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Nutrition Larder

Healthy Recipes and Easy Nutrition Advice from BSc Nutritionist and Chef Emily

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Decadent Chocolate and Cherry Slice

I don’t normally go out of my way to celebrate Valentines Day, but I’m also not the kind of person to pass up on an opportunity to enjoy something luxuriously decadent. It’s a good excuse to go full out slathered-in-chocolate-all-over crazy, and if that’s going to happen (and oh baby it is) then choosing to indulge in a more nutrient rich and plant-based chocolate cherry slice has to be the way to go.

There are four luscious layers to this decadent chocolate cherry slice, an oozing mess of chocolate mousse, creamy cashew and tart cherry on a cake-like chocolate brazil nut base. It might seem like a lot of work, but the little extra mile is totally worth it I promise, especially when you factor in the smugness you’ll feel from knowing it’s secretly full of healthy fats, sneaked in veggies and a big raw cacao antioxidant boost.

 

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Turkish Bulgar Salad

This hearty salad is a variation on the traditional Turkish kisir salad, packed with parsley, toasted hazelnuts and lettuce tossed in with tomato bulgar, it’s a full and flavoursome meal in one. Bulgar tastes best warm or at room temperature so this salad is perfect for lunch on the go and great aeroplane fodder too (FYI did you know that the flavour of tomatoes is accentuated at high altitudes?).

A staple throughout the Middle East, bulgar wheat is produced by steaming, drying and cracking wheat kernels, keeping all the nutritional value intact that is often stripped from its refined counterparts. It has a slightly nutty flavour and chewy texture, a great alternative to rice and couscous as well as being really easy to use. This nutrient dense grain has got you covered for more than 10% of your RDA of iron and magnesium, and a good spectrum of b vitamins, while the high protein and fibre content slows the release of glucose into your bloodstream, keeping you full for longer and sugar craving free. Often it’s difficult for the body to absorb iron, especially the non-heme type that is found in plants. Luckily in this salad, the vitamin C present in the tomatoes and parsley captures the non-heme iron and keeps it in an absorbable form, doubling the amount of iron available to the body.

 

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Kale Caesar Salad

No salad quite oozes with a creamy umami garlicky dressing like a good old caesar salad. To then be told that it’s egg, oil and parmesan rich sauce is high on the ‘probably shouldn’t eat too often’ hit list is enough to make my blood boil a little. But not this Caesar salad. Blended cashews and a generous dash of nutritional yeast make a rich-tasting dressing, generously drizzled on top of kale, spinach and rocket leaves, with avocado and toasted sunflower seeds. The healthy whole-food fat in the caesar dressing and avocado helps the body to absorb the fat-soluble nutrients available in the dark leafy greens, which are full of fibre, vitamin C and K, calcium, folate and carotenoids.

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Larder Staple: Nutritional Yeast

If you haven’t heard of nutritional yeast before, then please don’t dismiss it yet. It’s got an odd name and looks pretty similar to fish food flakes, which I’ll admit can be slightly off putting. But let me try and persuade you how this weird little condiment is actually one of my favourite nutrition larder staples, and should be one of yours too.

 

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Blueberry Dreamcake with Goji Crust

Lusciously creamy with a blueberry tang and sweet nutty base this raw plant-based cheesecake is what dreams are made of (well mine at least). It’s a sweet treat that is big on nutrition but light on the naughty bits, and will easily fool you into thinking it’s the real deal, a huge relief when sometimes the healthy version just doesn’t quite live up to expectations. I tested this beauty on five sceptical burly men, and their purple blueberry stained mouths and cheesy smiles said it all.

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Food Sense: Turmeric

One of my favourite larder essentials, this deep yellow spice is a member of the ginger family, and native to India. It’s joyful boost of colour and curried perfume adds a touch of exotic, and I use it in many of my southern Asian recipes. Besides being used for thousands of years to flavour Middle Eastern and Indian dishes, turmeric was an integral part of traditional medicine with it’s supposed medicinal properties. From anti-inflammatory to anti-oxidant activity, recently this ‘healing spice’ has returned to the limelight, garnering a rejuvenated reputation as a ‘super food’.

 

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Fragrant thai lime curry with cauliflower rice

I think thai curry will always be one of my favourite go to meals. It’s so delicious, comforting and a massive people pleaser. I don’t think I’ve come across many people who don’t like thai curry, but maybe this will be the one to persuade them that they do. In fact just writing this is making me feel hungry, I ended up having two bowlfuls when I made this yesterday, and now I’m hoping for more – it really is one of my favs. Even better is that it freezes so well, so on a rainy day when I don’t feel like doing much but contemplating life and vegging out I know I don’t have to bother with making a mess in the kitchen cooking up a storm like I normally do. The beauty of thai curry is that you can add in whatever lean protein you like, fish, chicken, pulses you name it. This recipe contains chickpeas, but feel free to add some other type of protein if you’d like to.

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Rosemary, walnut and cranberry crackers

I love the combination of the earthy rosemary and walnut in these crackers. They’re pretty great for munching on if you’re feeling a little peckish, and the little hint of sweetness from the cranberries help to keep the old sugar cravings at bay. Flaxseed is my secret weapon when making healthy biscuits. As well as being a great source of essential Omega- 3, fibre and natural antioxidants called lignans, it also acts as a brilliant binder and egg substitute. So it’s a win-win really. Sometimes I sprinkle sea salt on top before baking for an extra crunch and salty tang, but it’s up to you.

 

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Chinese slaw

Crunchy slaw with toasted black sesame seeds and a rice vinegar dressing, this salad is refreshingly crisp with great flavour. It is so easy, great to chuck on the table quickly, as well as a healthier alternative to the traditional creamy coleslaw.

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Warm curried quinoa and kale bowl

Quinoa is great for absorbing flavours, and the warm curry scent really shines through in this easy bowl of goodness. The lemon juice and fresh coriander lift up the sweet comforting roasted vegetables with some zinging flavours. This is so versatile, you can just add what ever vegetables you have handy, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve done some variation of this dish and it’s always delicious, just use what seasonal produce you can get hold of or if you’ve got something knocking around in the fridge already.

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