Tag Archives: snack

Coriander Tahini Dip

Condiments and Dips, , , , , , , , , ,

Coriander Tahini Dip

Tahini is a wonderful base ingredient for dips. We have been enjoying making many different combinations including this Coriander Tahini Dip. It is great as a dip with sweet potato chips (which we cook in the Air Fryer for a low fat snack) or with raw vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped roughly
  • small handful of pinenuts
  • 2 spring onions
  • little pinch of chilli flakes
  • large bunch of fresh coriander
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp tahini
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • olive oil
  • handful of pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)

Directions

  1. Add the garlic, pinenuts, spring onions, chilli flakes, coriander, salt, pepper, tahini, lemon juice, and cumin powder to a blender.
  2. Add 4 Tbsp of olive oil.
  3. Blend to a smooth paste. Add a little more olive oil if it is too thick or not blending well.
  4. Serve garnished with pomegranate seeds.
  5. Delicious as a dip with sweet potato chips or fresh vegetable sticks (eg cucumber or carrot).

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: The Decemberists – Five Songs EP

Apricot, Almond, Date Snack Bars

Snacks, , , , , , , , ,

Apricot, Almond and Date snack bars

Snack bars are great for filling a little gap between meals, or when you know that lunch is going to end up being a little late. However, Healthy Snack Bars are generally quite expensive, so we have been experimenting with different recipes to make our own. This is a classic combination inspired by the fruits of Kashmir – Almonds and Apricots. The dates give a natural sweetness, so no honey or sugar needs to be added to the mix.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • 1 cup dried dates
  • Little coconut or olive oil

Directions

  1. Place the almonds into a food processor using the metal knife blade. Chop the almonds until they are in small pieces
  2. Add the dates and apricots to the food processor. Mix until the mixture starts to form into a ball
  3. Grease a metal tray with a little coconut or olive oil
  4. Spread the mixture out onto the tray and press down with your hands to form a square or rectangle of an even thickness
  5. Place into the fridge for about an hour
  6. Cut into bars, and store in an air tight container in the fridge. We wrap the bars in baking paper to avoid using plastic wrap.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: The Kite Strings Tangle – Vessel

Turkish Snack Bars

Snacks, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Turkish snack bars

We didn’t enter a wholefood lifestyle to lose weight. We started looking after ourselves better to improve our health and start feeling better. But the consequence has also been that as we have taken out the junk, the processed food, and the fried food from our diets, our weight has also dropped. But we also don’t want it to drop too much or too fast.

That is where a little bit of healthy snacking comes in. But most shop bought snacks have ingredients I don’t recognize, or sugar that I don’t want to eat. The alternative are pretty expensive raw snack bars. As a result, we have taken to making our own snack bars and keeping them in the fridge. I make one or two batches in the weekend (which takes me less than 10 minutes) and they keep all week. Given that they are all dried ingredients, they should actually keep quite a long time, but they have never last longer than a week in our house to find out.

These snack bars are inspired by the flavours of Turkey. Rich pistachios and almonds are bound together with the sweetness and stickiness of dates. They are a great snack to keep in the fridge and snack on with an espresso or on its own.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pistachios
  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • 1 cup dried dates
  • 10g extra pistachios, chopped, for garnishing

Directions

  1. Place the pistachios in a food processor with the metal knife blade inserted. Pulse until they are finely chopped.
  2. Add the apricots and dates to the food processor and turn the speed up to a medium speed. Process for about 1 minute until the fruits and nuts are all finely chopped and start to stick together.
  3. Grease a metal tray with a little coconut oil. Pour the mixture onto the tray and press down firmly with your hands to form a large square / rectangular shape. You need to press quite firmly to press all of the mixture together.
  4. Chop the extra 10g (a small handful) of pistachios and sprinkle over the top of the bar. Press down into the mixture with your hands firmly so that it sticks into the bars as a garnish
  5. Place in the fridge for an hour
  6. Cut into bar shapes and store in an airtight plastic container between layers of greaseproof baking paper.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify:

Moroccan Snack Bars

Snacks, , , , , , , , , , ,

Moroccan Bars

We love to have some healthy snacks in the fridge to get us through those moments when the next meal is just a little bit far off for our stomachs. These bars have no artificial ingredients or sugars, and are made of whole nuts and dried fruits. It is a good idea to check the ingredients list on dried fruits though, because sometimes oils are used in the drying process, sugars are added, or chemicals are used. We try to avoid all of these, and figs and dates seem to be the most easy of dried fruits to find without these additives.

These snack bars aren’t an authentic recipe from Morocco, but rather a bar that is inspired by the fruits and nuts that grow so well in this very fertile country. Famous for almonds, apricots, pistachios, figs and dates, the Moroccan kitchen is full of flavour.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried dates, chopped
  • 1 cup dried figs, chopped
  • 1/4 cup blanched almonds
  • 1/4 cup pistachios
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/4 cup cashew nuts

Directions

  1. Dry roast the pine nuts in a frying pan over a moderate heat. Toast until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan.
  2. Dry roast the almonds and cashew nuts in a frying pan over a moderate heat. Toast until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan.
  3. Place all of the nuts in a food processor with the metal knife blade inserted. Pulse until the nuts are finely chopped.
  4. Add the fruits to the food processor and turn the speed up to a medium speed. Process for about 1 minute until the fruits and nuts are all finely chopped and start to stick together.
  5. Grease a metal tray with a little coconut oil. Pour the mixture onto the tray and press down firmly with your hands to form a large square / rectangular shape. You need to press quite firmly to press all of the mixture together.
  6. Place in the fridge for an hour
  7. Cut into bar shapes and store in an airtight plastic container between layers of greaseproof baking paper.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify:

