Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are such a great alternative to white potatoes. I try to avoid white potatoes as much as possible, and the nutritional benefits that sweet ones offer means that they're a pretty good option. They're a fab source of potassium, magnesium, iron and a multitude of vitamins. So, why not make the switch? This stuffed potato has a whole variety of flavours which make it much more interesting!

Ingredients (makes 1 serving):

1 sweet potato

1 turkey breast

4 baby plum tomatoes

30g chorizo

50g spinach

Ground black pepper

Basil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan 160). Wash the potato in warm water and prick a couple of times with a fork. Pop in the microwave for 3 and a 1/2 minutes. Place in the oven to cook for 45 minutes. Tip: I used a white flesh sweet potato because they aren't quite as sweet.

2.) After 25 minutes of cooking, season the turkey breast with olive oil, black pepper and basil. Place under the grill and cook for 15 minutes.

3.)  Slice the chorizo and cut the tomatoes in half. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

3.) When there are only ten minutes to go, boil the kettle and put the spinach on. Cook for six minutes and drain.

4.) Chop up the turkey breast and chorizo.

(these really aren't the prettiest photos in the world, sorry!)

5.) Take the potato out of the oven, and slice it in half. Scoop out the innards and mix with the chorizo, turkey breast, spinach and tomatoes. Place (or 'stuff') back in the potato and enjoy!

Love and Light

Steph

Classic Healthy Dish Twist | Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Lasagne

As I mentioned in my recipe for healthy garlic bread, I LOVE Italian food, but going dairy-free has put a number of obstacles in my way. However, this recipe means that I get to eat my favourite dish: glorious lasagne. This guilt free meal is really filling, and great for a winter night when you get bored of having the same old routine meals (I always end up eating lots of fish and veggies because it's simple and winter makes me lazier). 

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

125g turkey mince

1 courgette

1 small carrot

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 tin chopped tomatoes

Dried basil

Dried rosemary

Dried parsley

Extra virgin olive oil/coconut oil

Dried Chili

Ground black pepper

Sea Salt

1.) Peel and finely chop the carrot, onion and garlic. Chop up the turkey mine (unlike normal mince, it can be really really hard to de-clump once it starts cooking). 

2.) Put a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. Add the carrot, onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft and a bit transparent.

3.) Add the chopped tomatoes, a pinch of each herb and a little bit of dried chili (or more, if you want more of a kick!). Season with black pepper and sea salt. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes

4.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. 

5.) After the sauce has been simmering for 5 minutes or so, put a tablespoon oil in a frying pan. After it has heated, add the turkey mince and brown.

6.) Whilst this is browning, take the courgette and start making the sheets to replace normal pasta ones. Do this by first peeling the courgette and then using the peeler to create strips. 

7.) Add the turkey mince to the sauce.

8.) Get your lasagne dish and start layering! Meat - courgette - meat - courgette - a little left voer meat for the top. 

9.) Cook for 20 minutes

Enjoy!

Love and Light

Steph

Any comments/questions are always welcome! :) 

Hearty Healthy Lamb Casserole

In England we're now firmly settling into Autumn. The trees have reached a gourgeous yellow/red/orange colour and everything looks quite pretty. Unless it's raining. Which sadly it now does at least every other day. I guess we can start dreaming about summer again .... Anyway, Autumn does have some advantages. There's nothing nicer than to snuggle up on a cold November evening with a steaming hot meal in front of you. One that you don't have to feel will add on those winter pounds is always a bonus as well. 

Ingredients (serves 4):

2lb diced lamb.

1 carrot

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons fresh ginger

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

750ml chicken stock

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary

Extra virgin olive oil

Ground black pepper

Sea salt

Dried chili flakes

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. 

2.) Finely chop the onion and garlic. Chop the carrot.

3.) Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Cook the onion, garlic and carrot for roughly five minutes on a medium heat. Take care not to burn as it can alter the taste of the entire casserole (from experience, burnt onion is noticeable in pretty much every dish!). 

4.) Whilst this is cooking, put another tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Brown the chunks of lamb.

5.) Grate the ginger and add to the cooking vegetables. Add the chili flakes. Cook for one minute. Put the vegetables in a casserole dish. 

6.) Add the lamb to the casserole dish.

7.) Put the rosemary (taken off the sticks) into the pan which the lamb was cooked in. Add the stock. Heat until the stock is bubbling. 

8.) Add the stock to the casserole. Stir and put in the oven for 1 hour.

