Warm Hummus Bowl

Yes, warm hummus as a base for meals is a thing and yes it is super tasty.
Here is why I utterly adore this recipe:
- The warm hummus base provides a good dose of plant-based protein
- You can use up any veggies that are past their best for the topping. Just roast them up.
- It’s a bowl of goodness that’s utterly brimming with nutrients. A friend once described it as ‘you can feel the goodness filling up your body with every mouthful’.
- The price per portion is definitely on the very affordable end of the scale. Aka it is very cheap to make.

Feel free to use shop-bought hummus if you are short on time but I do think it’s worth making the fresh version featured here. The spices used give the homemade version a little something extra.

Ingredients for 2 portions:

For the hummus
1 tin of chickpeas, drained but the water reserved
2 teaspoons of tahini
2 tablespoons of oil (i.e. olive oil, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 a teaspoon of cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt & pepper

For the topping
This part is entirely your choice, here is what I went with:
Any vegetables for roasting: I used a mix of red onion, butternut squash and cauliflower
Potatoes - simply cube and boil these then pan fry them using some garlic, paprika, smoked paprika, sea salt and black pepper
Salad veggies: I went with lettuce, parsley & cucumber dressed with olive oil and lemon juice but anything goes
Pickles if they are your thing: I went with some pickled rose petals but only because I was testing this recipe for a retreat and it needed to have something fancy. Pickled beetroot or pickled gherkins will do the trick just as well.
The toppings aim to bring elements of sweetness (roasted veggies & potatoes) and elements of sour (the lemon juice on the salad and the pickles) as well as working with different textures (think crunchy salad and soft potatoes). Aiming for this variety makes everything taste good.

Method:
Roast your veggies & boil some potatoes.
Chop up the salad vegetables.
To make the hummus, put a small saucepan on a medium heat.
Add the oil and sliced garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
Add the cumin seeds and coriander and cook for a further minute. The oil should be very fragrant.
Set the oil aside to cool slightly.
Put the chickpeas, 1/3 of the chickpea water, tahini and lemon juice in a blender.
Season with two very good pinches of sea salt and a generous amount of black pepper.
Pour in the warm oil and spices.
Blend the hummus until it is smooth, adding a bit more of the chickpea water if needed.
Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if required.
Transfer the hummus to a saucepan and gently warm through. You don’t want it to boil, merely to take on some of the heat.
Divide the hummus between two bowls and top it with the roasted veggies, salad and potatoes.
Enjoy!

Coconut noodle bowl with miso sesame tempeh

I’ve recently made it my aim to try and come up with quick flavour combinations that require little equipment.
Here is one that is a total winner:

Rice noodles are dressed with a coconut, lime, ginger and chive dressing.
Tempeh is coated in a combination of miso and sweet sesame.
The bowl is then topped with some “match-sticked” veggies and a handful of herbs.
It’s a 10-15-minute dish. Swift and full of flavour.

Tempeh, for those of you that are unfamiliar, is the better cousin of tofu. Soya beans are fermented then pressed together.
The resulting product is similar to firm tofu but with more flavour and slightly more texture.
Just make sure to buy organic soya products, otherwise you are almost always guaranteed to be buying genetically modified soya beans/ soya products. Organic ensures a non-GM version.

The recipe also works with a piece of fish such as a salmon fillet in case you aren’t keen on tempeh.

Ingredients for 2:
A large handful of mangetout, sliced into matchsticks
1 large carrot, sliced into matchsticks
1 bunch of coriander
100g rice noodles
200g of tempeh, thickly sliced and each slice halved (the shape doesn’t matter, you are creating bite size chunks of tempeh)
Sea salt and black pepper

For the coconut dressing
100ml of coconut cream
The juice of 1.5 limes
1 tablespoon of finely chopped chives
Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled & grated

For the miso and sweet sesame dressing
1 level tablespoon of white miso (miso shiro)
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
The juice of 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon of agave or 1.5 teaspoons of maple syrup or honey

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Boil a kettle of water.
Whisk together the ingredients for the miso and sweet sesame dressing.
Put the tempeh pieces into the dressing, coat evenly and transfer to a roasting tray. Roast for 10-15 minutes until the edges start to crisp up.
Whilst the tempeh is roasting, chop the veggies and make the rest of the dish.
Put the rice noodles in a cereal bowl. Cover with boiling water and allow them to steep for 5 minutes. There is no need to cook these.
After the 5 minutes, drain and set the noodles aside.
To make the coconut dressing, put the coconut cream, lime juice and chives in a bowl. Season with sea salt and black pepper and whisk together using a fork.
Grab the grated ginger and squeeze as much of the juice into the coconut mix as possible. Stir again.
Divide the noodles between two pasta bowls and pour half of the coconut mixture over each bowl of noodles. Give it a mix to combine the noodles and coconut dressing.
Top each bowl with half of the mangetout, carrots and a large handful of coriander.
Finish with the tempeh.
Enjoy!

The fix me up broth

As health boosts go, this nourishing yet easy to make bowl of goodness really delivers.
Layers of nutrient-dense veggies are topped with a Clarence Court egg and a flavoursome walnut gremolata, creating a dish that ticks a lot of nutrition boxes.
Gremolata is a delicious mix of parsley, garlic and lemon zest originating from Italy.
Here it is enhanced with California walnuts for added crunch and an extra serving of that feel-good factor.

If you’ve overdone it on the alcohol front or just haven’t been eating that well, this is your go-to recipe to replenish levels of nutrients.

