CORN & ZUCCHINI FRITTERS

I love eating corn fritters whenever I am out for breakfast. Whenever I spy them on a menu, I cannot be persuaded to order anything else. After eating a delightful lunch of corn & zucchini fritters at a restaurant in Kirra last Friday inspiration struck me on Sunday to create my own. I have made my fritters gluten and dairy free, however you could use dairy milk and flour that is not gluten free. If you do not like corn you could use chickpeas or more zucchini and/or carrot as a filler. The herbs below are just a suggestion as is the ground coriander. I would recommend using a spice or two when you make corn fritters or you do run the risk of them tasting a little bland. 

Ingredients

• 300g zucchini, grated
• 260g fresh corn or 1 x 400g canned corn 
• Optional: 100g carrot, grated
• 2 free-range eggs, lighten beaten
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or other milk
• 1/2 cup gluten-free plain flour
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley, coriander and/or chives 
• rice bran oil 
• Optional toppings: diced avocado, baby spinach, extra herbs, diced tomato or combine all these toppings into a side salad 

Cooking 

1. Wrap the grated zucchini in a thin tea towel or muslin cloth and squeeze out the excess moisture into a bowl or sink. 

2. Place the zucchini, corn, carrot (if using), eggs, milk, flour, ground coriander, herbs and ground black pepper in a large bowl and mix well to combine. 

3. Heat 1 teaspoon rice bran oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and swirl to coat. Use a 1/4 cup as a measurement for each fritter. Place the mixture in the pan and pat down with a spatula. Make sure not to crowd the fritters. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat and repeat until all the fritters are cooked, only adding more oil if needed. Serve warm with any or all of the toppings listed above in the Ingredients section. 

Makes / 12  
Serves / 4 / 3 fritters each 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes

Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

TERESA CUTTER'S HEALTHY CARROT CAKE

This is by far the most delicious carrot cake I have never had the pleasure of eating. It is filled with half a kilo of vegetables, low in sugar and gluten & dairy free. It is also incredibly easy to make, as it does not require any electric mixing or any icing. I served this cake on father's day to eight people (myself included) and we all loved it. Looking past the moistness and lightness of this cake, it is also very good for you. The 500 grams of carrots in this cake contain lots of vitamin A and carotenoids that assist with a healthy immune system. Almond meal is always a foundation in the cakes that I bake, as they take the place of flour beautifully, create a moist texture and are choc-full of protein. 

Ingredients

• 500g grated carrots
• 3 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 300 g almond meal
• 50 ml macadamia coconut oil, plus extra to grease
• 160 g organic maple syrup, honey or rice malt syrup
• 1 cup sultanas
• 2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• Optional- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or other nut 

Cooking 

1. Preheat a fan forced oven to 160 degrees celsius. Line a 18-20cm baking tin with baking paper and grease lightly with coconut oil. 

2. Combine carrot, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond meal, oil, sweetener, sultanas, baking powder and nuts, if using. Stir well until all ingredients are combined. 

3. Bake in the oven for 60-90 minutes, checking every 5-10 minutes after the 60 minute mark to see if the cake is cooked through. Cover with foil if the top of the cake starts to really brown. 

4. Remove the cake from the oven, leave it to cool completely in the tin and then gently turn the cake out. 

Serves approx. 16. This cake is tasty enough to serve without icing but you can top with natural yoghurt if you desire. 

Total Preparation time / 15 - 20 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 60-90 minutes plus cooling time. 

x Emily 

VEGETARIAN JUNGLE CURRY

Spring is well and truly in my neighbourhood and I am beyond happy about its reappearance. My daily walks with my energetic pups involve passing deep purple and bright yellow flowers blossoming and I can’t help but walk past them with a goofy smile on my face. Saying this, on my walk this morning all I could think of was curry and how I could not recall making one single curry dish this past winter. So I raced home and got cooking, throwing every bright vegetable into my large pot that I could find. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 5cm fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• 900g sweet potato, peeled & cut into 4cm even pieces
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 3 cups (750ml) water 
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets and stalk roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, washed & chopped into small pieces
• 1 red capsicum, seeded removed and cut into small pieces
• 125g bean shoots
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves
• 3 cups cooked basmati rice 

COOKING 

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and swirl to coat the base. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the curry powder, garam masala, turmeric and chilli powder and stir quickly to prevent sticking. Add the sweet potato and stir until the potato is well coated with the spices. 

2. Add the coconut milk and one cup of water to the pan and bring to the boil, covered. Reduce the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes before adding the broccoli, carrot and capsicum to the pan. Add two cups of water, cover and bring to the boil again, then reduce to a simmer for 8 minutes, or until the broccoli and sweet potato are tender. Add the bean shoots and stir well to combine. 

Remove the curry from the stove and serve on top of rice with coriander leaves sprinkled on top. 

