Essentially Healthy Food

Baked Bananas with Dark Chocolate, Apricots & Hazelnuts served with Dairy & Egg Free Banana Ice Cream

 

There are some days when you want something sweet to finish a meal.  Not simply a piece of fruit but something that is more stickily satisfying.  Something more like a proper dessert.  But, at the same time, you don't want to fall too far off the healthy wagon.  This is a recipe for one of those times.  Obviously, it's not ultra healthy, way too high in fruit sugar for that, but it does fall into the healthier dessert category, which in my book isn't a bad compromise.

 

Texture wise, it ticks all the right boxes.  Soft, hot, unctuous bananas oozing with dark chocolate.  Chewy apricots and crunchy hazelnuts.  All served with a scoop, or two, of cold creamy ice cream.

Enjoy!

 

Baked Bananas with Dark Chocolate, Apricots & Hazelnuts served with Banana Ice Cream

Serves 4

Ingredients

Banana Ice Cream

125g Cashew Nuts

125ml Water

25g Rich Sweet Freedom or Dark Agave

250g Ripe Bananas (skinned weight)

Baked Bananas

2 Large Ripe Bananas

40g Dried Apricots, chopped into small pieces

45g Rich Sweet Freedom or Dark Agave Nectar

75ml Orange Juice

75ml Water

Juice of ½ Lemon

40g Dark Chocolate, cut into 12 pieces

15g Chopped, Toasted Hazelnuts

Blend together the cashew nuts and water until very smooth and creamy.  Place in the fridge and leave to chill.  When the cashew cream is cold, blend in the bananas and Sweet Freedom, then pour into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.  Spoon into a freezer container and freeze  until required.  Take the ice cream out of the freezer a little while before serving to allow it to soften slightly.

Preheat the oven to 220℃ /Fan 200℃.

Mix together the orange juice, water, Sweet Freedom and lemon juice and place in an ovenproof dish.  Skin the bananas and cut them in half cross ways.  Put into the dish and coat with the syrup.  Scatter the apricots around the bananas.

Bake for 20 minutes, occasionally basting the bananas with the syrup.  Remove from the oven and switch the oven off.  Make 3 deep slits into each of the bananas and push in the dark chocolate.  Return to the oven and leave for a few minutes for the chocolate to melt.  Just before serving scatter the hazelnuts over the bananas and serve with the banana ice cream.

 

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Blueberry, Pomegranate & Orange Jellies with Pistachio Praline

 

Sprinkling or scattering garnishes around the plate rather than over the food itself is a lovely way of making food look more enticing.  Decorating the plate though, does need to be done with a light touch.

It's all too easy to get carried away with this technique so it pays to remember that less is most definitely more.  Especially, as layers of different shaped and textured garnishes scattered over the plate often look more attractive than just one single garnish.  If you look at the photos you'll see that combining more delicate garnishes, such as the orange zest and praline crumbs, helps to soften the appearance of the slightly more solid pieces of fruit.

 

There is a concept used in many forms of art and design that is called white or negative space.  This is the blank space that is left around objects and is critical to ensure that the objects appear more prominent.  It's a technique that is often used in page layouts and in graphic design to make the words and images literally jump out at you.  The same technique is equally applicable in food presentation.  By leaving parts of the plate visible, the food appears more distinctive.  So, to make sure that the decorations scattered over the plate don't merge into one, it is more effective to scatter them sparingly and leave plenty of white space in between.

 

Blueberry, Pomegranate & Orange Jellies with Pistachio Praline

Serves 4

Ingredients

Jellies

300g Blueberries

100ml Orange Juice

Zest of  ½ Orange

Juice of 1 Lemon

30g Mild Sweet Freedom or Agave Nectar

Approx 200ml Pomegranate Juice

3½ Sheets Gelatine

Pistachio Praline

50g Rich Sweet Freedom or Dark Agave Nectar

50g Pistachio Nuts

To Decorate

Orange Slices

Blueberries

Pomegranate Seeds

Orange Zest

Place 150g of blueberries in a pan with the orange zest and juice, lemon juice and Sweet Freedom or agave nectar.  Cook gently until the blueberries start to disintegrate.  Take off the heat, blend to a thick puree and then sieve into a measuring jug.  Make up to 400ml with pomegranate juice and stir well to combine.

Cut the gelatine leaves into small pieces and soak in cold water until they are soft, then drain well.  Heat about half of the jelly mixture, take off the heat and add the drained gelatine leaves and stir until completely dissolved.  Stir into the remaining jelly mixture and leave to cool.

Divide the remaining blueberries between 4 ramekins or individual jelly moulds, approx 125ml capacity, then pour in the jelly.  Place in the fridge and leave overnight to set.

