This little recipe came about after needing some beetroot juice for another recipe (a Valentine’s Day focaccia, check it out on Instagram if you haven’t seen it yet). I peeled a bunch of raw beetroots, whizzed them in the Vitamix and then passed the lot through a tea towel to extract the juice. It felt a shame to bin the pulp so I started mixing it with other stuff and it was lovely. Don’t worry too much about the exact amount of beetroot, just get a bunch, chances it’ll be fine. 

I’ve just made some again today and I had more beetroots, so I increased the dry ingredients a bit and it still worked.

Ingredients:

• The pulp of one bunch of beetroots
• 3 tbsp. sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp. sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp. oats
• 2 tbsp. ground flaxseeds
• ½ tsp. nigella seeds
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. water

Method:

Mix everything together really well and let it sit for 10min. This is to give the soluble fibre in the flaxseeds and oats some time react with the moisture and form a gel, which will bind the mixture together.

Place the dough in between two pieces of baking parchment and roll really thinly (3mm). If you find the dough doesn’t roll out well, you may want to add another tbsp. of water and leave the dough for another minute.

Score the dough, I like making diamonds because even in crackers form they are a girl’s best friend, right? Bake at 150 degrees for 35min, they should feel snappy. If they’re a bit limp, leave them some more. Once done, snap them into individual crackers and enjoy as you wish. They last for ages in an air-tight box.

I made a batch of roasted chickpeas last week and many people asked me for the recipe when I put in my Instagram stories so I thought I’d share it on here too.

It couldn’t be simpler to make roasted chickpeas because all you need are store cupboard ingredients. That means you can whip up a batch of these bad boys anytime you fancy!

Why roasted chickpeas, you might ask. Why the hell not, I might reply. Joke aside, they’re the more nutritious cousin of the ubiquitous crisps. We all love crisps but it apart from joy, they don’t bring much to the party. With roasted chickpeas you can get both: pleasure and nutrition. Roasted chickpeas are higher in fibre and protein than potato crisps and they tend to be lower in fat since they are baked, not fried

I like to eat them on their own over a few drinks with friends, or as a hummus topping to make a substantial snack, or even in salads. Their crunchiness works really well as part of a great big mixed salad with creamy avocado, earthy beetroot, crisp lettuce but even fish or meat (some people tell me that it goes well with roasted beef).

The combinations are endless and I’d love to hear about yours, so do share!

As promised, here’s the recipe of the chocolate flapjacks I put up on Instagram the other day.

They were inspired from a paleo recipe I saw somewhere and which over the years I adapted. I’ve used other dried fruit, sometimes added seeds but somehow always kept the chocolate; funny that…

White chocolate works as well but in that case I swap the cocoa powder for desiccated coconut, which I first blitz to a powder. I also use slightly sourer fruits such as cranberries and blueberries, as white chocolate is very sweet and it can all become a bit cloying.

These chocolate flapjacks are great with a cup of coffee after lunch or as a little mid-afternoon snack. My kids love them although, of course, they are not packed lunch or school snack friendly 

Healthy or not healthy?

Someone asked me whether they were “healthy” or not, well yes, no and it depends. They contain less sugar than your average biscuit or cereal bar but since they contain chocolate and dried fruit, they still contain sugar. They also contain quite a bit of fat (300g of almonds) so I wouldn’t advise to eat the whole thing in one go! I like them not because they contain less sugar or that they are gluten-free but because, unlike the average biscuit, they contain more fibre and a bit more nutrients. Those chocolate flapjacks are more nutritious than your average flapjack but I also like them because they have a great texture, that they are a bit sticky and that I end up having to lick my fingers after eating them.

Ingredients:

• 100g prunes
• 300g almonds
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 100g dark chocolate chips

Method:

Whizz 1/2 the nuts, fruit, eggs, cocoa powder and salt into a rough paste. The pulse in the rest of the almonds and prunes plus the chocolate chips.

Place in an oven dish lined with baking parchment. Mine is roughly 30 x 20 cm and I end up with a traybake that’s about 2cm deep.

