Fresh but full of taste this cannellini, sundried tomatoes and celery sald is perfect for a light summer lunch or dinner. Suitable for vegans, this recipe is also gluten-free, dairy-free and nuts-free.

Celery is low in calories but rich in fibers and has anti-inflammatory properties. Rich in vitamins C, K and folates, and minerals like potassium, celery is also rich in several anti-oxidants and phyto-nutrients believed to have beneficial effects on the digestive system. With its crunchiness it contributes to create a sense of satiety, and so fullness.

The beans, are rich in vegetable proteins, fibers and also slow release carbs, making this salad and very nice and nutrients rich recipe, ready in only 5 minutes!

Sundried tomatoes, celery and white beans salad

June 30, 2019

Servings: 1

Difficulty: Easy

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A crunchy and tasty salad for the summer.

By: The Healthy Gourmet

Ingredients

• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 can of white beans (drained)
• 3 sundried tomatoes
• a generous pinch of oregano
• a sprinkle of extra-virgin olive oil
• a dash of balsamic glaze
• Sea salt to taste

Directions

• Step 1 Simply wash and finely slice the celery and place them in a serving bowl, add the sundried and cut tomatoes, drained white beans and oregano.
• Step 2 Season with olive oil and touch of balsamic, stir very and well and serve!

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The best of my pesto recipes so far, this lemony, Greek basil, spinach & walnuts pesto, is utterly delicious and absolutely easy to do. The Greek basil, brings a distinctive aroma, while the spinach, walnuts, lemon & extra-virgin olive oil, have great health benefits.

Pesto’s are one of those life saver food that you buy when really short of time. The are people pleasers, and are perfect with pasta, (how comforting), potatoes gnocchi, and can enhance any meat, fish and vegetable dish.

The problem with many shop bought pesto sauces, is that they are devoid of nutrients, quite rich in calories, may have added ingredients of dubious quality, and they became an instant temptation for pitta bread dips.

Homemade pesto’s are super quick to make, retains all the nutrients of the ingredients, and let you use up leftovers for a fully sustainable kitchen.

Say goodbye to shop bought ready made pesto!

Spinach, Greek basil & walnuts pesto

April 7, 2019

Servings: 2

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A delicious, full of aroma, healthy & quick pesto recipe that will enhance any dish. Fantastic with potatoes gnocchi.

By: The Healthy Gourmet

Ingredients

• 1/2 packet of baby spinach
• a handful of Greek basil leaves
• 12-15 walnuts
• 2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
• a dash of lemon juice
• 1 tbs Parmesan
• a pinch of sea salt

Directions

• Step 1 Simple place all the ingredients in a blender, wizz until everything is blended together but not too smooth.

Try it with gluten-free potatoes gnocchi…

This gorgeous soup, will warm up your winter evenings and bring you a host of Mediterranean flavors.

Eating a varied and colorful diet is a great way to make sure that your body receives the cocktail of nutrients to support optimum nutrition, so my tip is to try to have at least two colors of plant based food during the day, and at least four different colors during the week, as practical way to make sure you have all the nutrients.

Roasted peppers, tomatoes & sumac soup

January 10, 2019

Servings: 2

Difficulty: Easy

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An easy and flavorsome deep red soup, with the taste of Mediterranean.

By: The Healthy Gourmet

Ingredients

• 2 red Romano peppers
• 6 cocktails tomatoes
• 2 shallots
• 3 garlic cloves
• a sprinkle of extra-virgin olive oil
• a generous pinch of majoran
• a pinch of sumac
• Sea salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1 x Kalo stock cube

Directions

• Step 1 Wash the peppers and tomatoes, and cut them in 4. Place them in a baking tray, with a sprinkle of olive oil, oregano, a sprinkle of sea salt and two garlic cloves unpeeled. and roast for 15-20 min.
• Step 2 In the meantime slice two shallots, and two peeled garlic cloves, and let them sweat in a pan with a little of olive oil.
• Step 3 Add the roasted veggies ( minus the upeeled garlic), add them to the pan, add the stock, majuoran & sumac. Cover up with a bit o water and let it simmer for ten minutes.
• Step 4 Remove from stove, blend and serve with a slice of crusty bread.

Why not combine this soup with some of the other recipes on the blog?

A gluten-free and vegan autumnal recipe, delicious, super easy to make and ready in 15 minutes! It is perfect for those chilly nights in, when you want something comforting but don’t feel like cooking, and it is a great addition for dinner party, for those last minute vegan and gluten-free friends.

Polenta is gluten-free and can be ready in only few minutes ( if you use the brand that I recommend below) so it great to have in your kitchen cupboard. It is fancy enough to be used in more sophisticated recipes to impress your friends for dinner, but humble enough to used a substitute to mash potatoes, to accompany stews ad sauces.

Polenta is basically a type of corn flour, originally from northern Italy. The good point is that once cooked it really fills itself with water, meaning that you can  to use a small quantity for single serving. The downside is though it has very little fibres and a higher GI ( similar to that of white potatoes).

