Spinach salad (GF) (DF) (EF) (V)

Yes, SPINACH! Believe it or not, baby spinach tastes so much better raw than it does cooked- at least that's been my experience anyway.

Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Egg Free
Vegetarian (Vegan)

1-2 handfuls baby spinach
1/3 of a cucumber
1 carrot or 3 baby carrots, peeled
1/3 red pepper
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 level teaspoon freshly finely grated ginger pulp

- Wash the spinach, cucumber, carrot and red pepper in a colander, then shake thoroughly to dry

- Cut the cucumber, carrot and red pepper into julienne strips and toss into a bowl with all the other ingredients

- Leave for 10 minutes for the flavours to mingle, then serve.

Lemon cheesecake (V)

I can't believe I've had this blog for so long and haven't even told you about my cheat's recipe for wheat free lemon cheesecake- maybe cos' the measurements are all approximate and I don't have them to hand (2023 edit: I've tested this recipe and amended it to include more accurate measurements). There are a few important tips to remember when making this: one is to use the lemon juice and the yellow zest (preferably from an unwaxed lemon), but take off the zest carefully so as to not get any bits of the white pith as that tastes bitter. Another tip is that I use 'nairns stem ginger oat cakes' for the base as these are wheat free (don't know if they're egg free or nut free though so check the label if unsure).  2023 Edit: I've also made these using M&S 5 gluten free stem ginger biscuits and that worked really well in this recipe

These can be made a couple of hours in advance before serving and kept in the fridge. I'd recommend making these by using a small round mould/ring instead of a medium or large one, because the mascarpone is a bit rich and heavy in a large portion. It's fairly easy when you get the hang of it and look how gorgeous it is:

Vegetarian

5 oat biscuits (I use nairns stem ginger oat cakes)
20-30g butter (soften by leaving it out of the fridge for an hour or two)
250g tub mascarpone
juice and zest of 1 small (or half a large) lemon
icing sugar to taste (6 teaspoons was just right for the batch I made)

You will also need at least one metal ring mould or metal round pastry cutter ring 5-7cm diameter would be fine


- Place the biscuits in a bag and crush them by bashing them with a rolling pin, then pour the crushed biscuit crumbs into a bowl

- Stir in the butter so that it combines and clumps up

- Place the metal rings on a serving platter and put 2-3 teaspoons of the biscuit mixture inside the ring, then press down at the bottom using the back of the spoon to make a biscuit base layer

- In a separate bowl, put in the mascarpone (drain off any watery stuff from the mascarpone tub before adding it to the bowl), then gradually stir in some lemon zest, lemon juice and icing sugar a bit at a time so that the consistency is still fairly firm and the taste is just right (if it's too sour add more icing sugar and if too sweet then add more lemon)

- Spoon the mascarpone mixture into the metal ring until the ring is full, then with a palette knife, smooth over the top

- Place the platter in the fridge for at least 2 hours, then remove the metal rings by either picking them up with a hot cloth, or by blasting the sides for a few seconds with a blow torch- this prevents the cheesecake from sticking to the rings so that the rings come off easily and it's ready to serve

Chicken Pittas (GF) (NF) (EF)

This is yum yum yum yum yum and sooo easy! In fact, I've been meaning to post this recipe for a long time but always gobbled these up quickly- so it was months before I actually had a plate of these and had the sense to pause for a moment and actually take a photo before eating it up... and it only takes minutes to make! These measurements are approximate.

(serves 1)

Gluten Free
Nut Free
Egg Free

12 x 1inch pieces boneless chicken
2 gluten free pittas
2-3 tablespoons smooth plain yogurt
1/4 cucumber, chopped (removing seeds is optional)
1/5 beetroot, peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil
half a level teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
5-10 slices of onion
Salt and Pepper to taste


- In a bowl, stir together the yogurt, cucumber, beetroot, salt and pepper, then set aside

- In a hot frying pan, heat the garlic oil and stir fry the chicken for 4 minutes

- Add the Chinese five spice powder and onion slices, and stir fry for a further 2 or so minutes on medium heat

- Warm up the pittas in a grill or toaster, then halve them and fill them up with the chicken pieces, onion slices, yogurt mixture and serve

NB: An optional extra to add to the recipe which I haven't tried yet (but want to try next time) is to add strips of red/mixed bell pepper to the onion slices so that they are lightly stir fried and add another colour and taste to the meal as well.

