aubergine, tomato and potato bake.

A super simple veggie recipe - whether it be a make-ahead meal, midweek tea or weekend comfort food. This vegetarian bake layers up courgette, aubergines, spinach and a tomato mix with sliced potato and a creamy cheese topping. The recipe can easily be made gluten free, if you use gf flour in the cheese sauce, and is a great way to tot up your five a day too.

five-a-day vegetable lasagne.

just wanted to share this yummy and healthy (ish) vegetable lasagne i made for my friends at the weekend. one of my friends is a veggie so i decided to plonk as many vegetables as i thought would go together into a pan, add tomato sauce and layer up in a lasagne. 

i was pretty pleased with the results and they even went back for seconds... yay! i like to think this would be almost all your five a day in one go. though the cheese probably cancels that out. let me know if you try it! :)

this was also the first thing i've made in my new kitchen. if you follow me on twitter you'll know i've been super busy moving house lately - still got lots of posts to write up even from my old kitchen!

grilled aubergine, leek and mushroom risotto

serves four


shopping list
♥ one aubergine
♥ three leeks
♥ handful of mushrooms
♥ one red onion
♥ 250g risotto or paella rice
♥ 3 tablespoons of philly
♥ vegetable stock
♥ cherry tomatoes to garnish

now i should probably begin by explaining how this particular dish came about and the unusual choice of ingredients! it was basically a bit of a "bung it" and it made me feel a little like i was on ready, steady, cook! when you have to make a dish out of odds and ends. i even chopped everything up nicely, see? which is all part of the fun of course!


so hopefully that explains the paella rice you can see as well as the lack of garlic in a risotto (dun, dun dunnn). oh and it also made it nice and veggie too!


so i began, as all great recipes do, with caramelising the onions in the pan on a low heat. when cooking with aubergine the first thing i do is slice them up and leave them to rest with a bit of salt. i'm not really a fan of adding salt to food (always black pepper for me!) but i learnt that it takes away the bitterness you sometimes get.


in a separate griddle pan, or grill if you prefer, begin grilling the aubergines. so now you should have the onions cooking nicely and aubergines beginning to soften. the aubergines will take around 10-15 mins so just keep turning.


next add in the rice - lightly toasting at first and then very soon after adding in a splash of stock as and when. as i mentioned before, i created this when using up food in my cupboard. and i just so happened to have paella rice instead of risotto. so hands up that this isn't strictly a risotto! however - the difference between the grains is that risotto rice is creamier which is why paella rice suits having a more tomato based, spicey accompaniments. so cue philly cheese - i used this to create the creamier texture and flavour i desired. low in fat too  :)


keep adding in the stock when the rice seems like it may stick. you then add in the chopped leeks, then mushrooms and lastly the aubergines, chopped up. you could leave one slice for the top like i did too :) you then put in the philly cheese. you don't have to use it of course and totally up to you if you want to use more or less. when cooking with philly i pretty much always put it in last or at least near the end as it can go gloopy and separate under heat.


my tip for any risotto is whatever vegetables or meat you use... just think of how you want them all to come together in the end and how each component might need to be cooked. so if you're cooking with meat, perhaps start that first or in a seperate pan. think about how if you want to use bacon you might want to grill it and slice it up. or perhaps if you use veg, for example frozen peas, how these might cook or defrost in the stock like they would if you were simply boiling them. i really so find that risotto or paella works out different pretty much every time - you just need to really mother it and keep adding stock or changing the heat when needed really. you'll be making all sorts of combinations of perfect risotto in no time!


if you like this you also might like my parma ham and mozzarella risotto recipe. over and out! x

raspberry and coconut cupcakes: peyton and byrne recipe

shopping list
for the cupcakes
♥ 100g softened unsalted butter
♥ 125g caster sugar
♥ 150g self raising flour
♥ two eggs
♥ 60g low fat natural yoghurt
♥ 200g raspberries - set aside the best 12 for decoration
♥ 30g desiccated coconut 


for the icing
♥ 115g caster sugar
♥ 175g unsalted butter, softened
♥ two egg whites
♥ 50ml coconut milk, shaken
♥ flaked coconut to decorate

preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line the tin with 12 fairy cake cases. drop in a couple of raspberries in each.


for the cupcakes, mix together the butter and caster sugar until creamy. then add in each egg at a time and sieve in the flour. lastly, lightly mix in the natural yoghurt and desiccated coconut.


drop roughly three generous teaspoons of the mixture into each case. pop in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. 
next... the yummy, scrummy icing :)


the coconut icing is made with an italian method - which means it uses egg whites instead of classic butter and icing sugar made buttercream.

to prepare the egg whites, simply crack the egg in your hand and let the whites fall through your fingers into a bowl ready for later.

begin making the icing by pouring the sugar and egg whites into a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water over a low heat until the granules have dissolved into a thickened syrup. 


when the sugar mixture has cooled, beat together for 10 minutes - preferably with an electric hand whisk - or if not just a little of elbow grease. add in the butter a little at a time. do not fret if it splits; persevere and it will come back together to form a creamy texture. a great tip is to keep it in the fridge for a little while so it thickens even more.


ice the cupcakes and sprinkle with coconut flakes - of course topping each with a raspberry. it's one of your five a day, right?

if you love these as much as i do then maybe you'll like my lemon and almond frangipane tart recipe.

with thanks to peyton and byrne for their amazing cakes and even more amazing recipes. if you're ever in st pancras station in london, be sure to buy a chocolate tart for the journey :)

my graze box goodies :)

why hello there little graze box - how i've missed you.

i used to subscribe to graze.com whilst at uni but having been enticed by the tantalising new products online and a free box code, i've been drawn back in. and i'm not complaining one bit.

for those of you that aren't already familiar with this mini miracle in recyclable cardboard; graze boxes are a letter box sized selection of your favourite treats based on how you rate their products online, for £3.79 a box.

picture the scene...

"eww i hate banana coins, even if they are dipped in chocolate. get them away." *selects BIN option*

"ooohhh cheese cashews? sounds like a dream. gimme!" *selects LOVE*

"bbq pistachios. they sound interesting..." *selects TRY*

and so on.

so in my specially tailored box i got... black pepper pistachios, bonnie wee oat bakes, an apple and cinnamon flapjack and green olives with basil and garlic. plus a cute little nutritional information booklet.

and what can i say? they got it so right.

the bonny wee oat bakes were wholemeal cheese and chive plectrum size biscuits with a red onion marmalade. a beautiful combination.

the flapjack was just divine with a cup of tea. chewy and nicely spiced :)

and as for the olives, well, i'm just glad they only come in small portions... i could've had a box full.

the pistachios are being saved for tomorrow, around 3pm, when the snacking cravings kick in at work.

can't wait to see what my next box has in store. thanks graze! x