There is nothing like tasty warm food filling your home with delicious smells in the autumn months. Here are a couple of recipes to not only fill your home with good smells but to fill your tummy with nourishing food that lifts your spirit, feeds those important gut microbes and helps keep you maintain a healthy waistline.
For more delicious recipes download my healthy fast food fixes recipes.
Chickpea Peanut Curry
This warm nutritious curry is simple and easy to make, yet has depths of flavour.
The lovely spices have lots of polyphenols which may protect the body's tissues against oxidation which is associated health conditions like cancers, coronary heart disease and inflammation.
Ingredients
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Onion (medium, diced)
2 Garlic (cloves, crushed)
1 tbsp Ginger (grated)
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Turmeric
70g All Natural Peanut Butter
500ml Vegetable Stock (1 or 2 stock cubes)
240ml Unsweetened Almond Milk (or other milk of your choosing)
Sea Salt (to your own taste)
1 Red Bell Pepper (sliced)
1 Green Chilli Pepper (or red chilli, optional)
2 Courgette (sliced)
2 Sweet Potato (medium, peeled and sliced, or 160g frozen)
500g Chickpeas (cooked, or 2 tins drained)
1 Lime (juiced)
30g Fresh Coriander (chopped)
Directions
Heat a large saucepan over medium-low heat and melt the coconut oil. Add the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the spices and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the 50ml of vegetable stock to deglaze the pan, then stir in the peanut butter.
Add the vegetable stock and almond milk. Stir until all is smoothly combined.
Add the pepper, chilli if using, zucchini, sweet potato and chickpeas and stir well to mix.
Season with salt and pepper if needed. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the lime juice and coriander. Divide into bowls, and top with more coriander if desired. Enjoy!
Serve with brown rice or cauliflower rice.
Berry Chocolate Pudding
Dark chocolate in moderation is another food packed with polyphenols. So a little dark chocolate is good for you and helps you get that chocolate hit.
This recipe is combined with ground almonds which are packed with good protein and fats which help keep you fuller for longer. If you are after a sweet treat recipe this is the one for you.
Ingredients
25 grams Dark Organic Chocolate (Broken into small pieces)
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Banana (small, chopped and mashed)
1 Egg
2 tbsps Unsweetened Almond Milk
40 grams Ground Almonds ((or 5 tbsp))
1 tbsp Cocoa Powder (or Cacao Powder)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
40 grams Blueberries (or any berries, chop if large)
Directions
Switch oven on to 170°c (160°c fan, 325 °F or Gas Mark 3)
Add chocolate, maple syrup and coconut oil to a small bowl and melt. (Either in a pan with hot water on the stove or in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds). Allow to cool whilst preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the banana and egg together in a bowl.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Mix the chocolate and the banana mix together and once combined stir in the dry ingredients. Add in most of the berries.
Separate the mixture into 2 ramekins or ovenproof dishes. Top with the remain berries. You could also push a small chunk of chocolate into the middle of the puddings.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
If you like the look of these recipes then you will love the recipes in my lovely downloadable Healthy Fast Food Fixes recipe book.
They will keep you going throughout the autumn and into the winter. Each recipe is designed to help keep your blood sugars balanced and keep your gut healthy too.
Marie Jarvis have helped lots of people turn their health around. She has worked as cooking and nutrition facilitator for many organisations in Glasgow and surrounding areas as well as developing her own online cookery programmes. Marie specialises in gut health in her private practice and has excellent success rate in improving the gut health of her clients. She also runs an monthly online nutrition group which gives access to meal plans with shopping lists and recipes (so you don't have to plan yourself).