Garlic Hummus

 

Garlic Hummus

100g dried chickpeas*
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 small lemon
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp tahini paste**
1/2 tsp salt
water, as needed
sunflower oil, to serve
smoked paprika, to serve

*Soak chickpeas overnight and cook in a pot for 1 hour. 

**To make tahini paste, place sesame seeds in a small saucepan and roast, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant. Don't let them brown too much. Grind them in a coffee grinder or a small food processor until turns into paste. It will take time to get a smooth paste so add a splash of water or oil to add some moisture.

1) In a small saucepan, heat a teaspoon of oil. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring occasionally,  until golden brown and fragrant.

2) Add cooked chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, sunflower oil, tahini paste and salt into your food processor and pulse to make a smooth paste. Add as much water as you want to achieve a preferred consistency (start with 1 tablespoon).

3) Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle some smoked paprika on top and drizzle with sunflower oil. Serve with pita, flatbread or veggies.

Recipe by collecting memories

Oven Roasted Vegetables & Chickpeas

Garlicky Oven Roasted Vegetables & Chickpeas 

2 artichokes
170g (6 ounces) cooked chickpeas 
200g (7 ounces) cooked cauliflower, chopped into chunks
~50g arugula, washed and drained
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
White vinegar or lemon juice, to soak artichokes

Seasoning for the artichokes and onions:
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt

Seasoning for the chickpeas and cauliflower:
1 tsp dried garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili paprika
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

1) First, prepare the artichokes. Fill a medium pot with water and add a generous splash of vinegar (or lemon juice). Wash the artichokes, cut of the ends of the stems (the stem is edible so you should cut off just the end of it), remove hard leaves close to the stems and trim the tops of the leaves with your kitchen scissors. Cut about 2 cm / 1 inch from the top of the artichokes, Cut artichokes in half and place in the water with vinegar. Try to prepare them quickly because they tend to brown very fast. If they start browning  too fast, you can dip them in water/vinegar mixture for a second and continue preparing them.

2) Bring a medium pot to boil. Add some salt and a splash of vinegar to it. Once it boils, add artichokes and cook over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes. Remove from water and let cool a little. Once cool enough so you can touch them, cut the halves of the artichokes in half so you have 8 pieces in total. Set aside.

3) Preheat the oven to 225C / 435F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

4) In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, basil and salt. Dip each artichoke quarter into this mixture and try to coat all the sides. Place them on the baking tray and top with remaining minced garlic/basil/oregano mixture (it won't stick to the artichokes so you will have to arrange them on top of them). Dip the onions in this mixture and place on the baking tray.

5) Add chickpeas and cauliflower into a medium bowl and add a teaspoon of olive oil. Shake to coat them. Add garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, chili paprika and salt. Mix until coated evenly. Place chickpeas and cauliflower on the baking tray. Try to spread them in one layer so they roast evenly.

6) Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with arugula leaves tossed with some lemon juice.  

Serves 2.

Recipe by collecting memories

Hummus with Green Olives

Green Olive Hummus 

250g cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Tahini paste*
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
70g green olives
Salt, to taste
Smoked paprika/cumin/olive oil, for topping (optional)

*To make Tahini paste at home, roast a small handful of sesame seeds in a skillet stirring constantly until lightly browned. Don't brown them too much or they will become bitter. Remove from heat and add to your food processor. Process until smooth and creamy, adding a splash of olive oil, if needed.

1) Add all the ingredients into your food processor and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides. You may want to add more lemon juice/water to achieve the desired consistency.

2) Serve on a slice of your favorite bread. Store in refrigerator for up to one week.

Recipe by collecting memories

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Christmas is not Christmas without candies, fudge and truffles. If I ever make truffles, I always do it during the holiday period. They are perfect for gifting and sharing. And the best part is that they consist f only a few ingredients and can be prepared very quickly. If you need a good gift idea, I think truffles are always a solution. 
I think I've mentioned before that intensely dark chocolate desserts aren't my favorite. Yup, that's why my truffles are white. I just love white chocolate. So much. Just like I love lemon. And the best thing happens when these two ingredients come together. These truffles are sweet, lemony and fresh. They're very soft and buttery as well, so I suggest keeping them in the fridge, or if you make them for a gift, give them in a little box. You don't want to mash them right? And yes, that happened to me. Don't repeat my mistake. 
Oh, and if you want a smoother consistency, leave the zest out. Of course, they will be less lemony. Personally, I don't mind the zest. Simply feel free to experiment.
And finally - merry Christmas! I wish you all a wonderful time!

