CAULIFLOWER & COCONUT SOUP

• 1kg frozen cauliflower

• 2 tins of coconut milk

• Water

• 1-2 stock cubes or leftover stock/juices from previous cooking

• 1 heaped tsp turmeric

• Salt and pepper

1. Place all the ingredients in a big pot and bring slowly to the boil

2. For the water, use the empty coconut milk tins to measure 2 tins of water

3. Lightly simmer until cauliflower is cooked through

4. Whizz with a hand blender and add more water or coconut milk if too thick

5. Season to taste

Top with Greek yoghurt, pomegranate seeds, roasted soy & maple cashews, coriander and a squeeze of lime.

ROASTED FENNEL, TOMATO AND LEMON SOUP

• 2 big fennel bulbs

• 1 large onion chopped

• olive oil

• salt and pepper, to season

• small punnet of cherry tomatoes or 4 normal tomatoes

• a little stock and water (to make 1 pint)

• juice of 1 lemon

• chopped basil and sliced/flaked chilli, to serve

1. Put the fennel bulbs and onion in a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, roast at 180 for approx. 1 hour (you can do the roasting in advance).

2. Whack the roasted veg in a large saucepan with the tomatoes and add the liquid. Bring to boil and simmer until tomatoes are soft and skins are falling off

3. Add juice of one lemon and whizz in your preferred blender

4. Serve with chopped basil and your favourite small leaf and some sliced chilli or flakes.

pOACHED APRICOTS & CHIA PUDDING

• makes 6 puddings

• 10-12 apricots, washed, halved and de-stoned

• juice of one orange

• tablespoon of honey

• 1tsp vanilla extract

• cinnamon

• dash of water

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and simmer on a low-medium heat until apricots are starting to mush and the liquid is syrup-y (10-15mins).  Whilst the apricots are poaching, make the chia pudding:

• 3-4 tablespoons of chia seeds

• half cup hot water

• half teaspoon of vanilla extract

• 1tsp maple syrup / agave syrup

• half tin of coconut milk

Put chia seeds in a bowl and add hot water, wait for a few mins and stir intermittently for the the chia seeds to swell and become gel like.  Add all the other ingredients after 6mins and stir in.  Leave to absorb.

When your apricots are done, add 3-4 halves to each glass with a little bit of syrup.  Gently spoon over 2-3 tablespoons of the chia pudding.  Leave to cool on the side and put in the fridge once cool.  Keeps for a week or longer.

CREAMY VANILLA AVOCADO LOLLY

• flesh of 2 ripe avocados

• the cream off the top of a tin of coconut milk / or 4 tbsp natural or greek yoghurt

• 1tsp vanilla extract

• dash of maple syrup

Blitz.  Pour into moulds, freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

ORANGE AND MANGO LOLLY

• 1 mango, peeled and cubed

• Juice and pulp of two oranges

Blitz.  Pour into moulds, freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

WATERMELON AND MINT LOLLY

• 1/8 watermelon (seeds and rind removed)

• 10-20 mint leaves

• 1tbsp lemon juice

• 1tbsp honey

Blitz.  Pour into moulds, freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

BANANA SPLIT LOLLY

• 2 ripe bananas

• 4tbsp greek yoghurt

• 1tsp vanilla extract

• 2tsp honey

• (optional) 1tbsp cacao nibs

Blitz all ingredients except cacao nibs. Mix in cacao nibs if using. Pour into moulds, freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

• 10-12 pitted dates, the jammier the better; if drier, soak in just-boiled water for 1hr, reserve water once done.

• 1-2 heaped tbsp cashew butter

• 1tsp vanilla extract

• 1 heaped tbsp solid coconut oil / 3 tbsp if melty

• 2 heaped tbsp oats

• 3 heaped tbsp ground almonds

• 1 heaped tbsp coconut flour (optional, replace with ground almonds if needed)

• 1 heaped tbsp cacao powder

• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut in a shallow dish

1. In a food processor (not a blender, all the ingredients will get stuck under the blades), whizz the dates until a thick paste. Add in all the other wet ingredients & whizz until a smooth consistency. Decant paste and put to one side.

2. Back in the food processor (don’t worry about washing the bowl), whizz the oats until they’re a rough flour-like powder, add the ground almonds, coconut flour & whizz until mixed.

3. Spoon in approximately the same amount of date paste as there are dry ingredients into the food processor and pulse until the mixture starts to come together inside. It should eventually start to form a sticky ball and ‘roll’ around the food processor.

4. Remove the truffle mix and grab a bit at a time to roll into balls. Coat with desiccated coconut to finish. These keep best in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Tips:

• You can add more date paste if it’s too dry, or a teaspoon at a time of the reserved date water to help it come together.

• Play around with consistency - this is a personal preference kinda recipe. The less paste and more water you use, the crumblier the truffle.

• Remove the truffle mixture and repeat with more dry ingredients if you have paste left.

'WHITE CHOCOLATE' ICE CREAM

• 750g mascarpone

• 1 tin (c 454g) condensed milk

• 2tsp vanilla extract (optional)

1. decant all the mascarpone into a large bowl, gradually add the condensed milk folding in bit by bit as you go. You should end up with a smooth mixture at the end;

2. freeze in tupperware for 5hours or overnight;

3. remove from freezer 2-3hours before serving to soften.

