Aubergine Power Balls with Courgetti and Tomato Sauce

I was going to call these vegetarian bites aubergine meatballs initially, but instead of giving them a name that conjures up images of bland meat replacements, I've decided to call them power balls. And why not, when these tasty morsels are nutrient power houses? KAP-OW. The fibre-rich aubergines are a source of the antioxidant nasunin, which has been found to protect the fats in brain cell membranes from free radicals. Chickpeas add protein, helping to make this a pretty balanced meal. I'll be having a go at making more falafel-style veggie balls and naming them all power balls, making them the savoury version of the much-loved energy bites (try my apricot and coconut bites here). Embrace the superpowers of your food and give them the epic names they deserve. Boom.

Recently, I have become a complete convert to making tomato sauce properly from scratch, giving it the time it needs to let flavours develop. Onion, garlic and olive oil provide the rich base for this sauce, with added spices adapting the flavour to suit your food. Here, I've added a touch of of smoked paprika. I love smokey flavours paired with aubergine and the way it reminds me of babba ganouch. The trick here is to not let the aubergines over cook. By working in batches and letting the aubergines sit in the pan for a couple of minutes each side stops the vegetable from becoming too soggy when blended up. If you do find that you have let the aubergines cook for too long, or just don't fancy meatball-like food, then just roughly blend the aubergine and chickpeas and stir directly into the tomato sauce and treat like mince.

Ingredients -serves 2 with leftover power balls

• 2 tsp chia or ground flax seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• Smoked paprika
• 1 aubergine
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1/2 cup spelt or rice flour
• 1 medium courgette
• Juice of half a lemon
• Olive oil

Mix the chia seeds with 6 teaspoons of hot water, stir and set aside to form a binding gel (optional). With a small amount of olive oil, cook half the onion in a pan, adding one clove of the garlic just before tipping in the chopped tomatoes. Add half of the can full of water to the pan. 

Chop the aubergine in half and then into 2cm chunks and heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a frying pan. Cook the aubergine, in batches if needed, for a couple of minutes on each side with the rest of the onion. The aubergine should be just translucent where it has touched the pan, but still fairly solid looking. Add the garlic just before finishing, and remove from the heat when the garlic becomes fragrant without burning. Allow to cool briefly, using a spiraliser or peeler to turn the courgette into noodles in the meantime. Tip the aubergine mix into a food processor alongside the drained chickpeas, mixed dried herbs and ground pepper. Blizt until a smooth puree is formed, adding the flour as needed to form a sticky mixture. 

Return the frying pan to the heat, with a scant amount of oil to stop the power balls from sticking. Using two tablespoons, form ball shapes out of the mix and add to the pan. Allow to cook for roughly a minutes before turning. Repeat until all of the mixture has been cooked into power balls. 

In the food processor blend the tomato sauce until smooth. Share the courgette between two bowls and squeeze over the lemon juice. Add the tomato sauce before topping with the power balls. Keep leftover power balls in an airtight container to add to lunches over the next day or so.

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

It's another Monday arriving again, but as the four day Easter weekend rolls ever closer, I find myself not minding. That, or the fact that weekends don't exist in quite the same way when you're in assignment season at university. I have been flirting with the idea of having more savoury breakfasts, although my heart still firmly lays with meals of the sweeter persuasion first thing. This kale and squash quinoa bowl is a good choice for such moods as grain bowl is reminiscent of porridge, and, with a bit of evening prep, is nice and simple to put together for a weekday early start as it is for Saturday brunch. The lemon brings all the ingredients together without being too heavy. Plus, with only three main ingredients and condiments, my breakfast bowl won't overwhelm your palette (or washing up load!). The measurements here are approximate, and depending on what size butternut squash you buy, you may find this serves closer to three than two people. If so, pop any leftovers in a Tupperware for a satisfying lunch later on. You can also swap the quinoa for bulgar wheat, which is less expensive, buttery tasting and still a good source of protein.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• Olive oil
• 100g dried quinoa (should produce 2 cup)
• Vegetable stock
• Cayenne pepper or chilli power
• Mixed dried herbs, or fresh thyme
• Two handfuls of kale, coarse stems removed
• Coconut oil

I strongly suggest cooking the butternut squash and quinoa the night before!

