Keep a batch of this delicious dip in the fridge and eat with crudités.

Ingredients:

1 bulb garlic
2 x 400g tins chickpeas in water
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sweet Spanish smoked paprika
Lemon juice to taste
Sea salt (optional) and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F

Wrap the whole unpeeled garlic bulb in foil and roast in the preheated oven until soft (approximately 20-30 minutes, depending upon the size).

Place the chickpeas, olive oil and smoked paprika in the bowl of a food processor. Unwrap the garlic bulb and use a sharp serrated knife to trim off the pointed end, leaving the root end intact. Squeeze the roasted flesh from the bulb into the food processor, discarding the skin. Blend until smooth, then season to taste with lemon juice, salt (if using) and pepper.

See also: Why garlic is so good for you.

Needs to be prepared 8 hours in advance of serving, and just takes a couple of minutes to warm up…

Cook the quinoa for 15-20 minutes in water. While cooking, chop up 1 red pepper, ½ chilli, spring onion, clove of garlic, coriander, and 1 sweet potato.

Boil and mash the sweet potato, and lightly saute the other ingredients for 2-3 mins.

Soak 3 sheets of organic gelatine (make sure it has no animal products – some surprisingly do) in cold water. Add to the hot sweet potato, mix with the quinoa and the sauteed vegetables, put in little moulds and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Then dust with a little soya flour and lightly steam fry.

Also see:  Garlic – why it’s so good for you and how to prepare and eat it

A wonderful mixture of fresh and dried fruit.

Ingredients:

500g rice or soya flour
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
Soya milk
Chopped fruit and nuts – choose your favourite combinations (see our ‘suggested combinations’ below)

Place the rice or soya flour, eggs and baking powder in a bowl and mix slowly adding in the cinnamon to taste. Slowly add the soya milk until a thick paste is formed. Add the chopped fresh and dried fruits and nuts

Cook at 150 C for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Suggested combinations:
Banana, strawberry, dried apricots and walnuts
Apple, apricot and almond
Pineapple, cranberry and pistachio

By combining a fresh fruit with a dried fruit you will be ensuring that your loaf is moist. For added texture don’t forget you can always throw in some seeds – pumpkin and sunflower are great examples.

healthy fruit cake

Preheat oven to 170C and line a 22cm cake tin.

Cream together 150g each of pura soy spread and xylitol (sugar substitute also known as Perfect Sweet).

Add 3 beaten eggs and 225g of flour – Doves Farm, wheat and gluten free flour is best.
Add 1 tsp of baking powder.
Add 450g of dried fruit soaked in caffeine free tea and drained
Add 2 tbsp of ground almonds and the zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon (a microplane is the best gadget for zesting!).
Add 50g of whole nuts and fold everything together until fully mixed and transfer into the lined cake tin.

Bake for about 90 mins or until a skewer comes out clean!

This delicious, satisfying lunch takes no time at all to prepare. It’s a staple at our office for lunch.

420g can beans e.g. pinto, borlotti or mixed
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, sliced
10 runner beans, sliced
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
½ lime, juiced
1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
Dash Tobasco sauce

Mix the drained and rinsed beans with all the other ingredients and serve.

You can use parsley, instead of coriander if you prefer and freshly ground black pepper instead of Tobasco. Or, for a more Mediterranean version, you can just use olive oil, lemon juice and parsley with a bit of sea salt, leaving out the soy sauce, coriander and Tobasco.

Serve with a good green salad.

Serves 4

Poach 2 large free range chicken breasts in a stock with water, lime juice and sesame oil. Then tear the meat apart with 2 forks. Marinate in equal amounts of lime/lemon juice, tamari, coriander, ginger juice. Then simply bake in the oven till slightly hot.

For the salad:

1 Oakleaf lettuce
100g rocket or mizuno
1 pack of buckwheat soba noodles cooked
1 punnet of strawberries & blueberries
1 mango & 1 papaya cut into strips
1 pack of beanshoots
1 red, yellow, green pepper sliced
1 red chilli deseeded sliced
50g of pickled ginger sliced
1 handful of chopped coriander
1 handful of finely sliced lemongrass
1 kiwi fruit skinned & cut into 16 pieces

Then, we recommend as follows:

1. put the salads on the middle of the plates
2. put on the soba noodles
3. mix the rest of the ingredients & place on top of the noodles
4. cover with the chicken
5. for the sauce put 100ml tamari,50ml fish sauce, 100ml orange juice, 100ml lemon juice, handful coriander, 1 stick of lemongrass finely sliced,50ml sesame oil
6. pour over the sauce & garnish with ground toasted cashew nuts, ½ a depipped lime & some fresh coriander leaves

This versatile salad is full of nutrients. Serve it with poached salmon or even on its own for a healthy lunch. For a more substantial version, add 300g boiled new potatoes, cut into chunks.

Ingredients:

250g wild rice
200g green beans, trimmed
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
Handful parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Handful mint leaves, roughly chopped
Handful dill, chopped
Juice and jest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Fill a saucepan with water, add the wild rice and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, until tender and just beginning to split.

In a separate pan blanch the beans: boil for 5 minutes, until just tender, then drain and refresh under cold running water. This will fix the green colour and prevent them from over-cooking.

To assemble the salad, mix the wild rice, beans, onion, diced pepper, herbs, lemon juice and the olive oil. Season to taste.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

Quick, easy to prepare, delicious and filling, this salad is rich in immune-boosting vitamin C, vitamin A, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and protein.

