Broccoli Soup ~ 5-2 diet

Creamy and delicious soup perfect for lunch or mid morning snack.

200 g broccoli florets
125 g  potato peeled and diced
500 ml water
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

1.Place the broccoli florets and potato with 250 ml water in a microwaveable dish with lid and microwave on high for 8 minutes.
2. In a non stick pan add the oil and sauté the onions and garlic until soft pink and translucent.
3. Add the cooked broccoli and potatoes and bring the soup to a simmer.
4. Transfer the soup to a blender and purée it until smooth.
5. Return the soup to the pan and add the remaining 250 ml water, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer again.

Serve with crusty rolls

This soup can be part of the 5- diet, its is approximately 150 g per serving ( 1 bowl of soup) 

NB-Bread roll not included in calorie count.

Calories per serving	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
106	18	3	5	627	3

Submitting to:

In my VEG BOX ~Onions event by citrusspiceuk guest hosted by Tina from Spicy Pear

Jelly Bean Trifle to celebrate National Jelly Bean Day 22nd April

Today is National Jelly Bean day and to help celebrate it I have created a Jelly Bean Trifle to enjoy.

Ingredients:

A handful of assorted flavour Jelly Beans

1 medium slice of chocolate cake

100 ml whipping cream

1 tablespoon icing Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

4 Strawberries

Method.

1. Cut the cake into 1 cm cubes and keep aside.

2. Whip the whipping cream with icing sugar and vanilla essence until stiff peaks.

3. Hull and chop up two strawberries into small pieces

4. The other two strawberries  hull and slice to look like hearts.

To Assemble:

1. Take two tall serving glass and place four heart shaped strawberry pieces in each glass so that they stand up on sides of glass.

2. Add 4 small cubes of cake in bottom of each glass. Add a teaspoon of cream and add a few pieces of strawberries and scatter 4-5 jelly beans on top.

3.Add 3-4 pieces of cake again , followed by a spoonful of cream, a scatter of chopped strawberries and a few jelly beans.

4. Last layer add 3-4 pieces of cake, followed by some strawberries and a final dollop of cream. Garnish with remaining jelly beans and chopped strawberries.

I would like to Thank Jelly Belly for sending me a lovely box of Jelly Belly Beans to enjoy.

Submitting to:
Lets cook sweet treats for Easter event by simply.food

Tomato and Pepper Salsa ~Secret recipe Club challenge 21st April 2014

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try it and blog about it. My assigned blog was  Eliot's Eatsliot's Eats. This blog is written By Eliot.I was browsing through the blog looking for a salad or healthy recipe and came across this lovely home made tomato salsa recipe. It turned out perfect. I only made minor changes to accommodate the ingredients I had as I was unable to get all the specific peppers stated in the recipe.

Refreshing summer goodness in this delicious and healthy salsa.

Ingredients:

4 medium tomatoes
1 small red onion
1/4 red capsicum
1/4 green capsicum
2 jalapeños
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon fresh coriander finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method:

1. Half the tomatoes and remove the seeds and chop in to very small pieces and add them to a bowl.
2. Peel and finely chop the red onion and add it to the bowl.
3. Cut the jalapeños in half lengthways, remove the seeds and finely chop and add to the bowl.
4. Finely chop the red and green capsicums and add them to the bowl.
5. Peel and finely crush the garlic and add it to the bowl.
6. Add the fresh coriander, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the bowl and toss all the ingredients together.

Serve the salsa with tortilla or potato chips.

Submitting to:

 In my VEG BOX ~Onions event by citrusspiceuk guest hosted by Tina of Spicy Pear

Pumpkin and Date Halwa~An Indian sweet dish.

Halwa is an Indian sweet dessert that is served with the main meal and can be made from a variety of fruits and vegetables. The sweetness from the dates and raisins makes this halwa delectable.

Submitting to:

Lets cook sweet treats for Easter event by simply.food

    'This post was featured by Twinkl in their Best Halloween Desserts Guide.'  

There are many types of halwa, why not checkout these variations:

Bombay Halwa with Almonds and Pistachio.

Sweet Potato Halwa

Lemon Drizzle Cake ~Eggless

Moist and citrussy lemon drizzle cake that is delicate and delectable.

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

300 g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

250 g sugar

1 heaped spoon lemon zest

Wet  Ingredients:

100 ml water

140 ml Rachels lemon yoghurt

75 ml sunflower oil

1 tablespoon  apple cider vinegar 

1 teaspoon vanilla

For lemon drizzle:

juice of I lemon

1 tablespoon sugar

Method:

1.Line 2 loaf tins with parchment paper.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

3. In a large bowl sieve together the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

4. Stir in the sugar gently.

5. In a jug whisk together the yoghurt, oil, water, vanilla and apple cider vinegar and lemon zest

6. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with very light folding action(You want to keep the cake airy over mixing will cause it to go dense)

7. Divide the batter into the two prepared loaf tins so that they are half filled.

8. Tap the tins gently on the work top to distribute the batter evenly in them.

9. Bake in middle shelf in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until cakes are golden brown.(Do not open the oven door during this time the cakes will sink) After 25 minutes open the door and insert a skewer into the centre of the cake if it comes out clean cakes are cooked if skewer is wet cook for another 5 minutes.

10. Remove cakes from oven and keep aside to cool.

11. Mix together the lemon juice and sugar and using the skewer poke holes in the cakes you have baked.

12. Pour over the warm cakes the lemon syrup and it will sink into the cakes.

I was recently sent some Rachels Organic Lemon Yoghurt to try. I used the Rachels Lemon yoghurt to make this Lemon drizzle cake. The Greek Style Bio live organic yoghurt gave the cake the added moistness and a delicious citrus flavouring.

I would like to Thank Rachels  for sending me the yoghurt to samples.

Submitting to:

Lets cook Sweet Treats for Easter event by simplyfood