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Peel, remove the seeds and chop the butternut squash into bitesized cubes. Tip into a roasting tin, and drizzle with olive oil and herbs before roasting in the oven for 40 minutes, checking occasionally. 

Next, rinse and cook the quinoa in two parts water for every one part quinoa. Add a stock cube, or teaspoon of stock powder and a pinch of pepper or chilli. Cook in a lidded pan for twenty minutes, or according to packet instructions.

In a frying pan, saute the kale in a tablespoon of coconut oil over a medium heat until wilted. Add the butternut squash and quinoa  and stir. Add the juice of half a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. When everything is heated through, divide between bowls, and enjoy. If you'd like, you could also add goat's cheese or sliced (or shaved if you're feeling fancy) avocado.

Healthy Hacks: Zoats (and other hidden vegetables)

With recent recommendations increasing our ideal daily vegetable intake from three to as much as seven portions. This can seem like a fairly steep task, but boosting your abundance of daily veggies really is doable. In The Microbiome Solution, Dr. Chutkan recommends the 1-2-3 rule: one portion of vegetables at breakfast, two at lunch and three for dinner. Between-meal snacks can also help to fill in any missed portions, or further increase your intake of vegetables to the desired seven portions and beyond. Whilst the most obvious ways of eating vegetables in the AM are savoury dishes and smoothies, something more sweet or comforting can be more desirable. My favourite health hack? Adding vegetables to porridge. If you're familiar to busy breakfast bowls, or have tried my baked carrot cake porridge, this concept will probably be one you have come across before. If not; fear not! I promise your breakfasts won't taste like you've tried to turn your porridge oats into a salad!

To get you started, here is my rough guide to making delicious courgette (zucchini) porridge, or "zoats". My newest discovery is adding cacao powder or chocolate-flavoured coconut milk for a rich, creamy bowl of zoats. It brings the breakfast or post workout bowl into a complete other level of indulgence, without actually adding much naughtiness. How much liquid you need depends on the type of oats that you use -jumbo or steel cut oats absorb up to twice the amount of liquid (but really do taste better for it) whereas rolled oats require less.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp oats
• Half a courgette, grated
• 150-250ml nut milk or water (I use roughly half and half)
• To sweeten: 1 banana, chopped or mashed; 1 scoop of vanilla protein; maple syrup
• Optional: 1 tsbp cacao or cocoa powder

Mix together the oats, courgette, banana and cacao powder (if using) together in a pan before adding the liquid and heating over a medium temperature. Cook until all the liquid is fully absorbed, adding more if needed. If you are using protein powder, remove the pan from the heat and stir in, adding extra milk if needed. Sweeten with maple syrup to taste, pour into a bowl and add your toppings. Flaked coconut, kiwi, berries, nut butter and squares of chocolate all taste fantastic.

Want more healthy hacks for supercharging your diet and lifestyle? Comment below if it has helped!

Satay Sweet Potato

When I first started properly cooking for myself at university, I started making sesame noodles with almond butter and adding them to my stir fries for a tasty twist on a staple meal. Since receiving a spiraliser for Christmas, I have been adding as many vegetables to my meals in the form of noodles and spaghetti as I can. Carrots and courgettes are the most popular choices, so I decided to try my hand at sweet potato noodles. Sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene, which gets converted into vitamin A in out bodies. Fat is supposed to help with the uptake of beta carotene (see here) and so the peanut butter and coconut cream in this make a great pairing. Mushrooms add a small amount of protein and go beautifully with the noodles.

