Posts Tagged ‘Psychologist Nuffield Bristol’

Roast Squash with Feta, Pumpkin Seeds and Sprouting Broccoli

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Roast squash with feta, pumpkin seeds and sprouting broccoli. If not feta fan try goats cheese.

Perfect served with grilled meat or oily fish!

Serves 4

1 large butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp cumin seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g purple sprouting broccoli
100g pumpkin seeds - toasted
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
400g feta cheese

Preheat oven to 200c / 400 f/ gas 6
Peel and cut squash into wedges or large chunks, then toss in the olive oil, chilli, cumin seeds and salt & pepper
Transfer to a roasting tin and roast in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until slightly golden and cooked through
Meanwhile, blanch the broccoli in salted boiling water for about 4 minutes, or until al dente. Once cooked toss with the squash and pumpkin seeds.
Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the feta crumbled over the top.

The Green,The Red, The Purple

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

Ever wondered why the birds eat the most colourful and ripest fruit before you can get to it. Or, why the bees and the butterflies are attracted to the most colourful flowers?
Might this not be natures way of cueing which contain the best nutrition?

Always choose the greenest, reddest most purple when you are shopping for fruit and vegetables.

It is the avocado,the green beans, the spinach, broccoli,peas, courgettes/zucchini, tomato and aubergine that we should be looking at in terms of vegetables.

The dark plumbs, strawberries,raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, dates, apricots, galia melons, pomegranates that we need to concentrate on as or fruits of choice.

Mushroom and Tomato Frittata - 10 minutes

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

1 tablespoon Olive oil
More or less 75g (2.5 oz) mushrooms sliced
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons natural yogurt
freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 medium tomatoes chopped

Heat the olive oil in an omelette pan, add mushrooms and soften over gentle heat.
In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and add yogurt, pepper and parsley. Gently stir in chopped tomatoes and mix well.

Pour mixture over mushrooms in pan, spreading evenly to cover base. Cook over a gentle heat until bottom of omelette is firm.

Either slide pan under a hot grill to cook top, or tip omelette onto a plate (carefully) and then place back into pan to cook other side.

Divide frittata in two and serve with wholemeal bread.

PESTOS -useful for any meal

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

Pesto is a wonderful easy way to add flavour to other dishes. Here are a few variations to use as a sauce for grilled fish, as a marinade, as a dip, as a stir in to wholemeal pasta, spread over chicken breasts etc.

WALNUT & BASIL PESTO

30g (1OZ) walnuts
handful basil
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a drizzle of walnut oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until thick paste. Add more oil if too thick.

REGULAR ITALIAN PESTO:
2 bunches basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
4oz grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

In food processor, blitz the garlic and nuts until finely chopped and gritty, but not paste
By hand, chop basil finely, and in a bowl mix with the nuts & garlic, parmesan cheese and salt
Stir in the oil adding just enough to make a smooth mixture. All ingredients should be identifiable, as the pesto should not resemble mayonnaise.

You could make pesto with parsley, coriander (leaf type), almonds or hazelnuts

HUMOUS A DELICIOUS MEDITERRANEAN DIP

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

Humous

1 400g (13oz) tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 Cloves Garlic
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 \tablespoons soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in food processor and blitz until smooth.
add additional pepper, soy or lemon juice to taste

As a variation you could add either 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds or 1-2 tablespoons of tahini.

Serve in a bowl with a little olive oil drizzled on top and a sprinkling of chilli powder or paprika.
Eat with crudities, spread on oatcakes, wholemeal toasts or wholemeal crackers.

STIR -FRIED EGGS

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

4 EGGS BEATEN
10 oz PEAS
12 SPRING ONIONS ROUGHLY CHOPPED
2 inches FRESH GINGER peeled and finely chopped
SALT
OIL FOR COOKING

Heat large frying pan until very hot, then add a tablespoon of oil, the spring onions and the ginger.
Allow to sizzle fiercely for about 10 seconds, then add the peas, keeping heat on high, stir fry for 2 minutes.
Turn the heat down to a medium heat, add the eggs and stir. Add salt and cook until set.
Serve with a splash of soy sauce.

If you like, serve with a slice of wholemeal bread/toast.

