Vegetarian Whole Foods Made Simple
This easy one pot tomato lentil pasta makes weeknight cooking a breeze! Although the basic premise of Emma’s Little Kitchen is to provide you with simple, approachable vegetarian fare, I will be the first to admit that I sometimes get a little carried away. I …
This aromatic aubergine tomato chickpea stew makes the most of beautiful tomatoes and aubergines when they are at their peak. This aromatic aubergine, tomato and chickpea stew is one of the very first recipes I taught myself to cook as a teenager, and has become …
This sweet-tart blackberry chia jam is quick and easy to prepare, and healthy too!
Blackberries are always a fruit I associate with the beginning of the school year. That time in late August to early September when the long summer days draw to a close, and the tingly excitement for the year come begins to peak. Neatly colour-coded timetables, fully stocked pencil tins, crisp sheets of lined paper waiting to be scribbled on, and blackberries. For me, they represent the changing of seasons. I imagine them being plucked from their bushes, and sprinkled in crumbles and pies, or made into jam and spread generously on toast.
In Texas, blackberry season is over, but I couldn’t resit sharing this recipe with you anyway. In the UK blackberries are still in season, but this recipe can be made any time of year with frozen blackberries. I love blackberries for their sweet-tart earthiness, and also their versatility! This summer I’ve had them in salads, smoothies, ice lollies, cocktails and of course this jam. I’m only exaggerating a teeny bit when I say that adding basil was the best decision I ever made, it brings out a gorgeously subtle liquorishy flavour that tastes amazing. We have enjoyed this jam plain, with cheese, on peanut butter (yum!!), and stirred into creamy porridge. I love making chia jam, it feels so much more forgiving than “proper” homemade jam, and its so quick and easy to prepare, plus you get all of those fabulous chia-benefits!
Enjoy!
This watermelon raspberry mint smoothie is outrageously refreshing and hydrating! A couple of weekends ago, my darling husband woke up feeling under the weather. Some sort of mysterious Summer “Flu” (I use air quotes because, isn’t it always “flu” when husbands are concerned?). Anyway, he …
This ridiculously easy spicy quinoa bean salad is perfect for Summer! I don’t know about you, but I’m always a little flummoxed when asked to bring a “dish to pass” to a social gathering. I overthink it. I scan pinterest looking for a showstopping recipe, …
These healthy whole wheat greek yoghurt blueberry pancakes are light, fluffy and totally luscious. Maple syrup not optional!!
Remember I said I had one last blueberry recipe for you? Here you go! These pancakes are so worth the wait, and so worthy of that seven-word-long-title. But before we get into the pancakes, fluffy and luscious as they are, I want to natter a bit about The Great British Bakeoff. Do you watch?! I’m something of a GBBO enthusiast, and this year my sissies and I are challenging ourselves to recreate a bake from each episode as the series progresses. I can’t wait! It’s little things like this that keep us connected when we live in three different cities miles and miles apart. Feel free to join in with the fun, are we Instagram friends yet?
Alrighty, back to these healthy whole wheat greek yoghurt blueberry pancakes. These babies came about as a bit of an accident. I woke up with a fierce craving for blueberry pancakes (hey, it happens!), but I wasn’t able to make my go-to recipe as we were out of milk. Searching the fridge, I realised I still had a good amount of greek yoghurt left, and so began my search for a whole wheat greek yoghurt pancake recipe that didn’t require any milk.
Once I found a recipe that looked like it had good bones, I fiddled around a little, and came up with a recipe that I was really happy with. Despite being made from whole wheat flour, and thick greek yoghurt, these pancakes are wonderfully fluffy, and almost have a buttermilky tang to them. The blueberries provide that satisfying pop of sweetness, and a generous pour of maple syrup is NOT optional.
Enjoy!
You can use regular whole wheat flour in place of whole wheat pastry flour, but I found that the pastry flour made for a lighter pancake.
You can use plain (non-greek) yoghurt for this recipe, but I do prefer the result of greek yoghurt, they tend to be fluffier.
You can also use a flavoured yoghurt here if you want to experiment.
Adapted from this recipe.
Make the most of blueberry season with this whole wheat cashew blue banana bread! I know, I know. It is not like me to post a sweet treat immediately after a dessert recipe, BUT I was in a pinch, friends! Blueberry season is drawing to …
This elegant Chocolate Cherry Crisp is 100% whole grain and (almost!) refined sugar free. Oh friends, WHAT A WEEK it has been. We’ve had root canals, cracked fillings, antibiotics, severe allergy to antibiotics (who even knew THAT was a thing?), a blown out tyre on …
A healthy alternative to your blueberry muffin: The Blueberry Muffin Smoothie!
After a particularly tortuous session in the dentists chair recently, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Confined to a tepid liquid-only diet, I need something to lift my spirits and nourish me. Of course, a good old smoothie came to mind (this was after I had thought better of raiding my stash of Dairy Milk <—- not liquid, silly!). Not any old smoothie was going to cut it, I needed something special, something worthy of this pity-party-for-one. After a quick rummage in the fridge and a whiz in the blender, the Blueberry Muffin Smoothie was born.
Let’s talk ingredients-
Oats– A great addition to smoothies if you are looking for more of a meal than a snack. The oats kept me satisfied for ages, and gave me lots of energy.
Blueberries– Delicious, pretty, and a well recognized “superfood”, I love their musky-sweet flavour and vibrant colour. I use fresh when they’re in season, but frozen would definitely work here.
Almond Butter– This made the smoothie lovely and creamy, plus the addition of extra fat and protein made this more more of a meal smoothie.
Banana- Pretty much a necessity in smoothies (erm, except this one?). The banana imparts sweetness, creaminess and always gives me an energy boost. To keep it sweet I use a very ripe one if I can. I have also started keeping them handy in the freezer for smoothies, pancakes, banana bread, muffins…!
Milk- Pick your poison! I do prefer the taste of almond milk in my smoothies, but thats just personal preference, dairy, coconut, soy, ANY milk will work here.
Vanilla– Aha! The ingredient that elevates this smoothie to “Muffin Smoothie”. The vanilla imparts a gorgeous sweetness that makes this feel really indulgent. If you want to skip the vanilla and use vanilla almond milk instead, you could!
Enjoy!