I did have a debate about whether or not this should be labelled in my healthy on a budget series as it uses a spiraliser. However, you can peel or finely chop the sweet potato, buy pre-prepared sweet potato noodles. That being said, the OXO spiraliser that I use is pretty good, is really inexpensive and takes up virtually no room in small kitchens.

Ingredients -serves 2 as a light lunch or side

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 200g chestnut or button mushrooms (about 6-8 mushrooms)
• Thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated/chopped
• Clove of garlic, minced/chopped
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 3 tbsp coconut cream, or the top layer of full fat tinned coconut milk
• Coconut oil
• Soy or tamari sauce

Spiralise, chop or peel the sweet potatoes and slice the mushrooms. In a pan of simmering water, blanch the sweet potato for about five minutes. You can also stream them, which will take a couple of minutes longer. The sweet potato wants to be just about cooked and have plenty of bite to it.

Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms in a frying pan with a little coconut oil until lightly cooked and golden brown. Set aside. At this point the sweet potato will probably be ready; if so drain off the water. 

In the frying pan, heat the garlic and ginger until fragrant but not browning, then add the peanut butter and coconut milk. Whisk together until completely combined. You are looking for a thick sauce, but just liquid enough to coat the pan rather than forming lumps, so you will probably need a small splash of water. Add a splash of soy or tamari, before mixing in the mushrooms and sweet potato. 

Serve between two bowls, with extra soy or tamari and a lime wedge to add according to taste.

Note - to reduce the fat content replace some of the coconut cream with water, but this does impair the taste.

Rumble with Sweaty Betty and 1Rebel

Boxing has caused a storm this year (as predicted here!)  and we have only just finished January. Specifically, high intensity workouts that utilise the work required to pump out kicks and punches, alongside the fat burning benefits of circuits and agility training. The ubiquitous workout has evolved to include skipping punchbag or partner training, followed by lots of core work. Possibly the most popular studio to get punching at is 1Rebel, London's boutique studio that offers pay as-you-go classes in boxing, cycling and circuit/treadmill formats. The Rumble class fuses shadow boxing (air punches) with martial arts. Personally, I am really keen to train at the studios myself, but with London visits short and much less frequent than I'd like, it isn't that easy.

So, I was pretty stoked when I received an email from Sweaty Betty a few weeks ago announcing the launch of their new Rumble-based Get Fit 4 Free campaign, in collaboration with 1Rebel. I always seem to end up blogging about the Get Fit 4 Free campaigns but it's because I have almost always been really impressed with them. And I have to say, I think this is my favourite yet.

The thirty minute class is broken into short segments, allowing you to really focus and push yourself. The first time around, I was mindful of disturbing sleeping housemates, but even without putting my all into the jumps and between-punch bouncing, I was still sweating. Mila Lazar, who ran the session, made use of a punch bag, whilst her partner coach, Daniel, demonstrated how to take the class using air punches, with holding onto light weights recommended. By the way, if you need another incentive to try boxing, just look at Mila's arms! #Goals

The sections were split into warm up, punching, mixed martial arts (MMA), and plenty of cardiovascular work, all rounded off by a final session of push ups and ab work. The punch work was pretty simple with just straight jab and cross punches and wasn't too intense. That being said, having to repeat punches on one side rather than switching right to left really fired up all of my arm muscles and got them aching. I liked the MMA section as it included some new techniques for me such as elbow strikes. There's plenty of kicking involved too, which is always satisfying, especially with a punch bag! The cardio session is the longest by a fair bit, but the boxing-style work and constant changes kept this part both relevant and interesting. I did struggle with some of the leg work as Mila was stood sideways on to the camera, although I probably would have managed better had I focused on Daniel's work more.

What I really like about this video is that it could be done at the gym, where you may have access to a punch bag, as well as at home. I would recommend having at least one go at home first to have an idea of the moves involved, so that you don't miss part of a sequence if you can't see the video clearly (extra win if you have wireless headphones and get to watch and listen without getting tangled). I've jotted down some of the MMA sequences, which I had a go at when next at the gym.