BULGAR, BULGUR, POURGOURI, depending on where you live

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

Pilaff

1/2 lb bulgar
2 tablespoons oil
1 finely chopped onion
1 deseeded and sliced red pepper
1 14oz can tomatoes
3/4 pint chicken stock
2oz chopped, blanched almonds
1oz sultanas
salt and pepper

Gently fry onion in oil until soft, not browned
Add the sliced pepper and cook for a few minutes
Stir bulgar in and cook for a further few minutes until all oil is absorbed
Add tomatoes
Add stock and bring to boil
add seasoning,nuts and sultanas. Turn heat down and cook for 10-15 minutes until stock has been absorbed.
Cover tightly and stand on the lowest heat, leaving it to cook gently in it’s own steam for fifteen minutes more

Delicious complex carbohydrate option!

Coriander Turkey Stir-Fry

Friday, March 22nd, 2013
7oz (200gm) Turkey breast sliced finely
1 teaspoon roasted coriander seeds (dry roast in pan)
3.5oz (100gm) green cabbage finely sliced
2 Tablespoons light olive oil
4 Tablespoons natural yogurt flavoured with 1/2 teaspoon each of ground chilli and ground coriander to taste.

Marinade:
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh Coriander
2 Finely sliced spring onions
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
3 Tablespoons light olive oil
zest of one orange
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl.
Mix
Add Turkey
Stir and then stand for flavours to absorb.

Heat small saucepan over medium heat to dry roast the coriander seeds. Heat these until you hear them pop. Set aside

Heat the oil in a wok or a heavy frying pan. Add the roasted seeds to the turkey mix.
Fry all until turkey is cooked and the cabbage is wilting. You can add a little water if this looks dry.
Stir in the yogurt.
Garnish with Orange zest and fresh coriander

Delicious!

Chicken with Roasted Fennel & Citrus Rice

Friday, March 22nd, 2013
Ingredients:
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 Tbs freshly chopped oregano
1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
salt & freshly ground pepper
4 chicken quarters
1/2 lemon finely sliced
1 fennel bulb trimmed
2 tsp olive oil
4 plum tomatoes
25g/1 oz stoned green olives

For the rice:
225g/8 oz long grain rice I usually use a blend of different ‘rices’. My favorite is a brown basmati and wild rice mix.
finely grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon
150ml/1/4 pint boiling chicken stock

To garnish:
fennel fronds
orange slices

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F/ Gas mark 6.
Gently crush fennel seeds, mix with oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
Place between the skin and flesh of the chicken breasts, carefully do not to tear the skin. Arrange the lemon slices on top of the chicken.

2. Cut fennel into 8 wedges. Place on baking tray with the chicken. Lightly brush the fennel with the oil. Cook the chicken and fennel on the top shelf of the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place rice in a 2.3l/4 pint ovenproof dish. Stir in the lemon rind and juice, orange juice and stock. Cover with a lid and place on the middle shelf of the oven

4 Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ Gas mark 4. Cook the chicken for 40 minutes more, turning the fennel wedges and lemon slices once. Deseed and chop the tomatoes. Add to the tray and cook for 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven.

5. When cooled slightly, remove chicken skin and discard. Garnish with fennel fronds, orange slices and serve

6. Fluff rice, and sprinkle stoned olives over dish. Garnish with fennel fronds, orange slices and save for carbohydrate 3 hours later.

Grilled Halloumi & Tabbouleh Salad

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

250g halloumi cheese
50g bulgar wheat
1/2 cos lettuce
1/2 small bunch fresh mint
1 large bunch fresh flat leafed parsley
3 spring onions
2 ripe tomatoes
25g pine nuts
1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Fill large pot with boiling water and add bulgar wheat. once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender.Drain in a sieve and set aside in large bowel.

Finely chop the mint and parsley.Set aside
Finely slice the spring onions.
Finely chop the tomatoes.
Add this to the finely chopped herbs.

Roast the pine nuts slowly over medium heat until golden.

Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice of one half over the bulgar wheat that has been cooling. add a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and leave to soak up the dressing.

Grill the halloumi slices on a griddle pan for 1-2 minutes until slightly charred.
Turn and repeat for other side.
Remove from the heat.

Add the chopped tomatoes, herbs and spring onions to the bowel of bulgar wheat and stir through to mix the flavours.

Divide the cos lettuce leaves on the plates, spoon tabbouleh into the lettuce and top each portion with slices of halloumi.

Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil, scatter the pine nuts on top.
Cut the remaining lemon into wedges to serve