Rhubarb & Ginger Compote, with Honey Pecan Granola & Strawberry Yogurt Pots

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Dashing Dessert Breakfast

Looking for a breakfast that tastes as good as a dessert. That packs a nutritional punch, with some great healthy fats and a good whack of protein and calcium. Then look not further. If all that nutritional waffle has put you off - do not be deterred! These are super yummy, pretty snacks that can be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Granola is an old favorite of mine - perfect start to the day with fruit and yogurt. I have three recipes here, here and here. To this one I added a good handful of crushed pecan nuts, desiccated coconut, a tablespoon of vegetable oil and a tablespoon of honey


Returning shame faced after a run in the park I tucked into one of these. Some lovely army men were doing maneuvers in the park. They promptly all sprinted passed me, they were however in full gear and carrying huge backpacks. Ah well - what can you do. I was carrying a set of keys!

Ingredients - Makes 6 portions
Rhubarb Compote
4 stems of rhubarb - cut into 3cm chunks
3cm of fresh ginger grated finely
1 tablespoon of brown sugar


750 ml of yogurt - I used Glenisk
1 punnet of strawberries
1 jar of granola (links for recipe above)


Pre-heat oven to 150c


Method
To make the compote mix together the rhubarb, ginger and sugar in a small oven proof dish. Cover and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft. Allow to cool.


Get glass ramekins, wineglasses or any small containers you have that are made of glass. Cut strawberries length ways in 1/4 cm slices. Push them up against the side of the glass to show the cut side out. Then layer in alternate layers of yogurt, compote and granola. Finish with a layer of granola.


Serve and enjoy. There are lots of alternative fruits you cold use such as blackberries, apple, mango or raspberries. Feel free to use other flavored yogurt, or make your own by stirring the compote through a whole pot of yogurt.

Saffron Spiced Bulgur Pilaf with Pomegranate

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Anti-oxidant Rich and Quick

So I have a quick hour to prepare some dinner after work before nipping off to rehearsal. I’d also like some food for my lunch tomorrow, so decide to make up a kind of fancy bulgur pilaf. Something full on flavour and light on time. You can substitute the bulgur for cous-cous, quinoa or rice if you have them handy.

Ingredients
2 as a main - 3 as a side
1 cup of bulgur wheat
5 strands of saffron
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small red onion - finely diced
2 small cloves of garlic crushed
2 teaspoons of poppy seeds
1 large handful of cashews
1 handful of raisins
1/2 pomegranate - seeds
big pinch of garam masala

In a pan - add one cupful of hot water to the saffron strands, crush the strands gently with a wooden spoon to release the colour. Leave to steep while you prepare the rest of your dinner.

Fry the onion, in a non-stick pan, for two minutes over a medium heat for a few minutes before adding in the garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garam masala and cook for another minute. Stir in the bulgur wheat until coated with oil, then add in the saffron water, and then another cup of water. Bring to a simmer and cook for three minutes, add a little more water if this begins to stick.

Stir in the seeds, raisins and cashew nuts when you think it’s cooked. A big bunch of freshly chopped parsley would be great stirred in here, or some fresh coriander if you have some. Stir in the pomegranate seeds when off the heat, reserve a few more for garnish.

This makes a great side to serve alongside baked sweet potatoe falafel or hummus, or alongside some sticky ginger roast chicken legs. It would be a great little dish to bring along to a picnic or buffet lunch. The yellow from the saffron and the red little jewels of pomegranate seeds make it a very pretty side dish. I served it with some carrots that I parboiled and then glazed with honey and balsamic vinegar and popped under the grill to get rich and brown.

Japanese Green Bean Salad

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> The pit-falls of food photography

Sometimes it’s just very hard to take a photo food, to convey how delicious it was, to keep on re-arranging your composition while your dinner is getting cold, it’s a stressful business at time. In an ideal world I guess I would make an extra dish, but most of the time you’re feeding yourself and your housemates, or friends, so it’s all going to get eaten straight away. So here’s my first attempt at a recipe with no photo at all, none - zip!

Lola cooked some baked potatoes which we had with some butter and sea salt and a big grind of black pepper. Perfect. Along side this we served a nice salad of blanched green beans with a Japanese dressing. A wonderfully simple supper, but sometimes, this is as good as a super complicated dinner using 35 ingredients. The dressing was so good I thought it was well worth sharing.

Ingredients

1/3 Teaspoon of wasabi powder (you can use pre-mixed also though it may not be as hot)

1/5 Teaspoons of dark soy sauce

2 Tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds

1/3 large clove of garlic

Milled pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Blanch your bean sin boiling water for two minutes, until they take on a bright green colour. Drain and rinse under a cold tap to halt the cooking. You could also steam the beans.

Toast the seeds until fragrant under a hot grill - keep an eye on them, they can burn in a few short seconds.

Mix the other ingredients together in a small cup. Combine all three and serve.