As a thirty minute class, this is perfect short workout to do if you are short of time, or to tag onto another twenty or thirty minute training session to maximise gym time. I teamed the Rumble class with a twenty minute run out in the elements to get a good start to a Sunday, which felt about right.

In all, I am really impressed with this workout. You need absolutely no equipment (but light dumbells or a couple of tins of beans will really have you feeling the burn!) and will still build strength and definition in the upper body, whilst burning some calories. Perfect for the gym-shy, boxing-curious, or anyone wanting to add something extra to their routine.  Oh, and the playlist is epic -fancy sharing it with us Sweaty Betty? Get ready to rumble.

Liked this? See my article on Huffington Post to see how women's fitness has changed thanks to superhuman-style televised programs.

Three Bean Chilli with Lime Cashew Cream

Let me talk to you about the heavenly, although sometimes fickle, delight that is cashew cream. Oh my. In essence, it is cashew butter with water and a few choice flavourings slowly added to loosen it into a thick, creamy sauce. I initially started making this as an alternative to cream to dollop on breakfasts and desserts by flavouring the cashew butter with vanilla. Then I discovered lime cashew cream. Ahhh.... This zesty sauce just brings savoury dishes to life, injecting sharp flavour into Mexican and South American-inspired dishes. Last week, I drizzled it over vegan enchiladas (recipe from The First Mess; I seriously recommend that you try it, and make the sauce from scratch. Heaven) and this week it has featured on my three bean chilli. As well as adding flavour, a teaspoon or two of cashew cream increases your protein intake (a quarter of a cup of cashews contains 5g protein) without being as high fat as some other nuts and seeds.

I was once told that it wasn't worth making a vegetarian or vegan chilli because the taste and texture would never be able to match up to that of good beef mince. And in general, I have held this to be true, with vegetable chills being rather watery, bland affairs despite all the love and attention put into them. I started playing around with textures, using lentils and grated vegetables to emulate the finely ground meat in traditional chilli con carnes. The lentils worked well, but made the dish a little legume heavy if I wanted beans as well. So, after a little tweaking, I came up with this three bean chilli. Without the cashew cream, this dish is seriously kind on your wallet, costing under £5 for a good 4-6 portions and a side. It is a real store cupboard meal too, so perfect for whipping up at the end of the week, or just before payday.

Apologies for the limited photographs here. The lighting has been seriously poor lately (hello tail end of two hurricanes), even when shooting over two lunchtimes. Boo!

Notes ~ If you prefer dried beans to tinned, 100g of dried beans tends to equate to a 400g tin of cooked beans. If you are scaling this recipe down to serve one or two, use a tin of pre-mixed beans. If you prefer, vegetables can be finely chopped using a food processor. Just don't over process! This gives a very smooth finish if you prefer your chilli to not be chunky.

Lime Cashew Cream

• 250g cashews, unsalted
• 1 lime

Soak the cashews in water, ideally filtered, for two hours. If you are really pressed for time, try at least half an hour of soaking. Drain the cashews, discarding the water, and blend in a food processor under high speed. It should take 5-10 minutes for the nut butter to form. If you are new to cashew butter, don't be alarmed that the butter is quite dry or "chunky" compared to almond or peanut butter. At a slower speed, begin to add (fresh!) water, until you have the consistency of thick double cream. Add the juice from the lime to taste -you shouldn't need the entire lime. As an option, you can also add the zest of the lime to the cream. You are looking for a completely smooth cream, but using a less powerful blender or adding the water too soon can yield a grainy texture. It won't be quite as amazing if this happens, but will still taste delicious. 

