Healthy Butternut Squash Risotto

This is a delicious but healthy risotto, using brown rice makes the cooking time slightly longer. But this means you get all the goodness from the unrefined  rice and plenty of fibre to keep you full for longer. I have adapted this recipe from Deliciously Ella, however this version is slightly more student friendly; my student cupboard didn't stretch to providing nutritional yeast, cumin or tahini so I gave these a miss; I also added a dollop of crème friache which I found enhanced the creamy butternut squash. The original recipe also has uses a food processor to whizz up the cooked butternut squash however in the student kitchen using a potato masher will suffice!

 

 

 

To Serve Four You Will need...

 

- 1 Butternut squash

 

-300g Brown rice

 

-Juice of 1/2 a lemon

 

- A splash of cider vinegar

 

-A dollop of Crème Friache

 

-Salt and Pepper to taste

 

 

 

You will need to...

 

-Pre-heat the oven to 200C

 

- Peel the butternut squash and cut into cubes

 

- Place in a baking tray, drizzle with oil and season, roast for 35mins or until soft while the rice is cooking

 

-Put the brown rice in a sieve and rinse with cold water

 

-Add the rice to a pan of boiling water, boil for 35-40 minutes or until the rice is soft adding more water when necessary and a splash of cider vinegar to add flavour.

 

- Remove the butternut squash from the oven and mash three quarters of the squash leaving a few cubes to add texture.

 

- Add the lemon juice, seasoning and crème friache to the smooth butternut squash and then stir into the drained rice.

 

- Finally place the remaining butternut squash cubes on top and parsley or coriander.

 

 

Enjoy

Z x

Butternut Squash, Kale and Chickpea Summer Salad

Last week Catie and I undertook a week of 'clean eating', and this recipe was definitely one of our favourite evening meals. Despite being a fairly simple salad, the roasted butternut squash and chickpeas make this dish suprisingly filling, whilst the pomegranate, lemon and lime add a sharp tanginess. I also think that serving it hot makes it seem like a heartier meal rather than just a lunchtime salad, so despite being extremely good for you, you still feel satisfied and full at the end of a long day. Kale is a well established 'superfood', being rich in Vitamins A, B, C and K as well as being low in calories and virtually fat free - perfect for those getting into shape for summer. You could also add some chicken to the salad if you fancy a non-vegetarian version. A good student trick when using root ginger is to store it in the freezer, and then you can use it whenever needed as it lasts for ages. A more detailed post on our clean eating week will be coming soon with more healthy recipes.

To serve two you will need...

1/2 a butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes

200g curly kale

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp of fresh ginger, grated

1 tin of chickpeas, drained

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lime juice

Seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate
1/4 tsp salt

You will need to...

- Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

- Place the butternut squash cubes on a baking tray, season and drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for approx 40 mins or until soft.

-Meanwhile in a large saucepan, soften the onion in a little olive oil over a medium heat. Once soft add the garlic and ginger contine to cook for a minute.

-Add the kale to the pan and stir for a minute until it begins to wilt then reduce the heat and cover for 10 mins.

- Add the drained chickpeas, stir and cover for another 5 minutes until they are warmed through.

-Remove from heat, add the roasted squash, pomegranate seeds, salt, lemon and lime juice stir and serve immediately. 

Enjoy, Z and C x

Hazelnut Meringue Sandwich

Another spring/summer pudding for you - this time in the form of a Hazelnut Meringue Sandwich Cake. This is like a slightly more interesting and sophisticated Eton Mess, but thankfully just as simple to put together. The recipe is a slightly adapted version of the one in Rosie Lovell's book, Supper With Rosie, and is brilliantly easy and fresh with relatively few ingredients. Despite this it is still impressive to serve, and is a crowd-pleasing way to round off a spring supper - who doesn't like meringues and cream? I would also be interested to substitute the hazelnuts for pistachios and see how that worked, although uni work is preventing me from much kitchen experimentation at the moment so I haven't got round to that just yet…

You will need…

4 egg whites

125g hazelnuts

250g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

275ml double cream

1 punnet of raspberries 

1 tsp vanilla paste or 1 vanilla pod

You will need to…

- Preheat oven to 200C.

- Line the base of two 20cm cake tins with foil. Grease the sides of the tins and the foil well with vegetable oil.

- Toast the nuts in a dry pan over a low heat for a few minutes until darkened and fragrant, then blitz them in a food processor or coffee grinder until chunky.

- In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until firm then gradually whisk in the sugar.

- Gently fold in the vanilla extract and ground nuts until well combined, then divide the mixture between the two prepared tins.

- Bake for 12 minutes in the oven, then turn the temperature down to 170C and cook for a further 30 minutes. Leave to cool completely in the tins.

- When ready to serve, whip the cream to soft peaks with the vanilla paste or the seeds of one scraped vanilla pod. 

- Fold in the raspberries, then spread the mixture over one of the meringues and place the second on top.

Enjoy! C x