Serves / 4 - 6

Total Preparation time / 20 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

x Emily 

ITALIAN CARROT, LEMON & ALMOND CAKE

I have the very talented Maggie Beer to thank for this inspired recipe. I came across this gem of a cake whilst browsing through my compact ‘Kitchen Garden Companion’ cookbook of Maggie’s. I was able to make the cake gluten & dairy free just by simply changing the type of flour and butter that I used. I baked this cake twice in the last 5 days with remarkable success! On Wednesday it featured as a light birthday cake for my mother-in-law, and we found that there was just enough cake between the four of us after a massive lunch. And just yesterday this succulent loaf was a perfect dessert for an early Mother’s day celebration for my beautiful mumma. I luckily doubled the ingredients and quantity of cake for my family, as between five hungry mouths we almost devoured the whole loaf in one sitting. The recipe above is the doubled version, as this cake is so moreish and mouthwatering you will be surprised how much of it you eat! The carrot and lemon work together to produce a welcoming and deliciously light orange flavour. For haters of carrot, you cannot even taste the vegetable in this cake, but you can appreciate the beautiful bright orange hue that it leaves behind. This is by far the best tasting gluten-free and dairy-free cake I have ever eaten (and I've tasted a lot of these). I feel that this cake recipe will be with me for many years to come.

INGREDIENTS

• 20g dairy-free butter or margarine, such as Nutalex, melted
• 1 1/2 cups densely packed almond meal 
• 250g carrots, peeled & grated 
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free self-raising flour
• finely grated zest of 1 medium lemon
• 4 eggs, preferably free-range, yolks and whites separated
• 200g caster sugar
• Equipment - pastry brush, electric mixer 

COOKING 

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Using a pastry brush if available, grease a medium sized (approx. 18cm x 8cm) loaf tin well with melted butter. Line tin with baking paper and grease again with remaining butter. 

2. Place almond meal and grated carrots in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add flour and lemon zest and mix well, using your fingers if possible, to make sure that there are no lumps of carrot in the mixture. 

3. Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar on high in an electric mixer for a minute or until thick and pale. Gently stir into the carrot and almond mixture. 

4. Wash and dry the electric mixer and beater well. Add the egg whites and whisk on high for a few minutes or until stiff white peaks form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the carrot and almond mixture until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. (If the top of the cake looks like it may brown, place foil on top of the cake and continue cooking). Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes. Run a knife along the outside of the cake and gently turn out onto a large plate or a cake cooling rack. Remove the baking paper and serve. 

Serves / 8-10 

Total Preparation time / 12-15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 1 hour / 60 minutes 

x Emily 

VEGETABLE & BEEF BOLOGNESE

Whenever I have a super busy or crazy day, I enjoy winding down by making bolognese. My recipe always changes slightly depending on the mood I am in, and I have picked ingredients up along the way from various cookbooks, friends/family and of course, trial and error. My fiancee and I try to rarely eat pasta hence there is no mention of pasta in the ingredients list! I challenge you to eat this bolognese sans your usual pasta base! You may also see that there is no cheese listed and I would like you to drop that as well from your homemade bolognese. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised with how full and light you feel at the same time with my simple, low calorie and complex carbohydrate bolognese. Remember, this is a healthy cooking blog designed to provide you with meals to assist in weight maintenance and loss, not weight gain!  Super simple, this recipe is comfort meets healthy food made easy.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon rice bran oil 
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed 
• 500g extra lean beef mince
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 medium (around 315g) tomatoes, roughly diced 
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled & finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano or mixed herbs 
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Optional- fresh herbs to serve such as chives, parsley, basil 

COOKING 

1. Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, for 1-2 minutes or until garlic is soft but not burnt. Add mince to the pan and cook, stirring and breaking up the lumps. When meat is browned and no red flesh remains (around 5-7 minutes), add the tomato paste. Stir well to combine paste with the mince. 

2. Add the tomatoes, celery, carrot, oregano or mixed herbs, worcestershire sauce, a pinch of black ground pepper and 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, covered, for 8-10 minutes, or until the liquid has almost been absorbed and the vegetables are soft but not mushy. 

3. Divide into 4 bowls and top with fresh chives, if desired. 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

GLUTEN-FREE DAIRY-FREE CARROT CAKE

I have spent the last 3-5 meals at my mother’s house and therefore have had no new meals for my lovely blog! Whilst my mother cooks amazing food, I was feeling the pull to get back into my kitchen and cook, bake, sauté, chop and grate. Whilst I work on new recipes today, I have a carrot cake recipe I tried out last week that deserves to be blogged around. Now, just to be clear, this carrot cake is not for anyone that loves sugar and sweet cakes, as there is barely any sugar in it. Instead this cake tastes strongly of orange and cinnamon, which is actually an alluring autumn pair. This cake is gluten-free, dairy-free and preservative-free. To make it nut-free, replace the walnuts & almonds for chopped pieces of dried apricot or remove without substituting. A flavorsome cake that tastes even better a few days after baking.  

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup brown or raw sugar 
• 1/4 cup grape seed or sunflower oil, plus a little extra to grease
• 1/4 cup light agave syrup
• 2 cups freshly grated orange carrot
• a pinch of ground nutmeg 
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons silvered or chopped almonds
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white 
• 1 cup buckwheat flour

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced. Lightly grease a long narrow baking tin with oil. 

2. Combine the sugar and oil in a large bowl. Beat in the 2 whole eggs. Continue by stirring in the orange zest, nutmeg and cinnamon. Softly stir in the flour, walnuts, almonds & carrot. 

3. In a smaller bowl, beat the 1 egg white until very stiff and peaks begin to form. (This should take around 3- 4 minutes of intense beating/whisking). When complete gently fold the egg white into the cake batter. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for around 25-30 minutes or until cake is golden and a skewer is able to come out clean from the centre of the cake. Remove cake from oven and sit for at least 10 minutes to cool, before transferring to a wire rack. 

Serves / 8 

Adapted from Carrot Cake from cookbook 'Cut out the Crap' by Collette White 

x E