I am very excited to share that I have launched a brand new food based podcast, The Foodbod Pod, a total celebration of food, by food lovers, for food lovers. Focussed on celebrating home cooks and bakers, I’d love it if you fancied tuning in and having a listen, and let me know what you think.
Find the full details and how to listen on my new website Foodbod Pod, click to visit and hear all about it…
We will be bringing you monthly podcast episodes – click over to listen to our very first episode, available NOW, worldwide, and hear us tell you all about it and what’s coming up. I am so excited about this, I truly hope you love it, and that you’ll join us for the ride – let me know what you think!
I have followed Hanady’s food blog for many years and have loved everything about it, every dish and creation, the flavours, the colours, the stories, the endlessly fabulous inspiration. And now, I’m so excited for Hanady as she has had a book published to celebrate all of this! And which is why you’ll find a quote from me on the back…
Please do check it out, the book is full of flavoursome recipes, but also tips on processes, pantry staples and ingredients. And threaded with Hanady’s love of beautiful food made from the heart, drawing on her heritage and travels.
Visit Hanady’s blog for more details and where to find the book where you are.
Enjoy! And once again, huge congratulations to Hanady for this wonderful achievement xx
This salad is packed full of flavour and goodness…to make this I chopped fresh spinach and coriander in a blender, added fresh garlic, spices, pomegranate molasses and olive oil. I think stirred it through freshly cooked bulgur wheat, cooked my way.
This was great eaten with some roasted tomatoes and some of my white bean, buttermilk and tahini sauce from my previous post 💚
In this bowl is a salad I made recently topped with a newly created dip/sauce and sprinkled with some dried barberries and za’atar.
For the salad, I chopped fresh coriander and parsley with garlic and sunblush semi dried tomatoes. I stirred in some olive oil and seasoning as well as some ground roasted cumin seeds, before mixing it with quinoa cooked my way.
To make the sauce/dip, I blended soft white cooked beans with buttermilk, tahini, lemon juice and garlic until I got a consistency and flavour that I liked.
Sorry for the lack of weights and measures but I do tend to just throw things together!
Sometimes my meals are literally a result of opening the fridge and cupboard and seeing what can be thrown into a pan and made into something fabulous…right now, this is a perfect way to use what might be hiding in your fridge or cupboard.
Spices are a real gift right now, they can brighten up any meal, they can take any ingredient for zero to hero in a short sprinkle…check out my ‘pimp your veg’ section for ideas of where to start…
This pan pretty much had a handful of everything I had that needed using up, including previously roasted garlic, aubergine and tomatoes. With some homemade harissa and a herby mixture thrown over the top. Use whatever sauces or pastes you can find in your cupboard, veg from your freezer, things that need using up..
I topped mine with goats cheese and toasted flaked almonds but you could also use it as a topper for grains, alongside eggs, or the protein of your choice…now is the time to get creative, see what you can rustle up!!
If you’d like more ideas, check out my recipe index and tags or let me know if I can help..stay safe xx
Having recently fallen in love with marmite peanut butter and used it in some recipes, I decided to see what I could create of my own version.
Please note: Making nut butters requires a sturdy food processor as it can take some time for the nuts to ‘give’ and become a paste. It’s easy for motors to get burnt out!
For this concoction, I roasted some cashew nuts myself, then kept a portion back to be able to add them later and keep some crunch in the mixture. I also needed to add some oil to loosen the mix so I used a relatively flavourless rapeseed oil.
Be warned if you do make this, it’s very tasty!!! And very easy to eat 😄😄😄😄
Ingredients
400g roasted cashew nuts
Marmite
Rapeseed oil
Method
In a blender, start blending 300g of the nuts. It will take quite a while before it starts to become a paste, 5-10 minutes. Add 2-3 teaspoons of marmite once then nuts do become a paste, the amount will depend on your tastes.
You may find that the added marmite stiffens the mixture, so this is when to drizzle in some oil to loosen it again.
Next add the remaining nuts and blend briefly to create a crunchy finish.
If you prefer a smooth paste, add all of the nuts at the beginning.
Use as you would marmite peanut butter, or any nut butter or spread.
I did the same with some roasted hazelnuts…which worked equally well!
This was one of those creations that was driven by what I had in the fridge, and the desire for a big lunch packed with fresh vegetables…
This is my typical meal: a pan, a splash of olive oil, and lots of vegetables!
This one includes lots of chopped up courgette/zucchini, garlic, spinach, and aubergine, with a couple of spoon fulls of my homemade harissa sauce stirred through it.
Over the top I drizzled tahini and a few handfuls of toasted pumpkin seeds for the added protein, good oils and crunch! A whole huge pan of goodness!
This dish was one of those creations that starts off in one direction then takes on another, which is why I probably can’t really call it a ‘curry’, although that was the base. The addition of the marmite peanut butter (yes it’s a thing, and it’s SOOOOOO GOOD!) added a perfect extra flavour and texture to the dish at the end of cooking. If you don’t have access to this product, use standard peanut butter and add some marmite or an alternative umami flavouring that you like, or just the peanut butter.
I pre cooked the aubergines to ensure that they were fully cooked and as meltingly soft as they should be – in my view, very few things are worse than uncooked chunks of aubergine in a dish!
Ingredients
3 small aubergines, roasted whole (below)
12 baby plum tomatoes
1 small red onion peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
200-300ml thin coconut milk
2-3 heaped tablespoons marmite peanut butter
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Option: I also added some leftover whole roasted garlic cloves that I had previously roasted.
Method
To roast the aubergines, prick the skins in several places, place them on an oven tray and roast at 200C/400F until they soften and collapse. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a large pan, heat some oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and mustard seeds to the pan and cook until the onion softens. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, add the cumin seeds and chilli powder and cook briefly.
Add the tomato purée and coconut milk. Stir well and cook for a few minutes.
Roughly chop the aubergines and add them and the whole tomatoes to the pan, add the peanut butter and keep stirring as the heat allows it to soften and spread through the mixture. This is when the sauce will thicken up and the real flavour will develop.
Turn the heat down and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Serve immediately with rice or grains, or allow it to sit for several hours or days to develop flavour.
Sometimes when you want a lovely tasty healthy meal but it’s the end of the week and you’re down to store cupboard options, all you need is some passata and spices to create a yummy thick kind of soup!
I emptied a carton of passata (sieved tomatoes) into a pan, added garlic powder, onion powder, roasted ground cumin, ground paprika, chilli powder and Mexican oregano, and a good glug of olive oil. I let it simmer and bubble (well covered as it spit everywhere!) for 10 minutes to develop the flavours.
I then served it up with a topping of chopped spring onions, grated cheese and toasted pumpkin seeds.
foodbod 