Coconut and Almond Macaroons

These Macaroons are tasty, sweet and healthy treats that will heighten your mood on a Tuesday after a long weekend!!
They are the ultimate guilt free pleasure to get you through the (albeit short)week!!

Makes 12-14 biscuits

- 250g desiccated coconut
- 100g flaked almonds
- 340g honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- 2 egg whites
- pinch salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut, almonds,honey and vanilla extract, mix all the ingredients together, then add the cornflour and stir until well-combined. In the meantime, whisk the egg whites and salt until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the coconut and almond mixture. Prepare baking sheet with greaseproof paper and using an ice-cream scoop shape the batter into biscuits. Place baking sheet into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees and cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

These macaroons are delicious simply with a cup of tea or coffee or if you want to up the ante, why not serve them with a bowl of melted dark chocolate- great for dipping!!!

Mexican Beef and Bean Burgers

These delicious burgers will send you loco- without having to go to Acapulco!!!
So tasty, so easy and so good for you- it's time to seranade your taste buds with some Mexican magic!!!

- 500g beef (minced)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (ground)
- 1 large red onion (finely diced)
- 1 red pepper (finely diced)
- 1 red/green chilli (finely diced)
- 1 egg
- 50g breadcrumbs
- 1 can red kidney beans
- salt and pepper to taste

In a large mixing bowl, combine beef, cumin, onions, peppers and chilli and breadcrumbs, add the egg to bind the ingredients. Then add the kidney beans and salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into burgers, about the size of your palm- or whatever size you like!!
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and cook the burgers for 3-4 minutes on one side and then flip the burgers and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
For an even more healthy version you can cook these burgers in the oven, or on the bbq, for about 20 minutes, (10 minutes on both sides) at a medium heat setting.
These burgers are delicious served with rice, wholemeal baps, or tortilla wraps.

I love to serve these burgers with my Mexican style basmati rice:

- 2 cups basmati rice
- 4 cups cold water
- 1 red onion (finely diced)
- 2 tomatoes (finely diced)
- 1 red chilli (finely diced)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and black pepper

Cook the rice with the cold water on a high heat until the water boils, it's important to keep the lid on the pan to keep all the moisture in. Reduce heat after about 5 minutes. Leave on a low heat with the lid on for a further 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat and add onion, tomatoes, chilli, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Stir all the ingredients together and leave for another 2-3 minutes to allow the rice absorb all the flavours.

Fragrant Middle Eastern Lamb

There is something innately Middle Eastern about a spiced-enhanced, minced lamb dish!! It's almost like transporting yourself to Marrakesh by way of plate!!
This is such a fragrant and aromatic recipe- it includes spices such as nutmeg,cumin, paprika- you'll think you are in the middle of a Morroccan spice market!!!

Serves 3-4 people (depending on individuals' appetites!)

- olive oil
- 500g minced lamb
- 1 large onion (finely diced)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (lightly bruised in pestle & mortar)
- 3 cardamom pods (de-podded and lightly bruised)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tumeric
-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 can chickpeas (drained)
- 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)

Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan on a medium heat, add minced lamb and cook untill browned. Add the onion and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Mix all your spices together in a pestle and mortar. Stir the spice mixture evenly into the lamb and onion. Next add the chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and peas. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer all the ingredients for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with pitta or naan bread for a tasty lunch, or for dinner serve with rice, couscous, bulgar wheat.

A tasty salad that you won't have a beef about!!!

Ok, so it's a littlte late for lunch but just a tad too early for dinner and I'm starving!! So how do I reconcile my culinary dilemma?? Otherwise known as the "dunch dilemma", I have the perfect recipe- Beef and Feta Salad- This tasty dish will satisfy any appetite at anytime of the day- well perhaps not for breakfast!!! That said, I have sampled a number of chicken and beef stirfry dishes for breakfast while visiting Vietnam!! So whatever takes your fancy- its your perrogative to choose dinner for breakfast or breakfast for lunch whatever works for you- just make sure it's tasty and healthy!!!

So here's what you need:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 beef fillets (finely sliced) or other good quality beef such as sirloin, striploin etc.
- 1 tablespoon soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 red onions
- 1-2 lime (juiced)
- 200g feta cheese
- 50g rocket
- 50g baby spinach leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh corriander (roughly chopped)

Here comes the science;

Firslty, marinade the beef strips in soya sauce, cider vinegar, honey, cumin seeds and cayenne pepper. Allow beef marinade for an hour or as long as you can afford- the longer you leave it the more tender the meat will be.
Next chop the onions in half moons, add the lime juice to onions- this will sweeten onions and take away that tangy onion flavour. Chop the feta into cubes and put to one side.
In the meantime, heat olive oil in stir-fry pan or wok, on a medium to high heat, add the marinated beef and cook for 3-4 minutes or longer  depending on how you like your beef, just adjust your cooking time to suit your taste, whether you like it pink or a little more well done!
Turn off heat and add onions and feta and stir ingredients together.
Prepare the rocket and spinach and place in a salad bowl, transfer beef, onion and feta mixture to salad leaves. Finally add chopped corriander and salt and pepper to taste!

Bon Apetite!!

An opulently yellow omelette

This morning I awoke to beautiful sunshine and thought-what better way to emulate this rare and glorious sunny morning than to create a fantastically yellow omelette, using free range eggs, they give you that fantastic yellow colour that normal eggs just can't!!!

Therefore you will need;

- 3 free range eggs
- a drop of milk (about 1 teaspoon)
- a drop olive oil
- margarine (about 1/2 teaspoon)
- 2 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 or 2 fresh chives (chopped)
- salt and pepper to taste

Whisk the eggs and milk. Heat a heavy-based frying pan with the margarine and oil. Add the egg mixture to hot pan, making sure it spreads evenly across the pan. Allow omelette to cook over a medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the cheese and chives to one half of the omelette and then fold over, cooking for a further few minutes over a very low heat, just until the cheese melts.

Dispelling a dull Monday!

What better way is there to dismiss a dull and somewhat uncharacteristically wet July Monday, than indulging in a heart-warming, spice-induced Thai chicken curry???

You just have to try this amazing culinary collaboration of chicken, ginger, chilli and coconut, so simple and oh so tasty.....

All you need is the following;

- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 chicken breasts
- yellow thai curry paste (1 generous tablespoon)
- 1 stalk of lemon grass
- 2 red onions
- 1 lime ( freshly juiced)
- 1 teaspoon lime leaves (chopped)
- 2 red chillies (finely sliced)
- 1 green chilli (finely sliced)
- 1 tablespoon of ginger (freshly chopped)
- 1 can/400ml reduced fat coconut milk
- 3/4 spring onions (finely sliced)
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped corriander

To create this tasty triumph, I firstly cook the chicken breasts with the curry paste and lemon grass in a sauce pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and simmer for about 5-10 minutes on a low heat- this process will provide you with an amazingly tender and succulent chicken base for your curry.

In the meantime, finely chop red onions into half moons and add the juice of the lime, this will sweeten the onions.
Next, heat olive oil in a wok or a pan suitable to stir-frying, then add the onions, ginger and chilli and lime leaves. Cook for around 3-4 minutes. While these ingredients are cooking, remove chicken and shred into bitesize pieces, making sure to keep the curry paste and lemongrass infused liquid (we will add this stock to the wok along with the shredded chicken).
Add the shredded chicken and stock to the wok along with the coconut milk. Simmer all the combined ingredients for about 4-5 minutes. Add chopped spring onions and corriander befrore serving.

This dish can be served with basmati rice, noodles or with a crusty bread.