Category Recipes

Winter Berry Crumble

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This gluten-free gut loving tray of wholesome goodness is the perfect winter treat to enjoy on a cool evening with a cup of tea and a blanket. The essential winter comfort treat.

You can use your favourite mix of berries. I’ve used a combination of fresh strawberries and frozen organic berries.

Fresh Strawberries and frozen Blueberries

The crumble has the perfect crunch, a mixture of almonds, walnuts, seeds and coconut.

Crumble mixture

While most crumble recipes include the usual refined white sugar, this recipe uses rice malt syrup. Never let crumble leave you feeling guilty and bloated again. This healthy version is full of gut loving good fats and berries full of antioxidants and phytonutrients which have antiinflammatory properties and can help support a healthy body.

Rice malt syrup and extra virgin coconut oil

Ingredients

Topping

  • 1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds or a mix of both
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons rice malt syrup
  • 1 tsp of the best vanilla essence

Filling

  • 3 tablespoons rice malt syrup
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot (tapioca flour)
  • 700 g mixed berries

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Place all the topping ingredients in a bowl and combine well, ensuring all the ingredients are well coated.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove and set aside to cool – it will get crunchy once it cools down.

Place the berries in a saucepan with the rice malt syrup and tapioca flour. Mix gently to combine. Simmer over low heat for 10mins.

Transfer to a 20 cm dish and break the cooled crumble into pieces and sprinkle over the top of the berry mixture. Serve warm or cold.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating this beautiful crumble like we all did!

Christine X

Eggplant and Chickpea Curry

christinebardajian 2 Comments

This mildly spiced, easy, eggplant spinach & chickpea curry is on the menu on repeat in autumn.

It’s a one pot dinner so no fussing about with more pans. It is mildly spiced for the sake of my daughter but you can add more heat if you wish. A finely chopped green chilli added when you add the garlic and ginger will do the job nicely. My daughter loved this but I guarantee you she wouldn’t love it so much if there was more heat involved.

This eggplant spinach and chickpea curry can be made a day ahead if you like.

Ingredients

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Vegetarian Chilli

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Ahhh Autumn. The colour of the landscape starts to change as the leaves get ready to fall. The duration of daylight becomes noticeably shorter and the temperature cools considerably. And, in the kitchen I start to look for more comforting warm and satisfying meals.

One of our favourites for the cooler weather is Vegetarian Chilli.

It might look like a mighty long list of ingredients but this chilli is really 14 minutes of prep and you can sit back and relax while waiting for the magic to happen and the flavours to develop in the pot.

I’ve served this on it’s own (it is a complete meal!) or with steamed vegetables, or as a filler for tacos and nachos, or in a bowl with brown rice and avocado….. once you master this chilli there is no going back.

Ingredients

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Grain Free Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

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The school holidays are the perfect time to get in the kitchen with the kids and get creative. And we all know how hungry the kids are during the holidays!

These chocolate brownies have been a hit in our house this weekend.

Slightly tweaked recipe from previous brownies and it has taken a bit of trial and error – but that’s what baking is all about for me. I love experimenting with flavours and recipes.

Ingredients

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GRAIN FREE VEGAN ALMOND COOKIES

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Everyone loves a cookie (or two).

That morning coffee indulgence, or 3pm (or even midnight) snack.

These cookies are packed full of almonds. And with the added Tahini which is also rich in healthy fats, amino acids as well as essential vitamins and minerals. Tahini is packed full of all the goodness as well as being high in calcium.

Tahini can also help to balance hormones. Hormones plays an important role in managing our weight, sleep, hunger cues, libido, mood and our sanity! When our hormones are off balance from poor lifestyle habits and food choices we feel it pretty quickly. 

If balancing hormones is your #1 priority this is the most delicious place to start, full of good fats, protein and nutrients your hormones (and taste buds) are going to love you for this!

