I’m a huge fan of pancakes, so why not turn them into a main meal? This is my adaptation of a recipe I found in an issue of Delicious magazine. 

Serves 2-3

1/2 cup plain flour*
1/4 cup oat flour (just whizz rolled oats in a blender for 30 seconds or so)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp carb soda
3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 egg whites
1tbs olive oil
A few leaves of basil

Sift flour, baking powder and carb soda into a bowl, add oat flour and mix well. Blend the cottage cheese for a few seconds until smooth, stir into the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites till soft peaks form then carefully fold into cottage cheese mixture. Heat olive oil in a non-stick frypan over medium heat. Cook 2-3 pancakes at a time – about 1 min each side till golden, then remove and keep warm. Repeat with remaining mixture. Serve with plain yoghurt and salsa. Garnish with torn basil leaves.

I usually get 6 pancakes out of this amount. Whether that serves 2 or 3 depends on how hungry they are…..

Roasted capsicum salsa

1 tbs olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
2 red capsicums, halved lengthways
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs chopped basil leaves

Place capsicum halves, skin-side up, under a pre-heated grill. Allow them to cook until the skins blacken, then place them in a sealed paper bag for 5 minutes. The skin will peel off easily, and you can then slice them into strips. Heat the oil in a frypan, add onion and capsicum, cook for 5 minutes or till onion is softened. Add balsamic vinegar and basil, warm through for 1-2 minutes.

*You can substitute non-wheat flours if you prefer. I’ve made these with a mixture of buckwheat and rice flours, 1/4 cup of each, to replace the plain flour.

Serves 4

300g fresh ricotta*
170g tub of Chobani Lemon flavoured Greek yoghurt
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tbs honey**
100g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 180C. Place all ingredients except blueberries in a bowl and with an electric mixer, beat on low speed until well combined. Increase speed to high and beat for a further minute or so until quite smooth. You can use a food processor if you prefer.

Gently stir blueberries through with a spoon. If you’re using frozen berries, defrost them first and then drain off any liquid before adding them. Divide the mixture evenly between four ovenproof ramekins or individual soufflé dishes. Place the dishes into a baking dish and carefully pour in enough water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.

Bake for 25-30 minutes –they should be beginning to brown slightly on top and be firm to touch in the centre. Allow to cool in the baking dish, then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.

Serve in the dishes with extra blueberries on top and some honeyed Greek yoghurt in a small dish on the side.

You can oil the ramekins first and attempt to turn the cheesecakes out onto plates, but I find that sometimes it works, and sometimes I end up with a disaster…so I don’t bother any more.

*I used full fat ricotta because I prefer the texture and taste, but you could switch in low-fat if you’d rather.
**If you prefer, you could use a couple of teaspoons of Natvia or other sweetener in place of the honey. It won’t taste the same though.

Nutrition stats per serve:
Calories 192
Protein 11.5g
Carbs 15.1
Fat 9.6

I’m participating in screen-free week, so I’m not really here (shh…). All of my posts this week have been written in advance and set to publish each day for your information and entertainment. ;o)

It does take quite a while for the chia seeds to absorb the liquid, so allow plenty of time for that part of the process.

Serves 2-3

1 cup milk, any kind you like – skim, almond, coconut, whatever
2 tsp raw cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
40g chocolate or vanilla whey powder
4 tbs chia seeds – I used black but white would be fine too
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (defrosted)
Extra 1/2 cup of raspberries to decorate

In a bowl, whisk milk, cocoa, vanilla and whey together until well mixed. Add chia seeds, stirring with a spoon for a minute or two until the seeds are well and truly moistened. Place the bowl in the fridge and give it a stir every 15 minutes or so for the first hour, breaking up any clumps, then leave it for a few hours or overnight to absorb the liquid.

Just before serving, stir the raspberries through the mixture, then spoon the pudding into serving glasses or bowls. Arrange the extra raspberries on top.

You can add extra toppings – try chopped toasted almonds, shredded coconut, or a little chopped dark chocolate (or all three!).

If you have an extra-sweet tooth, you could add some maple or agave syrup or your choice of sweetener to the milk mixture. Personally, I find the sweetener in my whey powder is enough, and I like the tart contrast of the raspberries. Play around with the recipe and make it suit you, though.

Nutrition info
I made mine with 99% fat free milk, and the stats for one-third of the recipe (with no extra toppings added) worked out to:

Calories                     193
Protein                       15.8g
Carbohydrate             9.2g
Fat                              7.9g

Edit: I’ve discovered that different chia seeds take different amounts of time to soak up the liquid in a recipe. It may also depend on the type of liquid you use and/or on other ingredients included in the recipe.

Since I made this pudding, using black chia seeds, I’ve created another, using the white kind (and a different brand – not sure if that has any impact?) – and those took very little time to suck up the coconut milk I added.

