This is a mild delicious creamy curry popular from an Indian take-out but easy for you to make at home. This recipe gives a quick simple way to make your own curry paste meaning you don’t have to rely on store-bought varieties. The same principle can apply to lots of other curry pastes, just vary up the spices! Making sure that you cook the spices, first dry and then in the paste, ensures that their full flavour comes out.

Making a vegetable curry with sweet potato, spinach and chick peas significantly boosts the nutrient content of this dish also. Feel free to add extra coconut cream or coconut milk if you would prefer extra coconut-y creaminess and additional chilli to give it a bit of a kick. The chick peas can be tinned and the spinach frozen so the only thing you are really cooking is the sweet potato.

 

Preparation time: 40 minutes, serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric

½ tbsp fenugreek

Seeds from 8-10 cardamom pods

½ tsp cinnamon

Fresh ginger – thumb sized piece, finely grated

Fresh red chilli – depending on heat required, finely chopped

200ml boiling water with a pinch of vegetable bouillon powder

50g coconut cream

50g natural yoghurt

75g ground almonds

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks

350g chick peas (e.g. tinned)

2 handfuls of fresh spinach or several cubes of frozen spinach

½ tsp coconut oil

Fresh coriander

 

Directions

• Melt coconut oil on a low heat and add cumin seeds and cardamom seeds until they ‘pop’
• Add remaining ground spices for 2 mins until fragrant
• Add ginger and chilli for a further 2 mins
• Add approximately 15mls of water and bring the spices together to form a paste and cook for a further 1 min
• Add remaining water, pinch of stock, coconut cream and sweet potato and simmer for 20 mins or until sweet potato is softened.
• Add remaining ingredients, stirring in the yoghurt last, and bring back up to temperature but do not boil.
• Add fresh coriander to serve

 

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of our take on the take out!

Here in Ireland we have a wonderful selection of artisan food producers with inspiring new products and delicious new ideas. Pick up something new and Irish this week, whether it be at your local farmer’s market or your local greengrocers. Support the Irish economy and enjoy amazing quality food.

For this St. Patrick’s Day we thought we give you one of our favourite pure Irish recipes:

 

Smoked Trout Salad

Slices of Goatsbridge smoked trout

Thinly sliced apple 

Local salad leaves

 

dressing

1 tbsp Llewellyn’s Balsamic Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbsp Newgrange gold rapeseed oil

1/2 tsp Lakeshore mustard

Add a dot of local floral honey and a pinch of Achill Island Sea Salt

drizzle over the salad and enjoy!

 

 

Mmmm peanut-y satay sauce.. A popular favourite from either a Chinese or a Thai take away. This recipe couldn’t be easier and you can’t beat that homemade taste. Combining this with stir-fry vegetables also means you can easily get to that 5-a-day whilst still feeling like a treat! Add extra fresh chilli to your veg if you want additional kick but the sauce itself is mild and tangy which should be a winner for all the family.

In the photo above (and for my diner last night!) I used fresh red chilli, ribbons of carrot and courgette, sugar snap peas, mixed peppers and spring onions and combined it with a mixture of brown basmati rice and some leftover red quinoa for a little extra protein. That’s just what happened to be in stock! But when it comes to stir fry vegetables the more the merrier. Try tenderstem broccoli, cauliflower florets, baby corn, green beans, mange tout, red or white cabbage, red or brown onions, mushrooms and even pre-steamed cubes of butternut squash or sweet potato and omit the rice altogether.

Mix it all up together with the delicious sauce and enjoy!

 

Preparation time: 12 minutes, serves 4

Ingredients:

250ml coconut milk

125g crunchy peanut butter (made from 100% nuts e.g. Meridian)

1/2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tbsp. tamari soy sauce

1 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

Pinch of powdered vegetable bouillon (e.g. Marigold)

 

Directions: 

• Mix ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil stirring continuously. Add extra lime juice to taste if desired.
• Simmer for approximately 10 minutes to thicken. Ensure that the sauce does not burn or stick to the base.
• Mix through stir-fried vegetables of choice, sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy!