Healthy tip. Make sure you add lots of vegetables or a proteins rich sauce to lower its sugar release. Eat in moderate quantities.

Polenta with mushrooms & crushed walnuts

October 21, 2018

Servings: 1

Difficulty: easy

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A vegan, gluten-free, autumnal recipe, perfect for a comforting meal in or dinner party.

By: The Healthy Gourmet

Ingredients

• Ingredients (serves two)
• 50 grams of ( precooked) polenta (Polenta valsugana)
• 1 packet of brown mushrooms
• 1/2 a carrot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 walnuts
• Extra-virgin olive oil-
• a bit of organic stock cube ( kalo)

Directions

• Step 1 Wash and slice the mushrooms, and place them in a small non-stick pan, with a little of olive oil and the garlic and carrot chopped up.
• Step 2 Let them cook adding a small amount of water and a tad of crumbled stock cube.
• Step 3 In the meantime cook the polenta according to the packet instructions. You will have to stir it continuously, but only for 3 minutes, so it is possible.
• Step 4 When the polenta is ready place it in a serving plate, add the mushrooms and crushed walnuts. Enjoy!

This delicious asparagus and prawn risotto recipe is a classic of Italian cuisine, and it perfect for every occasion, from a solo dinnner to a romantic dinnere for two party with friends.

The benifit of this risotto recipe is that is perfectly balanced in its carbs, vegetables & proteins components it will keep you full for longer and satisfy even the most sophisticated of the taste buds.

This risotto is also made with extra-virgin olive oil rather than butter, meaning that it is lighter to digest and more supportive of heart health. 

This recipe is a great example of healthy Italian cuisin recipes, and of how you can tweak a classic recipe, like a risotto recipe, to make healthier so that you can eat food that you enjoy and be healthy at the same time.

Ingredients ( serves 2)

• 100 gr Arborio rice
• 1o-12 asparagus (trimmed)
• 10-12 king prawns ( frozen)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 shallot
• a sprinkle of olive oil
• 1 Kalo organic stock cube

Method

1. Boil some water in the kettle and when ready, place it in pot with the stock cube. Let it boil for a couple of minute until stock is formed.
2. In the meantime, sprinkle some olive oil in non-stick pan, add the finely  shallot  and the garlic. Let it sweat for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the rice and let it brown in the pan for a couple of minutes, and then add the stock slowly and a bit by bit. Add the chopped asparagus and continue to cook the rice.
4. After 7-8 min you can add the prawns and continue cook the rice for other 7-8 min. Serve and enjoy!

Healthy tip

This risotto is perfectly balanced in its carbs, proteins and vegetables components, but make sure you have some fruits or fresh salad during the day to complement it. Perfect with some strawberries as snack!

Savy girl tip

When I make this risotto and I have some leftover asparagus, I use them the following day to make my Asparagus, broad beans and feta frittata or my delicious Asparagus, carrots and fennel seeds soup. Both the recipes are delicate and tasty and really perfect for the Spring. 

Meal planning tip

It is always useful to have in mind two complementary recipes that share some of the same ingredients. This way you can use the leftover form one recipe into the other, minimizing food waste, and making cooking and life much easier for yourself. 

And remember: if you make it easier for yourself, it much eaier to stick to the new habit!

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This delicious and easy to make tomato sauce is traditionally made for pasta, but it can be used to give flavour  a host of different dishes, like fish, eggs, meats, and vegetables for an instant stew flavor.

It can also be used with legumes like chickpeas and beans for an instant ” baked beans” flavor.

This is the recipe for a real, authentic Italian tomatoes sauce, the one that you make at home for your everyday pasta. It is the recipe that we traditionally make at home, in Tuscany and central Italy. It is made very simply with tinned tomatoes, garlic, shallots, chili flakes, good quality extra-virgin olive oil, and some herbs. That’s it. Simple and delicious.

This sauce is made with tinned tomatoes, which may not be the healthiest choice ( a recipe made with fresh tomatoes is coming soon) but they are never the less very convenient and can be made in advance and even frozen, and a much better alternative to the shop-bought ones.

The original recipe is obviously made with basil, but since that in the UK Italian basil is not so flavorsome, I would suggest you to use Greek basil or some thyme, which is easy to find and keep in a small pot.

Italian tomatoes sauce

June 17, 2018

Servings: 2

Difficulty: Easy

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An authentic Italian tomatoes sauce recipe, easy to make, and great add to your pasta, pizza and lots of other dishes.

By: The Healthy Gourmet

Ingredients

• 1 tinned tomatoes ( organic if possible) 400 gr
• 1 shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• a generous pinch of oregano
• a dash of chili flakes
• some basil leaves or a thyme sprig
• 2 tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil
• a pinch of sea salt to taste

Directions

• Step 1 Simply finely slice the shallot, and place it in pan with the olive oil, the peeled garlic cut in half and the chili flakes, and let warm in the pan at low heat for a couple of minutes without burning.
• Step 2 Add the plum tomatoes cut in pieces, and the juices, the oregano and a dash of water.
• Step 3 Let it cook at low/medium heat for 15 min, making sure that the sauce doesn’t get too dry and adding the basil or thyme midway through.