A few sliced and toasted almons would also be great in here, as would be a finely sliced red chilli, and some cubes of marinated and fried tofu. The hotness of the wasabi makes this a nice salad to serve in the winter, but would also work equally well during the summer months - on a picnic, with some nice salmon! Summer dreaming in the February rain!

January Detox Vegetable Bowl

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It's never too late

Well now, I know that this recipe is coming a little late into January, but after the turkey, ham, 20 different kinds of cheese, new years in a house with a deep fat fryer, the big freeze necessitating comfort food and then a quick trip to the alps with all the fondue and frites France could provide, I’m just getting down to a bit of healthy eating. It’s never too late don’t ya know.

I got loads of nice food pressies for Christmas - and this dish gave me a chance to use my new mandolin, thanks mum! It’s grate!! (sorry it had to be done) Basically it’s a nice big bowl of stir-fried veg with some nice dressing and a sprinkling of omega 3 rich nuts and seeds. It would make a nice side dish with some grilled salmon or a nicely fried pork chop, to make a nice low carb meal. The cabbage really looks like spaghetti in this shot, so you could pretend. It would also be super yum with red cabbage

Ingredients
Serves 1 as a main - 2 as a side
1/4 of a head of cabbage - finely sliced
2 small carrots - finely slice
1 white onion - finely sliced
4 spears of asparagus
3 cloves of garlic finely sliced
a handful of sliced almonds
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
a dash of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of white wine (or other ) vinegar
2 tablespoons of olive oil - and a little extra
1/3 teaspoon of English mustard
a handful of raisins/sultanas
Salt and Pepper

Under a hot grill toast the slivered almonds and sesame seeds, until turning nice and golden.

Heat up a dash of olive oil in a large frying pan/wok. When hot fire in your onion and garlic,, keep it moving gently with a wooden spoon, until soft and starting to take on a nice tinge of dark brown on some parts. Throw in the cabbage and carrots, and cook for two mins, keeping it moving still then fold in your asparagus tips and cook for another one minute.

Mix together the remaining ingredients to make your sauce., then stir it into the frying pan. Serve sprinkled with the toasted nuts and seeds, enjoy and feel virtuous. (PS I had a dream that there was lots of parsley in the fridge last night - Freud would say that if I could have, I would have, added some Parsley)

Carrot Salad with Galangal, Honey & Soy Dressing

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I'll Admit it's Autumn Salad

Now this week we're trying to detox a little - add a few vegetables back into the diet after a pretty unhealthy few weeks in New York. Having said that this recipe is inspired by a green salad that I ate on Broadway in a Japanese restaurant.. It had the most amazing ginger dressing - now that's an ingredient I hadn't considered as an ingredient in dressing before.

A simple carrot salad - improved by the addition of ginger - but alas - there was none in the house, so I used galangal root instead - which is similar to ginger but with a more intense heat and peppery taste.

Ingredients - two servings

4 carrots - peeled and grated

A handful of raisins

A handful of pumpkin seeds

A spoon of sesame seeds

Dressing

1 dessert spoon of white wine vinegar

1 serving spoon of olive oil

a thumb sized piece of galangal root - grated

1 teaspoon of honey

1 dessert spoon of Thai chili sauce - optional

1 clove of garlic minced - optional if you're not too keen on garlic

a pinch of asa foetida - optional

a pinch of salt

Freshly milled black pepper

a small pinch of turmeric

Pop your seeds on a baking tray under a hot grill for about 4 mins - keep an eye on them as they burn easily. They should start to pop when done. Add these seeds to the raisins and carrots in a bowl. Combine the other ingredients in a cup and blend with a fork - or if you prefer make it in a jam jar and shake it together - any remaining dressing can be stored in the fridge for a week or so.

Pour dressing over salad - toss and serve. Can be served as a side to many dishes - the galangal root/chili sauce gives it a hot kick, seeds are nice and crispy against the carrot sweetened with raisins.

Bringing the carrot salad kicking and screaming out of Summer and into Autumn - that's where we're at

Homefries

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Like they do in NY diners
Well truth be told - they probably only have potatoes and onions in common, but that's what sprang to mind when I was making them so that's what they're called. This is just another way to enjoy a big bowl of potatoes - and sure lash in whatever you fancy - meat, herbs, spices, cheese...

6/8 boiled new potatoes cubed
1 onion chopped in large chunks
3 cloves of galic sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon of Cumin Seeds
1 teaspoon Poppy seeds
1 teaspoon of grainy mustard
1 teaspoon of honey
salt and pepper
grated cheese - optional
A few sprigs of fresh Rosemary
Olive Oil

Heat up you oil in a frying pan, then fry your cumin seeds and rosemary for 30 seconds before adding in the onion and garlic. Cook this until it starts to become translucent. Then add in the potatoes and poppy seeds. Cook for a few minutes to heat through the potatoes. Then stir in the mustard, honey and seasoning. Cook this until the edges of your potatoes and onion start to blacken slightly. Top with cheese to melt it just before serving. This would be great with some nice red peppers, cauliflower or some roasted squash. Also would be nice to fry some chorizo at the start so that the spicy red oil could get into it all. Great as a main, or a nice side.