OAT AND ALMOND LOAF CAKE

Perfect for making on a sunday and keeping in the fridge for those mid-afternoon sugar lows.  Or a pretty good pudding to round off supper!

Recipe here!

magic chocolate mousse

• 100g of dark chocolate

• water from two cans of chick peas

1. Melt dark chocolate in a pan or microwave, taking care not to burn. Stir regularly and once melted leave to cool for 30 minutes or so.

2. Take the water from two cans of chick peas (conserving the chick peas for later use of course).

3. Whisk up in a large bowl until it becomes fluffy white consistency of egg whites.

4. Fold the cooled chocolate into the chick peas whites. It will fall a little but if you go gently then not too much.

5. Once the mixture has come together, spoon / pour unto glasses or ramekins and place in the fridge. The chocolate will help the chick pea whites to hold as it cools and hardens.

6. Mousse will keep for 2-3days.

SPINACH AND CHICK PEA CURRY

One of our perennial favourites - our guests on our retreats absolutely love it, it's great for you and so easy to throw together too.

Recipe here!

CHICKEN AND PRESERVED LEMON TAGINE

I use this amazing Hairy Bikers recipe with slight variations.  So much flavour but not too heavy. Serve with brown rice and a green salad.  The best thing is you can make in advance and serve throughout the week, the flavours will just get better!

Recipe here.

CAVOLO NERO CEVICHE

No cooking required, just mash for a few minutes with your hands, and who can get that wrong?  If you've got a toddler who likes to cook, it's a great one to get them involved in too.

Recipe here.

BARLEY RISOTTO WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

• sundried tomatos in oil

• chopped onions and garlic

• 4 good handfuls of barley

• splosh of red wine

• tinned chopped tomatoes (optional)

• stock to cover the barley in the pan

• green or black olives

• french beans

1. drizzle some oil from the sundried tomatoes into a heavy saucepan and fry off the onions and garlic until soft and fragrant;

2. throw in the barley and coat with the fried onions and garlic;

3. splosh in the red wine and tinned tomatoes and mix;

4. add enough stock to cover the mix in the pan and let simmer with lid on for 40mins on a low heat, add more stock if needed;

5. after 40mins add the olives and the french beans and simmer for another 20mins until beans and barley is soft;

6. serve with a small bit of good cheese.

Roasted Vegetable couscous

• a pile of seasonal vegetables, you can use almost anything except for salad leaves and cucumber:

  • eg peppers, tomatoes mushrooms, cauliflower, kale, aubergine, broccoli, asparagus

  • root vegetables (beetroot, carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, parsnips) are particularly good but try to get a mixture of root veg and non-root veg

  • add fruit if you like, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines work well

• olive oil

• good grind of salt, black pepper

• sprinkle of paprika, cumin, turmeric (optional)

• couscous

• juice of a lemon

1. pre heat oven to 180 degrees C

2. chop up the veg and fruit into lovely chunks (the smaller they are the quicker they'll cook)

3. place into baking trays, drizzle with oil and season with salt, pepper, and the other spices if using

4. mix roughly with hands or wooden spoon to coat everything

5. roast in pre-heated oven for 40-60 minutes, depending on what veg you've chosen and how soft you like your dish to be

6. whilst the veg is roasting, make up the couscous according to the packet

7. once the veg is done, mix in to the couscous in a large bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper, the lemon juice and a tad more olive oil if needed.

Roast Chicken, butternut Squash & Tomato

• 1 large onion

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 1 butternut squash

• 4 large tomatoes or a punnet of cherry tomatoes

• 1-2 skin-on chick thighs per perso

• salt & black pepper

• turmeric

• paprika

• olive oil

1. preheat oven to 180 degrees C

2. peel and slice the onion into large chunks, squash and chop the garlic and scatter into a baking tray

3. chop the butternut squash into chunks, wash the skin first if leaving on (it's lovely and soft once roasted) or peel as you prefer; chop the tomatoes into wedges (or halves if cherry toms); add to baking tray

4. oil and season with salt and pepper; roast for 20-30 mins in the oven to soften the butternut squash and start to 'melt' the tomatoes

5. trim the excess fat and skin from the chicken and add to the baking tray on top of the veg, season the whole lot with turmeric and paprika and a tiny touch more salt and pepper

6. put back in the oven and roast for another 30-40 minutes until the chicken is golden and crispy, and is cooked through (juices run clear when you poke it)

7. serve with a fresh green salad

Noodle & Broccoli salad

• brown rice noodles

• olive or sesame oil

• head of broccoli

• red onion (optional)

• whole almonds (optional)

• for the dressing: juice of one lime, dollop of peanut butter, good shake of fish sauce, squeeze of agave syrup

1. cook noodles in water according to packet instructions, once cooked, drain and drizzle with oil to avoid sticking

2. cut broccoli head into small pieces (half florets) and steam/boil to cook. Cool.

3. soak almonds in soya sauce for 5 minutes then dry off in the oven for 10 minutes on 180 degrees C.

4. mix together the broccoli and noodles, adding in thinly sliced onion (optional) and almonds

5. mix together all the dressing ingredients until it's a thick sauce, adding a bit of water if required and adjusting ingredients to taste;

6. pour over the salad and toss - enjoy!