Baked Felafels (GF) (NF) (V) (EF) (DF)

I wish I could take credit for this recipe but I should give credit where it's due as actually I found the baked felafel recipe here:

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/baked-felafel-sandwiches.html

I made some minor changes in my version but it still tasted good alhamdulilah. I should also point out that it was my dad who put in all the effort to make the felafels in the picture below- thanks dad! I found 'free from' gluten free pittas in the supermarket and I seriously couldn't tell the difference between those and the wheatflour version so they were well worth buying.

(serves 3)

Gluten Free
Nut Free
Vegetarian
Egg Free
(Can be Dairy free if you leave out the yogurt)

For the felafels:

1x 450g tin chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsps ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coriander leaves
2 tbsps olive oil

For the tahini sauce:

3 tbsps tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup yogurt (leave out yogurt if on dairy free diet)
2 tsps lemon juice
A little water

For the salad:

1/3 cucumber, chopped
1/5 beetroot, peeled and chopped

4 gluten free pittas, sliced open

- Preheat the oven to 210 celcius/Gas mark 7

- Place all of the felafel ingredients in the bowl of a food processor except for 1 tbsp of the olive oil, then process for 10 seconds

- Stop the motor, scrape down the sides of the bowl, pulse for another 10 seconds until the ingredients are well combined but the mixture is still a bit course

- Form the mixture into 16 felafel balls and brush the remaining oil over them, then place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 mins

- Flip the felafel balls over and bake for 20 more mins until they are crisp and browned

- Combine the tahini sauce ingredients together, adding enough water to make it into a sauce (like thin yogurt) consistency (leave out yogurt if you are on a dairy free diet)

- Chop the cucumber, then peel and chop the beetroot (optional step: combine the cucumber and beetroot with the tahini sauce)

- Warm the pitta for a couple of mins in a toaster or grill, slice it in half widthways, then fill it with 3 felafel balls, 2-3 tbsps salad and 1-2 tbsp tahini sauce and serve

NB: I can confirm that the salad and falafel ingredients are dairy free. I have also checked the ingredients of the gluten free (Sainsburys free from) pittas and realised that they are dairy free too but if you are buying a different brand, then check the label.

Banana muffins (GF) (NF) (V)

I would actually recommend that you add another flavour to these muffins and not just bananas. My mum says these muffins taste better when I add a few fresh blueberries to each muffin which is why I've written that in the recipe. Alternatively, sometimes I add a crushed walnut in each muffin (though obviously ignore that suggestion if you have a nut allergy). Dried cranberries or raisins are also nice. These things add an extra texture as well as flavour which I think makes the muffins more enjoyable. As usual, I use Doves Farm gluten free flour for this recipe.

125g Gluten free flour
60g butter (or margarine/spread)
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 medium sized ripe bananas
a handful of blueberries (optional)

- Rub the butter and flour together (or mix together with a fork) until it resembles breadcrumbs

- In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then mix in the egg and honey/syrup and pour the whole thing into the bowl containing the buttery flour mixture

- Stir until the mixture is combined and no floury lumps are left, then spoon into muffin cases in a muffin tray

- If you want to make the muffins with blueberries or walnuts or other additional ingredients then add them in at this point- I half fill the muffin case with flour mixture, then add 3 blueberries, then fill the muffin case right to the top with more flour mixture because they wont rise very much

- Bake in the oven at gas mark 4 for 45-50 minutes and serve warm.

Apple Maple Porridge (V) (NF) (EF)

I've been pondering over a dilemma recently.  I was wondering whether to upload this recipe at all.  I'm not a food stylist so I don't always know how to make food look pretty and porridge never looks pretty so I was wondering if the image of it might look off putting.  Then I realised that this recipe is so incredibly delicious that it would be unfair to deprive my blog visitors of this lovely stuff just because it doesn't look pretty.  In fact there are a fair number of recipes that fit in this category; the pics don't look that nice but the recipes are well worth trying out and taste really good.  Whenever I make this, people enter the kitchen and say "Wow, what's that lovely smell" and are shocked when I tell them it is porridge.  This makes such a nice breakfast and is a great winter warmer.  I once ate this before venturing out in snowy weather and it really helped me to stay warm outside.  You can make this recipe with ordinary cows milk but I prefer to use Oatly Organic Oat milk.  I haven't tried making this using other types of milk alternatives so can't vouch for them.  I make this in a frying pan and it takes less than ten minutes.  I've noticed the way I make porridge is thicker than most, but I just happen to like it that way.