So you may have to experiment a bit to get your puddings perfect. That’s OK – you only have to add more chia seeds or more liquid; you’re unlikely to ruin your pudding.

Serves 4-6

Salad

1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 knob of ginger, chopped
1/4 cabbage, finely shredded
1 carrot, grated
2 sprigs of mint leaves, finely chopped

Dressing

2 tbs fish sauce
4 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp sweet chilli sauce

Topping

Unsalted peanuts, chopped
Fried shallot flakes (available in the Asian section at the supermarket)

Combine the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and mix well. Allow to stand for 20 minutes while you prepare the chicken to allow the flavours to develop. Once chicken is almost ready to serve, add the cabbage, carrot and mint and mix well. Arrange on a serving platter with shredded chicken on top and sprinkle peanuts and shallots over.

Poached chicken

4 120g chicken breast portions
500ml water
2 parsley stalks
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 chopped red chilli
Freshly ground pepper

Bring the water, parsley stalks, onion, chilli and pepper to the boil in a shallow pan. Place the fillets into the liquid, turn down low and allow to poach for 10-12 minutes, turning once. Remove from the poaching liquid and shred with two forks. Alternatively, you can cut the chicken into thin slices.

As you might have noticed, I used what was on hand for the pictured version. I had some red cabbage in the fridge and plenty of carrots. Fresh mint grows in our garden, so that was easily available. I thought it needed a bit more “green” though, so I added some finely shredded lettuce. You could substitute any kind of cabbage in this recipe – wombok would work really well – and could even use different herbs. A mixture of mint, basil, coriander and Vietnamese mint would be fantastic. Use your imagination and go nuts!

This is ideal for those chillier days when you want something warming for lunch or dinner AND it’s jam-packed with veggies.

Delish!

Serves 4

2 eggplants, about 450g each
1 quantity of bolognese sauce (see below)
About 2 tbs chopped basil leaves
1 tbs grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Stick a fork in your eggplants in several places and pop them on a baking paper-lined tray in the oven for about forty minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking time.* Allow to cool so you can handle them easily, then cut in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the flesh. Roughly chop the flesh and add it to your pre-prepared bolognese sauce with the chopped basil, mixing well. Place the eggplant halves onto a tray lined with a fresh sheet of baking paper. Spoon the sauce into the hollowed-out eggplant halves, sprinkle the parmesan over and return to the oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is beginning to brown.

Serve with a leafy salad.

For the bolognese sauce, you’ll need:

1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
250g lean beef mince
1 medium carrot, grated
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped cauliflower florets (chop these to a crumb-like texture in a food processor, discarding the thick stems before you start)
400g ripe tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped**
1 sachet tomato paste (50g)
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat a medium saucepan, then add the olive oil. Give it a minute or so to heat up, then add the onion and garlic. Stir over medium heat until the onion is soft and beginning to brown. Add the mince and stir  continually, breaking up any lumps that form, until it’s browned. Add the carrot, mushrooms and cauliflower and stir for a couple more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and combine well – if need be, adding a little water or stock to ensure that the liquid just covers the meat. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on. Remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is a nice thick consistency.

Each serve has approximately the following stats, not including salad or whatever else you choose to serve with it:

192 Calories
19g protein
11g carbohydrate
8g fat

*It’s not strictly necessary to turn the eggplants, but they will develop a flat spot where they sit on the tray, and it’s just neater if each half ends up flat on the bottom. They sit nicely on a plate too.  :)

**To skin fresh tomatoes, simply cut a small cross in the skin on the base of the fruit and place them in a heatproof bowl, then pour boiling water over, just enough to cover. After ten minutes, drain off the water and the skin will peel right off. You can skip this part if you’re using canned tomatoes, but I highly recommend it for fresh; otherwise your sauce will end up with bits of rolled-up stringy tomato skins in it.

Makes 12

4 medjool dates
Half a vanilla bean*
3 tbs raw cacao powder*
4 tbs shredded coconut
1 tbs chia seeds
1/2 an avocado
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom*
1 tsp coconut oil
Extra cacao powder and/or shredded coconut for decoration

Remove the seeds from your dates and chop them into quarters. Split your vanilla bean lengthwise and place it in a small heatproof bowl with the dates. Cover with boiling water and set a timer for 10 minutes. Measure out all the other ingredients and place into the bowl of a food processor. If the coconut oil is solid, melt it before adding. Drain the dates and vanilla bean and pat dry with paper towel or a clean tea towel. Toss the dates into the food processor and using the point of a small sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean in as well, then discard the bean pod.

Pulse for a few seconds and then give the mixture a good whirl until it is quite smooth in texture. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.

Sprinkle a teaspoon or so extra cacao powder on a piece of baking paper. Take a small amount of the mixture and roll into a ball with your fingers – about the size of a walnut. Ish. Then roll it in the cacao to coat. Repeat with the remaining mixture. If you prefer, you can roll in coconut instead – or do as I did and use half and half.

