to rest in the fridge and serve cold. 

My juice detox.

After my super unhealthy last few days in France (did you see the amount of cream on everything I ordered?!), I decided to undertake a juice detox. Mum bought me a juicer especially for my return back home! Obviously she's seen the pictures.. 

So a juice fast for 3 days - how hard could it be?

First off, buying the quantity of fruit and greens BEFORE I EVEN STARTED was eye opening (and expensive!). But this amount of goodness must surely do me some good, yes?

Day One: 

Start with a cup of green tea for a slight caffeine hit. I need my caffeine! 

Breakfast juice: 
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. flax seed
1 punnet raspberries
A handful of spinach
1 Tbsp. almond butter
Squeeze of lemon
1 mashed banana (bananas can't go in the juicer due to their make up)

I really enjoyed this juice! The almond butter gives a depth and a thickness to the otherwise watery juice, but even without the sweetness of the raspberries makes it taste good. I didn't enjoy the texture of the mashed banana in it - it's lumpy and you have to eat it at the end. Reminds me of baby food.. Yuk. You don't notice the spinach at all, so I'm getting in my veggies without realising!




Lunch juice:
4 celery stalks
1 cucumber
2 handfuls kale leaves
1/2 green apple
1/2 lime (put this in the juicer last)
1/2 mugful quinoa milk (or any non-dairy milk you have on hand)
1/3 of a fresh pineapple 

















This juice is a lot more green than the breakfast juice so I feel like it's probably better for me - less sugar, more goodness. That being said, I prefer the morning juice - probably for that exact reason! With this juice, the pineapple is a necessity - it brings the only sweetness to the drink.

I repeated the breakfast juice as I was feeling a touch peckish.. And to be fair, these juices do curb your appetite! I've not felt stupidly hungry all day.. It's more a mental thing, I think. I feel like I should eat, not I need to eat.




Evening juice:
1/3 of a fresh mango
1 punnet blueberries
1 1/2 mugfuls coconut water
2 handfuls kale leaves
1 cucumber
A squeeze of lemon
1/2 avocado
1 Tbsp. flax seeds

























This was nice, and the fact it has avocado in really fills you up for the rest of the evening. I went to bed feeling fine - I hate going to bed hungry! However, I did develop a bit of a headache but I was warned this would happen.

Day Two:

Woke up feeling light and clean.. I know that sounds weird, but I did. No hunger pangs and I slept better than I'd done in a while.

Green tea again.

Morning juice:
1 mug water
1 Tbsp. flax seed
2 punnets raspberries
A handful of spinach
1 Tbsp. almond butter
Squeeze of lemon

I omitted the mashed banana because I didn't like it, so I put in an extra load of raspberries. For some strange reason this juice was half the size of my breakfast juice yesterday, which I don't quite understand but hey, tasted good. I may have licked the spoon of the almond butter.. That's not cheating, right?

Lunch juice:
4 handfuls kale 
2 apples
2 handfuls spinach
1/2 cucumber
2 celery stalks
2 carrots

1″ ginger

Not the most attractive juice - in fact it looks like puréed grass. However this is my favourite so far! The ginger gives it a nice hit, but the juice just tastes so... fresh! It's all the tastes of summer: freshly cut grass, warmth on your neck. I think I've put the message across that I like this one! 

Dinner juice:

1/2 handful kale

1/3 of a fresh mango

1/4 of a fresh pineapple

Small handful of blueberries

1 Tbsp. flax seed

1 apple

This is basically just a green coloured pineapple juice - it's fine. Nothing to write home about though. The flax seeds didn't get crushed as well so I ended up with a sort of paste left at the end, which was rather icky. 

Day Three:

I woke up fairly hungry so I went straight for my morning juice and skipped my green tea - I'll save that for later.

Morning juice:
2 apples
1/2 cucumber
1 punnet blueberries
1" ginger
1 Tbsp. flax seed
Squeeze of lemon
1 handful kale

I may have overestimated 1" of ginger so that's all I can taste in this morning juice! Not overly pleasant I must admit. I do enjoy the colours of it though - reminds me of a cocktail!





























Lunch juice:
1 apple
2 stalks celery
1/2 punnet blueberries
2 carrots
Good glug of coconut water
1 handful kale

This was an unusual colour, but it tasted fabulous! I enjoyed this one massively, and didn't need an afternoon juice before having my evening one, though I did have a probiotic yoghurt. 



