You can view what my porridge looked like here:

Apple Maple Porridge

Half a red (gala or cox) apple, chopped
2/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups milk (or preferably oat milk)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp raisins (optional)
1/2 tsp ghee (or butter)

- In a pan on medium high heat, melt the ghee, then add the apple pieces and stir fry until lightly golden brown

- Add the maple syrup (and raisins), then pour the oats all over the apples so that the oats spread out as one layer, then after about 20 seconds, use a heatproof spatula to fold the mixture so that the oats are at the bottom of the pan where the maple syrup can stick to it

- Add the oat milk (or other milk if you prefer), then stir the mixture after 1-2 mins

- When the oat milk has reduced and the oats have softened, pour the whole mixture into a bowl and serve

Quick fix easy alternatives (updated)

In recent years, I’ve noticed that supermarkets are catching on to the fact that there are an increasing number of people with food allergies and intolerances, so there are more alternative foods available than there used to be. Alhamdullilah many of these foods don’t even taste like cardboard:P I still don’t like some of the ‘gluten free’ products which list ingredients or E numbers that seem better suited to a science lab than a food list. The biggest change I’ve noticed in my diet is that I can’t order take aways as I used to because most fast foods contain or are coated with breadcrumbs or some other wheat product so these are some ‘quick foods’ I use:

Quick fix easy meals:

- most supermarkets sell wheat free fish fingers so I bake those in the oven with crinkle cut chips (I use the shops own brand of chips and it’s worth bearing in mind that many brands of frozen chips are coated with wheat so check the ingredients list if you want to avoid that)

- Spelt pasta or gluten free spagetti with stir in sauce or pesto (the variety of stir in sauces is endless but my personal favourite is roasted red pepper pasta sauce), but bear in mind Spelt is similar to wheat and contains gluten (if you can tolerate corn then corn spagetti is a good gluten free alternative to wheat pasta).  I must admit I don't like the taste of rice pasta

- I make ‘topless’ sandwiches using toasted “Stamp Collection New York Deli Bread” which is available from Waitrose or select branches of other supermarkets (I normally top the toasted slices with omlette or cream cheese, tuna and cucumber), though I suspect this contains gluten so check the label

- There is a new product I've seen in the shops called Genius bread; it's gluten free but does contain egg and other stuff so check the label.  Having said that, it does taste fairly similar to wheat bread so although it's a bit pricey, it's a good quick fix and is also suitable for home freezing

- An obvious option is jacket potatoes: if I don't have time to bake them then I prick a large potato with a fork, put it in the microwave for 4 mins on one side, then turn it over and cook for 3 mins on the other side (timings may vary depending on the microwave you have), then I cut it open and eat it with cream cheese, tuna, cheddar and sprinkled with salt and pepper

- If you REALLY can't be bothered to cook, supermarkets are starting to sell basic margarita gluten free pizza

- Cereals: check the labels as many are unsuitable for special diets, but I know quinoa pops and some rice cereals are gluten free... I personally love porridge and granola but bear in mind oats contain gluten (albeit low levels of gluten so there is controversy surrounding whether it's suitable for celiacs)

- Soba noodles: I wasn't sure whether to mention these because although there are gluten free soba noodles available (check packets as many brands of soba contain wheat as well but bear in mind 'buckwheat' is not a 'wheat' and does not contain gluten), I tried cooking these the other day and did not like the taste much (which is why I haven't posted the recipe).  I'm hoping it's just a case of finding a better recipe for it cos' it would be so convenient to have decent gluten free noodles around

- Kofte kebabs; make a batch and freeze them so they are ready to eat in minutes whenever you have a bad day and too little time... that reminds me, I need to post a recipe for it- duh, silly me!

Quick fix snacks (bad habits but nice as an occassional treat):

- Poppadoms/Crisps
- Plantain crisps, I think you'll forget about other crisps once you've tried these
- Corn tortillas with salsa (plain corn nachos are best cos' many are coated with wheat flour, check the labels)
- Dried fruit/nuts and seeds
- Chocolate mousse
- Flapjacks (not suitable for a gluten free diet though)
- There are nice wheat free, gluten free ice cream cones available in the shops these days, so I really enjoy those on a hot day with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (check labels as many ice creams contain gluten, egg and other things)
- Fruit; yes I know it's obvious but it's so quick, convenient and healthy that it deserves a mention whether it's just munching on an apple, or chopping lots of fruits up into a fruit salad and sqeezing orange juice over it to keep it fresh
- Salad; another obvious and healthy option but to be honest, I'm not the best person to ask about making good salads, I'm still in the process of learning about that because there are so many varieties out there

I’m sure there’s loads of other stuff that can go on the list but I can’t think of any at the moment. I do intend to post up tasty wheat free recipes though- honest!