For when hunger bites…
The other week Mark and I went to this little trendy food pop-up and had to wait over an hour to even just order our food. Mark was cool, calm and collected and I spent 50% of the time with my head in my hands wondering if I could slip out to the local newsagents to wolf down a pre-dinner Yorkie without anyone noticing. I. GET. HANGRY. I like food, I like to snack and I love nothing more than a mid-afternoon rustle through the kitchen cupboards. Speaking of which, I thought I’d share my favourite kinda-heathy snack recipes with you that I crack out whenever I feel the hangry coming on. You can make them then and there or sort them out before you head to work and take them with you as they all travel well. Prepare to start salivating in three, two…
NUTTY GRANOLA WITH A HINT OF ORANGE (makes enough for a week’s worth of breakfasts/snacks): I’d never attempted homemade granola before I started to tweak this recipe that I found in Irena Macri’s ‘Eat. Drink. Paleo’ and now I make it at least one a month. It’s not too laborious to make and I love it swirled in with yogurt and a bit of fruit for either breakfast or a mid-morning snack.
You will need: 125g of almonds, 125g hazelnuts, 125g macadamia nuts, 100g dried cherries, 70g pumpkin seeds, 70g sunflower seeds, 70g desiccated coconut, 2 TBSP maple syrup, 3 TBSP honey, 1 TSP Vanilla Extract, zest 1 orange plus the juice of half an orange
Preheat your oven to 170℃ and grease and line a deep roasting tin with a bit of butter or coconut oil and baking paper. Put half of your almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts and dried cherries into a food processor. One it’s begun to break down into a finer texture, remove and mix in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Work everything together until it’s all combined and then tip out into the roasting tin. Flatten out the mixture with a spoon and then bake for 10 minutes, remove and give it a stir and place back into the oven for another 10 minutes. At this point remove and leave to cool if the mixture looks golden brown, or place back into the oven for 5 minutes more if it looks like it needs longer. Remove from the oven and once it’s cooled break it up with your spoon and transfer into an airtight container.
CREAMY PAPRIKA HUMMUS (makes 4 servings): Once you get into homemade hummus, the shop-bought stuff just doesn’t compare. Often I have all the ingredients already in my pantry and it’s a great accompaniment for when I need to use up veg that’s starting to look a bit ropey; dip it in some of this and you don’t even realise. It keeps for a couple of days and really satisfies a good ol’ savoury tooth. I personally like mine spiked with paprika, but you can go with whatever else you fancy. Beetroot is always a good one and I love throwing in a roasted pepper too.
You will need: 1 tin of chickpeas, 4 TBSP olive oil, 1 TBSP lemon juice, pinch of salt, 1 TSP sweet smoked paprika, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 TBSP water, 2 TBSP tahini, 1 TBSP honey
The method for this couldn’t be any easier. Just drain your tin of chickpeas, throw everything into a food processor and press go. One minute later and you’ve got the perfect homemade hummus right there. Before I scoop it out, I always check to see if it needs any extra seasoning and if the mixture is looking stiff I’ll add a bit more water and/or oil before giving it one final whirl. DE-LIC-IOUS.
A BANANA FREE SALTED CARAMEL DATE SHAKE (makes 1): I first mentioned this recipe on the blog back in 2015, but I thought it was worth re-visiting because if I see another smoothie recipe that includes even just half a banana, then I’m going to vom. Bananas are the devil and as someone who detests them it’s tough to find recipes that avoid them, especially when it comes to homemade shakes. So I devised this one which packs a punch in the sweetness department when you need a sugar hit mid-afternoon, but is thankfully a banana-free zone.
You will need: 300ml milk (use whatever type you fancy), 3 medjool dates, 2 TBSP of almond butter, 1/2 TSP vanilla essence
Measure out your milk, then pop your dates, almond butter and vanilla essence in a food processor (further justification that you need to invest in one because I’ve used it in every single recipe here!). Add around half the milk and get blending. When things start to grind down in there, add the rest of the milk slowly. Once it’s all in, leave it to mix for an extra minute to get things to thicken up a bit and then pour and enjoy. Mid-afternoon snack heaven.
Photos by Lauren Shipley
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