healthyfood

Ingredients:

3 cups of oats
3 cups of nuts and/or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame…)
3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
½ cup of maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Mix the oats with the nuts and seeds in a bowl. Mix together the oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract and cinnamon in a cup and add to the previous mixture, mix well all the ingredients.

Place in an oven tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container for better preservation.

Ingredients;
200gr. butter
100gr. sugar
100gr. white flour
100gr. wholemeal flour
140gr. oats
50gr. chocolate chips
1tsp vanilla essence
1/2tsp. Baking soda

Preparation:
Mix well the butter and the sugar until they get a creamy texture. Add the flour and baking soda and mix well. Add oats, chocolate chips and vanilla essence. Place the amount of a spoonful for each biscuits on an oven greased tray and cook for 15 minutes at 180 Degrees.

Ingredients:
1 Litre of water
20 gr. of oats
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of sunflower oil

Preparation:
Mix the ingredients in a blender and pass them through a cotton muslin cloth. Warm the mixture in a pot for 10 minutes at about 90 degrees C. moving constantly with a wooden spoon. Don’t let it boil.
Pour in a jar and allow it to cool down before placing in the fridge. The milk lasts for three or four days, but you need to shake it before serving.

Ingredients:
400gr.of cooked chickpeas.
50gr. of walnuts
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ red pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of finely chopped coriander
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Preparation:
In a bit of olive oil fry the chopped red pepper, add the small onion and fry until soft, add the garlic, coriander and bay leaf, finally add the chickpeas and leave cooking together for 10 minutes for the flavours to mix.
Put everything together in a food blender as well as the walnuts and blend until smooth.
Give the mixture burger shape and cook in a frying pan until golden on both sides.

Serve with a salad on the side and Creme fraiche or natural yogurt for a healthy topping.

Ingredients:
•200g self raising flour
•½ cup of sunflower oil
•3 eggs
•3 sweet apples
•1 cup of sultanas

Preparation:

Mix the flour, and add the apples finely chopped or grated, add the sultanas and the oil,mix together in a bowl.
Beat the eggs and fold gently into the mixture. Put everything in a baking tray previously greased and cook in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-45 minutes. It will be done when you introduce a knife in the cake and this one comes out dry.

Ingredients:
300 gr. of lentils
1 onion finely chopped
2 sliced carrots
3 potatoes cut in cubes
2 garlic cloves
1bay leaf
½ glass of olive oil
½ glass of wine
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Leave the lentils soaking in water overnight.

Fill a pot with water, let the water boil and add the lentils. Leave 5 minutes and add the bay leaf, potatoes, carrots and wine. Add salt and pepper and leave to cook for 30 minutes.

Fry in olive oil in a frying pan the onion finely chopped until is soft and add the garlic, let them fry together. Add them to the pot with the lentils and leave them to cook for 10 minutes more or until the potatoes and carrots are ready.

With this lentils stew you can add any meat you like Spanish chorizo (cut in slices), or chicken cut in small cubes taste great. You put them from the beginning with the lentils to cook.

Lentils, selected by Health Magazine as one of the five healthiest foods, are one of the best vegetable sources of iron.

Like all pulses, Lentils are high in fibre, which prevents from cardiovascular disease, constipation and lowers cholesterol. They are an excellent source of protein specially when combined with rice or wholegrains, this nutritional value has made them an ideal ally to vegetarians and vegans alike.

Lentils have a high content of B vitamins, Folic Acid, Vitamin B1, B6 and specially B3. They are also high in iron, zinc and calcium (its iron is better absorbed when eaten with a good source of Vitamin C).

Sprouted levels contain all the essential amino acids needed by our body (even cooked they still conserve all the amino acids but two).

Lentils are a very versatile food they can be eaten on their own, combined with rice, in soups and also as a salad. Its GI (Glycaemic Index) is low and 1 cup of cooked lentils only provides 230 calories.

Wild rice can also be cooked as a main meal. You can cook it on its own or also mix it with other type of rice, my favourite mix is wholegrain brown  rice. The healthiest choice and also a more economic alternative for those who cannot afford to buy just “wild rice”.

Ingredients:
1 cup of wild rice
1 cup of brown rice
1 cup of chopped sultanas
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of sliced mushrooms

Preparation:
Boil the wild rice with 3 cups of water and salt to taste (for more instructions on how to cook wild rice click here)
In a pot fry the onion finely chopped in the olive oil until soft, add the chopped garlic and the mushrooms, leave 5 minutes and add 2 cups of water. When the water boils add the brown rice and the sultanas and cover until it is completely cooked (around 20 minutes). Leave to rest still covered for 5 minutes more.

Mix with the wild rice and serve to accompany Turkey or Lamb. I usually cook it to accompany any meat leftovers. By mixing the wild rice with brown rice, you make a healthy alternative and a bit cheaper as well. Although wild rice is a considered a bit expensive it goes a long way as well as every cup of rice is cooked in 3 cups of water (not 2 as normal rice).

As usual, a nice and easy recipe. This time a warm vegetable soup.

Ingredients:
2 onions, finely chopped
4 carrots, sliced
1 celery stem, sliced
200gr. of tomatoes
1 cup of peas
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 glass of vegetable stock
1 cup of cooked wild rice (see instructions )
4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Preparation:
Fry in the olive oil the onions, until soft. Add the carrots and the celery, leave for around 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and some salt to taste. Add the tomato cut in small cubes, the green peas and the sliced mushrooms. Finally, add the wild rice, previously cooked (for instructions on how to cook it click here ) and leave for 10 minutes for the flavours to mix. At this point double check that the amount of salt is the right one and correct.

One great way of enjoying wild rice is having it as a breakfast cereal. It is also an easy way to boost your fibre intake in the morning.

Ingredients:
1 cup of wild rice
3 cups of water
½ cup of soya milk (or any other milk)
½ teaspoon of Cinnamon
Sweetener (optional)

Preparation:
Before cooking wild rice you must always wash it and rinse it to clean it properly. Cook it as normal rice, but use for 1 part of wild rice, 3 parts of water. Add the cinnamon. It will take around 45 minutes. The rice must split; it shouldn’t be hard neither soggy. Once cooked leave it covered for 5 minutes.
Add the soya milk and the sweetener.

This breakfast have dozens of varieties, so you don’t need to make it the same way every morning. You can add fresh fruit, apple or banana are great, dried fruits, raisins and nuts also complement the plate. You can also add your favourite milk, cow’s milk, soya milk, rice milk, almond milk or even cream. The same goes for the sweetener, use your usual sweetener (like Splenda), brown sugar or honey or just leave it without it.
Change the breakfast everyday and have fun. If you are a bit lazy in the morning, leave the wild rice cooked from the previous day and just warm it up before adding the rest of the ingredients in the morning.