Green & Clean Smoothie

I've just spent the weekend at home being spoilt both in quality and sheer quantity of food. My mother definitely has the 'oh, won't you just have a little bit more' attitude, 'It's so boring to have this last bit left'. So, I agree to be her living compost heap, if nothing else than to save unnecessary confrontation. 

So, come Monday, I needed a green start to my day and a moment to pause before the week began.

This might not be the most impressive recipe you've seen but let this post be this; a simple reminder that we don't have to spend £3.90 at some well branded smoothie bar to get ourselves some rip roaring nutrients. You really can just add some basic ingredients to your online shop and replace the buttered toast for a power smoothie. Start your morning as you want to end your day, feeling energised and healthy.

I won't patronise readers by giving you quantities of ingredients. Go with your gut instinct, buy seasonal fruit and vegetables and experiment with flavours. One tip is do use fresh mint and ginger. These ingredients in particular, tend to give a whole gorgeous layer of flavour. 

Almond Ice Cream Biscuits by Judes

My friends at Judes Ice Cream have worked very hard to produce a dairy free ice cream - amazingly they have managed to use raw cocoa butter from cold-pressed cacao beans rather than cream. They've combined it with raw cocoa nibs and sugar for a seriously intense and chocolatey ice cream. You'd never know it wasn't your average dairy flurry. A first for the ice cream industry, I think.  

Last week I was tasked with taking pics of the ice cream sandwiched in-between homemade, dairy free biscuits. This is the result. 

ALMOND ICE CREAM BISCUITS

Prep Time – 12 minutes

Cook Time – 12-15 minutes

Makes 24

INGREDIENTS

500g Ground Almonds

250g Caster Sugar

½ tsp salt

A few drops vanilla essence

75g flaked almonds

12 small scoops of Judes Dairy Free Ice Cream

METHOD

1/ Preheat the oven to 180C, fan 160, gas 4.

2/ In a large bowl mix the ground almonds, egg white, caster, salt and vanilla essence until you have a thick, sticky paste.

3/ Shape small spoonfuls of the almond mixture into balls, roughly the size of a walnut, and place on baking sheet. Flatten slightly before pressing in a scattering of flaked almonds

4/ Bake for 12-15 minutes, until pale and golden. Cool on tray before sandwiching with small scoops of ice cream. Eat immeadiately or freeze until required, remembering to remove from the freezer 10 minutes before eating. 

GIVEAWAY - Take One Veg

Publication day today. It's funny, not too much has happened except Jasper & I gently toasting each other with apple juice over breakfast. 

We have some books to giveaway so if you'd like your own copy, simply follow @fuggleantics and upload a veg inspired image to Istagram with the hashtag - #takeoneveg. The best will be sent a copy in the post. It's that easy!

Pic by the very talented Tori Hancock 

Take One Veg

Life feels full at the moment. It’s a blur of slow, precious moments and far faster, caffeine fuelled days.  

Yesterday after a morning of chaos, my boys were both sleeping and an unexpected delivery made me smile; ten copies of my new book. They were there, looking professional and finished, the punctuation mark at the end of an 18 month chapter.

Take One Veg is a collection of vegetarian recipes. The book has six chapters, each divided into clusters of different varieties, loosely based on scientific families. Like all plants, every vegetable we eat is part of a specific plant family, there are nine major groups ranging from the strident Brassicaceae (think all things cabbage-like) to the Cucurbitaceae (an umbrella term for the marrow clan). Each of the recipes has a ‘star of the show’, a lead vegetable that the other ingredients will follow. Some will feel very familiar; the cosy recognisable carrot while others may not, the lime green, Romanesco cauliflower.

I included a variety of recipes, big beefy winter warmers, summer salads and a few sweets to suit occasions throughout your year.

Writing the book was a journey. There were many moments when I metaphorically sped along the costal roads, not another car in sight and loved the experience. There were other times that I needed guidance and support. But here we are, publication day on the 5^th March and it feels amazing to have a copy in my hand. Spring dawns and I have a renewed bounce in my step.

The book is now available to buy in Waterstones and Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-One-Veg-tempting-recipes/dp/0857832336)

Proper Gluten Free Chocolate & Coffee Cake

My friend dave has been a little inspiration to us. A qualified doctor who was both frustrated and tired of the NHS has taken a major sabbatical. He moved out of his home (into our top floor), sold his furniture and decided to take stock on life. He indulged his coffee obsession by painstakingly learning how to perfect a flat white at a local coffee house. He watched movies about coffee. He started to make friends with serious barrista's. He read books on coffee and created recipes with coffee. 

This is his cake. 

For now, he's left us and gone to explore another culture. I admire his bravery and the space he gives his mind to wonder, I should like to do the same. 

Flourless Chocolate & Coffee Cake

200g Almonds

200g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)

175g butter 

70g caster sugar

4 eggs, separated 

25ml very strong espresso 

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and grease and line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

Blitz the almonds in a food processor until just finely ground – don’t over-pulse as they will start to become sticky.

Melt the dark chocolate and butter together with the espresso in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until thick and pale – about 5 minutes with a handheld electric whisk.

Fold the chocolate mixture in to the egg and sugar mixture and then fold in the ground nuts.

In a separate clean bowl, whisk the egg whites in to stiff peaks and then fold this in to the cake mixture.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. If you prefer a gooey chocolate pudding then remove 5 minutes beforehand for a slightly undercooked feel.

Rooftop Cafe, London Bridge

There is something satisfying about simply finding the Rooftop Cafe. You enter through a rather unlikely forecourt, make your way up winding stairs and follow skinny corridors until the entrance arrives.  The former caretaker's office now houses an open kitchen, two separate dining area's and a phenomenal view. The interior is all plywood, citrus colours and benches with a terrace that houses herbs and vegetables in warmer months; it's fun. 

The menu changes daily with just four starters, five mains and four puddings. Like the interior, it's similarly stripped back. The breakfasts are generous and unfussy, the coffee is good and the bill isn't terrifying. 

For me, it's ideal. It's practically on the forecourt of London Bridge Station and so an easy one for a Brighton/London meet up, just over an hour from door to forecourt so there's no excuse not to. Even with a baby in tow. 

http://www.therooftopcafe.co.uk

 

Sticky Date & Banana Cake (Sugar Free & Dairy Free)

I’ve been set a challenge, a challenging challenge, but I will tell you about that in one moment. Before I do, did you know that now one in four of us are actively trying to avoid gluten and/or dairy? A few years ago the ‘dairy free’ aisle was the domain only of those diagnosed medically as lactose intolerant, but now many are indulging in the perceived health benefits. 

A friend who is lactose intolerant asked me to develop a cake that was dairy-free and sugar-free but wasn’t dry, wasn’t tasteless and didn’t ‘lack luster’. The task has been completed and I think the result is totally yummy. The loaf cake uses date syrup for the sugar hit (though you can replace with agave syrup), almond milk instead of eggs and all bran for a low gluten count. The method couldn’t be easier, the texture is squidgy and the taste, almost treacle like. Try it and let me know what you think.

STICKY DATE & BANANA CAKE

(Sugar free, gluten free and dairy free)

Makes 1 loaf cake

150g All Bran

2 ripe banana’s (200g), mashed

300ml almond milk

200ml date syrup (or agave)

200g dried dates, roughly chopped

100g gluten free flour

1/ Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin and set aside.

2/ This is the easy bit. Empty all the ingredients, except the flour, into a medium sized mixing bowl. Gently combine and allow to sit for 20 minutes.

3/ Stir through the flour and empty the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Cook for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Serve in slices.