I’ve been making these almond, cherry and orange energy balls for years and many of my clients like them. I love that they are so easy to prepare and keep well in the fridge.

Almonds and cherry go well together, don’t they? These energy balls are effectively like mini cherry bakewell bites…

Why I love those energy balls

They make good kids snacks providing a good balance of nutrients (not in a nut-free school of course).

These almond, cherry and orange energy balls offer balance of sweetness, tartness, crunch and moist. Plus they also contain plenty of protein, lots of fibre, vitamins and minerals. They’re only made with natural ingredients and don’t cost the earth, like some ready made cereal/energy bars.

Did you know that sour cherries are really high in anti-oxidants with anti-inflammatory properties? They have been found to contain melatonin and could therefore promote sleep. It might be worth giving them a go, don’t you think?

Ingredients:

• 300g almonds
• 12 Medjool dates pitted
• 100g sour cherries (I buy mine on Amazon)
• 1 orange zest and juice
• 2 tbsp. chia seeds
• desiccated coconut

 

Method:

In an ideal world I first soak the cherries in the orange juice and zest overnight but I have done it many times without.

Place all the ingredients in a food mixer and blitz until combined. I like mine to retain a bit of a bite so I just don’t blitz the mixture smooth. Let it sit for 10min in the food mixer so that the chia seeds absorb some of the liquid and glue the mixture together.

Roll into balls the size of a walnut, then roll in the desiccated coconut and keep in the fridge. The coconut doesn’t add much but helps not getting horribly sticky fingers when eating them. If you don’t like coconut you could use sesame or flaxseeds.

These peanut and cocoa energy bars taste like they are good for you but in a good way. I don’t like labelling food as “good” or “bad” but people do, don’t they? And when people say that something tastes like it’s good for you, they generally mean that it tastes a bit like horse fodder.

Well, I’m pleased to tell you that my peanut and cocoa bars don’t taste like horse fodder! They taste super yummy and indulgent but at the same time they are really dense and chewy. So, you know you aren’t eating air stuck together with sugar.

I could have made them sweeter and more indulgent with actual chocolate but I was after something which wouldn’t melt in hot weather. I did add chocolate chips just because I couldn’t help myself but really you don’t have to.

Kids will love the sweetness from these bars while you can be reassured that they are not consuming an insane amount of sugar in one hit and that they will also be satiated after a couple. I don’t know about yours but my children are always hungry and sometimes it feels that all they do is ask for food! And it’s not like I don’t feed them mind, I’m always shocked when my food shopping arrives to see the amount we eat in a week!

Ingredients: (makes 14)

• 150g oats
• 50g rice pops
• 150g unsweetened peanut butter
• 150g date syrup
• 50g peanut butter powder
• 30g cocoa powder
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 3 eggs
• 50ml oat milk (you can use dairy milk too)
• 60g raw peanuts
• 3 tbsp. chocolate chips (optional)

 

Method:

Mix together the peanut butter and date syrup in a large heatproof bowl and heat up in the microwave.

Sift the cocoa and peanut butter powders to avoid lumps, then add to the peanut butter and date mixture. It will become quite stiff so loosen the mixture with the milk and then gradually stir in the eggs one by one and mix until smooth.

Finally add the oats, salt and rice pops and work them into the chocolate mixture until well blended.

Place in an oven dish (mine is 15cmx30cm) lined with baking parchment, top with the peanuts and chocolate chips if using, press them into the mixture so that they stick. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees for 30min.

My kids love those cranberry and coconut flapjacks. To be fair my kids and, come to think of it, my husband love most flapjacks. I think it must be a culturally kiddy thing, I mean I don’t recall having ever eaten flapjacks while growing up in France; too busy eating pains au chocolat I guess…

Flapjacks feature at least once per week on the menu at the kids’ school, you see them at most birthday parties and picnics and for good reason: they are delicious, easy to make, nutritious and portable.

I like these cranberry and coconut flapjacks when we go out and about because they pack a nutritional punch with lots of fibre, protein, B vitamins and other interesting minerals but I especially like them because they don’t contain chocolate. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, I said because they don’t contain chocolate! As you may have noticed, I love chocolate but when you’re hiking or at a picnic and that it’s hot, you don’t want to end up with goo everywhere so these are perfect.