More Granola

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Baby Food My friend Jen is having a baby in October, she put in a special request that next time I come to Limerick to see her, that I bring some granola. She's pregnant so I can't argue! I made her some granola, it as a nut heavy one with lashings of ginger and cinnamon, and a good dose of golden Syrup mmmm. I wanted this to taste a little like ginger nut biscuits, next time I'll add even more ginger. For recipe please refer to Peanut Butter Granola or Super-Granola-food

Then I went to visit my parents - so I made some more granola for my mother - I only took one photos - I'll save you the details, but I added in two teaspoons of mixed spice this time - giving it a nice Christmassy taste - I promise to be home again before Christmas too.... Apologies for all the pictures - but with all the lovely sunshine - they've just come out great

Super-Granola-Food

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Super-granola-food


I’m now remembering why I started to make my own granola – I’d been reading and hearing lots about superfoods and decided to make a concerted effort to incorporate more of them into my everyday diet…….

So for a month I tried to eat and cook my way through the below list. The contents of which are very much open to debate
• Black Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon • Soy
• Spinach • Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes • Turkey • Walnuts
• Yogurt
• Wheatgerm
• Tomato paste • Curry ?
• Ginger
• Black Beans • Fresh Herbs
• Dark Chocolate • Olive Oil
• Almonds
• Quinoia
• Seeds

It was quite fun to look at a list of ingredients in incorporate them into meals I already knew or to search out new recipes.

Back to the granola – I was looking for a way to combine a number of these foods so that it would be very easy to eat an amount of them in one go – Granola includes oats, pumpkin (seeds) walnuts, yogurt (to serve) wheatgerm, almonds (pronounced ahhhmint if you’re from Limerick) & even more seeds. Also it’s dead yummy and easy to make. With every batch you make some changes so it’s always different, I have seen some recipes that include cocoa and dark chocolate – so that could be one more off the list included.

Golden Syrup, Hazelnut and Vanilla Granola


Ingredients
This one smells amazing in the oven .
4 cup of jumbo oats 1 cup of wheatgerm
1 cup of hazelnuts & almonds - halved
½ cup of pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
1 serving spoon of unsweetened peanut butter
1 serving spoon of golden syrup
2 serving spoons of water 1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Mix the golden syrup and water over a low heat till dissolved, then stir in the peanut butter, and finally the vanilla essence -remove from heat – don’t worry if the peanut butter remains a little lumpy – it will make some great crunchy pieces in your finished granola. Combine the other dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Then pour over liquid – mix thoroughly once again – turn out onto a very lightly greased large baking tray, spreading as thinly and evenly as you can. Bake in the centre of the oven – for 30-40 mins mixing every 15 mins or so to ensure even browning. Allow to cool before putting in an airtight container.

Serve with natural or flavoured yogurt, and dried or fresh fruit of your choice. Or raw with a spoon straight from the jar at your desk, if you’re working late…. My secret super-shame!! My straight up peanut butter granola can be found here

Peanut Butter Granola

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Peanut Butter for Breakfast

2 1/2 c jumbo organic oats
1/2 c wheat germ
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
1 heaped tablespoon brown sugar
half cup of pumpkin seeds
half cup sesame seeds

In a large bowl, mix oats seeds and wheat germ together. In a small saucepan, heat up oil, peanut butter, vanilla and brown sugar over medium high heat and let it all melt together. Pour hot mixture over oats and stir well, so that everything is covered. It’s quite sticky at this stage but don’t worry. Spread it out on a non stick baking sheet, and smooth it out a little. The clumps are good as they stick together and make crunchy clusters. Spread mixture on a baking sheet and toast at gas mark 3/4 oven for 30-40 minutes in the middle of the oven, checking on it and stirring it occasionally until mixture is turning golden. When cool, store in a jar.

A recipe I found suggested adding in chocolate, but the best thing about granola is you can add what ever you like. I made a good one recently with toasted hazelnuts and banana chips. Add nuts and seeds into the oat mixture before baking, add dried fruit after when cooled. Some people say that the dried fruit will make your oat mixture soggy, but I haven’t found that, though I haven’t stored granola for much longer then two weeks as it all gets eaten. The peanut butter is optional - but it makes for good clumps.

Pictured is served with yoghurt, raspberries and honey at my desk in the office, no I don’t eat raspberries every day – sadly, normally it’s a banana. I found this recipe a little drier than other recipes, maybe it’s the amount of wheatgerm I hadn’t used that before – or the amount of sesame seeds, I’d have added some sunflower seeds if I had them. I went a little lighter on sugar than recommended and then added honey when serving, yum.

PS a note on food photography - they say it's hard to do and it is. Firstly it's very hard to arrange your food and take pictures of it while it's still hot and you're very hungry. Secondly honey does not stick to rasperries as illustrated in this picture! Any tips greatly appreciated.