Healthy Snack Balls

Snacks, , , , , , , , ,

Fig, date, mixed nut, healthy snack balls

We like to have some healthy snacks in the fridge that we can call upon when we are getting a bit grumpy before dinner is ready. These snack balls can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Given that they are made of all shelf stable ingredients, they are also a perfect addition to kids lunchboxes. You could also add cacao nibs or roll them in desiccated coconut for a couple of variations.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup mixed nuts (eg brazil nuts, cashew nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts)
  • 1 cup dried figs, stem removed and roughly chopped
  • 1 cup dried dates, roughly chopped

Directions

  1. Place the nuts in a foodprocessor with the metal chopping blade inserted. Chop the nuts for about 1 minute to small chunks
  2. Add the figs and dates to the foodprocessor and process further until all the ingredients are finely chopped. It may start to form a ball.
  3. Form the mixture into balls by squishing it tightly between your hands, and then rolling them between your hands into a uniform shape
  4. You could also roll the balls in desiccated coconut if you would like to vary the recipe.
  5. Store in a container in the fridge. Makes around 15 balls.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Ewert and the Two Dragons – Circles

Fig, Plum and Almond Healthy Snack Bars

Snacks, , , , , , ,

Fig, Almond and Plum bars

We have been buying healthy snack bars to take with us on the occasions that we are out an about and want to have a snack with us. But they are very expensive, so I took a look at the ingredient list of some wholefood ones we liked, and tried to recreate something similar. These are really easy to make and delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 a cup pitted plums (check the ingredients list to make sure you are not getting a lot of additives)
  • 1/2 a cup dried figs
  • 1/2 a cup almonds
  • A little olive oil or coconut oil for greasing

Directions

  1. Place the almonds in a food processor, and using the metal knife blade blend them until the almonds have broken into small chunks. This will take about a minute.
  2. Add the plums and figs to the food processor and blend until the mixture starts to turn into a ball.
  3. Grease a metal sheet (I used the based of a cake tin) with a little olive or coconut oil
  4. Place the mixture onto the metal sheet, and using your hands shape it out into a roughly square / rectangular shape so that you are able to cut it into bars. Make sure you press the mixture together really firmly.
  5. Cut the mixture into bars shapes and remove from the metal sheet (you might need to use a knife to do this)
  6. Store in an air tight container in the fridge or pantry

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Calexico – Edge of the Sun

Rice Cakes with Avocado Spread, Parma Ham, and Eggs

Breakfast, Snacks, , , , , , , , , , ,

Rice crackers with guacamole, parma ham and boiled egg

When we stopped eating bread we had a gap to fill – those mid afternoon hunger moments, or a quick lunch or breakfast. This recipe has become one of our fall back ones. The avocado spread will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, so you can use it more than once.

Ingredients

Avocado spread

  • 2 Avocados, peeled and seed removed. Roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • handful fresh coriander
  • 1 large green chilli, stalk and seeds removed
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • a couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
  • sumac

Directions

  1. Put all the “avocado spread” ingredients except the sumac in the blender. Blend until smooth.
  2. Add to a bowl and sprinkle over the sumac.
  3. Cook the eggs in boiling water for 6 minutes until softly boiled, but no longer runny.  (You can choose to cook a little longer or shorter according to your personal preference).
  4. Spread a generous amount of the avocado spread over the rice crackers.
  5. Top with a slice of parma ham.
  6. Peel the eggs and slice into 5mm slices. Place 1 egg on each of the rice crackers.
  7. Serve with some freshly ground pepper, and a little sprinkle of sea salt.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: French for Rabbits – Spirits

 

Courgette and Tahini Lime Dip

Condiments and Dips, , , , ,

Courgette and tahini lime dip

This is an easy to prepare dip which goes well with cucumber, carrots and celery sticks for an afternoon snack.

Ingredients

  • 2 Courgettes
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Handful fresh coriander
  • Couple of mint leaves
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • Juice of half a lime
  • Splash of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp tahini

Directions

  1. Put all ingredients in a blender end blend until smooth.

Nice as a snack with cucumber, carrots and celery sticks.

About tahini
According to Wikipedia, Tahini is made from sesame seeds that are soaked in water and then crushed to separate the bran from the kernels. The crushed seeds are soaked in salt water, causing the bran to sink. The floating kernels are skimmed off the surface, toasted, and ground to produce an oily paste.

Because of tahini’s high oil content, many manufacturers recommend refrigeration to prevent spoilage. This is particularly true among makers of raw, organic tahini, who will often prepare their tahini at low temperatures and ship and store it in refrigerated cases to maximise quality and shelf life. Used in middle eastern cooking, it has a peanut buttery flavour.

Music to go with it…
Kraak & Smaak – Plastic People

 

 

Kale Chips with Parma Ham, Cumin and Sea Salt

Snacks, , , , ,

Kale chips with parmaham, cumin and sea salt-2

Kale is a superfood, but one I always found a little “super freaky”. It was something that health nuts ate, until we experimented with it, and made these chips. Now we even have our son snacking on kale chips.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven on 170 degrees Celsius.
  2. Cut the stalks from the kale leaves and tear the leaves into bite size pieces.
  3. Place half the the leaves on a baking try.
  4. Sprinkle with half the cumin, some sea salt and half the parma ham.
  5. Before you put the kale into the oven, sprinkle with a splash of coconut oil.
  6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, turning the leaves every so often to bake them evenly.
  7. When the first batch is done, transfer into a large bowl and bake the second batch.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: William Fitzsimmons – Gold in the shadow