HOMEMADE HUMMUS

I have gotten out of the habit of making my own hummus (much easier to buy a pot in Aldi) but we've been on a health kick lately, trying to vary our diet and eat unprocessed stuff as much as possible. So I decided to start making hummus again. Also, I tend to like a chunkier, more garlicky hummus than the shops provide.

Hummus goes off quite quickly (3 days max.) so I only wanted two lunches worth, that is four portions, so I used a small can of chickpeas from Tesco - 130g drained weight.

97 kcal per portion, 6g fat

INGREDIENTS
130g chickpeas
20ml olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon tahini
pinch salt
pinch pepper
2.5ml to 5ml water - optional

METHOD
- Throw everything into a food processor and whizz
- If you don't have a processor, mash the chickpeas with a potato masher then mix the other ingredients through.
- If your hummus is too thick, you can thin it down with a drop of water.

LO-CAL LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

Like most people in January, I am trying to eat less sugar/fat/calories etc. I had a lonely lemon in the fridge and, as my usual lemon cake is sugar-packed, I went looking for a less calorific one to make. I adapted this Rosemary Conley recipe to include spelt flour, less egg and to make a smaller loaf.

If you make 12 slices of the cake, it is 100 calories per slice, which is pretty great.

I used a 2lb loaf tin which resulted in a squat enough cake, I was too lazy to line a 1lb tin (I have readymade liners for the 2lber). You could make double this recipe for a 2lb tin (bake for 1 hour), or this amount for a 1lb tin.

INGREDIENTS
90g low-fat marg
90g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
90g wholegrain spelt flour (or plain flour)
2 tbsp of porridge oats
1 tbsp milk
half tsp baking powder
1 lemon, zested

TOPPING
juice of the lemon
1 tsp demerara sugar

METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2
- Line your loaf tin
- Zest the lemon
- Juice the lemon
- Beat the marg with the caster sugar, gradually adding the egg
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder and beat again
- Add the lemon zest, porridge oats and milk and mix through
- Pour into lined loaf tin
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.
- Pour over the lemon juice and sprinkle with sugar, allow to cool in tin
- Serve cold

NEW YEAR, NEW YORK AVOCADO BAGEL

Happy New Year!!

I got gorgeous foodie goodies for Christmas (birdie apron, ceramic measuring spoons and book pictured), thanks to my lovely sister, friend and husband. I sat today reading Jordan and Jessica Bourke's The Guilt-free Gourmet, absolutely salivating. So I ran to the supermarket for supplies and made/adapted their delicious New York Avocado Toast.

Oh. My. God. Just delicious. And it's packed with goodness: avocado, lemon, parsley, tomatoes. OK, bagels are calorific but in my defence a) I totally WANTED one and, b) it was wholegrain. Anyway, here's how to make this gorgeous meal - it's your choice whether to use rye toast (like the Bourkes) or a bagel. I added minced garlic to one half of the mix (just to see) and that made it guacamole-like and delicious. (It depends how garlic obsessed you are whether you bother with that.) Serve with a green salad.

INGREDIENTS
2 small avocados
grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of half a lemon
1 tblsp chopped parsley
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
8 vine cherry tomatoes
2 slices rye bread (or 2 wholegrain bagels)
1 clove garlic minced (optional)

METHOD
Zest the lemon
Juice the lemon
De-stone the avocados and mash them in a bowl
Season with half the zest and lemon juice
Mix in the parsley, a  pinch of salt and the garlic (if using)
Halve the tomatoes and season with the remaining lemon juice, zest, a little olive oil and salt
Toast the bread/bagels
Pile the avocado mix on top and serve with the tomatoes. Mmm-mmm-mmm!!!

LEMON DRIZZLE LOAF

I love lemon drizzle cake and this recipe is adapted by one from How to Be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella's wonderful book. I always adapt recipes to reduce the amount of sugar. Most recipes have far too much IMO and that results in super sweetness. I love sweet things but don't want to feel icky after eating cake. I also substitute some or all of the flour with spelt flour. I like spelt's denseness but didn't want this cake to be too dense either. Anyway, it turned out gorgeous: properly lemony, nice and sweet, and sticky on top. In fact, it is calling to me from the tin: Eat more of me!

Ingredients

125g caster sugar
100g self-raising flour

75g spelt flour
125g butter

pinch of salt
zest of 1 large lemon

2 eggs

4 tblsps cow's or soya milk

Drizzle

75g icing sugar
juice of 1 large lemon (4 tblsps)

·        Preheat oven to 180˚C

·        Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin

·        Cream the butter and caster sugar

·        Add the eggs and zest and beat well

·        Add flour and salt and fold in completely

·        Mix through the milk

·        Pour into the cake tin

·        Make the syrup while the cake is cooking by gently heating the lemon and icing sugar until the sugar is melted

·        Bake for 45 minutes or so, until golden on top, make sure it is cooked through with a cake tester/skewer

·        Using your skewer, puncture the top of the cake and pour the syrup evenly over the cake

·        Cool completely in the tin before turning out

VEGAN LEMON & SESAME SEED LOAF

On last night's Desperate Housewives, Bree said baking is 'all about precision'. Not with me Mrs Van de Kamp-Hodge. No, here it's all about cravings and experimentation (the latter not always successful).

Today's experiment is Lemon and Sesame Seed Loaf. Hmm. We had delicious Lemon and Poppy Seed muffins in Paperchase in London at the week-end and I've had lemon cake cravings since Easter, so here we are. Our local veg shop, which also sells seeds, didn't have poppy seeds so instead I bought sesame and just sprinkled them on top. It turned out grand - not very sweet but the lemony-ness makes up for that. Add another 25g to 50 g sugar if you like a sweeter loaf.

Here's the recipe:

150 g of wholemeal spelt flour
100 g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
25 g of light brown sugar
25 g of caster sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp NoEgg mixed with 2tblsps water (or 1 beaten egg for non vegans)
150 mls of soya milk
juice and rind of one large lemon
1 tblsp vegetable oil
a handful of sesame seeds


* Preheat the oven to 160˚C
* Grease a 2lb loaf tin (or line with paper liner)
* Zest the lemon, then squeeze it
* Sieve the flour
* Mix flour, sugar and spice
* Make the NoEgg mix as per pack
* In a jug, mix together the soya milk, oil and NoEgg mixture
* Make a well in the flour and beat in the milky mixture
* Fold in the lemon zest and lemon juice
* Pour the mixture into the loaf tin. Gently shake to flatten the top
* Sprinkle with the sesame seeds
* Bake for an hour in the top of the oven. Move down a shelf if top browning too quickly.
* Test with a skewer to see if it is baked through
* Cool the cake in the tin