Inspiration for recipes usually come to me when I am wandering through my local green grocer, something usually catches my eye.  Sweet mangos, a nice big bunch of the greenest kale or more recently a little guy yelling at the top of his lungs “peach, pe ach, peach, muuuum, peach…..”  This inspiration for this recipe however…

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• 2 cups of chopped watermelon
• 565 g can lychee
• 1 cup water
• A few mint leaves (optional)

• Pop a metal tray in the freezer
• Drain lychees and add to a blender along with the watermelon, water and mint if using. Blend until smooth. (Depending on your type of blender you may have to strain the mixture with a fine sieve to remove any pulp). Pour into metal tray and freeze until partially set, about 3 hours. After 3 hours break up the ice that has formed with a fork and repeat this step every 30 minutes or so, for the next couple of hours until the granita has formed ice crystals

You could use any fruit in this recipe and if you like it a little sweeter add some sugar syrup to the mix.

I have been a little sweet potato mad lately – but it has to be roasted.   Something really magical happens when veggies are roasted and I can’t get enough of them.  

H on the other hand has decided he likes everything served raw.  Now I’m not complaining.  He will happily sit down and eat a bowl of raw carrot, broccoli stems, capsicum, cucumber, tomatoes, and even cauliflower but he has recently developed at hatred for pumpkin and sweet potato.  

I thought I may be able to fool him with this roasted sweet potato dish by serving it topped with chickpeas and tahini but if I’m truthful he wasn’t overly impressed.  He had a taste, put a few more tablespoons of tahini on top, tried it again, picked the chickpeas off and ate them and that was about it.  

I thought it was really delicious which is why I’m posting it, and its a great meatless meal option with ingredients that you probably have on hand.  I hope you like it. xx

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• 2 small sweet potatoes
• 2 tbls finely chopped mint
• 2 tbls finely chopped parsley
• Sumac to garnish

• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 tsp sumac
• 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic; minced
• salt to taste

• Pre-heat oven to 200c / 400F. Give the sweet potatoes a good scrub (leave skin on ). Cut in half lengthways and place on a baking tray. Brush with oil and baked for about 30 minutes or until tender.
• Drain, rince and dry the chickpeas; add to a heat proof dish. Mix the remaining ingredients and add to the chickpeas and toss to coat. Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until golden and crispy. Once cooked add half the parsley and mint and combine.

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

• Place your sweet potatoes on a serving tray and using a spoon make a little dent in the sweet potato so you can pile your chickpeas on (alternatively scoop out a little of the flesh). Top with chickpeas a good dollop of tahini, the left over herbs and a sprinkle of sumac. Serve

Serves 4 as a side (half a sweet potato each). Double the recipe to serve as a main or if you are super hungry

Strawberries and orange blossom water is a match made in heaven.  Add to that ice cream and you have a huge winner! This is a simple ice cream recipe that is egg free, therefore doesn’t require you to make a custard.  Simply whisk the ingredients by hand, then churn in an ice cream maker.

The countdown is on and I’m super excited this year.  H and I were chatting about getting a photo with Santa the other day – or more accurately I was trying to convince him it was a good idea… Me: What are you going to ask Santa for? H: A drum and a flower Me: Who…

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    We celebrated my babies 2nd Birthday on the weekend – can’t believe he is two already!  H had a wonderful time with his cousins and everyone was super surprised when we cut into his Birthday cake to reveal the colours of the rainbow.    My original idea was to create a checkerboard cake out of…

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I used a combination of purple and green asparagus here.  H and I were at the green grocer when he spotted purple asparagus and got super excited – like jumping up and down excited, I wish I could have recorded him.  It was super cute and me loving his enthusiasm for good food ended up buying a lot of asparagus…

So with all the asparagus I ended up buying, I decided to make asparagus and saffron risotto with the intention of making it a two for one meal, by using the leftovers the following night to make arancini – bonus!

For those of you with little munchkins running around I know risotto seems like an impossible task – so instead of standing in front of the stove for 30 or so minutes stirring away, add a few ladles at a time and then cover and come back in 5-10 minutes, give it a stir, add more stock and repeat until it has been all absorbed.  It may not be quite as creamy but it will be delicious.

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• 3 bunches or asparagus (500g)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 french shallots or 1 onion; finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic; finely chopped
• 2 cups arborio rice (400g)
• 1 cup white wine
• Pinch of saffron
• 6-8 cups stock (veggie or whatever you like)
• 1 cup parmesan cheese + extra to serve
• 3 tablespoons butter

• Heat your stock in large saucepan and keep it warm. Break the woody ends off the asparagus and discard; then chop the asparagus into 2 or 3 (depending on the size of your asparagus). Set the asparagus tips to the side.
• Add the oil, garlic and shallot to a large frying pan and sauté until softened. Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil. Add the wine and stir until it has absorbed. Add asparagus (expect the tips), saffron and a few ladles of stock and stir until absorbed. Continue adding a ladle at a time. Toward the end of cooking add the asparagus tips. The risotto is ready when all the stock is gone or the risotto is creamy and cooked through – but not mushy. About 25 minutes or so.
• Add the butter and parmesan and stir until melted through. Serve with extra parmesan on top.