Three Bean Chilli Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 1 white onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• Fresh chilli or chilli powder, to taste
• 1 tsp paprika (smoked if possible)
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 red pepper/left over veg
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 tbsp pureed tomato concentrate, or 8ish sundried tomatoes, blended
• 2 x 400g tins chopped
• 3 x tins of beans. Suggestions: kidney beans, black beans, haricot beans, bortolli beans.
• olive or coconut oil

Finely chop the onion, and add it to a pan with a tablespoon or so of olive or coconut oil. Pop the lid on to sauté for five minutes until translucent. Meanwhile, prepare the celery and pepper/vegetables by chopping them finely once again. Grate the carrots. 

When the onion is cooked, but not catching, add the onions and spices, turning the heat up slightly. Cook for a further minute or two before adding the celery and pepper. Allowing the vegetables to lightly cook in the oil rather than the chopped tomatoes or water really helps to capture the full flavour of the ingredients. After a further five minutes, add the tomato puree or sundried tomatoes, and then the carrots and chopped tomatoes. Allow to simmer with the lid off for 30-40 minutes, putting the lid back on if the liquid has reduced by more than a half. Rinse the beans out thoroughly and allow to drain. Once the sauce has cooked and reduced, add the beans and cook for a further ten minutes until everything is piping hot.

Serve with rice or wraps, with avocado and lime cashew cream on the side.

Healthy on a Budget: Leek, Potato and Courgette Soup

Forgive me for posting two soup recipes within such a short space of time, but with the glut of autumnal foods and cold weather, these heartening lunches and dinners have been calling to me. This twist on the traditional leek and potato soup is perfect for this time of the year; all three of the main ingredients came in my veg box last week. Being so seasonal, this dish is friendly on your purse and, if you shop the local market, can really help benefit your local economy, and the environment.

The secret to a good soup is letting as many of the ingredients as possible cook in the flavoursome oil before adding stock. The heat of the oil and aromatic spices, if added, enrich the flavour of each ingredient in much the same way as roasting does. If you find yourself strapped for time or prefer to use a soup maker, sauté off some onions or celery and batch freeze them, so that you have little pockets of flavour to add to your cooking.

Ingredients -serves 4

• 1 large leek
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 medium-large cauliflower
• 3-4 medium sized potatoes
• Vegetable stock
• 1 lemon
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Optional: chilli powder or cayenne pepper

Roughly chop the leek and cauliflower, and peeling and cubing the potatoes. In a large saucepan, heat a generous plug of olive oil over a medium heat, and then add the leek and garlic. Cover, and leave for up to five minutes, making sure that it doesn't catch. If using, add 1/2 tsp of chilli or cayenne before adding the cauliflower, and cooking for a further two minutes. Then add the potatoes and stock and cover for 20 minutes under a simmer. Remove from heat, and use a hand blender to puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty, dark bread such a pumpernickel, and squeeze over a quarter of the lemon per portion. Nuts and seeds make a great protein-filled garnish to help keep you full. Toasted almond goes beautifully with cauliflower, but I like omega 3-rich pumpkin seeds for this autumnal dish.

Student or on a budget? Let me know what meals you'd like to see me rework!

Autumnal Pumpkin and Root Veg Soup

Halloween is well and truly on our doorsteps and knocking on our doors already, which can only herald the move to heartier, wintery foods. I have so far managed to avoid the lure of pumpkin spiced everything, but have been finding more savoury flavours for my squash decidedly tempting. I recently found a recipe for a pumpkin and lentil stew and really loved the idea so tweaked the recipe into a soup and incorporated some of the other season's produce. Luckily, the veg box that I have just started ordering is full of such local goodies, including some that I wouldn't always buy. Since I'm not quite ready to embrace the full winter season, I have spiced the flavours up to include lime and coconut milk. It is a little different to the traditional British autumnal flavours, but trust me, they lift the soup up to another level. I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin, as squashes tend to be much more flavoursome, but if you still want something to carve for the 31st, try harlequin or acorn squash, which are both spherical varieties.