They’re really easy to make too like most flapjacks and they keep really well in an air-tight container.

Ingredients:

• 350g oats
• 120g desiccated coconut
• 140g dry cranberries
• 120g coconut oil
• 85g date syrup
• 35 g honey
• 3 eggs, beaten
• pinch of sea salt.

 

Method:

Place the oats, coconut, and cranberries in a large bowl.

Melt the coconut oil, date syrup, honey and sea salt together in a saucepan, then pour on the dry mixture and mix well. Finally add the eggs and mix again very thoroughly to make sure the oats are well coated.

Transfer in a lined baking dish (mine was about 15cm by 25cm) and press it down, then bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 40min.

Once cooled cut in chunks, I like mine in little squares, so that we get the impression of having lots!

I used to called these “breakfast cheesecakes” but I don’t like the name anymore. Firstly, I don’t tend to eat them for breakfast only (although you could) and secondly, it gives the impression that these are “healthy” mini cheesecakes. In fact, it gives the impression  that they are so healthy you could have them for breakfast when the actual truth is that most nutritionists, including me, wouldn’t advise you to break your fast with cheesecake. I suppose you could have cheesecake for breakfast, although it probably wouldn’t set you up for the day in the best way. Having said that, there are quite a few good elements about cheesecake such as lots of protein and calcium for example.

I don’t like the new name either to be honest, but that’s the best I came up with and feel free to pitch me better names. 

As cumbersome as it is, the name does reflect what they are and what they were designed to do for me though. I wanted something high in protein that wasn’t meat or just eggs so I fell back on yoghurt but I struggle a bit with yoghurt sometimes. It might sound strange but I never got used to “English yoghurt”, “French yoghurt” tastes different. Anyway, sometimes I don’t fancy yoghurt but I need more protein because I don’t eat a lot of meat and this is how this recipe was born. 

My little cakes are reminiscent of the  “Käsekuchen” , or baked cheesecake, my German uncle used to make, so we’re back to the cheesecake idea.

People often ask me about protein and a lot of my clients are drawn to protein bars but I’m not always keen on them. First, they are extortionately expensive! They are also really processed and in as much as I’m not fanatical about everything being “natural”, I think it makes sense to reduce our exposure to ultra processed food (UPF). My final and perhaps most important issue with them is that they often contain a type of sugars, which don’t get absorbed by the body, called sugar alcohols (they have nothing to do with the alcohol we drink by the way). They are useful to food manufacturers who want to reduce the sugar and calorie content of their products, precisely because the body doesn’t absorb the said sugars. However, they can exacerbate digestive issues and cause bloating in some people, especially when consumed frequently and/or in large quantities (by large quantities I don’t mean tons, a couple of those bars for some would be enough to cause digestive unease). Given that most of my clients, disordered eaters, suffer with their digestion and bloating, those bars aren’t my favourite. 

These little cakes are my solution to an easy, tasty, cheap and nutritious source of protein. Ok you have to make them but I tend to double the recipe and make 12, so it lasts me a week or so. They contain around 10g protein, 92mg calcium and only 4g of “real” sugar per cake. Aside from the cost of the electricity, they probably cost around £0.50 per cake, there’s no plastic, they are portable and they really do taste nice! I had to make some for my kids too, which is telling I think.

Ingredients:

• 500g Greek yoghurt
• 2 medium eggs
• 6 tsp. caster sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste
• 3 tbsp. semolina
• 1 tsp. psyllium flour (it helps avoid excess moisture)
• Frozen raspberries if you feel so inclined…

Method:

Place the yoghurt in a large bowl making sure to drain off any liquid beforehand. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, whisk in the semolina and psyllium gradually so as not to form lumps, then add to the yoghurt mix.

Divide into 6 muffin cases and add a few raspberries, or anything else you want, on top.

Bake in a preheated oven for 40min at 150°C and leave it to cool before eating.

They work for breakfast, a light dessert, or an afternoon snack. I’m not sure they would freeze terribly well though so do eat them up!