Sweet potato nachos

WINNER! BANTING RECIPE! 

I really love nachos. Serve up with a big portion of zucchini frites it is a total winner. In this month’s “Lose It” Magazine, Sally-Anne Creed was asked about beetroot, sweet potato and butternut with banting and she had this to say “You can eat these if you’re not carrying a lot of extra weight. If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s better to steer clear. Vegetables like these are nutritious, but they’re much higher in carbs than other veggies, so we suggest you have them now and again for their nutritional value and great taste, and for variety. However, don’t include them all in one meal. For example, have half a sweet potato, but don’t have it with beetroot and butternut. If you’re diabetic, however, it’s best to stay away from the higher carb vegetables like beetroot, sweet potato and butternut.” Get the magazine here https://www.mysubs.co.za/magazine/lose-it-the-lchf-way

ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 packet zucchini chopped into chips
• 1 sweet potato, sliced into oval discs
• olive oil
• salt
• 1 avo
• 6 rashers of bacon
• 1/3 chevin of goats cheese
• fresh coriander

directions

• Preheat oven to 200*
• Toss the sweet potato and zucchini well in the olive oil, and lay them flat on a baking sheet
• 
• Roast for +-30 minutes, turning after about 20 minutes (you may need longer depending on your oven)
• Fry the bacon
• Fry up the avo in the leftover bacon oil
  
• Compile the nachos with sweet potato chips on the bottom, avo, blobs of goats cheese and bacon
• Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with zucchini frites
• 

Banting granola bars

WINNER! BANTING RECIPE! DAIRY FREE!

I’ve found myself buying these paleo snack bars, which are just made from dates and nuts, but obviously the dates pushes the sugar content way up. So last night I made my own snack bars. And they are GOOD, although I haven’t mastered getting them into the perfect “bar” shape!

ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 cups mixed seeds and nuts
• 1T cinnamon or mixed spice
• 3T xylitol
• 1/4 cup desiccated coconut (or coconut flakes)
• 4T tahini / nut butter (I used 2T tahini  and 2 T nut butter)
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1t salt
• 1 egg
• 1T coco mixed with 1/2 cup melted coconut oil (put this in the freezer on a flat sheet once you’ve mixed them together and allow to freeze for 20 minutes – these will be your chocolate bits!)

directions

• Preheat oven to 180*
• Mix all the ingredients (apart from chocolate bits) together in a blender and pulse and well combined (you should still be able to see the nuts/seeds)
• Remove the chocolate bits from the freezer after 20 minutes and break it up into little shards, add this to the mix
• Press tightly into a greased bread tin, compressing as much as possible
• Bake for 20 minutes
• Remove from oven and allow to cool
• Cut into bite sized bars

Light and fluffy coconut pancakes

WINNER! BANTING RECIPE! DAIRY FREE!

This is a recipe from my friend Daniel (except he would definitely NOT want there to be bacon in this picture !!!) They’re really light and fluffy – a total hit!

ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk / coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarb
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 banana
• 1T psylium husks
• coconut oil or butter for frying

directions

• Add eggs to a blender and blitz on high until fluffy
• Add the coconut milk, vanilla, banana and honey and blitz until smooth
• 
• In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients
• Add the dry ingredients to the blender, and mix for 30 seconds (until all mixed together)
• leave to thicken for 5-10 minutes
• In a medium hot pan,  add the coconut oil / butter
• Add a ladle at a time and smear out until circles
• 
• Fry for a few minutes on each side (be careful when you flip them)
• Serve with fresh berries and cream

Caramelised onion and mushroom sauce

WINNER! BANTING RECIPE! DAIRY FREE!

I wanted to point out that most of these recipes that I am using coconut milk / cream in, you can swap out for actual cream / milk. I am just dairy free for the moment, so that’s why I’m avoiding it, but if you are good on dairy then by all means, use whichever you prefer.

ingredients (serves 2)

• 2T butter
• 1T olive oil
• 1 packet of mushrooms (sliced thickly)
• 1/2 onion sliced
• 1/3c coconut milk
• garlic salt
• fresh pepper

directions

• In a medium hot pan,  add 1T butter and the oil and the onions
• Fry slowly for about 15-20 minutes until soft and starting to caramelise
• 
• Add the remaining butter and mushrooms and fry until mushrooms are soft
  
• Add the coconut milk, salt and pepper
• Adjust seasoning and serve on grilled chicken, with streamed broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes

Burger buns

WINNER ! BANTING RECIPE (ish)! DAIRY FREE!

I stumbled on a similiar recipe to this and thought I had to give it a try. The sesame flavour of the buns is so yummy, and they kept well until the next day!

ingredients (serves 2)

• 3T coconut flour
• 3T arrowroot starch
• 1/4t bicarb
• 1/4t cream of tartar
• 2  Jumbo eggs
• 1/2 t apple cider vineyard
• 1/2T honey
• pinch of salt (I used some garlic salt)
• 2T sesame seeds (plus more for sprinkling on top of buns) OR you can use 1.5t tahini

directions

• Preheat oven to 170*
• Grind the sesame seeds in a spice grinder until ground very fine
  
• Place all ingredients into a blender and process until smooth
• Leave to sit to thicken up (about 10-15 minutes)
• Spoon out 4 globs of batter onto a lightly greased baking sheet and smooth into a circle shape
  
• Sprinkle sesame seeds onto of 2 on the buns
• Bake for 12 minutes and enjoy!
• 

Grilled chicken with a sweet mustard sauce

WINNER ! BANTING RECIPE ! DAIRY FREE!