Homemade fresh tomato sauce is so handy to have on hand.  I make a large batch and freeze it for a lazy day.  I use it to add to pasta, as a pizza sauce, meatballs, a quick ragout, ratatouille, etc.   So next time you go to the farmers markets grab a few kilos and make it fresh, it’s…

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This recipe is adapted from Movida restaurant in Melbourne and it is so good!  It would make an impressive side dish, light lunch, or even main course.  The rich flavours are balanced beautifully by the sharpness of the quince and although it does take a little time to prepare, I promise it will be worth it…

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• 1/4 cup olive oil + extra for roasting pumpkin
• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1 large quince
• 1 Lebanese eggplant , chopped into 1/2 inch dice
• 1/4 jap pumpkin , pealed and chopped into small 1 inch dice
• 1 green capsicum , chopped
• 1 small onion , diced
• 1 tomato , diced
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• pinch of salt
• Handful of chopped parsley
• Pomegranate seeds to garnish

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Cook the quinoa according to the packet directions and then spread on a tray to cool; refrigerate until ready to use.
• Wash and dry quince and place on a baking tray, bake for 1 hour, or until soft. While that is cooking, spread pumpkin on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until tender (you want it to hold its shape)
• Heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat and cook the eggplant until golden and tender. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out eggplant and drain on paper towel. Now add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the capsicum, bay leaves, and cumin and reduce heat to low-medium; cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, peel and dice the roasted quince and cut into 1 inch dice.
• Add the tomato and tomato paste to the capsicum mixture and cook for a few minutes. Add the roasted pumpkin, quince, eggplant, quinoa and parsley and gently mix together. Season to taste, add to a large bowl and garnish with pomegranate seeds

Increase the cumin to a couple of teaspoons if you enjoy the taste. I kept it very mild for the little dude…

 This really is a deliciously healthy snack, dessert or even breakfast.  Mango, Pineapple, Lime and Coconut Tapioca is also perfect to freeze.  I simply warmed the mixture a little and it was perfect.  So double the recipe if you like and freeze what you don’t use for another day – enjoy…

Chocolate mousse is my current addiction…  and there will be none of that healthy avocado cocoa business here…  this is a traditional French chocolate mousse – dark chocolate, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla. It’s velvety, thick and super rich but also somewhat light and fluffy! I could eat the entire bowl on my own! It’s easy to…

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And just like that H is at school and I’m preparing school lunch boxes. I’m finding it quite fun at the moment – but it has only been a week. I’ll report back in a months time! So with that in mind, I thought it would be nice to include a little sweet treat on…

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Black sticky rice with caramelised coconut and mango is our favourite dessert, but I hear it is most often eaten at breakfast in Thailand. I could definitely get on board with that! On our recent visit to Thailand, H and I ate this everyday – sometimes twice a day!  It’s the perfect balance of sweet…

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I have a nice easy no cook recipe for you today.  Raw peppermint power puff bars, made using puffed rice and amaranth, chia, goji, sunflower seeds, cocoa, honey and of course peppermint. You simply mix all the ingredient together and press down into a baking dish to set in the fridge – easy.  It will…

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If you live in Sydney then you would have been melting along with us in the heat over the past few weeks.  These healthy Avocado Chia Popsicles are just what we needed.   They are so good for you that you could eat them for breakfast…  They contain avocado, coconut milk, chia seeds, honey and strawberries…

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Stone fruit season – yay…  H and I recently went to the Apple Shack at Glenbernie Orchard to pick our own nectarines.  It is one of the few orchards that let you eat as many as you like as you pick – bonus.  H didn’t stop eating them!  I lost count at 6… We managed to pick a…

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Mini cupcakes – perfect for little hands… I used my mums cupcakes recipe here but substituted the huge amounts of sugar with mashed banana and honey.  It worked a treat.  H loved them.  The mango on top is lovely paired with the banana and they are light and fluffy.   They are super easy to…

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Baked apples is a classic dessert. It’s so easy to prepare and this version is also healthy. So healthy in fact that it would make an equally delicious breakfast.   Most nights dessert for the little guy is natural yoghurt with a few berries, but its nice to go to a little more trouble on occasion. Baked…

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I love to make my own pastry and when I came across this recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks I couldn’t wait to try it out.  It is very simple and sugar-free.  I have added a little orange blossom water because the combination of that with the strawberries is heavenly.   The only sugar in…

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Frozen banana pops with a healthy cocoa-tahini coating that not only tastes great, but it is good for you.  Sugar-free and a great snack option that the kids will love to help make.   You simply chop a banana into thirds and stick a paddle pop stick or skewer into the end and freeze for a few hours….

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