9.) Add the Worcestershire sauce, ground black pepper and sea salt. Put back in the oven for another hour.

10.) Et voila, you have a gourgeous casserole for the whole family, or, if you're just cooking for yourself it's suitable for freezing (great for long days where you don't want to cook!).

Love and Light

Steph

Any comments/questions are always welcome!

**DISCLAIMER**

All photos are property of Sophie Hartley

Spooky Vegan Stuffed Peppers

These are potentially my favourite thing I've made in a while. Last night's dinner was gloriously themed (though my idea to have the rice falling out like maggots was rejected, whoops). There's actually two versions here: one with rice and one without. They're really simple to make and are a great way to celebrate this festive season. Halloween lasts all week right?! Also, sorry I haven't been blogging as much recently, this week's been hectic with a plethora of Halloween events going on, plus some lingering flu that's getting quite annoying now. 

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

4 peppers - preferably orange/red/yellow

1 clove garlic

1 small onion

200g chopped tomatoes

1/6 courgette

25g brown rice (leave this out if you want to reduce carb intake)

Ground sea salt and black pepper

Dried basil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Paprika

1.) Start cooking the brown rice. It usually takes about 25 minutes. I like to sprinkle a little bit of black pepper and paprika in as it cooks to add a little more flavour.

2.) Whilst this is cooking, peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Chop up the courgette.

3.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

4.) Heat about a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan. Once heated, add the courgette, onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is transparent. 

5.) Add the chopped tomatoes, basil, sea salt and black pepper. About 1/2 teaspoon of basil should be sufficient. Cook for 12 minutes.

6.) Combine the rice and vegetable mixture. Take off the heat.

7.) Now for the fun part! Carve whatever face you want into your pepper. It's best to go small as that way there's less chance for major leakage. Once you've done this, chop the very top of your pepper off and cut out the seeds. This will be your lid.

8.) Carefully fill the peppers with the vegetable filling. Place the lids on top and put (or rather balance!) on a tray in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

9.) Serve and enjoy. 

Love and Light

Steph 

All photos are property of Sophie Hartley

Healthy Chicken Paella Soup

This summer was the first time in years in which I've travelled to another country. I was fortunate enough to spend a week in coastal Malaga, Spain with my boyfriend in June. Here I tried paella for the first time and fell in love with it. I'm not the world's greatest seafood fan, so what I ate wasn't *true* paella as it was chicken and chorizo based, but hey, it was paella in Spain so I'm counting it. During a bout of why-does-English-weather-suck in September I caved and bought a chicken paella meal soup from Sainsburys (try it, trust me you won't regret it). Living on a student budget and wanting to be as healthy as possible however, led me to create my own recipe - here it is!

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

1 small chicken breast

2 cloves garlic

50g peas

1 can chopped tomatoes

60g brown rice

1 tsp lemon juice

Paprika

Ground black pepper

Salt

Thyme

Basil

Dried chopped chili

Parsley

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. 

2.) Boil some water for the rice. Start cooking the rice. Remember to check the pack for how long to cook it, but brown rice should take about 25 minutes to cook. I actually prefer brown rice to white rice, which is a win when you're trying to eat clean, but the recipe works equally well with white (although you'll have to adjust cooking times). 

2.) Pour a little bit of olive oil over the chicken. Season with ground black pepper, salt and basil. The olive oil helps to keep it from drying our whilst cooking so that you get a lovely juicy chicken. 

3.) Once the chicken is in the oven (it should take about 20 minutes to cook) you can start working on the sauce. Finely chop or crush the garlic. Heat a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and cook the garlic for one minute. 

4.) Add the chooped tomatoes. Now comes the seasoning. Add a pinch of the dried chopped chili, basil, thyme and parsley. Season with ground black pepper to your liking. Now it's time for the key ingredient: paprika. I'm not the greatest fan of spicy food, so if you are it may be wise to adjust the spice measurements to your liking. I usually end up putting between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon of paprika in. The best idea is to measure along the way to make sure you adjust it to your liking. 

5.) Leave the sauce to simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes.

6.) Whilst it's cooking, boil some water for the peas. Cook for roughly five minutes. Add the peas to the sauce.

7.) By now the chicken should be cooked. Slice it up into thin strips and add to the sauce.

8.) Finally add the rice and serve. You can reheat the second serving for another day. 

Love and Light,

Steph :)

**DISCLAIMER** 

All photos are property of Sophie Hartley