Ingredients - serves 4

• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 medium parsnip
• 2 tsp cumin
• 300g red lentils
• 1.5 ltrs vegetable stock
• 600g squash or pumpkin, peeled and seeds removed
• 1.5 ltrs vegetable stock
• olive oil
• lime
• coconut milk or cream
• Handful parsley, finely chopped

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large saucepan over and medium heat, roughly chop the onion and add to the pan. Cover, and allow to sauté until translucent. Meanwhile, chop the carrot and parsnip into small pieces before adding to the pan with the cumin. Cover again, and continue to cook for another five minutes to braze the vegetables. Then, add the lentils and around a litre of the vegetable stock, reserving the rest if needed. Cut the squash or pumpkin into 3cm chunks and add, covering with the lid and allowing to simmer for 30-40 minutes. Season to taste.

When the squash is completely soft, blend the soup up until smooth, adding the extra stock if needed. Return to the hob and stir in the finely chopped parsley before pouring into bowls. Garnish with parsley leaves, squeeze over a 1/4 lime each and pour over a little coconut milk. Serve with good sourdough bread and get ready for a cosy afternoon indoors.

What I Eat in a Week

I thought it was time to revive my Healthy on a Budget series again, but rather than just share a recipe, I thought that I would give you a snapshot into what I eat each week. By the time I have included a couple of extra runs to the supermarket to the weekly shop itself, I find that I spend up to £25 per week. This is a little more than some students, but less than the average, estimated at around £60 for two people. To make things easy for myself, I have a standby shopping list of all the fresh food and cupboard staples that I like to use, and each time a shop I have a look at the list to see what I fancy or what I'm short of. It makes things really easy and reduces the amount of times I need to pick up things that I have forgotten, so removing temptation to buy more stuff! I very rarely have dinners out or buy takeaways when I am at uni, so this is my only big cost each week.

I do most of my shopping at the supermarket. Morrisons is the closest and as I have to walk back with my bags, that's where I go! When I have time, I like to shop the weekly veg market to support the local sellers, as we don't have a traditional greengrocers. I go to my local health food shop for wholefood cupboard essentials and supplements, organic, local eggs and organic fruit and veg. They always have a box full of beautifully ripe fair-trade bananas, which is so useful!

I like to focus my shop on the fruit and veg section, with a big list of veggies that I rely upon each week to keep me going. Carrots and courgettes in particular are useful as both can be easily grated into most dishes to bulk them out and to add extra nutrients. I am trying to eat more raw foods, but I really do find cooked meals much more comforting, and often cheaper. Having a few salad staples to add as side dishes, or for juices and smoothies helps with this, fortunately. Next up are handy cupboard ingredients such as tinned tomatoes, pulses and wholegrain carbohydrates. Whilst I am eating as plant-based as possible, particularly in regard to beef and milk-based products, I do buy eggs and cottage cheese to help support my protein intake.

Although I have a fairly long list there, quite a few items last me more than the week or I don't buy every time so in reality, I'm only buying a half or so of the items on the list, plus a few different extras for each week.

So what do I like to make with all these? Some of my favourite main meals include pasta in a butternut squash sauce that tastes like macaroni cheese; stir fry with tahini sauce; Moroccan-spiced tagines; sweet potato chips, hummus and salad; hearty stews, lentil bolognese, vegetable and bean chilli.... Lunch is usually leftovers, soup or something-on-toast. This still leaves me with plenty of ingredients for making loaded porridges, smoothies and juices.

Let me know if you'd like to see more recipes, cupboard staples or food on a budget!

Om Yoga Magazine: Summer

The new issue of Om Yoga Magazine has arrived; rather appropriately in the middle of this heat as this month's is a rather summery issue. There was lots that caught my attention in the issue, from heart opening sequences, to "yogging", a blend of running and yoga, alongside a collection of quotation from major figures in the yogic communities.