 

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of our take on the take out! 

This week we have a number of free talks around Dublin and Kildare.

Based on the principles of Dr. Marilyn Glenville’s best selling book ‘Fat Around the Middle’, our nutritionists will share our TOP TEN TIPS for weight loss, well being and health. Come along to hear why you gain weight around the middle, the impact it can have on your health and, most importantly, how you can lose it!

There’s no need to register, just come along to a talk near you. For more information or to book our highly successful 12 week weight loss course ‘Lose Fat Around the Middle’ click here.

Get your body composition measured on the day and find out if you are within your healthy range!

Dublin

Mon 9th March         7pm         Dundrum:  Dundrum Methodist Church, Ballinteer Road

Tue 10th March        10am       Sutton: Sutton Marine Hotel, Sutton Cross

Wed 11th March       6pm         City Centre:  Functional Training Ireland, 29 Fitzwilliam St Upper

Thurs 12th March    9.30am     Rathmines: Swan Leisure, Rathmines Road

Thurs 12th March    7pm          Rathmines:  Leinster Cricket Club

Thurs 12th March    7pm          Sutton: Sutton Marine Hotel, Sutton Cross

 

Kildare

Wed 11th March        7pm      Newbridge: Abbins House Holistic Centre, Newbridge

Thurs 12th March    7pm          Naas:  Naas Community Centre

Pizza might be the most popular take-out food in Ireland but the quantities of fat, sugar and salt in take-out pizza can be extremely high. Not to mention the €20+ price tag to feed the family. Here we bring you the easiest pizza recipe ever… AND it’s gluten free! You can get the ingredients in any major supermarket and add whatever toppings you like. Get the whole family involved in topping selection and design. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. Now that sounds like an easy peasy Saturday evening to me.

 

This really is a super easy pizza to make but I’ll give you some suggestions also.

– Make sure to roll the pizza very thin, less than ½ cm. You will need plenty of extra flour to stop the base from sticking to your surface and make them 12 inch or less to avoid tearing while you’re lifting them.

– You can make the dough ahead of time and just wrap it in clingfilm until you are ready to use later that day or even overnight in the fridge.

– Less is more when it comes to toppings on a thin base pizza. A very thin spread of tomato sauce (we love Bunalun Organic Tomato and Veg sauce or you can make your own of course!) and a sprinkle of mozzarella goes a long way.

– Top with a mountain of rocket with some parmesan shavings, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil and some cracked black pepper.

– For a really decadent pizza treat: omit the tomato sauce and use some good quality pesto thinned out with extra olive oil. Add a thin spread of this pesto to the base. Top with slices of pear and crumbled blue cheese (we love Cashel Blue) amongst a scattering of mozzarella. Remember these are strong flavours and oily toppings so less is most definitely more here. But oh my, the flavour… is your mouth watering yet??

So with no further ado, the recipe… Enjoy and let us know what you think!

 

Preparation time: 10 minutes, serves 2

Ingredients:

125g Doves Farm Gluten Free Self Raising Flour Mix

1 tsp xantham gum

½ tsp gluten free baking powder

½ tsp sea salt

½ – 1 cup of warm water

 

Directions: 

• Mix dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl
• Add warm water slowly whilst bringing the dough together. Briefly knead the dough until it comes together. Add more water if too dry, more flour if too wet. The dough can be very sticky, so coat hands in plenty of flour
• Cover a clean dry surface with plenty of flour and coat rolling pin in flour. Roll out dough to desired thickness.
• Pre-bake the base on a baking tray for less than 5 mins just so that it begins to crisp on the outside, before adding your toppings. Return to the oven for a further 5 mins or until toppings have heated through.
• Serve with a crisp green salad and enjoy!

 

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of our take on the take out! What are your favourite toppings??