Ingredients for 2


2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced

1 medium potato, peeled and cubed 

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced 

1/4 of a small celeriac, peeled and cut into matchsticks

2-3 sprigs of thyme

40g of spinach

40g of frozen peas 

500ml of good quality vegetable stock

Juice of an orange

Juice of a lemon

Sea salt and black pepper to season

Oil for cooking


2 Clarence Court eggs, cooked to your liking
, I just boiled them for 6 & a 1/2 minutes for a slightly runny yolk

For the walnut gremolata

1 bunch of parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

80g of California walnuts, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Method:



To make the walnut gremolata, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.

To make the broth, add a splash of oil to a saucepan and put it on a medium heat.

Sauté the shallots, potato and carrots for around 5 minutes until they start to colour.

Add the celeriac and thyme and sauté for 2 more minutes.

Pour in enough stock to just cover the vegetables and bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to low and allow the liquid to bubble gently for around 5-10 minutes.
This should cook all of the vegetables.
Remove the thyme.

Drop in the frozen peas and spinach.

Take the pan off the heat.

Season well with sea salt and black pepper and pour in the lemon and orange juice.

Divide the mixture between two bowls.

Top each bowl with a halved egg and liberal quantities of walnut gremolata.

The Scandi fish stew

A simple Scandi-inspired dish with oodles of flavour that’s perfect for those wintery evenings with a cooking time of circa 30 minutes.
The stew itself is a combination of trusty root veggies with a few herbs, topped with a piece of fish, creme fraiche and a dill infused fennel slaw for added crunch.
Change the fish as you see fit or swap it for an alternative protein.
I have previously used the base and added leftover roasted chicken to it. It’d also work with some smoked tofu or a few chickpeas if you are looking for a plant-based version.
It’s a versatile dish so make it your own.

Ingredients for 4 portions

For the stew:
1/2 medium celeriac, peeled & cubed (300g approximately)
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced (220g approximately)
400g new potato, washed and cut in half 
Leaves from a sprig of rosemary, finely chopped, (1 tablespoon approximately)
Leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme, (1 heaped tablespoon approximately)
3 heaped tablespoons of tomato purée
1 stock cube, any kind
Oil for cooking
Sea salt and black pepper to season

4x fish fillets of any kind, I used lightly smoked salmon
1 pot of full-fat creme fraiche

For the fennel slaw
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch of dill, leaves only (substitute for parsley if dill isn’t your thing)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt and black pepper to season

Method:
To make the stew, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
Add the celeriac, potato and carrot and saute for 5 minutes, until the veggies are beginning to colour.
Add the herbs, stock cube and tomato purée and cook for a further minute, stirring occasionally.
Season really well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Pour in enough water to just cover the veggies and allow it to simmer gently, without a lid, until the veg are cooked through. This will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
The sauce will thicken up as the stew cooks. Give it a stir every now and then to stop the bottom from catching.
Taste the stew and add more sea salt and black pepper if needed.
Whilst the stew is cooking, make the fennel slaw.
Simply combine all of the ingredients, season with salt and pepper and set aside. This won’t taste of much by itself but it does come into its own once combined with the rest of the dish.
Cook the fish fillets either by pan-frying them or by preheating the oven to 180 degrees C and baking them for 10-minutes or so. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
If you are unsure how to cook fish, there are a lot of tutorials on YouTube and elsewhere on the tinterweb. Give it a Google.

To plate, add 1-2 ladles of the stew to a pasta bowl. Top with a fish fillet, a tablespoon of creme fraiche and a tablespoon of the fennel slaw.

Note: this dish doesn’t freeze well, but the stew will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days and the fennel slaw for up to 2 days.

A fantastical super salad

Ingredients for 2:

For the beetroot “hummus”
2 large beetroots
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of tahini
Juice of half a lemon

For the grain layer
60g quinoa, cooked according to packet instructions
1 tin of chickpeas, drained but reserve the liquid
zest of 1/2 lemon

For the toasted seeds
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
1/4 of a teaspoon of cumin
1/2 a teaspoon of black onion seed
Tamari or soy sauce

A handful of blueberries

8 cos lettuce leaves
2 handfuls of watercress
1/2 small fennel, finely sliced

2 large Clarence Court eggs, boiled for 7 minutes
A handful of walnuts
A tablespoon of alfalfa

For the dressing
1/3 of a bunch of parsley
Leaves from 3 sprigs of mint
Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard
1 teaspoon of honey, agave or maple syrup
50ml of good quality olive oil or rapeseed oil

Method:
To make the beetroot “hummus”, pop the beetroots on a small roasting tray, cover with tin foil and bake at 180 degrees C until soft (approximately 1 hour).
For the last 20 minutes, add the garlic.
Allow both to cool then peel them.
Pop the garlic, beetroot, lemon juice, tahini and a good pinch of sea salt in a blender.
Pour in 1/3 of the tin of chickpea water and blend until completely smooth. Add more chickpea water if needed (i.e. if it isn’t blending).

To make the grain layer, combine the quinoa and chickpeas in a bowl. Add the zest of 1/2 lemon and season well with sea salt and black pepper.

To make the toasted seeds, pop all of the ingredients apart from the soy sauce in a pan. Heat on medium until the pumpkin seeds start to pop. Remove from the heat, add a splash of soy sauce and stir.
The soy sauce will evaporate, leaving the seeds crunchy but with a hint of umami.
If you’ve added too much soy, just pop everything back on a high heat until it evaporates.

To make the dressing, put all of the ingredients in a blender cup and blend until completely smooth and well combined.

To assemble:
-Grab two plates, pop a heaped tablespoon of the beetroot hummus on the bottom.
- Divide the grain mix between the plates.
- Sprinkle on a tablespoon or so of the seed mix.
- Now add the blueberries.
- Pop the lettuce, fennel and watercress in a separate large bowl. Dress with the salad dressing, stir well then divide between the two plates.
- Top with 1 egg, walnuts and alfalfa
- Season each salad with sea salt and black pepper.
- Eat immediately.