SANTORINI FAVA

Last year while on holidays, my husband and I made a little stop at Santorini, one of the most beautiful Greek Islands.

Santorini blew us away with the most amazing views and fresh Mediterranean eats.

Most of you will know my love for the Mediterranean way of eating, which I spoke about earlier this week on the blog. A love certainly for the many healthy benefits it provides, but also for its fresh, simple nature and a philosophy that encourages people to share, enjoy and celebrate food and family.

One of my favourite Mediterranean dishes was the Santorini specialty called fava. A dish traditionally made with the broad bean, is now made with yellow split peas and is served as an appetitzer (mezi) with crusty bread or as a feature in a share plate.

Fava from a little restaurant that we visited

This simple dish exhibits some of the features of the Mediterranean way of eating that makes it such a healthy eating pattern for us to follow - legumes and olive oil, LOTS OF OLIVE OIL...

After enjoying a few dishes of fava during my stay I was so keen to come home and try to replicate this dish. So here is my interpretation of Santorini fava.

My version of Santorini fava

Ingredients

1 cup of yellow split peas

1 onion, 2/3 finely chopped and 1/3 thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, pressed and chopped roughly

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil + extra to drizzle once serving (don't use the 'light' stuff)

Sea salt to season

Lemon juice

Method

Rinse the yellow split peas.

Add rinsed split peas, garlic, bay leaves and 3 cups of water to a saucepan.

Bring to the boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for approximately 25-35 minutes – or once tender and mushy.

After about 15 minutes of simmering add the 2/3 of chopped onion, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with a small amount of sea salt and stir until combined.

When the split peas are tender, remove bay leaves and blend until a smooth mixture forms – you can add some extra water if you would like a runnier texture.

Serve in a bowl, top with a squeeze of lemon  (as much as desired – I like about ½ a lemon), a good drizzle of olive oil and the thinly sliced onion.

You can serve this warm or cold.

In Santorini it is served as an appetiser with crusty bread. You could also use it as a dip or spread for vegetable sticks, wholegrain crisp bread, rice cakes or rice crackers.

Enjoy! 

RICOTTA FILLED BAKED PEARS

I have to admit, I have never loved pears. NEVER! They would have been the last fruit that I chose to eat when I was younger.

I have now learnt to love pears. LOVE!

Not the way that nature intended for us to love them, but a love all the same.

My way is a little more indulgent and involves red wine (think poached pears) or flake chocolate (think sprinkles of flake chocolate over ricotta filled baked pears)....YES this is the recipe that I am going to share.

This recipe is quick to prepare and is a delicious way to get the family to eat a piece of fruit. 

Ingredients (serves 4-8)

4 large firm pears, halved
1 cup of of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (this is a lot so you can always reduce this quantity to taste)

Serving options - honey, grated dark chocolate, Cadbury flake chocolate

Methods

Preheat the oven to 180° and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Scoop out the seeds of the pears, leaving a small hole that can be stuffed with the ricotta mixture.
Combine the ricotta, walnuts and cinnamon.
Spoon the ricotta mixture into the pear hollows.
Place on the baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pears are tender.

You can serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey. If you want to be more indulgent and use this as a dessert, grate dark chocolate or sprinkle flake chocolate over the pear and serve on its own or with a scoop of ice-cream.

I will leave that one up to you!

Quinoa porridge with fresh figs and blueberry sauce

I created this recipe in Autumn while living in Adelaide. The blueberries were still good and the figs were at their best, making some visually beautiful and delicious breakfast combinations.

This recipe was inspired by a clients need for some new gluten free breakfast options AND the beautiful blueberries and figs that I bought at the Adelaide Central Markets...OMG have you been there?

The quinoa is the gluten free staple here, but you could always swap for some traditional rolled oats if you aren't a fan of quinoa and don't need to follow a gluten free diet. The oats will only take 2-3 minutes to cook on the stove top.

I don't think I need to ramble on about this dish, as a picture says a thousand words...ENJOY!

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

½ cup quinoa (I used white)

1 cup of water

½ cup of milk

¼ cup of roasted almonds, roughly chopped

2 large figs, sliced

For the blueberry sauce

1 cup of blueberries

3 tablespoons of water

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

1 teaspoon of lemon zest – or to taste

Methods

Place quinoa and water in a small sauce pan bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, place the the blueberry sauce ingredients in a small pan, bring to the boil then simmer for approximately 5-6 minutes (or until the berries have popped and a sauce consistency has formed).

After 10 minutes of the quinoa cooking, add the milk and chopped almonds and cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until quinoa has cooked - add a dash of milk if mixture starts to dry out.

Divide quinoa porridge between two bowls and top with figs and the blueberry sauce.

ENJOY!

BANANA AND BERRY BAKED OATS

This recipe was inspired by Heidi Swanson's baked oats.

As soon as I saw the original recipe I just had to try it Heidi's way and my own way.

Eating oats baked is a more indulgent way to enjoy this old-time favourite, yet you still reap the many health benefits. 

Eating oats this way provides about the same amount of carbohydrate (~40g), a little more protein from the nut and seed topping (~12g) and a little more fat compared to oats cooked in milk and topped with fruit, but overall a nutrient dense and filling way to start the day.

I have been enjoying baked oats on the weekend when I am looking for a carbohydrate rich, higher protein breakfast following a long run. I just enjoy this with a cup of milk for adequate protein for muscle recovery and enough carbohydrate to refuel my muscle glycogen stores. 

I believe the whole family would just love this recipe for a heart-warming breakfast on a cold weekend morning. 

Ingredients (makes 6 serves)

2 cups of oats

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

 1 teaspoon of baking powder

 100g of a nut and seed mix (I used almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds)

 A pinch of salt

 1 egg

 2 cups of milk

 60g unsalted butter or margarine, melted

 3 tablespoons of maple syrup

 1 teaspoons of vanilla essence

 2 cups of frozen mixed berries

 1 large ripe banana (or two small bananas), sliced

 Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

In a bowl combine the dry ingredients - oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and 50g of the nut and seed mix.

In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients - whisk the egg then add the milk, melted butter (or margarine), maple syrup and vanilla essence.

Line the base of a 20cm x 20cm oven proof dish (grease if required) with the banana and 1 ½ cup of the berries.

Scatter the dry ingredients on top of the banana and berries.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture, then give the dish a good thump on the bench/chopping board (without breaking) to make sure the wet ingredients mix through.

Scatter the other 50g of the nut and seed mix and ½ cup of berries over the top.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until brown on top.

Remember to use recipes for inspiration and mix up the ingredients to your own liking. You could also use tinned apples instead of the banana and walnuts instead of the nut and seed mix.

ENJOY