Here is my recipe for the simplest & easiest minimum effort  

5 I N G R E D I E N T Grain Free Vegan Almond cookies with Tahini.

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Moist and Decadent Vegan Chocolate Cake

christinebardajian 1 Comment

This cake is the moistest most decadent chocolate cake you will ever eat. There is nothing healthy about this cake – I think if you want to have chocolate cake then you should have chocolate cake!

I am replacing our family chocolate cake recipe with this one – it will be at every birthday party from now on. Not because it is vegan (we have one vegan in our house) but because it was minimal effort for an amazing cake! Noone even knew it was vegan (except my daughter).

The kids thought it was the best chocolate cake ever and devoured it. We were all eying off the last slice.

If you wanted to be fancy and show off or needed a dinner party dessert you could always decorate with raspberries and toasted coconut.

Ingredients

375g dark (70% or darker) chocolate, chopped

2 x 400ml cans coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups self-raising flour (or can replace half of this quantity with almond meal)

2 teaspoons baking powder

¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tablespoons cocoa

Method

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm round cake pan. Line base and side with baking paper.

Place 150g of the chocolate, 2½ cups of the coconut milk and the vanilla in a microwavesafe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%), stirring every 30 seconds, for 1 minute 30 seconds or until mixture is smooth.

Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa into a large bowl. Make a well. Add chocolate mixture. Whisk to combine. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Place remaining chocolate and coconut milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH stirring every 30 seconds, for 1 minute 30 seconds or until mixture is smooth. Stand for 2 hours to thicken slightly.

Split cake in half horizontally. Spread 1/2 the ganache over bottom half of cake. Top with remaining half. Spread remaining ganache over top of cake.

Healthy Thai Green Curry

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I NEVER want my clients eating a boring, monotonous diet. Eating the same mundane food day in and day out is only going to intensify those cravings and lead you back to square one.

Life is about flavour. It’s about enjoying your meals.

This Thai Green Curry recipe is a great way to spice up your weekday meals while still eating healthy.

Green curry paste is usually spicy. You can substitute for yellow paste which is a bit more mild.

If you’re feeding kids that don’t like chilli, you can always sprinkle the chilli on your own dish when you serve.

Here’s what you need:

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Chocolate Chia Pudding

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Another Chia Pudding? Funny that because about 5 years ago many of us would not have even heard of Chia. And yet, everywhere we look there it is. In breads, cereals even ready to buy as a pudding on the supermarket shelves.

There is a reason why Holistic Nutritionists recommend this super seed to be incorporated into our diet.

  • Chia is an excellent source of fibre, protein and anti-oxidants.
  • It is the Richest plant source of Omega-3 fatty acids
  • Low in kilojoules
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • help to increase serotonin levels in the brain (thats the feel good hormone!)
  • can assist in weightloss

My favourite way to use Chia is in a pudding. You can adjust the flavour combinations to suit your needs. So, if i’m making it for dessert it’s usually a little sweeter and topped with fruit. If im making it for dessert it may be a little sweeter. For afternoon tea? I might add nuts as a topping. See how versatile it is?

This is the simplest recipe using 5 versatile ingredients…. Anyone could make it!

And, it’s naturally sweetened, vegan and gluten free.

It is so healthy that it’s a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

Make this the night before for a decadent breakfast or mid-day snack. Or prep it a couple of hours before the kids get home for a super healthy afternoon tea!

It lasts a couple of days in the fridge.

Ingredients

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Cauliflower Mash

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I had the most delicious crispy roast potatoes with dinner last night (maybe a few too many) and a gorgeous open sourdough cafe lunch today (you know those mammoth slices of sourdough) so was feeling like a lighter option as a side dish this evening.

Enter my super easy and delicious Cauliflower Mash. And, Cauliflowers are in season at the moment so there is an abundance which means they are cheap!

Trust me, once you have tried this cauliflower mash you will NEVER go back to a regular potato mash.

 It’s much lower in carbohydrate than potato mash and a great anti-inflammatory that will support your digestion and your immune system.

Serve as a side dish to any of your favourite stews, roast chicken or legumes.  

The following recipe will yield enough for 4 people as a side dish  

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