Let me what you think, if you have questions, and share with me photos of this recipe if you attempt to make some! #TheHealthyGourmet

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This easy to make and light and healthy tagliatelle with asparagus and leeks recipe, is full of spring vegetables just straight from the British garden. With its content of vegetables and only 65 g of egg pasta ( which is high in proteins), this dish is delicious, filling and satisfying, great with a crispy glass of white wine.

I advice to use De Cecco pasta for this recipes as it has an excellent taste, has an high eggs content, and can stored for a long time, minimizing grocery shopping time.

Asparagus and leeks are rich in Vitamin K, folate, vitamins B, manganese, and other trace nutrients, and are particular rich in a fibre called inulin, that act as a pre-biotic, for a healthier gut.

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 2 | READY IN 18 MIN

• 130 grams of dried eggs tagliatelle
• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 1-2 leeks
• extra virgin olive oil
• Grana padano cheese to taste ( optional)
• Sea salt

METHOD

• Wash and finely slice the leeks, and put them in the non-stick pan with some olive oil. Let them sweat at low heat for a few minutes.
• In the meantime cook the washed asparagus for 4-5 min in boiling water, then chop them up and add them to the leeks. Keep on sweating the vegetables for a further 5 min, adding a little water if necessary.
• Cook the pasta in boiling water according to the packet instructions, and when ready add it to the pan with the vegetables, and stir it well, adding some freshly grated Grana Padano cheese. Serve and enjoy!

TIME SAVING TIPS

You can use some of the leftover asparagus from my asparagus, broad beans and feta frittata, Happy cooking!

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A healthier version of the classic “Bolognese” sauce, aka Italian ragu. Made with semi-wholewheat rigatoni pasta, and super charged by lots of mushrooms and less mince meat, this pasta is quite balanced in its carbs, proteins and fibers for a longer filling sensation and a smaller carbohydrates and meat consumption.

I would strongly recommend to use “Seeds of Change”  semi-whole wheat rigatoni, that are excellent for their cooking tenure and filling power, meaning that you can just have a smaller portion.

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

• 1 brown mushrooms punnet
• 150-200 gr of organic mince beef
• 190-250 gr of semi-whole wheat rigatoni
• 3 shallots or a small brown onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk (optional)
• 4 tinned plum tomatoes (without the juice)
• organic tomatoes paste
• extra-virgin olive oil
• a dash of Kalo organic stock
• a dash of nutmeg
• a dash of black pepper
• sea salt to taste

Method

• Clean and cut the shallots, carrots and celery very finely, add the sliced mushrooms and put then in non-stick pan with some olive oil, and let them sweat at low heat for 5-7 min.
• At this point at the meat and let it brown for 7-10. Add the plum tomatoes cut in pieces a dash of tomatoes paste and the spices. Let it cook at low heat for another 15 min until the meat is cook through.
• In the meantime cook the pasta according to the packet instruction, and when ready, drain it and add it to the pan with the sauce. Stir it through and cook it in the pan for 1 minute. serve and enjoy!

MORE RECIPES FOR THE AUTUMN

I love smoked haddock, for its great taste and versatility. This  tasty recipe for the summer brings a hint of Mediterranean flavor to it with mint and lemon. The millet flour is gluten-free and delicate perfect for not overpowering the haddock taste.

I din’t manage to take a picture, but I would recommend to have this dish with a side of grilled tomatoes and green beans, perfect to bring nutrients and most of all fibers. Hope you enjoy it!

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Lemon & mint smocked haddock with black olives

August 11, 2017

Servings: 2

Difficulty: easy

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A lovely fish recipe with a summery flavor. Great with grilled tomatoes and green beans.

By: The Healthy Gourmet

Ingredients

• 2 smocked haddock fillets
• 2 lemon slices
• a handful of mint leaves
• a sprinkle of millet flour
• a sprinkle of extra-virgin olive oil
• 12-14 pitted black olives

Directions

• Step 1 Rub the haddock fillet with a dash of millet flour.
• Step 2 Place the fillets in non stick pan with a sprinkle of olive oil, 2 lemon slices cut in half and the mint leaves.
• Step 3 Let the haddock fillets cook for a couple of minutes and then add the olives. Finish to cook an serve with some grilled tomatoes and some green beans.

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My recipes are simply, quick & delicious with a gourmet approach to healthy eating. Follow my blog for more ideas on easy meal planning that is healthy, delicious & sustainable.

For more individually tailored recipes plans & health coaching get in touch of check my health coaching page right here.

FOOD COMBINATION TIPS

You can serve this lemon & mint smocked haddock with black olives recipe, with a tray of oven grilled tomatoes & crispy blanched green beans and with mint for a low carbs dinner idea.

Another option would be to serve it with few roasted potatoes and some red radicchio salad.

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