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

160g (1 cup) white chocolate 

70g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter 

45ml (3 tbsp) heavy cream

Pinch of salt

1 - 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

zest of 3 lemons (optional)

45g (3 tbsp) icing sugar 

Icing sugar, for rolling

1) In a small saucepan, combine together butter and heavy cream. Heat until the butter is melted. Turn off the heat, add white chocolate chips, cover and let sit for 2-3 minutes until the chocolate has melted. Stir the mixture until smooth.

2) Stir in salt, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix in powdered sugar. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.

3) Once cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 hours until firm. 

4) Form little balls and roll them in powdered sugar. Store in the fridge.

Recipe slightly adapted from here.

Avocado Chickpea Salad

Avocado + chickpeas + lemon = heaven. Fresh, lemony salad packed with crispy garbanzo beans and creamy avocado. It's super simple and easy to make but it's so unbelievably delicious. Another great thing about it? It's healthy as well. Whoa. Now you have no excuse to not make this. Just before serving, season with some freshly cracked black pepper and enjoy this guilt-free vegetarian meal. Yum!

Avocado Chickpea Salad

1 can (240g drained) chickpeas
1 avocado, mashed
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper

1) In a food processor, blend together avocado, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. Add salt. Taste and adjust the amount of salt according to your preference. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the drained chickpeas.

You may garnish it with some chopped fresh parsley.

Voila!

Recipe by collecting memories

Greek Salad

This is my version of the famous Greek salad. It's quite basic - the only unusual ingredient is balsamic vinegar. You could omit this if you want but I think it goes well with everything. I also added some dried basil and oregano, but if you have fresh basil - I highly recommend using it instead. 

Greek Salad

Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
salt & pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 head (450g) your favourite lettuce (I used Iceberg), chopped
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 can (110g drained) black pitted olives, sliced
100-150g feta cheese, crumbled

1) Throw everything in a bowl and mix to combine. Serve immediately.

Recipe by collecting memories

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie (low-fat)

I'm always super excited when it comes to creating something healthy. It is always a challenge to make a dessert guilt-free and delicious. I like omitting oil and butter when I make something healthy so another challenge is to make a dessert moist. That's why pumpkin puree and honey are my favourite ingredients, they always create perfectly chewy and moist texture and you could never guess there is no butter or oil in it. 
And now about this chocolate pumpkin pie: the result was unexpected. It didn't rise much and had a dense, chewy, fudge-like texture. You almost can't taste pumpkin in it, I added some lemon zest so the pumpkin layer is more like a lemon layer which matches perfectly with the cocoa layer. This recipe is definitely a keeper. It's quite unusual, but that's why I like experimenting!

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie (low-fat)

125g quick oats, ground
125g all purpose flour
65g light brown sugar
100g white granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder

400g pumpkin puree
2 eggs, lightly beaten
65g honey, melted
20g sour cream
Zest from 1 lemon

20g dark unsweetened cocoa powder
30g white granulated sugar
50ml + 50ml boiling water (separated)

1) In a large bowl, combine together ground oats, all purpose flour, light brown sugar, white sugar and baking powder. Set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, combine together pumpkin puree, eggs, honey, sour cream and lemon zest. Set aside.

3) Add pumpkin puree mixture into the flour mixture and mix just until smooth.

4) In a medium bowl, combine together cocoa powder and white sugar. Mix in 50ml of boiling water and stir. Let sit for 2 minutes.

5) Add half of the pumpkin puree/flour mixture into the cocoa/water mixture, spoon by spoon. Mix until you get a smooth batter. Set aside.

6) Add another 50ml of boiling water into the remaining pumpkin puree/flour mixture and stir until you get a smooth batter.

7) Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Ligtly grease a 23cm round springform pan.

8) Spread 1/2 of pumpkin batter into the pan. Top with 1/2 of cocoa batter. Spread the remaining pumpkin batter on top and top with the remaining cocoa batter.

9) Bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool completely (preferably leave it overnight) and slice.

Recipe by collecting memories