To make the pistachio praline, place the rich Sweet Freedom and pistachios into a small heavy based saucepan, bring up to the boil and boil until the syrup turns a rich golden brown.  Stir every now and again to prevent it catching on the sides of the pan and burning.  Tip onto a piece of non stick baking parchment and flatten with the back of a spoon.  Leave to cool and set.

To serve.  Briefly dip one of the  jelly moulds into boiling water, place a serving plate over the top of the mould, invert the plate and jelly and give it a few sharp shakes until the jelly plops out onto the plate.  Repeat with the other jellies.

Scatter some orange slices, zest, pomegranate seeds and blueberries on the plates around the jellies.  Roughly chop the praline and pile some on the top of each jelly then sprinkle some of the smaller pieces around the plates.  There will be more praline than you need but it will keep in an air tight jar for a later date. 

 

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Seared Beef, Cucumber & Bean Sprout Salad with Wasabi & Lime Dressing

 

One of the misconceptions many people have about healthy eating is that salads are boring.  Well yes, of course they are immensely boring if they only ever consist of the same limited palette of ingredients.  I'm thinking here of the stereotypical side salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and cress.  Now don't get me wrong, these ingredients can make a delicious salad, but my point is that salads can be so much more.

Rather than thinking of them as separate dishes to go with something else, perhaps meat or fish, instead make the salad the main event.  How does that make salads more interesting you may well be asking?  Well for a start it means you consider more carefully the different parts of the salad and how they will all interact together.  Which texture, flavours and colours to include and perhaps just as importantly, what to leave out?  This way there are endless ideas for different salads.

This recipe started with the idea of combining strips of seared steak with the horseradish like flavour of wasabi, so a salad with Japanese influences.  From this initial idea, the salad built up as the ideas for other ingredients naturally followed - limes, crunchy bean sprouts and cucumber, colourful mint and coriander.  The result is a deliciously different salad with contrasting textures and flavours.  Tender beef infused with the punchy heat of wasabi, crunchy but cooling vegetables and fresh herbs, lifting the salad with their vibrancy and fragrant flavours.

 

Seared Beef, Cucumber & Bean Sprout Salad with Wasabi & Lime Dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 x 100-125g Sirloin, Rib Eye or Fillet Steaks

1 Small Red Onion

300g Bean Sprouts

300g Cucumber

A large handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

A large handful of fresh mint, roughly chopped

Wasabi & Lime Dressing

4 Tsp Wasabi Paste

2 Tbsp Mild Sweet Freedom or Light Agave Nectar

2 Tsp Fish Sauce

Juice & Zest of 2 Limes

Heat a griddle or a frying pan and sear the steaks for a few minutes on each side.  They need to be rare to medium rare but the timings will varying depending on the thickness of the steak.  Place the steaks on a plate and leave to rest for about 5 minutes.

While the steaks are resting, prepare the dressing.  In a large bowl, mix together the wasabi paste, fish sauce and agave nectar and then gradually whisk in the lime juice and finally stir through the lime zest.

Cut the steaks into thin slices and toss in the dressing, making sure that all the slices are well coated.  Leave for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime cut the cucumber into small batons and finely slice the onion.  Just before serving add the bean sprouts, cucumber batons, red onion and herbs to the bowl and gently mix to combine the beef and the vegetables.

 

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Passion Fruit, Rhubarb & Coconut Custards for Valentine's Day

 

Not only is it the Chinese New Year this Sunday but it is also Valentine's Day, so instead of eating out in an over crowded restaurant why not treat your loved one to a home cooked meal instead.  This light fruity dessert is an ideal way to finish the meal.  Coconut milk gives the dairy free, passion fruit flavoured custard extra creaminess and the lovely pale orange colour, resulting from the egg yolks and passion fruit puree, is studded with pieces of vibrant pink rhubarb.  The passion fruit flesh and seeds dotted over the top provide extra flavour and texture to the dessert.

Forced rhubarb has an intense bright pink colour and very tender stems compared to the outdoor grown plants which are in season later in the year.  Rather fittingly for Valentine's Day this Champagne rhubarb, as it is also known, is romantically harvested by candlelight.  As rhubarb is technically out of season at this time of year, Champagne rhubarb is grown in a small area of West Yorkshire, known as the 'Rhubarb Triangle' where it is replanted in dark forcing sheds during November and December.  The lack of light prevents the plants from photosynthesising so all the energy goes into producing the shoots instead of the leaves.  It is essential that the forcing sheds are kept as dark as possible which is why the rhubarb is harvested by hand with the sheds lit only by the glow of candlelight.

