Easy vegetable pasta

Comparison is the death of joy and looking at what others are eating, their body shapes and their lives will only make you unhappy and exhausted. It causes you to lose your special shine because you feel less valuable based on a flawed system determining success and worth. You matter, just the way that you are. Gaining health, self worth, good self esteem, energy and happiness in your life is something that you deserve. 

If you want to be healthier then you need to take control of the aspects that you can control. It’s that simple. Don’t overcomplicate things and break your victim mentality through thought swapping. When you hear a negative comparison pop up in your head replace it with something that you are grateful for. If you repeat this three times a day for a week you will start to feel things change. Practice patience with yourself.

Everyone needs a good pasta in their arsenal. Whenever you eat something that is classified as an indulgence such as a pasta, not only can you substitute the pasta with a healthier option, but you can also load it up with as many veggies as possible to keep the balance. Eating more vegetables reduces the risk of chronic diseases and provides the body with vital nutrients to maintain homeostasis.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons coconut oil

• 400 g cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 medium-size aubergine, cut into small cubes

• 2 cobs sweetcorn

• 1 cup vegetable stock

• 250 g buckwheat pasta

• salt

• 4 kale leaves, stalks removed and leaves torn

• zest and juice of ½ lemon

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or grated Parmesan)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 handful fresh parsley leaves

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Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cherry tomatoes and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the paprika, oregano and aubergine cubes and stir well.

Remove the kernels from the sweetcorn by slicing down the length with a sharp knife. Add the kernels to the tomato mixture and stir well. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted water as per the packet instructions. Once ready, drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water, and set the pasta aside.

When the sauce is ready after 20 minutes, add the pasta and gently mix in along with the torn kale leaves, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the nutritional yeast. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of the reserved pasta water.

Serve the pasta in a bowl, drizzled with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and topped with parsley and the remaining tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

Stuffed peppers with mint yoghurt dressing

This is a fun and healthy take on an old classic. It is such a hearty dish that always offers a beautiful pop of colour when you add it to your plate. Eating colourful food means more nutrients and health. You can get creative and try it with different spices and serve them as the main affair or as a side. It’s also a great do-ahead dish so you can grab a stuffed pepper when on the run.

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 medium red or yellow peppers, tops cut off and saved for later, and seeds removed

Dressing

1 cup plain Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt

juice of 1 lemon

12 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons maple syrup or 2 teaspoons unrefined brown sugar

80 g goats milk cheese

salt and pepper

Filling

1½ cups spelt, cooked

1 cup vegetable stock

2 teaspoons coconut oil

2 shallots, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

4 medium-sized courgettes, grated

2 teaspoons caper berries

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

olive oil

1 handful fresh coriander or parsley leaves, chopped

Instructions:

Prepare the peppers and set aside. You want to keep them intact as you will be filling them later.

For the dressing, mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Season to taste and set aside.

For the filling, cook the spelt as per the packet instructions, adding the vegetable stock to the water that you use to do so. Once ready, set aside.

Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, turmeric and cayenne pepper and sauté for a further 5 minutes, stirring often. If it dries out, add a splash of water to help it along. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Once the tomatoes have cooked down, remove the pan from the heat and add the courgettes, caper berries, nutritional yeast and spelt and fold through.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

Using a spoon, fill the peppers to the top with the tomato and spelt mixture. Drizzle with a little olive oil, making sure the sides get some oil too. Use your hands if need be. Pop the peppers onto a roasting tray and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Change the setting to grill and grill them for an additional 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they don’t burn.

Serve with a big dollop of dressing, and a drizzle of olive oil, and top with the coriander or parsley

-Melissa

Ultimate veggie burger & fries

This recipe is a longer cook but oh so fun for getting the children involved. Teaching your children to be kind to animals is our responsibility. They don’t need to be vegan, but growing up with a disconnect to where their food comes from raises adults who are disconnected from the farm-to-table process and who end up buying meat unconsciously. Meat is a privilege and the animal has given its life for it. Teaching your children that these are kind patties that haven’t harmed another being might encourage them to not only learn something new, but to try something new. It may even do the same for you.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Fries

5 unpeeled potatoes, sliced into wedges

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

salt and pepper

Patties

½ cup uncooked brown lentils

2 cups vegetable stock

200 g fresh or frozen sweetcorn kernals

200 g fresh or frozen peas

1 bunch fresh coriander leaves

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

75 g spelt flour

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Vegan mayo

2 spring onions

½ fresh red chilli (optional)

1 clove garlic

2 heaped tablespoons cooked chickpeas

1 teaspoon English mustard

1½ tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste

juice of 1 lemon

5 tablespoons olive oil

To serve

4 quality burger buns (gluten-free if you wish)

½ head iceberg lettuce

2 plum tomatoes, sliced

2 gherkins, sliced

2 sprigs fresh basil leaves

1 lime

1 avocado, peeled, pip removed, sliced

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

For the fries, toss the potato wedges with the oil, paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl until the wedges are evenly coated. Pop them onto a roasting tray and into the oven for 35–40 minutes or until they are golden brown, tossing them at the halfway mark. I drizzle them with a little extra olive oil as they come out of the oven and season with salt.

For the patties, place the lentils and vegetable stock into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 30 minutes until al dente.

Meanwhile, add the sweetcorn, peas, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, flour and seeds to a food processor. Once the lentils are ready, remove them from the heat, drain them and allow to cool for 10 minutes and then tip them into the food processor and season with salt and pepper. Pulse until a rough paste starts to form. You don’t want to make it too smooth. Once ready, divide the mixture into four even patties about 2 cm thick. Place the patties on a lightly floured tray and pop them into the freezer to set for 10 minutes or save them in the fridge for later.

While the patties are setting, get started on the mayo. Place all the mayo ingredients, except the olive oil, into a blender and blend until smooth. While the blender is running, add the olive oil very slowly and keep blending until a mayo-like consistency forms. Once ready, set aside.

Heat the oven again to 180 °C.

Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Cook each patty for 2 minutes on each side. Once ready, transfer to a roasting tray and pop them into the oven. Turn the oven down to 150 °C and bake a bit longer while you assemble the burgers.

Cut the buns in half and add a dollop of mayo. Top with lettuce, sliced tomato, gherkins and basil. Add a squeeze of lime. Place a hot patty on top and close the bun.

Serve with the fries and an extra dollop of mayo for dipping!

-Melissa