Lemon and Ginger Roasted Salmon & Mixed Bean Salad

Creative Juices Flowing

My brain has really been working well.  In lectures I am being critical, reflective and creative, in dance I am making beautiful choreography, rapping all my emotions and my food has been quite interesting.  Never let anything stop you from being creative. Follow your instincts and live.  I coated my salmon in ginger and lemon because it felt right and I ended up making a salad full of so much vivacity I danced for 2 hours after eating it.  My creative juices were flowing indefinitely.

Ingredients:

Tinned Mixed Bean Salad, 2 salmon fillets, ground ginger, and lemon juice, hot pepper sauce.

Method:

1. Rub the salmon fillets in lemon juice.
2. Cover the top of the salmon with the ginger.
3. Bake in the oven at 120 degrees C for 20 minutes.
4. Drain the salad and put into a mixing bowl.
5. When the salmon is done remove it from the skin and mix into the bowl.

Saffy’s Top Tip:

The salmon also makes a great sandwich filling. Mix with mayonnaise or a spicy chutney and sandwich between 2 slices of wholemeal bread.

Herbed Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Slow Whining

My African dance class encouraged me to cook my roasted sweet potatoes.  It was such a wonderful class, I was slow whining as I was boiling my potatoes while I listened to the soothing beats of the drums on a random drumming track I found.  Everybody knows that dancing and cooking are two great hobbies of mine, so when one encourages the other I thank God for such a wonderful blessing.

This recipe was adapted from ‘ Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook’ (Haper Collins Publishers Ltd, 2008).

Ingredients:

1 kg sweet potatoes, 6 tbsps olive oil, sea salt, 2 tbsps mixed herbs, 2 tbsps rosemary, 3 tsps cayenne pepper.

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes and put them straight into water.
2. Half or quarter the potatoes so they all fit in a pot.
3. Put potatoes in a pot and cover with water.
4. Bring the potatoes to the boil with the lid on.
5. Let the potatoes simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Drain the potatoes then roughen up in a colander.
7. Cut up the potato into desired pieces and put into a mixing bowl.
8. Mix in all of the other ingredients to season potatoes.
9. Spread onto a tin foil lined baking tray and bake in an oven at 200 degrees C.
10. Roast for 30 minutes.
11. Turn the potatoes then roast for another 20 minutes.

Chocolate Flavoured Oat Bites

Healthy Luxury

I was in the mood for some ‘Ferrero Rocher’ chocolates but I didn’t want to give into the temptation… So I made my own version. I used Weight Watcher’s hot chocolate powder and porridge oats, it is like flapjacks but rolled into balls after being cooked. I even added a hit of chilli.  They turned out great, a successful experiment.

(Makes roughly 10 small balls.)

Ingredients:

100g porridge oats, 2 tbsps Weight Watcher’s hot chocolate powder, 3 tbsps golden syrup, 50g butter, 40g muscavado sugar, 2 tsps paprika.

Method:

1. Put the porridge and powder into a mixing bowl.
2. Heat up the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a pan.
3. Well melted pour into the oats and mix together and add a little paprika.
4. Level the mixture into a small baking tin.
5. Put the tin in a pre heated oven at 120 degrees C.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Cool for a minute.
8. Use your hands to roll the bake into small balls. (Do this quickly before the mixture hardens.)
9. Sprinkle on  a little more paprika.

Student Welsh Rarebit

Work Grub

I really enjoyed this take on the classic Welsh Rarebit.  I love Worcestershire sauce and cheese, adding mustard was daunting but gave wicked results. I recommend this snack for reading boring texts and after a long boring meeting whilst reading ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’.

This recipe was adapted from ‘The Really Useful Ultimate Student Cookbook’ (London: Murdoch Books 2007).

Ingredients:

2 slices of wholemeal seeded batch bread, 30g grated medium cheddar cheese, 1 tsp whole grain mustard, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce.

Method:

1. Toast 1 side of the bread.
2. Mix the cheese, mustard and sauce in a small bowl into a thick paste.
3. Spread mix on the untoasted side then put back into the grill until the cheese has melted.

Saffy’s Special Tomato Sauce

Things Change

I never used to be a fan of sauces, that was until I started tasting home-made ones and grew to love my classics.  Tomato sauce is just brilliant and my tomato sauce is just stunning.  Oh how I laugh at the days when I used to give my boyfriend plain pasta and chopped tomatoes.  Oh the shame! But two years later here I am making brilliant sauces for special occasions to basic student dishes.  I always try to alter my sauces because I am always trying to better myself, I’m no kitchen genius yet.

Ingredients:

1 x can Italian chopped tomatoes, 1 tbsp garlic granules, 2 tsps basil, 1/2 pack cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp muscavado sugar, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 3 handfuls of spinach, 2 tsps oregano.

Method:

1. Heat up the tomatoes in a pan.
2. Add the herbs and spices.
3. Add the vegetables and sugar.
4. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
5. Season to taste.

Saffy’s Top Tip:

Add some chopped up quorn sausages and mix with cooked pasta to make quorn dog pasta.

Fake Raspberry Sundae

Keep On Movin’

Another lecture another week. My day had started so all I could do was arise from my slumber and just keep on movin’.  We all have to do things we don’t want to do and sometimes we even dread certain events in our lives.  A good breakfast can at least give u some kind of happiness which can help positive thinking to make your day easier.  My fake raspberry sundae is perfect for breakfast because it is fresh, sweet and has great texture from the sunflower seeds.