My final juice! Also known as, using up what was left in the fridge:

1/2 cucumber
1 green apple
1/4 of a pineapple
1/3 of a mango
A handful of spinach
A small handful of kale
1 punnet raspberries
1 Tbsp. agave nectar

I whizzed up the ingredients and found it rather bitter, so I added in the agave syrup which improved it no end! Even my mother (who detests these juices and the idea of a juice detox) said she could drink it a couple of times a day if she were to undertake one.. Oh how one can change! 

So in all, it's been challenging - I definitely thought of packing in the towel on at least 3 occasions, but I'm so glad I didn't! I don't know if it's done me any good, but I certainly feel fresher - and as a bonus, I even lost 4lbs! I don't know whether I'd do any longer than 3 days, but I'm definitely going to aim to do at least one day a week - probably Monday, after the weekend binge.. 

Quick and simple stir fry.

Not having an oven here in France, I do tend to have the same go-to foods: quick, healthy (some of the time) and tasty. Because my kitchen is in another corridor, I can't just pop in in my pyjamas (which I am normally in by about 5pm) so the quicker the cooking, the quicker I can be in my jimjams. C'est génie, non?

Ingredients:

• Broccoli florets (depending on how hungry you are)
• Mushrooms, quartered
• olive oil
• chilli paste
• chilli flakes

Basically, whop it all in a pan and wait for it to get hot (keep stirring!). See, cooking's a doddle! 

My favourite breakfast ever.

I seem to be veering towards quick, easy meals at the moment: ones you can throw together without even getting your brain in gear. Which is nice. Means I get longer in bed.

Take this for example: 

It doesn't even need a recipe. A crumpet, toasted just-so, smothered in agave syrup. Could it get better? Why yes. A dollop of fat-free natural yoghurt and blueberries. 

Full of antioxidants, natural sugar and low in fat, this is the perfect way to start your day!

Quick Couscous.

Couscous is the ultimate student meal - quick, cheap and tasty. You can throw in whatever you have lying around as well to create different flavours and textures.

Admittedly not the prettiest, it is uber-tasty. Don't judge it until you've tried it!

Ingredients: The list isn't definitive - add what you want to the couscous depending on what you have.

• Half a mug full of couscous (plain or flavoured)
• A whole mug of boiling water
• 1/4 cucumber, chopped
• Sprinkling of walnuts
• Sweet chilli sauce
• Paprika

1. Pour the dry couscous into a bowl and add the water. Stir so all the couscous is covered in water then leave to stand for 3-5 minutes, or until all the water has been soaked up by the couscous.
2. Fluff up the couscous with a fork.
3. Add your toppings! Mix the paprika with the couscous, then throw on the cucumber and walnuts and mix. Finish by splashing sweet chilli sauce over all of it. Enjoy!

Tom's Super Soup.

Soup is a fabulous filling meal, and doesn't have to contain unhealthy things like cream. This one is great for someone on a diet, or equally for someone who likes a bit of heat! 

Another special from Tom, he spoiled us and served this as our starter. Babe.

Have a smaller portion for a starter, or crank up the size for a main.

Ingredients:

• 6 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 3 red pepper, chopped
• olive oil
• fresh chopped chilli or chilli flakes 

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Throw the tomatoes and peppers onto a baking tray and smother in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven.
2. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, tossing them every ten or so. They should be perfectly roasted.
3. Put in a food blender or a large bowl if using a handheld whizzer. Blend to a thick liquid.
4. Add the chilli. You can freeze it or chill it in the fridge if you fancy gazpacho. Alternatively, serve as soon as it's soup-like! 

Tom's mushroom tagliatelli with home-made pesto.

As I am often told, being vegetarian is a pain for people when I go to theirs for dinner. Despite Tom moaning a little, he made this extraordinary pasta dish especially for me, for which I am uber-grateful. 

Courtesy of Tom, here it is!

