Tag Archives: low fat

This weekend we went to the farmers market and I just couldn’t help but buy a bunch of large, large beetroot. They have sat looking at me from the veg rack for a few days and today I knew I needed to use them. But how?

I knew roasting them would be ideal because of their size and roasting veggies always draws out their sweetness, so I washed them, cut the leaves off and put them in the oven to roast at Gas Mark 6. This gave me 45 minutes or so to plan what to do next!

It’s Friday so in our house that’s quick meal night as I have feed toddler, feed myself and get toddler to bed all before 7pm. So I went for pasta and was mighty pleased with the result, a bit on the pink side but delicious and packed full of veg. Beetroot contain folate, manganese, vitamin C, fibre and potassium amongst other nutrition. The red colour is due to Betacyanins, a phytonutrient and antioxidant. Roasting for more than 1 hour or boiling for too long can lead to this antioxidant being damaged so keep the cooking time down.

Recipe (serves 2 plus toddler):

(gluten free, wheat free, low fat, weaning food)

4 large beetoots
1 tbsp rapseed oil
pasta (can be gluten free)
2 tbsp low fat creme fraiche
2 tbsp quark
pepper

Wash the beetroot and cut the leaves off, but do not peel. Place in a roasting tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp oil, roast for 45 minutes at Gas Mark 6.
When the beetroot feel soft (you can stab them with a knife to check), remove and peel them. I did this under the cold tap as I was in a rush and had no time to let them cool. The skin will come off easily.
Chop the beetroot into bite size chunks and put into a non stick pan on a medium heat. Add the creme fraiche and quark and let is cook gently for 10 minutes.

Dietitian UK: Beetroot mixture cooks in the pan

Meanwhile cook the pasta.
Season to taste then mix the beetroot into the pasta and serve.

It’s pink, it’s pretty and it’s packed with goodness. Go try it out!

Baking, Gluten Free, Recipes, Wheat Free

Carob and Prune Brownies.

9 May, 2012 Priya Leave a comment

Carob. I used to eat it. Then somehow I forgot about it….until I had a recent gap in my clinic and went for a wander around the nearby health food shop. A dangerous place to leave someone like me as I will always buy something, I came out with Carob powder…and no idea what to do with it.

Carob is made from the roasted and ground pods from a Carob tree, found in the Middle East and Mediterranean. Some people think John the Baptist lived off it on his diet of locusts and honey as it is also known as the “locust bean”. Carob is low in fat, caffeine free, high in calcium and free from tyramine (high in chocolate which can be linked to migraines).

So armed with the nutritional knowledge I took the plunge and decided to have a play, so here is my first foray into Carob cooking. Even if I do say so myself, I was pretty impressed 😉

Recipe:

1 1/3 cups gluten free flour (I used a mix of rice flour, corn meal and tapioca starch), you could use wheat flour too.

1 tsp xanthum gum

4 tbsp carob

300g dates

100ml juice (I used some homemade elderflower cordial we had as there was no juice)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside. Using a blender or food processor blend the prunes with the juice to make a thick puree. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Now mix the dried ingredients in and finally stir in the nuts.

Place into a lined and greased baking tin and bake at Gas Mark 4 for 30 minutes.

Leave to cool then slice and remove from the tin.

They are delicious warm out of the oven and pretty good when cooled too. Don’t expect them to taste like chocolate as they don’t….but they are slightly sweet and smell divine. With no added sugar or fat they are a pretty healthy option to have as a snack and if they stop a chocolate craving then that is even better!

My husband rated them 7/10, which I was pleased with. Next time I think I’d add either a few carob drops or some dark chocolate drops.

Baking, Recipes, Weaning, Wheat Free

Superhealthy oaty bars.

28 January, 2012 Priya 42 Comments

Flapjacks go down a storm in our house, I’m wheat free so they fill a much needed gap in my mouth. Now it seem little Kezia is a bit of a flapjack lover. In fact, as soon as she spies the tin I keep them in I get a pointy finger and a sign for “Food Now Mummy”. Cheeky monkey she certainly is.

My usual banana flapjacks use only a small amount of marg, sugar and honey, however with a hungry 1 year old and feeling inspired by a certain brand of raw food bars I decided to try something different. The results are not quite your usual flapjack (due to the distinct lack of sugar, syrup and butter!) but they make a great healthy snack for big and little people and are set to become a regular in our house already. In fact the little one even enjoyed helping me make it.

Well when I say she helped, I mean she ate half of the raisins out of the bowl, stuck her fingers in the banana, stirred the oats around and made holes in the mixture once it had been smoothed into the tray. So much fun!

These are wheat free and if you use gluten free oats they will be gluten free too. Here’s the finished product:

And here is the mess I found later on…

Superhealthy Oaty Bars

2017-08-09 20:48:02

Yields 24

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

36g

Yields

Amount Per Serving

Calories 85

Calories from Fat 10

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 1g

Saturated Fat 0g

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0g

Monounsaturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 1mg

Total Carbohydrates 16g

Dietary Fiber 2g

Sugars 4g

Protein 3g

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Ingredients

400g oats
2 handfuls dates chopped very finely in a food processor with enough water to make into a paste
2 large or 3 medium mashed bananas
1 cup sultanas
Cinnamon

Instructions

Mix it all together, put into a greased and lined tray and bake at Gas Mark 5 for about 35-40 mins.
Slice it up whilst it is warm and leave to cool (if it lasts that long!).

By Priya Tew, Dietitian UK

beta

calories

fat

protein

carbs

16g

Dietitian UK https://www.dietitianuk.co.uk/

Enjoy 🙂

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Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Recipes, Special Diets, Weaning, Wheat Free

Peppers stuffed with Quinoa (Wheat free, GF, DF)

7 September, 2011 Priya Leave a comment

I love vegetarian food, though I’m not actually a vegetarian. I love the colours, flavours and creativeness of it. We tend to have meatless meals 3-4 days a week and use lentils, beans and pulses a lot.

Last week I really fancied having a go with Quinoa, its not something we eat that often but being wheat free I can’t eat cous cous and had had an urge for making stuffed peppers, plus the baby hadn’t given Quinoa a go yet.

These came our really well, even if my husband had to take his in a plastic tub back to work to eat as his on-call phone rang! His comments were that it was difficult to eat without a knife but the Quinoa was delicious and nutty. The baby managed to eat hers all without a knife 😉 fingers sufficed and the whole lot went quite quickly, so I’m taking that as a compliment.

Recipe:

Remove the stalk and seeds from the pepper and then halve them, roast in the oven for about 30 mins at Gas Mark 5.

Saute a mix of veggies (I used mushrooms and courgettes), cook the Quinoa using stock and then add to the veggies with a little stock and plenty of fresh herbs.

Stuff it all in the pepper and top with grated cheese, bake until the cheese bubbles (Use Cheezly if you are dairy free as it melts best). Yum yum.

Dietitian UK

Tag Archives: low fat

Roasted Beetroot Pasta, It’s Pink!

Carob and Prune Brownies.

Superhealthy oaty bars.

Peppers stuffed with Quinoa (Wheat free, GF, DF)

Freelance Dietitian specialising in helping those with Eating Disorders and a Media Spokesperson for the profession.