HOMEMADE BOUNTY BARS

I was never mad about coconut, not to mind  bounty bars, those things disgusted me. Over the past few months though, coconut has taken over. I've gone from hating the taste and texture to craving it in all forms. So when I spotted this recipe over here, I knew I had to give it a go, and they did not disappoint. These beauties have shot up to my number one favourite healthy, guilt-free treat. Next up on the list? Coconut coffee. Oh yeah.

HOMEMADE VEGETABLE CRISPS

I had been wanting to try my hand at homemade vegetable crisps for a while now, but was waiting until I got my hands on a mandolin. That time never came so I settled for a cheese slicer, which made a pretty good alternative. I've tried store bought vegetable crisps plenty of times and loved them, but never thought that my homemade version would live up to them. Well, I was wrong.  (Apart from the kale, not my cup of tea. At all.) 

INGREDIENTS
yields one large bowl of crisps
1 large carrot
1 large parsnip
1 beetroot
bunch of kale leaves
olive oil
sea salt
chilli flakes

METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Wash the kale and peel the carrot, parsnip and beetroot. Using a mandolin, sharp knife or peeler/cheese slicer, cut the carrot, parsnip and beetroot into paper thin slices. Keep them as big as possible, cutting the carrot and parsnip length-ways.

2. Dry off the slices of all vegetables as much as possible using kitchen paper. If they're damp at all they will take much longer to get crispy in the oven. Once all the moisture has been absorbed, coat the slices in the tiniest bit of olive oil. I'm talking 1/4 tsp per vegetable.

3. Lay the crisps out on an unlined baking tray and sprinkle with salt and chilli flakes to taste. Try to keep the crisps separated and they'll crisp up better.

4. Pop in the oven and give them all a shake every 5 minutes. I found that the cooking time really varied (anywhere from 8-30 minutes) depending on the thickness of the crisps and their moisture when going into the oven. Just keep checking them until they're perfect.

RAW CACAO & COCONUT TARTS

I can eat nothing but fruit and vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner and be perfectly satisfied, but those chocolate cravings never disappear. I struggle to find healthy, yummy desserts so when I happened upon this recipe over on Madeleine Shaw's blog, I couldn't make it fast enough. One small problem; if you don't like the flavour of coconut, step away now, this is not the answer to your prayers. If I'm honest, I wasn't blown away by these when I first tried them. After adding some chopped up strawberries to them, though? Delicious. The best bit? They're so rich that only a couple of bites satisfies all cravings. Win, win.

INGREDIENTS
makes 4 10cm tarts

BASE
75g ground almonds
25g desiccated coconut
25g dates
2 heaped tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp melted coconut oil
a drop of vanilla extract
1 tsp stevia (adjust to taste)

FILLING
100g soaked cashews
15g slightly melted coconut oil
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp raw cacao paper
1-2 tbsp stevia (adjust to taste)
A drop of water

TOPPING
A handful of chopped pistachios
Raspberries / blueberries / strawberries

METHOD
1. First, grab your tins and oil them up with a little bit of melted coconut oil. Leave the cashews to soak in a bowl of water.

2. Pop the ground almonds, desiccated coconut, dates, cacao powder and stevia into a food processor and blend for a couple of minutes. Add the melted coconut oil slowly and blend until combined completely with the rest of the ingredients. Add the base to the tins gradually, a spoonful at a time. Press the mixture into the tin on the base and along the edges. Make sure to divide the mixture evenly between the desired amount of tins. Put the tins into the fridge to set the base while you make the filling.

3. Blend the soaked cashews, honey, stevia and water in the food processor. Add the cacao and coconut oil and blend until fully combined and creamy. This might take at least a few minutes, and make sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the food processor to make sure everything is combined. Add more stevia or honey to taste.

4. Add the filling to the tins with a spoon or spatula. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top or add some fresh berries. You can pop them back in the fridge but the filling will harden to the same consistency as the base, so leave them out to warm to room temperature before eating!

CHOCOLATE COVERED FROZEN BANANAS

I've seen the concept of frozen bananas as a replacement for ice cream floating around recently, so I decided to give it a whirl. Nothing to it, really. I cut a banana in half, stuck each half on a skewer and froze them for a few hours. Once they were hard enough (pun not intended), i dipped them into melted dark chocolate and sprinkled with shredded coconut and chopped walnuts. 

