Sundried Tomato and Cannellini Bean Dip

This started off as a humous recipe but turned into a more simple bean dip because I decided to just use ingredients I had in the cupboard instead of going shopping again and I actually much preferred it!

Butterbean and Sundried Tomato Dip

A few weeks back I put on the Veghotpot facebook page that I was struggling to think of some healthy snacks but I was feeling peckish and I had some great suggestions including home made hummous and veggies! Such a perfect snack, great for parties or even a great addition to a salad for a different flavour and texture.

1 Can Cannellini beans
6 Sundried Tomatoes from a jar
1 Large Garlic Clove
1 tspn Dried Thyme
1 tblspn Oil from the Sundried Tomatoes jar
1 tblspn Water

The method is pretty simple ….. whizz it all up in a blender until you have a smooth consistency. I add oil and water to this to make it a bit lower fat! I think the water tones down the strong flavours a bit too.

You can experiment with the quantity of each ingredient to see whether you prefer a stronger or weaker flavour. I added two garlic cloves the other day and it was delicious, although I think you could smell it from a mile away!!

My favourite veg to dunk into this dip is carrot sticks and celery! Delicious and fresh.

Tricolour Pitta Pizzas

This is a recipe for those times when you just fancy having something quick and easy like a pizza but you don’t want the calories of a takeaway pizza and you don’t have the time to make a pizza base yourself. Pitta breads are perfect because they are flat and round almost like a pizza base although you can use any kind of flat bread even naan bread and add some chillis!

Delicious fresh tomatoes are used as the base of the pizza

No sauce required, this pizza just has fresh slices of tomato and mozarella (or a vegan alternative of your choice) layered onto the pitta bread then grilled untill the cheese is melted and the pitta toasted. Then you can pile all sorts of salad items on top, I have chosen avacado, basil and sprouted alfafa seeds.

Layer tomato and mozarella onto the pitta breads and place under the grill

I actually first tried this recipe as a pie with filo pastry however the pastry became too soggy with the juices of the tomatoes so then I decided to use a pitta bread as it is much more sturdy. I kept the principal the same though – hot base topped with raw salads. I’m really excited about my alfafa sprouts because these are my first attempt at ever sprouting seeds and it was much easier than I thought.

A Platter of Pitta Pizzas

Together with the avacado these pizzas are deceptively healthy! I made a dressing to compliment the tomatoes, it is based on the dressing I made for my Butterbean Nicoise Salad but I swapped the mint for basil and it worked very nicely.

These could be a great party snack for the kids too!

Serves 4

2 Tomatoes
1 Mozarella Ball (Or a vegan cheese)
4 Pitta Breads

1 Avacado – peeled and sliced
Basil Leaves
Sprouted Seeds/ Cress or even small salad leaves

Dressing:
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 tablespoon Caper
Juice half a Lemon
6 Basil Leaves

Thickly slice the tomatoes and thinly slice the cheese. Place two slices of each onto each pitta bread alternating each slice of tomato with a piece of cheese (see photo above). Place under the grill for around 5-6 minutes untill the cheese has melted and the pitta breads have begun to brown.

Make the dressing by blending all of the dressing ingredients together and put to one side.

Take the pitta breads out from under the grill and top with a few pieces of avacado, some basil leaves, a few drizzles of the dressing and then some sprouted seeds.

Serve hot by themselves or with your choice of side dish (Salad/ garlic bread etc).

Vibrant Colours make this pizza look so appealing!

Graze: Nature Delivered! Product Review

Firstly I should just point out that I was not sent any free Graze boxes or contacted in any way by Graze, I just enjoyed writing the last product review on Pelagonia’s Pumpkin Jam so thought I’d go ahead and do another one

I have known about Graze for a while now but I resisted ordering it because I thought it would just be extra money being spent on food that we don’t need. Then I realised that my snacking patterns would probably benefit from having a healthy option handy at all times – especially because I am usually starving when I get in from work and I always reach for some toast and peanut butter! Well that has now stopped and I am instead eating a handful of nuts or fruits!

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you who don’t know Graze is a company which sell healthy snacks such as crackers, seeds and nuts delivered once a week. They only deliver to the UK however please still have a look because some of the combinations of flavours are really fun and would be great in a home made flapjack etc! The food is delivered in a box which fits perfectly through the letter box (so none of those annoying red post office letters saying they called but you weren’t in even though you were!) and within the box are 4 punnets with a variety of treats ready to be ‘grazed’!

I signed up to receive the Graze box after buying a Groupon deal but I have since kept it going because I realised I actually do need this service in my life (I do!!!) and also you pay per week so there is no pressure if you’re feeling a bit tight for money one week! I have mine delivered on a Monday and the first week I excitedly demolished the box within a day (= an hour) but I now sensibly open one punnet at a time and so far the longest it has lasted me is 4 days!

I also assumed that it was just fruits, seed and nut mixes however the creativity of the graze box has got me hooked! Here are a few of my favourite flavour combinations which really took me by suprise:

Jaffa Cake: Roasted hazelnuts, Dark Chocolate Buttons and Orange infused Sultanas

This is seriously delicious and probably my favourite so far! Take a little bit of each element and pop it all in your mouth to get the full effect! Healthier and more filling than a real jaffa cake.

Pina Colada: Coconut, Mango and Pineapple

This was on the edge of being too sweet for me however the coconut just balanced it perfectly! It’s just missing the rum

Pear Tatin: Pear, Raspberry infused Cranberries, Yoghurt coated sunflower seeds and Almonds

Again this is a good one to eat a bit of everything all at once, although me and Scott did pick out some of the yoghurt covered sunflower seeds to munch on because they were soo good!

Here are some of my favourite boxes which have something a little different or fun:

Banana Cake with an Afternoon Tea Infusion:

I took this into work with me and felt very extravagant having a tea and cake break – although I had mine mid morning not afternoon because I couldn’t wait!

Green Olives with Basil and Garlic

When I saw I had received olives I thought “oh that’s nice but I do eat olives quite a bit so I’m not that bothered” and then when I tried them I nearly gobbled the whole lot down! I haven’t ever had basil olives before but they are delicious and so very very morish! Luckily I got them again this week

Vanilla Seeds

These look boring but they are PACKED with vanilla flavour and have a lovely texture. I like to suck the vanilla flavour off then eat the seed but that’s just me…..

And last but not least -

Wasapeas!!

These are some of my favourite snacks so I was really happy to see them in the selection! I like seeing how many I can eat without my head exploding

Anyway there is my round up of my favourite Graze Box options so far, I imagine in 6 weeks I’ll have a tonne more! That’s if I keep remembering to photograph them before they disappear! I’m very hungry after writing all of that, luckily I have this weeks graze box to keep me going

ps I just wanted to point out my gorgeous plates that I got from a charity shop for 20p each!!! I am always hunting for nice little plates and bowls to make my food look even prettier and it just goes to show what treasures are out there – although I do now have a lot of mis matched plates