Simple Bruschetta with Sourdough Bread

Bruschetta

Simple Bruschetta

There aren’t many foods that complement each other as well as tomatoes and basil. This simple bruschetta showcases just that. All you will need to add is toast and some of your favourite cheese.

Prepping time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Tomatoes
  • ½ Red onion, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
  • Small bunch Basil leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sprinkle Fetta or goats cheese (optional)
  • Salt and Pepper to season
  • Sourdough bread

Method:

  1. Chop up tomatoes and red onion, and add into a mixing bowl with balsamic vinegar, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix to combine
  2. Toast your bread
  3. Place your tomato mixture on your toasted bread and sprinkle over the cheese

Recipe by Charlotte from @TheNuttyGritty

A Humble Staple: Simple Roast Veggies

Roast Vegetable recipe

Simple Roast Veggies

As we move from warming winter meals to fresh, vibrant spring dishes, a humble staple that is perfect for all seasons is simple roasted veggies. All you need are your favourite veggies, herbs and spices of your liking and some extra virgin olive oil. Here I chose to bake some pumpkin, cauli and sweet potato, but be guided by the seasons and your own preferences. Roasted vegetables are a great addition to any meal and, in my opinion, even better as a snack throughout the day!

Prepping time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • ½ Pumpkin
  • ¼ Cauliflower
  • 1 Sweet potato
  • 1 Garlic bulb
  • 1 Carrot
  • Mixed herbs (oregano, Italian herbs, parsley etc)
  • Olive oil

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  2. Chop up your veggies and lay them evenly in a baking dish. If you are using garlic, cut it lengthways, keeping the skin on, and place in the dish.
  3. Drizzle over olive oil, salt, pepper and any herbs you love.
  4. Roast for 45 minutes, checking on the veg halfway and turning them over to roast evenly.
  5. Once ready, squeeze out the garlic from the skin and enjoy!

Recipe by Charlotte from @TheNuttyGritty

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Muffins

Raspberry and Chocolate Muffins

Raspberry and Dark Choc Muffins

There is something unique about baking muffins from scratch – the aroma, the taste and the way it makes me feel. What better way to end your weekend, then cooking these delightful muffins to snack on throughout the week, or as a gift to a loved one.

Serves: Makes 6 individual muffins

Prepping time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of self raising flour
  • 1 egg, whisked before adding
  • 1/2 cup of sugar (any type- brown, white, honey, syrup)
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup milk (any type)
  • 1 punnet of raspberries
  • 1/2 block of choc, chopped

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
  2. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl, until they become pale and creamy.
  3. Combine all ingredients in the bowl with the eggs, and mix until all ingredients are just combined.
  4. Add in raspberries and dark chocolate chunks, and mix through gently.
  5. Line the muffin moulds with oil, butter or muffin liners and place the batter into each one.
  6. Cook for 20-25 minutes. To check if they are cooked through, place a skewer or knife into the muffin, if it comes out clean it’s cooked!

Recipe by Charlotte @TheNuttyGritty

Traditional Basil & Pine Nut Pesto

Basil and Pine Nut Pesto

Basil Pesto 

One of my favourite things about cooking is adapting the recipe to my own taste, what’s available in the pantry and considering what produce is in season. Pesto is a recipe that ticks all of these boxes – you can change up what type of herbs, nuts, seeds, oil and cheese you use and make your own unique version. Here we have a traditional basil and pine nut pesto, a yummy addition to salads, pasta, pizzas, even as a dip.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large bunches of basil, leaves and stems separated
  • 1-2 garlic cloves (or as many or little as you like)
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • A squeeze of lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to your taste
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

  1. Lightly toast pine nuts in a frypan over low to medium heat. The pine nuts can brown very quickly, so try to keep an eye on them! When they are toasted to your liking, remove them from the heat and set aside.
  2. Combine all ingredients except for the olive oil, in a food processor.
  3. Slowly add in the olive oil, in a narrow stream and combine to your liking – with chunks or smooth.
  4. Store in an airtight jar for in the fridge. The pesto will last for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Recipe by Charlotte @TheNuttyGritty

A student dietitian’s musings on weight and health

Thoughts in diary

How do you measure your own health? Do you take into account your friends and family supporting you, being confident in your own skin, drinking enough water every day, moving your body in ways that you enjoy, knowing what to do when times get stressful, or nourishing your body with food it deserves? Or do you just look at that number on the scales?

I grew up in an environment where people around me were always worried about what they ate, mainly based on the assumption that certain foods will make you gain weight and having extra ‘fat’ on you was unhealthy.

I grew up in a time where fad diets reigned – whether it was keto, paleo, low carb, juice cleanses, detox teas (you get the idea) – and what did all of these have in common? Weight loss. I was conditioned into thinking that weight was the be all and end all of health.

These assumptions were contradicted during the first semester of my dietetic studies. To say I was apprehensive would have been an understatement. I literally thought this way of looking at weight and health was one of those ‘holistic’ and alternative methods.

Fast track 2 years, and I am still on a learning curve, but I have come leaps and bounds in my understanding and accepting of weight not being the most important indicator of health. This, for some people, can be a hard pill to swallow.

In saying this, there are still so many questions that I don’t have the answer too when it comes to weight, BMI and their relationship to health. But at this point in time, my answer would be to take all the energy you are placing on yourself, your weight and your body and to put this into other aspects of health, like running a bubble bath to de-stress, making an effort to reach out to someone for chat if you’re feeling lonely, eating foods because you enjoy them, and waking up every day with a purpose.

Health is a complex multifactorial concept that is influenced by an unbelievably huge amount of areas in life – some areas we might not even be aware of.

So as I take this time to reflect on what health means to me, I would invite you to do the same.

And as I move through this journey, I look forward to sharing how my thoughts and perceptions change (or perhaps don’t change).

What is health really?