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1cm discs
1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and sliced
3-4 thyme sprigs
Olive oil, to drizzle
1 head of purple sprouting broccoli, cut into florets
150g feta cheese, cubed
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp cider vinegar
20 or so hazelnuts for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/Gas mark 4. Put the sweet potatoes, red pepper and thyme sprigs in a roasting tray and drizzle with some olive oil. Toss well and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, plunge the broccoli florets into a pan of boiling water and blanch for no more than a minute. Drain and refresh in cold water, then drain thoroughly.

Under the grill, toast the hazelnuts for a few minutes.

When all the vegetables are cool, toss them in a bowl with the feta, sunflower seeds, cider vinegar, pepper to taste and a little more olive oil. Scatter the toasted hazelnuts on the top for garnish. Serve at once.

Why is broccoli so good for you?

February to April is when purple sprouting broccoli comes into season (whereas broccoli is in season between July and October in the UK) Broccoli is one of the most power-packed vegetables – it’s loaded with nutrients that can contribute to a healthy body. Not only is it rich in vitamin C – at least one and a half times as much as in oranges, broccoli is also a good source of fibre which helps keep the bowel working efficiently and feeds good bacteria there.

Broccoli (and other members of the brassica family such as cauliflower and kale) is a rich source of chemicals called glucosinolates. These help the body’s detoxification processes in the liver.

We developed this delicious breakfast during a yoga holiday to southern India a couple of years ago, and are happy to share it with you!

Serves 4

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
Half tsp peeled and finely chopped ginger
4 heaped tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp mild red chilli powder
Pinch of garam masala
4 heaped tbls peeled chopped tomatoes
300 grams of tofu crumbled with your hands
1 tbsp fresh coriander – washed, dried and roughly chopped

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a medium size thick bottomed frying pan.
2. Sizzle the cumin and black mustard seeds for 30 seconds and then add the onions and saute until sweet smelling, translucent and lightly brown.
3. Now add the ginger, other spices and the tomatoes.
4. Keep stirring over medium flame until creamy and fragrant – about 4 minutes.
5. Stir in the crumbled tofu and simmer a few more minutes.
6. Remove to serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander.
7. Enjoy!

If you have a sensitive gut, you may find it easier to digest if you leave your bowl of muesli to soak overnight in milk or apple juice.

200g oat flakes
200g barley flakes
200g rye flakes
4 dessertspoons wheatgerm
2 dessertspoons sunflower seeds
2 dessertspoons pumpkin seeds
3 dessertspoons raisins or sultanas
8 dried apricots, finely chopped

Mix all ingredients together in a large storage container with a lid. You can add any of your favourite dried fruit such as dates or figs, also other seeds, nuts and even coconut shreds. Good health food stores also sell a range of other grains, (some are best puffed, such as quinoa, as they are inedible raw) that you can add to the mix. Store in a cool place.

Serve yourself a bowl of muesli with fresh milk, natural yoghurt or soya milk. Garnish with a couple of strawberries.

This home-made muesli takes seconds to make, all to your own specifications.

Why oats are so good for you?

Oats are a remarkably versatile grain with wide-ranging health properties. In addition to being a good source of carbohydrates, they are high in both soluble and insoluble fibre. This means that they can contribute to a healthy gut. Studies have shown they can help lower cholesterol. They are digested slowly so do not raise blood sugar levels dramatically, which makes them a satisfying base for breakfast. They are one of the richest food sources of silicon, needed for healthy skin, bones and connective tissue.

Everyone is always looking for ideas to make salads as delicious and interesting as possible, so here are five ideas created by in:spa chef Charles Amos for your delectation.

ginger dressing

Peel and chop as small and neatly as possible 3 parts shallot, 2 parts ginger and 1 of garlic. Combine in a bowl and add sesame oil to just cover, then add tamari soy.

The sauce is for colour and flavour, so leave to infuse for an hour or so then serve as a dip with sushi, rice wrapper rolls or raw / seared fish, or drizzle over salad. Add some fresh coriander to your salad and drizzle this dressing over the top.

tomato and olive dressing

Roast a small box of cherry tomatoes with a few pitted black olives at 180c until the skins start to split. Leave to cool then blitz them in a food processor.

You could add any combination of herbs to the cooled mixture for variation. Try basil or tarragon – experiment!

citrus dressing

Peel 2 oranges and 2 lemons taking off all the white pith. Squeeze all the juice into a small pan and add the remaining pulp. Bring to the boil and reduce the juice by half then pass through a sieve and cool. Add a small amount of oil to make a dressing for salads or grilled fish. You could use olive oil but look for more healthy options too – argan or flax seed….

sundried tomato dressing

Makes a lot but will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

2 cups sun dried tomatoes, drained if in oil
1 cup wine vinegar
12 cloves garlic
1 ½ cups olive oil

Heat the sundried tomatoes in the vinegar for 5 minutes and then allow to cool; put into a bender and add the remaining items. Blend to combine into a smooth dressing. You can use the oil from the
jar of tomatoes in place of some of the olive oil but make sure it is good quality.

pesto

Serves 4
¼ cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
2 cups basil leaves
½ cup olive oil

In a processor, grind the nuts and garlic, then add the basil and process until finely chopped. Remove from the machine and stir in the olive oil and season with black pepper.