Recipes – Page 5 – Brain Food – London Children's Nutrition

Cherry Clafoutis

The French classic, but free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar.

Cherry Clafoutis

500 g sweet ripe cherries, pitted

200 ml coconut milk

3 large eggs

75 g ground almonds

75 g pure vanilla extract

a bit of coconut oil or ghee to grease the pan

Serves 6-8

Preheat your oven to 175 C.

Grease your pan with a bit of coconut oil or ghee (I used a 26 cm cast iron skillet), and place the pitted cherries in a single layer in the pan.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor or blender and blitz to obtain a batter-like consistency. Pour over the cherries, and bake for 45 minutes.

Cool for at least 15 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Here is one the recipes from my GAPS on the Go workshop last week, where we made lots of snack and lunchbox foods – and then sat down and ate them! Thanks so much to everyone who came. If you missed out watch this space, as I will be offering the workshop again next autumn.

Rosemary breadsticks (adapted from the Against All Grain cookbook)

200 g ground almonds

1 large egg

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic granules

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Makes 16 pencil-length breadsticks.

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well using a hand-held mixer (or a stand mixer if you have one).

Divide the dough by half, then half again 3 more times until you have 16 equal parts. Roll each part first into a ball, then into a pencil shape using your fingers. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for 12 minutes turning once halfway through.

Important: these breadsticks are quite soft when they come out of the oven. For crispy breadsticks, cool and dry on a rack for 48 hours.

Quinoa salad with broad beans, avocado and cucumber

This quinoa salad pairs well with grilled lamb or poached salmon.

Quinoa salad with broad beans, avocado and cucumber

175 g uncooked quinoa

400 ml water

750 g broad beans in the pod

1 ripe avocado

1/2 cucumber

a small handful of chives

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Serves 6 as a side dish.

Start by preparing the quinoa as it will need time to cool. Rinse the quinoa, then place in a pan with the water and a pinch of salt, and bring to the boil on the hob. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes – until all of the water has been absorbed by the quinoa. Take the pan off the heat, and place a paper towel between the pan and the lid. Leave this for 5 minutes to absorb any excess moisture, then fluff with a fork. Tip the cooked quinoa onto a large plate and spread out as thinly as possible, then leave it to cool to room temperature.

To prepare the broad beans, begin by opening each pod and removing the beans. Toss the beans into a pan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, then plunge the cooked beans into a bowl of cold water. Pop each bean out of its outer skin, and they are ready to eat.

Peel and dice the avocado and cucumber, and combine in a bowl with the broad beans and quinoa. Whisk together the oil and vinegar with a bit of salt and add to the salad. Sprinkle chopped chives on top and serve.

Brita Collaboration – Tropical Agua Fresca with Jewelled Ice

This is the last of the three healthy drink recipes that I created for BRITA and it is definitely my favorite! I am planning on sipping this tropical agua fresca all summer long.

Agua frescas are fruity but refreshing flavoured waters popular in Mexico. Served ice-cold, they are thirst-quenching with a hint of sweetness. This version is made with coconut water, rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium. To keep the drink fresh and light, the fruit is used to infuse the water, and “jewelled” fruit ice cubes dress up the drink.

Tropical Agua Fresca with Jewelled Ice

100 ml BRITA filtered water

20 pomegranate seeds

10 blueberries

400 ml coconut water

1 lime, washed and quartered

½ orange, washed and roughly chopped

50 g chopped fresh mango

2 tablespoons honey

Serves 2

First, make the fruit ice cubes. Place the pomegranate seeds and blueberries in an empty ice cube tray, fill with BRITA filtered water and freeze.

To make the agua fresca, place the lime, orange, mango and honey in a large jug and bash well with a wooden spoon to blend and release the juices. Add the coconut water and stir well. The drink can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours at this point.

When ready to serve, strain the agua fresca into two glasses and add the BRITA fruit ice cubes.

Photo in this post courtesy of Iris Worldwide.