This is a lovely little recipe – so tasty, I love the sweetness from the pineapple and the mustard tang in the sauce.

ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 T wholegrain mustard
• 2 T dijon mustard
• 1 T honey
• 2T coconut oil
• 1/3 cup chopped pineapple
• 2 chicken breasts – cut lengthways

directions

• Fry the pineapple in the coconut oil for about 5-10 minutes on a medium/high heat until golden and caramelising on all sides
• 
• In a blender, add the mustard and honey along with the pineapple
• Blitz until smooth
• Separately, fry the chicken in the leftover coconut oil from the pineapple – if you’ve cut them lengthways it shouldn’t take more than 2/3 minutes per side on a medium/high heat
• Serve with zuchini fried (drizzled in olive oil and salt and roast in the oven for 30 minutes)
• 

Olive oil ice cream (be open to it – it’s worth it!)

WINNER ! BANTING RECIPE ! DAIRY FREE!

Since the lack of dairy in my life, I’ve been trying to get creative with coconut cream. And then I stumbled upon this AMAZING recipe. Please don’t be put off by the fact that it is an olive oil ice cream, it is so tasty and healthy!
http://www.thepaleomom.com/2013/10/olive-oil-ice-cream.html

ingredients

• 1 tin coconut cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• tiny pinch of salt

directions

• Heat coconut cream on medium-low heat, stirring very frequently, until hot and steaming but not simmering
• Separate eggs (keep the egg whites to make egg white enchiladas!)
• Temper the egg yolks by adding a ladle full of hot coconut cream to the yolks while stirring the yolks.  Now add the tempered yolks to the saucepot, again stirring constantly.
• Heat the mixture on medium-low, stirring constantly and never letting it simmer, until the custard thickens (should coat the back of a wooden spoon and be about as thick as heavy cream), about 10 minutes.  (If the custard boils, the egg will curdle.  If this happens, it’s still salvageable:  remove from heat immediately and pulse through a blender until smooth.)
• 
• Remove from heat and pour into a bowl or measuring cup to cool.
• Let cool to room temperature.  Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk all together
• Either add to an ice cream machine once cooled or pop into the freezer and once it has set (maybe 4 hours) remove and blend it until smooth

Chia Porridge – chocolate and coconut

WINNER ! BANTING RECIPE ! DAIRY FREE!

Oh my wonderful Chai Seed discovery happiness!!!! I haven’t been loving breakfasts without yoghurt, and I’ve been on the search for some alternatives that are still yummy (coconut yoghurt was good). Then I came across chai seeds. They are amazing little balls of health http://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-health-benefits-of-chia-seeds/ and this morning’s breakfast was more like dessert than breakfast. WIN!!!

ingredients

• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 2T coco powder
• 1t vanilla extract
• 2t xylitol
• 200ml coconut cream
• 200ml water

directions

• Mix everything together in a bowl
• Cover and refrigerate overnight (this allows the chia seeds to absorb all that liquid and become all porridgey)
  
• Serve with fresh berries

You can emit the coco if you want a plain porridge, maybe add some cinnamon and a bit more vanilla; make a berry porridge pureeing a few berries and throwing them into the mix before you refrigerate

smoked mackerel pate

WINNER ! BANTING RECIPE ! DAIRY FREE

Coming up with more dairy free ideas for lunchtime snacks!

ingredients

 

• 1 piece of smoked mackerel
• 4 capers
• 1T lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• half and onion, fried until soft
• a few slices of chilli (optional)

directions

• Put everything into a blender and blend until at your desired consistency (I like it a little chunky)
• Ta DAAAAAAA

banting enchiladas

WINNER ! BANTING RECIPE ! DAIRY FREE!

I used to love enchiladas – and it was all I felt like this evening, tough when you are Banting and off dairy… But turns out it was rather simple to make a super delicious Banting / paleo version that is as nice if not yummier than the original!

ingredients for the “enchilada wraps” (serves 2)

• 4 egg whites
• 2t coconut milk

directions for the wraps

• Beat the egg whites with the coconut milk
• Heat a frying pan to medium/hot
• Pour 1/4 the mixture into the pan and swirl around until it is coating the bottom of the pan
• Put a lid on the pan, and let it cook for about 1 minute
• Lift out with a spatula
  

ingredients for the enchilada sauce

 

• 2 chicken breasts, seasoned
• 1 tin chilli tomatoes (or normal tomatoes if you prefer)
• 1t honey
• 1T cajun spice
• salt and pepper
• few drops of smoked tabasco
• olive oil / coconut oil

directions for the sauce

• Heat a pan to medium/hot and fry the chicken in a little olive oil/coconut oil for about a minute per side (just to brown it a bit)
• Add the tomatoes, honey, tabasco and cajun spice
• Reduce heat to medium and put the lid on and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes (just check your chicken is cooked)
• Remove chicken from the sauce and shred it between 2 forks
• Mix the shredded chicken with the sauce
  

Fill the wraps with your enchilada chicken mix, top with fresh guacamole, jalapenos and a little more enchilada sauce

*Because I am dairy free at the moment I made cashew nut sour cream by blending 1 cup of soaked (for 4 hours) and drained cashews with 1/3 cup water, 1t lemon juice and 1t honey