Ingredients:

0% fat Greek yoghurt, honey, sunflower seeds, raspberries, peanut butter.

Method:

1. Spoon some yoghurt into a bowl.
2. Scoop in some raspberries and sunflower seeds.
3. Drizzle a little honey over the top.
4. Add a dollop of Peanut butter.

Saffy’s Top Tip:

Experiment with different seeds and nuts or even crush chilli peanuts to make it a little more unique.

Baked Bread Spinach & Egg Cup

Cute Dainty Breakfast Cups

I was in a really sweet mood the morning I made my breakfast cups.  I stumbled across the idea in a food magazine and became so excited I was eagerly waiting in anticipation the night before.  I can honestly say this was so much fun to make, I hope when I have a family I can use all of the holes in my muffin tray to make a big batch and just fill my kitchen with smiles.  I was in a real cute mood wearing a real cute outfit.  This breakfast is appropriate for a weekend afternoon when you feeling rich on the inside and fabulous on the outside.  It is healthy, tasty and can be flavoured with a variety of sauces of your choice.  It is basically eggs, spinach and tomato on bread… but the cuter version.

This recipe was adapted from ‘Sainsbury’s Everyday Easy Magazine’ (Issue 10).

(This is to make one but can easily be x 12 for a 12 muffin case tray.)

Ingredients:

1 piece of wholemeal bread, a bit of margerine, 1 egg, a few leaves of spinach (chopped roughly), 1 cherry tomato (halved).

Method:

1. Use a rolling pin to flatten the wholemeal bread.
2. Remove the crust and butter lightly.
3. Press into a muffin case.
4. Arrange spinach leaves on the inside and break an egg into the bread.
5. Put the egg into an oven set at 120 degrees C and bake for 17 – 20 minutes, or desired egg consistency.  (Make sure the whole egg has cooked through if you life it runny.)
6. Place the egg on a plate when ready and top with the cherry tomato.

Cajun Rice Stuffed Pepper

New Flavours

I thought it would be fun to do a little experiment by seasoning my rice with some new flavours.  Inspired by my boyfriend’s mother’s fantastic jellof rice I wanted spice up my own long grain brown rice and stuff it in a pepper.  I did a great job! The rice tasted really interesting and the pepper was cooked to perfection.  I have always wanted to stuff a pepper and glad that it did not turn into a complete disaster.  I also used yoghurt to cool down the spices.

Ingredients:

Long grain brown rice (enough to serve 2, the left overs can be used as a side for another dish), cajun seasoning, ground black pepper, 2 tsps hot pepper sauce, a handful of chopped tomatoes, a handful of chopped spinach, 1 tsp crushed garlic, 1tbsp olive oil, 1/2 deseeded red pepper (stalk left on for decoration, a spoonful of yoghurt (to serve).

Method:

1. Once the rice has been prepared add cold water to the rice until it is an inch higher in the pan.
2. Boil the rice and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Put tin foil on a baking tray and place the pepper on top.
4.  Drizzle the oil over the pepper.
5. Put the pepper in the oven and set it at 120 degrees C.
6. When the rice has almost cooked add the Cajun seasoning, black pepper, hot pepper sauce and garlic.
7. Stir and after 2 minutes add the spinach and chopped tomatoes and leave to finish cooking.
8. Remove the red pepper from the oven, it should be soft.
9. Stuff the pepper on a plate with the rice.
10. Season to taste, garnish with spinach and serve with the yoghurt.

Sunflower Blueberry Yoghurt

Wake up with the birds

I love waking up early because I love to make the most of my day.  I love to watch the sunrise and listen to the birds’ sweet songs.  I love to prepare my day ahead, meditate and encourage positive energy to surround me.  As much as I love breakfast I can not always eat a big meal, but a small breakfast does not mean it should lack in nutritional goodness and lovely flavours.  I made a simple breakfast which tastes good and gives you a morning boost. Love early mornings, it should be a blessing not a hassle.

Ingredients:

3 tbsps of natural plain yoghurt, a handful of blueberries, 2 tsps honey, a handful of sunflower seeds.

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Saffy’s Top Tip:

Try different fruits and swap the honey for blended bananas.

Soca Sardines on Toast

Lively Food

People always ask me why I have so much energy and I simply tell them that I stay up-beat, practice my passions and eat real good food.  I believe that every meal should be full of life and love.  There are thousands of people who do not have the simplest privileges so it is best to be grateful and make the most out of… everything.  Even open sandwiches!  Levi Roots has made up this wicked recipe using sardines and sweet red pepper,  I added a few more vegetables and hot pepper sauce.   I can see why Levi associated this snack with soca, once you taste it for the first time you feel like smiling and dancing.  Which is exactly what happens when I listen to soca music! Roll it Ladies!

This recipe was adapted from ‘Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook’ (Haper Collins Publishers Ltd, 2008).

Ingredients:

1tbsp sunflower oil, 1 onion (chopped), 1 clove of garlic (peeled and chopped), 1/2 red pepper (deseeded and chopped), 1x 3oz can sardines (drained), 1 tbsp fiery tomato ketchup, a handful of cherry tomatoes (quartered), a handful of spinach (chopped), 2 tsps of hot pepper sauce, margarine and wholemeal bread to serve.

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper and fry to soften.
3. Add the sardines, tomatoes, ketchup and spinach. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the hot pepper sauce then season to taste.
5. Make toast and butter it then top it with the Soca Sardines.