For the home-made pesto (because shop bought stuff isn't veggie):

• handful of fresh basil leaves
• handful of pine nuts
• some veggie cheese (as much as you fancy), finely grated
• olive oil

1. This is so simple. Just chop the basil as finely as possible and put in a bowl. 
2. Chop the pine nuts to as close as a powder as possible. Add to the basil.
3. Throw in the cheese. 
4. Mix all together with a dash of olive oil. Start with a small amount of it then add more if needed. It should resemble a paste. And there you have it! Home-made pesto.

For the mushroom pasta:

• one batch home-made pesto
• 4/5 chestnut mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• two wheels of tagliatelli
• olive oil

1. Pour some salted boiling water into a saucepan and add the pasta. 
2. About 5 minutes later, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Throw in the mushrooms and sauté for a couple of minutes until soft. Add in the garlic.
3. When the pasta is cooked, drain and put back in the saucepan. Add in the garlic mushrooms and the home-made pesto and toss together until it's all coated. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper and serve. 

Voila! A lovely vegetarian pasta dish that's tasty but not too time consuming. 

Chestnut, porcini and shiitake mushroom risotto.

My first ever risotto! And, surprisingly, it didn't go wrong! Although as my flatmates and I have agreed, as long as there's cheese in something it'll generally taste amazing. It is rather a labour of love, but my god it's worth it. 

Being the unorganised person I am, I didn't have any butter or white wine, so I just used extra oil and more vegetable stock. Improvise people!

Ingredients: Have a boiled kettle on hand too!

• a generous splash of olive oil
• enough arborio rice for one
• a handful of dried mushrooms
• 4/5 chestnut mushrooms, chopped
• 2 spring onions or half a regular onion, chopped
• a little chilli if you fancy a kick
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 50g grated cheese (I used cheddar but Parmesan or mozzarella would do I'm sure!)

1. Add hot water to the dried mushrooms to "inflate" them as it were and leave for about 10/15 minutes. Pick out the mushrooms and crumble the stock cube into the leftover mushroom broth.
2. Heat some oil in a large, shallow frying pan and toss in the onions. Add the garlic and fry for 3-4 minutes. 
3. Throw in the fresh and dried mushrooms and cook until they lose their pale, uncooked colour. Season with salt and pepper. If using, add the chilli now.
4. Now for the scary bit. Tip in all the rice. KEEP STIRRING. Do not stop or it will stick to the bottom of the pan. Add another splash of olive oil.
5. Pour in half of the mushroom broth/stock. Stir until all of it has been soaked up by the rice. 
6. Pour in some more. This really is a matter of judgement - keep pouring in the mushroom broth/stock until the rice is cooked. You may need to use boiling water from the kettle if you run out of mushroom broth/stock. KEEP STIRRING.
7. Keep trying the rice - you don't want it al dente. 
8. When it's looking creamy and the rice is cooked, add in the cheese. Stir it in until it's melted.
9. Spoon onto your plate and demolish - it's that good.

Hot diggety dogs.

I heard about this the other day and decided to give it a go, but being a poor student I decided to make it simpler and therefore cheaper. Now I'm all for lots of ingredients and technique, but this recipe is so tasty that you'll forget how quick and easy it is! I served it up with frozen peas and some leftover goats cheese I stole from a restaurant.. Classy lady.

Give it a go and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Come on, everyone loves a good sausage.

Ingredients:

For the diggety dogs.

• 2 or 3 sausages (depending on how hungry you are! You can use proper meat sausages or veggie ones like I did)
• 1/2 white onion
• Good amount of sweet chilli sauce
• Olive oil

1. Firstly, heat your oven to about 200 degrees celsius (our student oven is rather old so you may need to turn it down to prevent your sausages burning). 
2. Chop your onions how you fancy them. Heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan. When it's hot, add the onions and fry, stirring often so as not to burn them.
3. Put the sausages in a heatproof dish (I used a mini lasagne one) and add a touch of olive oil. Smother in sweet chilli sauce and whack in the oven. 
4. Check the sausages and turn over after 5-7 minutes.
5. When the sausages are cooked (about 15-20 minutes depending on the size/thickness), remove from the oven and add the cooked onions. Toss with the sausages so that they're also covered in the sauce. 
6. Put back in the oven for another five minutes. If serving with peas, boil some water in the kettle now and cook them - they don't take long.
7. Et voila! Your hot diggety dogs are done! Drain your peas and cover in whatever cheese you find in your fridge so it melts a little bit. Dig in!