Smoked Trout Paté with Carrot Salad & Pitta Chips

Posted in Fit Food, Lunch by Niav Halpin

This recipe is from one of my favourite cookbooks called The Diet for Food Lovers by Jennifer Irvine – it is a beautiful book of healthy, delicious recipes (and the pictures are beautiful too!). This particular recipe looks like there is a lot to it but it is actually very simple and easy – perfect with a glass of wine or as a starter if you were having anyone for dinner. The paté takes just 5 mins to make, the carrot salad, 10 mins and the pitta ‘chips’ take 5 mins to prepare and about 15 mins to bake in the oven. Instead of making the pitta chips you could have some toasted wholemeal or rye bread or even some melba toast with the paté. The pitta chips are worth trying though as they are surprisingly tasty (and a healthy alternative to tortilla chips) and take only minutes to make – my daughter loves them and took them in her lunchbox when I made them recently. And who would ever have thought of a carrot salad? It looks beautiful and the dressing really turns it into something special. Continue reading →

21Feb2016

10 minute Energy Balls

Posted in Fit Food, Lunch, Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

It is no coincidence that this week’s recipe is quick, easy, with ingredients to give you an energy boost! My weekly post is later than usual this week due to work pressures however worth the wait I hope! These energy balls are delicious, made in minutes and quite addictive. They are full of good things and contain only natural sugars. I have been trying to cut down on sugar over the past year and I get my ‘sweet fix’ now from dark chocolate (74% cocoa solids), these energy balls and these sugar-free chocolate chip cookies from a previous post. (I am sure any goodness is negated however once you eat more than 4 of them in one go!).

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4Dec2015

One-pot roasted pork fillet with apple and sage

Posted in Dinner by Niav Halpin

Don’t you just love one-pot dishes, less effort, less washing up plus you can go and relax while it all cooks away undisturbed in the oven. I love this particular recipe as it only takes around 30 minutes in the oven and 15 minutes to prepare so it can be on the table in an hour. Perfect for either a weekday or weekend dinner. It is cooked in a roasting tin like the one in the picture and once everything is prepared just pop it in the oven and leave it to mind itself. What’s not to love about that! Continue reading →

22Aug2015

Homemade real Mayonnaise

Posted in Sauces by Niav Halpin

I always thought for some reason that making your own mayonnaise was difficult. Then recently I was in Ballymaloe Cookery School where Rory O’Connell showed us how to make it as part of his ‘How to Cook Well’ course. I couldn’t believe how easy it was and I made a promise to myself never to buy a jar of mayonnaise again. I am hoping that when you read this that you will have a go and do the same. Continue reading →

23Jul2015

Roasted Butternut Squash & Quinoa Salad

Posted in Fit Food, Lunch by Niav Halpin

I absolutely love this salad, it’s colour, taste and texture not to mention all the nutritious goodies it contains. The recipe is one from Derval O’Rourke’s book “Food for the fast lane”.Quinoa is the real deal in terms of plant-based protein and is both gluten-free and low GI. The pomegranate seeds are like shiny ruby-red jewels scattered over the top of the salad – how could you not love it. (Having said that I still haven’t mastered the art of getting the seeds out of the pomegranate without the red juice squirting over my clothes!)

I don’t really need an excuse to make this but I find it a really good lunch option as the protein content leaves you feeling really satisfied. It is also a very good meal to have after exercise / training of any sort. The fact that it doesn’t take much time to prepare is a ‘clincher’. The salad can be served either warm or cold so it works as a great healthy lunch-box option too.

Handy Tip: Cooked quinoa keeps well in the fridge so I always make enough for 2/3 days. I also roast the full butternut squash as this keeps well also and means tomorrow’s lunch is sorted too!

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