I am always quite taken by the Natural Born Beauty section that talks about the benefits of seasonal changes, and how you can incorporate the fruits of these as a part of your natural beauty routine. This month focused on the lure of the sea, so I of course had to include it in this month's post. In the UK, we have a fairly narrow window in which to enjoy the coast in warmer conditions, so the author, Denise, encourages you to make use of the benefits of seawater by taking a dip. In yoga, a common breathing technique is called ocean breathing, and so it seems only fitting to sit meditatively at the edge of a beach and breath in and out in time with the crashing waves. One thing that can be enjoyed almost all year round is taking beach front walks, particularly in morning or evening when the shoreline is a little quieter.

To receive the energy boosting benefits of the sea when inland, Denise recommends using marine-based beauty products, and eating Dulse, a form of red seaweed. I thought that I would share some seaweed derived products with you today.

1. Seaweed salt scrub, £12.95 | Neals Yard Remedies
2. Seanik solid shampoo, £5.95 | Lush
3. Bath and shower gel, £35.00 | Darphin 
4. Seaweed and Sage body wash, £15.00 | REN
5. Deep cleansing facial wash, £8.50 | The Body Shop

I love how many of these products use a variety of seaweed varieties, or incorporate other natural ingredients such as sea salt and lemon. Do you use any seaweed products or natural skin and body care? Comment below; I'd love to know!

Healthy on a Budget: Lentil Dahl

Once I discovered dahl at university, I found myself making it quite often for lunch. Dahls can be made from just about any dried, split pulse and make a delicious, healthy lunch. This recipe is a great example of how you can use spices to bring a simple, inexpensive dish to life. Dried spices are great as they last ages, and fresh ginger really does cost just pennies. My addition of rice to the lentils makes a dish that has a good balance of carbohydrates and protein to keep you full and satisfied. All the ingredients are full of so much goodness too -garlic, ginger and turmeric are all anti-inflammatory and keep your gut happy. Cumin aids in digestion and is rich in iron and vitamin C. I like to use coconut oil for it's health benefits and delicious taste, but olive oil is a less expensive option that is rich in omega 3. This dahl recipe can be served alongside curry for 4-6, or as a lunch for 2-3 people.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4cm chunk of ginger, finely grated
• 150g dried red lentils
• 80g brown or basmati rice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp tomato paste or one salad tomato, chopped
• 800ml vegetable stock

In a saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and then add the garlic and ginger. Cook until golden, before adding the spices, lentils, rice, tomato paste and stock. Bring to a simmer, before covering with a lid and reducing the temperature of the hob. Stir occasionally, as lentils tend to stick. Cook for roughly twenty minutes until the lentils and rice are cooked through, adding a little extra water if needed. You are looking for a porridge-like consistency, but do adjust to the thickness that you prefer.

To serve, decant into a bowl with some natural yoghurt swirled in, or use full fat coconut milk if you  don't take dairy. If you have any to hand, some more chopped tomato or fresh coriander makes an excellent garnish. I used some zingy homemade tomato and lime salsa, which worked great.

Let me know what you do to keep eating healthily on a budget!

Healthy on a Budget: Green Dream Smoothie

I am starting a new series today, all about eating, living and being healthy on a budget. Keeping the books and the scales both balanced can be tricky and, as a student, I thought I'd share some recipes and tips that I use to manage this.

Green juices and smoothies are seriously having a moment -see my green protein smoothie recipe here -but can get quite expensive with their plethora of ingredients and supplements. I thought I'd simplify this recipe into an affordable basic to have to hand. You can buy large bags of frozen spinach for a low price to save extra money an ensure that you always have some spinach to hand without it going off. If you do happen to have anything extra in your cupboard such as wheatgrass power or spiriluna, by all means throw in a spoonful.

Ingredients

• A handful of fresh spinach, or 4-5 cubes of frozen spinach (defrosted)
• 1 banana
• 200ml almond milk

Simply blend together, adding sweetener such as honey if desired. And thats it! This smoothie is a lovely fresh pick-me up at any time of the day. The recipe was suggested by yogi rebel Tara Stiles, and it really is the perfect drink to have after an hour or so practicing yoga.

Stay tuned for more Healthy on a Budget posts!