Healthy Version of a Chocolate Nut and Fruit Slice

This is my favourite sweet treat. I take it everywhere - when I'm travelling, hiking, biking, work.
For this batch I rolled them in coconut and sesame seeds, but for an easier option, just cut the mixture into squares......

2 cups raw almonds / cashews / macadamias
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sultanas
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoon LSA
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
Put all of above in a blender until crumbed, then add:

16 prunes
6 dates
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Process in food processor until well mixed. Press into a 30cm by 20cm container.
Refrigerate. Then cut into squares, or roll into balls and coat in coconut or sesame seeds, as pictured above.

Jo's Pasta Bake

I wouldn't normally eat high cheese high carby food, but this was really to use up some leftovers in the fridge (tapenade, stale bread, leftover lentils and olives). Plus we didn't have many veggies in the fridge.... So.... Jo's pasta bake was born. I made it a bit more healthy by adding lentils, brown pasta instead of white, and loading it with vegetables. And best of all it was actually really yum! The quantities and ingredients are really flexible, so take the opportunity to use up some things in your fridge. Some ideas are: pesto, olives, sundried tomatoes, capsicums, carrots, mushrooms, courgettes....

Ingredients:

- 670 jar passata (or equivalent in cans of tomatoes)
- 1 onion (I actually didn't use an onion, as didn't have one)
- Handful of olives, pipped and halved (I used kalamata).
- About 1 cup cooked lentils (I used red, but I think any would do)
- 4-5 semi-dried tomatoes, chopped
- About 1/4 capsicum, chopped
- Big pile of leaves (I used spinach and beetroot leaves, but you could prob use silverbeet, kale, other)
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 2 medium cloves garlic or 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon chilli tapenade (optional)
- Fresh herbs (I used oregano, but you could use basil, parsley)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups wholemeal penne pasta, boiled until aldente
- 3 slices bread, chopped finely. (I used stale vogels)
- Roughly 1.5 cups grated cheese

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (celsius). If you are using an onion, saute that first in a pot. Then put everything else except penne, bread and cheese in the pot, bring to the boil, then simmer until leaves have softened. (Only takes about 10 minutes). Then mix in cooked pasta. Turn off heat.
In a medium sized dish, put about half the pasta mix. Then half bread, and half the cheese. Then put the remaining pasta mix, followed by the remaining bread and cheese.
Bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Yum.

Lentil and Bean Chilli

This is a slight variation on Nigella Lawson's vegetarian chilli.

  
Ingredients:

• Oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large red capsicum, deseeded and finely diced
• Fresh chilli or chilli flakes to taste (approx 1 tsp) (I used chillis from the garden ;-)...)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 cardamom pods, crushed, shells removed
• 150g red lentils
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 375ml water
• 1 can black beans
• 1 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Fresh herbs (eg: oregano / parsley)

1. Add oil, onion, garlic and capsicum to a large pan and cook until soft. (10 minutes)
2. Add the chilli, coriander, cumin, cardamom – and stir.
3. Add the tomatoes, lentils, water, kidney beans, ketchup, tomato puree, cocoa and bring to the boil.
4. Simmer, covered, for 30-45 minutes or until lentils are cooked, stirring frequently. Rapidly boil if it’s too liquid.

I like to serve with brown rice and sour cream.

Spinach silverbeet parsley lemon and pear smoothie

I have no idea about the amounts:
Handful spinach
Handful sliverbeet or green lettuce
Handful parsley
(preferably from the garden)
Squeeze lemon
Canned pears

Whizz it up. Yum!

Where I Source my Inspiration

Websites:
 - Seasonal Alchemist http://www.seasonalalchemist.com/?cat=174#axzz2vP0pPZOa
- Wild Health Food  http://www.wildhealthfood.com/
- Capital Living http://pbearinwelly.blogspot.co.nz/
- Treehouse Kitchen http://treehousekitchen.net/
- My Darling Lemon Thyme http://www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com/p/recipes.html
- Couscous and Consciousness http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.co.nz/
- Craving Fresh http://www.cravingfresh.com/p/about-me.html
- Girl Interrupted Eating http://girlinterruptedeating.wordpress.com/
- Welly Kai http://wellykai.co.nz/
- Eat and Greet http://eatandgreet.co.nz/ (Wellington Eateries)
- Gingerlovecare http://gingerlovecare.blogspot.co.nz/p/recipes.html
- How Now Brown Chow http://hownowbrownchow.blogspot.co.nz/
- Farm Girl Fare http://www.farmgirlfare.com/
-cookie and Kate http://cookieandkate.com/category/food-recipes/entrees/

Books:
- Wild Vegan, Angela Stafford
- Real Fresh Food, Anna and Roger Wilde
- The Curry Bible
- Fresh, Julie Biuso
- An Appetite for Destruction, Gareth Morgan
- Optimum Nutrition Made Easy, Patrick Holford
- The Bean Cookbook
- Don't Quit Sugar, Cassie Platt

Warm Roast Vegetable & Lentil Salad with Dukkah & Sundried Tomatoes

This is a super yummy salad or light dinner....

Source: A slight variation on Warm Roast Vegetable & Lentil Salad with Zahtar & Sundried Tomatoes from Nourish Magazine NZ (Waikato)


Ingredients

200g baby beetroot, peeled and halved
200g baby carrots, scrubbed and stalk removed
400g tinned lentils
4 sun dried tomatoes
Handful fresh parsley
Handful fresh coriander
1 Tsp dukkah
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper

Method

Pre heat oven to 180C
Drain the tinned lentils, then place in a large bowl.

Place the beetroot and carrots on a roasting tray and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Keep the beetroot and carrot separate if you don’t want the beetroot to turn the carrots pink.

Roast for 20 minutes, they’ll still be a little crunchy, then add to the bowl of lentils.

Blend together the sundried tomatoes, parsley, coriander, dukkah, balsamic and olive oil to a thick dressing.

Add the dressing to the bowl with the lentils & roasted vegetables and mix through.

Season with salt & pepper to taste and serve warm or chill in the fridge to serve later cold.

Suggested partners: Venison sausages