recipes

Buckwheat is a gluten free seed and is very useful in a gluten-free diet as it gives a grain-like texture. It’s slightly nutty in taste and cooks in les time than quinoa or rice. For the health benefits see tip below. This salad is also a good way to top up your calcium levels. You’ll find calcium in the buckwheat, tahini, sunflower seeds and feta cheese.

Oct 17

Oct 17 Green falafels and spicy tahini dressing

Val Simpson

Falafels are one of my favourite “street foods”. I first discovered them when was quite young travelling with my family in Israel. They are also a staple of Lebanese cuisine that I love so much. I have tried many ways to make them and recently read about making them using dry chickpeas rather than tinned and so I thought I’d share. Falafels are versatile, nourishing, and full of plant based protein goodness. Perfect for your vegetarian friends! The tahini dressing is simple, creamy and tasty.

Jun 17

Jun 17 Moroccan carrot and chickpea salad

Val Simpson

North African classic flavours and spices have always been some of my favourites as I grew up with them. Harissa, cumin, sumac mixed with the sweet and sour of lemon and honey easily elevate a very simple, fresh and quick to rustle up salad that brings summer to your table. Give it a try. Also works really well if you add some grated beetroot.

Feb 27

Feb 27 vegetarian chickpea and pepper stew

We always talk about eating the rainbow - incorporating lots of different colour foods, especially vegetables, in your diet. The benefits of each colour is to provide your body with different phytonutrients. This pepper stew includes red, yellow and green peppers. So many people just reach for their favourite pepper each week so we decided to celebrate all the colours with this stew. We also added both a red and yellow chilli to again increase diversity.

Nov 25

Nov 25 buckwheat and mushroom risotto

During the winter months we need warming comfort food and a risotto is perfect. This is lighter than a traditional risotto and uses buckwheat groats rather than a risotto rice. Buckwheat is a seed that is related to rhubarb and is naturally gluten free. See the tip below for the health benefits of buckwheat. This risotto is made with mushrooms. In the photo I have used chestnut, but use any kind you can find - a packet of mixed wild mushrooms if you can find would be perfect.

Oct 3

Oct 3 warm squash and lentil salad

This might not be a salad in the traditional sense since it’s warm - but as the months turn cooler, adding warm elements to your salad makes sense. This is how I prefer to eat my salads in the autumn and winter. Sometimes I add just one warm element - or in the instance of this salad I have added a couple - including a spicy kick that’s guaranteed to warm you through.

Sep 15

Sep 15 Californian inspired salad with quinoa

After my recent trip to California, where I had lots of salads, I was inspired to make my own Californian salad. I have used ingredients that were used in many of the salads I tried - kale, quinoa, feta, avocado and almonds. It seemed typical of many of the salads to contain fruit. I am not a fan of fruit in my salad so instead chose to add lemon to a dressing and include some fruit that way!

Aug 4

Aug 4 gluten free buckwheat tabbouleh

I love the lebanese salad tabbouleh and it works brilliantly with buckwheat rather than bulgar wheat. Buckwheat is a gluten free grain despite the name so this salad is a fabulous gluten free alternative to tabbouleh. This might seem a lot of parsley - but tabbouleh is traditionally a parsley salad with a small amount of bulgar wheat. Parsley is packed with vitamin C and antioxidants and so very good for us.

Jun 30

Jun 30 spiced green healthy falafel

Deliciously spiced, easy to make and very green these falafel are sure to be a hit. Falafel are traditionally deep fried, but we have baked them with just a brush of olive oil to make them healthier. We have spiced them using a Zhoug paste from Belazu that is seasoned with coriander and jalapeño. It’s easily available from supermarkets.

Apr 23

Apr 23 beetroot and herb quinoa salad with sprouts

I love a salad. In the spring and summer I make sure I have one at least one a day and in the winter I just warm up a few of the ingredients to make a warm salad. To stop myself getting bored I am always changing the ingredients. My salads are never boring with just lettuce and cucumber - I make sure I pack them with lots of delicious vegetables. They are always colourful and contain at least four different vegetables or herbs.

Mar 3

Mar 3 easy sweet potato rosti