Refrigerate for half an hour or so and they’re good to go.

*Notes
1. You can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or paste for the vanilla bean if you like, but as both contain sugar and alcohol, they didn’t suit my needs at the moment.
2. You can use any kind of cocoa powder you like, but the raw stuff just has a more intense flavour in my opinion.
3. The cardamom is optional. I like the extra depth of flavour it adds, but leave it out if you’re not a fan. You could also add chilli powder if you’re adventurous.

A word of caution: Whilst these little beauties are packed full of good stuff – omega-3s, amino acids and fibre, among other things – they still pack a calorie punch. Just one truffle will provide the following:

Calories – 60
Fat – 4.6g
Protein – 1.1g
carbohydrate – 3.2g

This is not a sponsored post, but I did receive some lovely new products to try. Thanks to Cheap Superfoods for providing me with the raw organic cacao powder and organic chia seeds.

75g chopped onion
1 tsp crushed garlic
¼ cup chopped basil leaves
A small red chilli (about 7g), finely chopped
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbs chopped fresh oregano leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tbs olive oil
300g ripe tomatoes
1 tbs red wine vinegar
Salt to taste

Cut a small cross in the base of each tomato, place them in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over. Leave them to sit while you prepare your other ingredients, then drain them and the skins will be easy to peel off.* Chop the flesh roughly.

Heat a non stick pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Cook onion and garlic, stirring frequently until the onion is transparent. Add the chilli and the spices and stir for a minute or so. Add the chopped tomatoes and red wine vinegar and stir well. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until you have a sauce-like consistency. Remove the lid and simmer for a few minutes to evaporate more liquid if you need to. Add salt to taste.

You can leave this chunky, but after it cooled a bit, I threw mine into the blender and processed it to a finer texture. It’s still pretty chunky, as you can see from the photo. Kind of “rustic”, if you will.

Mine made 200ml, and I use a tablespoon per serve, so this quantity gives me 10 serves. I would have made more, but I only had a few tomatoes on hand…anyway, 10 serves will last me a while; I rarely use tomato sauce but it’s always a good accompaniment to a BBQ-ed hamburger or steak.

*You can omit this step if you like, but you’ll end up with stringy bits of tomato skins in your finished sauce.

Coconut flour is readily available from health food stores. The rest of the ingredients can be found on the supermarket shelves.

1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup rice flour (you can substitute plain flour, spelt flour or some other kind if you prefer. I don’t recommend buckwheat – the flavour is too overpowering)
A scoop of vanilla whey powder – about 30g
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup coconut water
1/2 cup coconut yoghurt*

Throw all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and whiz for a few seconds to mix. Add the remaining ingredients and process for about a minute until well blended. You can use a mixer or just a wooden spoon if you like, but I’m loving my spanking new food processor at the moment.

Cook pancakes in a non-stick pan with a little coconut oil. I used a bit less than quarter of a cup of mixture per pancake and ended up with eight in total. Serve with sliced banana, mango or any fruit you fancy. If calories aren’t an issue, melt some extra coconut oil over the warm pancakes as well.  

*If you’re unable to find coconut yoghurt, you can make your own really easily. If that doesn’t appeal, you can substitute natural yoghurt, but you’ll lose a little of the coconut flavour.

Serves 3-4

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs oat bran
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
2 tbs Splenda or Xylitol
2 egg whites
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
Skim milk
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place remaining ingredients except skim milk into a blender or food processor and blend till smooth. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little skim milk. Beat for about 1 minute then add the blueberries and gently mix through.

Cook batches of the mixture in a non-stick pan, sprayed with a little cooking spray. You should get 6-8 pancakes out of this quantity of batter.

Serve with natural yoghurt and any kind of syrup you like (some people like sugar-free syrup but I’d rather use a little maple or agave). If you prefer, you can omit the blueberries from the mixture and serve the pancakes with fresh berries of any kind.

You can also use ordinary old plain flour instead of the rice flour – I just prefer to keep my wheat consumption to a minimum. Wheat and I are not good friends….

Serves 4

1 sheet good quality frozen puff pastry
1 Granny Smith apple
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 tbs St Dalfour blueberry jam (or other no-added-sugar brand)

Set the pastry aside to thaw. Defrost the blueberries and pour off any liquid. Peel, core and quarter the apple, then slice each quarter fairly thinly. Once pastry is thawed, cut it into four squares and place them on an ovenproof tray lined with baking paper. Place one teaspoon of jam in the centre of each square. Arrange the apple slices on top, then add one quarter of the blueberries.

Lift two diagonally opposite corners of the pastry and fold them into the centre, over the filling, slightly overlapping them. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Serve warm on their own, with natural yoghurt or vanilla ice cream. You can sift a little icing sugar over the top if you like.

Each serve contains about 160 Calories (not including yoghurt or anything you might serve with it).