 

Passion Fruit, Rhubarb & Coconut Custards

Serves 2

Ingredients

40g Forced Rhubarb

1½-2 Passion Fruits

½ Tsp Cornflour

1 Large Egg Yolk

1 Large Egg

20g Mild Sweet Freedom or Light Agave Nectar

125g Coconut Milk

¼ Tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

Preheat the oven to 160℃/Fan 140℃.

Choose thin sticks of rhubarb with a dark pink colour and cut them into small pieces, about ½cm long. 

Set a sieve over a small bowl, half one of the passion fruits and scoop the seeds and pulp into the sieve. Using a spoon push the juice through the sieve.  You need 20ml of juice for this recipe, you may need to use another passion fruit half if they don’t contain much juice.  Discard the seeds but reserve the remaining passion fruit for spooning over the cooked custards. 

Whisk together the cornflour and egg yolk, then add the whole egg and Sweet Freedom or agave syrup and whisk to combine.  Next add the coconut milk, passion fruit juice and vanilla bean paste and whisk again.  Strain through a sieve into a jug and then divide the custard between two shallow ovenproof dishes each with a capacity of between 125-150ml.  Individual gratin style dishes are ideal.  Divide the rhubarb between the two dishes, scattering it evenly over the top of the custard. 

The custards need to be cooked in a Bain Marie to prevent the mixture from overheating and splitting, so place them in a roasting tin or dish and fill it with enough cold water to reach about ¾ of the way up the dishes.  Cook for 35-45 minutes, or until they are set but still have a slight wobble in the centre.  The deeper the dish you use, the longer they will take to cook.  Leave to cool before placing in the fridge to chill. 

To serve, scoop out the seeds and juice of the remaining passion fruit and spoon over the custards, ideally in the spaces between the pieces of rhubarb.

 

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Pork & Pineapple Stir Fry with Pak Choi

 

Next weekend is the Chinese New Year so this week's recipe naturally has a Chinese theme.  The date is determined by the lunar calendar which means that it is never on the same date each year but instead falls somewhere between the end of January and the end of February.  This year it is on 14th February, which coincidentally is also Valentine's Day, but more about that next week!

Stir fries are a great meal to make when you want something quick and easy.  The following recipe uses the wok to cook both the pak choi which accompanies the pork and pineapple and the stir fry itself.

 

Pak choi is a typical Chinese vegetable which has become increasingly popular in the UK and the demand for Chinese greens is so great that they are now grown commercially in Cambridgeshire.  The stems retain a slight crunch when cooked and it's delicious combined with garlic, and red chilli for a bit of heat and a splash of colour.

The pork is cut thinly and marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger and rice wine, sweetened with Sweet Freedom or agave nectar.  If you haven't got any rice wine, gin is a fantastic substitute.  The marinade gives the pork a lovely sticky coating as it cooks and also helps to tenderise the meat.  This is a very simple dish with the only other ingredients being a scattering of Sichuan peppercorns, spring onions and lovely juicy pineapple - use fresh pineapple if you can because it makes such as difference to the flavour of the dish.

 

Pork & Pineapple Stir Fry with Pak Choi

Serves 2

Ingredients

250g Pork Fillet

150g Fresh Pineapple, cut into small chunks

100g Spring Onions, cut into small pieces on the diagonal

¼ Tsp Sichuan Peppercorns, lightly crushed

1 Tbsp Groundnut or Rapeseed Oil

Marinade

½ Tsp Cornflour

1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp Sweet Freedom Dark or Dark Agave Nectar

2 Tbsp Rice Wine or Gin

10g Grated Root Ginger

200g Pak Choi

1 Tbsp Groundnut or Rapeseed Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed

3 Tbsp Water

Red Chilli, a few thin slices cut in half

First of all make the marinade for the pork.  Mix the cornflour and soy sauce then add the remaining ingredients.  Cut the pork into thin slices and toss it in the marinade making sure that it is well coated.  Leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

While the pork is marinating, cut the pak choi into quarters lengthways and wash in cold water.  Heat the wok then add the oil then add the pak choi quarters and crushed garlic.  Cook for a few seconds, turning the pak choi every now and again.  Add the water to the wok and then cover with a lid or piece of tin foil, turn the heat down and cook until the stems are tender.  When it is cooked, take off the lid, add the chilli and cook until the water has evaporated.  Spoon into a dish and keep warm while you cook the pork.

Turn the heat up and when the wok is hot add another tablespoon of oil, then add the pork and Sichuan peppercorns.  Don't add the marinade just yet.  Quickly stir fry until the pork is just cooked and then add the pineapple and spring onions, stir fry for a couple more minutes then add the rest of the marinade and cook until the sauce thickens.

Divide the pork and the pak choi between two bowls and serve.

 

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Importance of the Visual Appeal of Food

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