Tag: easy healthy recipes

Chewy Breakfast Bars

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Chewy Breakfast Bars
Chewy Breakfast Bars

625ml rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
125ml almonds, chopped
83ml honey
56g butter, cubed
62ml brown sugar
2,5ml vanilla
1,2ml salt
125ml dried cranberries, chopped
80ml chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper.
Add the oats and chopped almonds to a baking sheet, spread it out evenly and bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Stir the mixture around and bake for another 5 minutes, until lightly toasted. Spoon into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Add the honey, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt to a small saucepan and place over medium heat.
Stir the mixture until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Allow it to bubble for 30 seconds and remove from the heat.
Pour the honey mixture into the bowl with the oats and almonds and mix well.
Add the cranberries and the chocolate chips and stir again.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin and firmly press into the tin. Wet your fingers with water and press some more – this is really important for the mixture to stick together.
Cover the tin with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Remove from the tin and cut into 12x bars.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
I like to wrap the individual bars in baking paper so that they are ready to be taken on-the-go!!


Beetroot Focaccia

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Beetroot Focaccia
Beetroot Focaccia

4 – 5 beets
340ml water and beetroot-water, lukewarm
10g dry yeast
10ml sugar
10ml salt
20ml olive oil
500g cake flour
100g feta cheese, crumbed
rosemary sprigs
extra olive oil to drizzle

Peel the beetroot and cut it into chunks. Cover with water and cook until a sharp knife easily pierces the beet chunks.
Remove the beetroot from the cooking liquid, but reserve the liquid.
Mash enough of the soft beetroot so that you have 45ml of pulp. (Keep the rest of the cooked beetroot in the refrigerator and add it to a salad).
Measure 340ml of the beetroot water in a jug. If you don’t have enough, fill it to measurement with tap water.
Warm the water so that it is lukewarm.
Add the yeast, sugar and olive oil to the water and stir to dissolve. Set aside.
Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low speed.
Add the yeast mixture and the 45ml beetroot pulp and turn the mixer to medium speed. Knead for about 4 minutes.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside to rise for 1 -2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 38cm X 25cm baking tray with non-stick spray.
Transfer the dough to the baking tray and gently start spreading it by pushing down on it with the tips of your fingers. Keep pushing and prodding the dough until it fills the entire tray.
Break the feta and spread over the dough.
Add a few sprigs of rosemary and then drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the dough.
Lightly cover the bread with a plastic bag and allow to rise for about 20 minutes.

Bake the risen bread for 30 minutes.

Green-Pea Flan with Zucchini Pickle

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Green-Pea Flan with Zucchini Pickle
Green-Pea Flan with Zucchini Pickle

This is a delicious and healthy meal based on Jamie Oliver’s avocado pastry recipe. The quick pickle elevates this plant-based dish from good to absolutely fabulous!

2 medium avocado pears
400g self-raising flour
ice water
6 eggs
5ml salt
400g frozen peas, defrosted
140g cheddar cheese, grated
200g sugarsnaps, halved

Quick Pickle:
500ml vinegar
500ml water
83ml sugar
30ml salt
10ml mustard seeds
10ml whole black peppercorns
4 cloves of garlic, cracked
2 bay leaves
12 zucchini

Start by making the pickle:
Slice the zucchini into coins/strips and place it in a glass bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients for the pickle to a saucepan. Place over high heat until tiny bubbles appear at the edges.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the pickle onto the prepared zucchini.
Set aside until cold. (The pickle may be bottled at this stage and stored in the refrigerator).

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 38cm X 25cm oven tray with cooking spray.
Scoop the flesh from the avocados into a food processor and add the flour.
Pulse at high speed until the mixture resembles coarse, wet sand.
Add a very small amount of ice cold water to the mixture while the engine is running. The mixture should come together into a ball.
Line the prepared baking tray with the avocado-pastry by pushing it about 2cm up the sides of the tray as well as covering the bottom as evenly as you can. The pastry is too wet to roll – be patient in pushing/spreading it out as evenly as you can. Set aside.
Add the eggs, salt, defrosted peas and cheddar cheese to the bowl of your food processor and blitz on high speed.
Pour this mixture onto the avocado-pastry and scatter the fresh sugarsnaps on top.
Bake the flan for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and immediately cut into portions.
Serve a portion of the flan with a generous amount of zucchini pickles on top.