Let's be honest, frozen bananas don't taste a bit like ice cream. That said, these do make a nice little dessert as long as you're not trying so satisfy any good ole Ben and Jerry's cravings. We must also address their appearance.. The term 'phallic' was thrown around a few times in this household. Moral of the story, kids? Don't expect your boyfriend to eat them, he may feel a little uncomfortable.

SPANISH CHORIZO AND CHICKPEA SOUP

On a cold, rainy day (let's face it, most days in Ireland), the one thing that I always crave is a warm, hearty soup. This one, which I found in one of Rachel Allen's cookbooks, fits the bill perfectly. What's better is the list of healthy ingredients, which can easily be interchanged according to preference, (I added some chilli to amp up the heat). Vegans/vegetarians, cut out the chorizo and swap chicken stock for vegetable stock and you're good to go!  

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil
125g / 5 oz chorizo, diced
1 onion, finely chopped

1 chilli, finely chopped (my addition // optional)
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 cloves of crushed or grated garlic
1 x 410g / 14oz tin of chickpeas, not drained
2 tins of chopped tomatoes (or 8 fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped)
1 litre / nearly 2 pints chicken stock
Salt and pepper
450g / 1lb spinach, destalked and finely chopped (or baby spinach leaves left whole)

METHOD

1. Place the olive oil in a large saucepan on the heat and add the diced chorizo.

2. Cook for a minute or 2 until the chorizo releases it’s oils, then add the chopped onion, celery, garlic and chilli if using.

3. Cook on a gentle heat with the lid on until the onion is completely cooked, about 10 minutes, then remove the lid and turn up the heat and cook for a minute to slightly brown the onion.

4. Add the chickpeas (and all the liquid), tomatoes (and all the liquid) and the stock, season with salt and pepper and bring up to the boil.

5. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the chickpeas have absorbed all the flavours.

6. Taste for seasoning, add more salt and pepper if necessary.

7. With the mixture still boiling add the spinach and cook for 1 minute more, until the spinach is soft.

8. Serve in big warm bowls.

PEAR AND HONEY MUFFINS

I'm all for eating healthy, but there's no way I'm kicking my cupcake to the curb in favour of some carrot sticks. Hell no. I don't care what the health benefits are, if it's not tasty, I'm not eating it. On the other hand, if you give me something that tastes as good as the real thing, but is a hell of a lot better for me, then I'm a happy girl. That's where these babies come in. I originally saw the recipe on Madeleine Shaw's website, the queen of all things healthy (#gettheglow). Grain free and dairy free, these are just full of good stuff. And damn, they are good.

INGREDIENTS

300g ground almonds

1 tsp baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

50g coconut oil

3 eggs

50g honey

1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

3 pears

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC and prepare a cupcake tin with 9-12 cases.

2. Mix the almonds, spices, salt and baking powder in a bowl. 

3. Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the pears, and then slowly add in the dry ingredients.

4. Slice the pears into 1/2 cm strips (remove the seeds and core).

5. Place some of the pear slices into the cases, add some cake batter then add another layer of pear and fill the container with the cake batter.

6. Complete this with the rest of the mix.

7. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown, then remove and allow to cool. Once cooled remove them from the tins and flip them over.

HOMEMADE NAKD BARS

I have a serious sweet tooth so dessert has always been a daily thing for me, none of this saving for the weekend business. Breakouts and bloating galore due to my lack of portion control, (why have one when you can have five), I finally decided to cut out all chocolate during the week and crowd in healthier options. I had heard of Nakd bars before, but they never really appealed to me. When I saw the list of ingredients though, the first thing that popped into my head was how easy they would be to make at home. Raw, vegan, gluten free but a seriously chocolate-y flavour, you can't go wrong. Take it from me, these are damn good.

INGREDIENTS

makes 8 large bars/16 squares

1 cup of medjool dates

1/2 cup of whole almonds

1/2 cup of ground almonds

1/4 cup of raw cacao (or substitute with cocoa powder)

1/4 cup of sultanas

rind of 2 oranges

tablespoon of water/freshly squeezed orange juice (optional)

METHOD

1. Throw everything into a food processor and whiz to your heart's content.

2. Compress into a lined baking tin and put in fridge to cool.

3. Pop out of tin and cut into desired size chunks. 

Simples.