Nasturtium Pizza Omelette

If you like the peppery taste of bitter greens, you’ll love this! It’s a great alternative to pizza, especially if you’re avoiding wheat, and you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Potato Rosti

Rosti go by many names – rösti, potato pancakes, hash browns and latkes, to name just a few – and come in many variations. At heart though, they are simply grated potato mixed with a little salt, and whatever other flavourings you choose to add, like onion, herbs and/or cheese. I’ve been wanting to try them for ages and when a friend bought round some smoked trout, I decided it was the perfect opportunity.

After doing some fairly extensive research on Pinterest (there are quite a few methods out there, believe me), I decided to keep the base very simple and rather go wild on the toppings.

Blueberry Almond Muffins

Whatever your personal opinion of the concept of Valentine’s Day, it’s a good excuse to treat yourself or someone special to something yummy! Yes sure, you could turn to chocolate but maybe you’re looking for something a bit different and healthier (unless the chocolate has a cocoa content of at least 70%, of course).

On that note, have you tried some of the new 85% up to 95% chocolate that’s appearing in the shops lately? OMG, if you truly love chocolate and don’t like it to be sugary sweet, go out and get some now! CocoáFair, Honest Chocolate, Gayleen’s, Lindt and Green and Black’s are all brands I can recommend, from a taste and an ethical perspective.

But I digress…

These blueberry almond muffins are delicious, as well as being wheat- and refined sugar-free. With a base of ground almonds, they’re sweetened by fresh blueberries and a touch of honey, and they’re so easy to make.

Bacon and Mushroom Stacks

The basis of this dish is a combination of some delicious, classic tastes – bacon, avo and mushroom… Just the thought makes my mouth water! It’s quick and easy to make, perfect for a weekend breakfast or light lunch or supper.

I’ve kept it very simple here, but you can add any number of optional extras that you happen to have on hand e.g. baked aubergine or peppers, egg, cheese or pesto. It will obviously just take a bit longer to prepare those extras if they need cooking. Depending on what you add, it can be very paleo/primal/banting-friendly but for those who like their carbs, feel free to put the whole stack on a burger bun, plain or toasted.

Strawberry, Banana and Avocado Smoothie

Looking for a quick, easy and healthy idea for breakfast (or for dessert)? This smoothie is a winner whenever you choose to have it and kids seem to love it too, probably because it tastes like ice-cream.

And yes, you read that right – there’s avocado in it. You needn’t worry though as it doesn’t taste like avo and it isn’t green, since the red colour of the strawberries pretty much overpowers everything else, and you end up with a pink smoothie which not only looks but also tastes delicious.

Bran Muffins

My Mom originally got this recipe from a friend years ago and it was then called ’30 Day Muffins’. Since we usually ate them immediately, I’m afraid I can’t vouch for what the results would be after 30 days. To be honest, I would be very surprised if they were still edible!

Depending on who filled the muffin pans though, we did occasionally have a couple of spoons of mix left after the first batch, sometimes enough for a muffin or two a few days later (although only if the mix was well hidden at the back of the fridge). The second batch of muffins still tasted good, even if they didn’t rise as much. The trick is to keep the raw mixture in the fridge and only bake the muffins when you want to eat them.

This recipe requires a bit of forward planning as the mixture needs to sit overnight so the bran softens and it all blends together. It’s really quick to put together the evening before though, and well worth the effort for the pleasure of fresh, delicious and fairly healthy muffins the next morning.

Lemony Spinach and Potato Frittata

Eggs are such a handy go-to ingredient when you want a quick, satisfying and high-protein meal that will keep you going for a while. A frittata is one of my favourite ways of cooking eggs as it has all those qualities, plus it’s a great way of using up left-overs.

What makes this version slightly different is the optional squeeze of lemon juice, the idea of which popped into my head literally as I was busy cooking it. The potato seems to hold the lemony taste, which lifts the whole dish.

Mexican Beans

This is a really delicious, warming and filling dish which is perfect for winter evenings. It’s pretty healthy, and it can be served in so many ways: just plain or with cheese melted on top; on toast; with poached or fried eggs on top; as a side dish with meat – it goes particularly well with sausages; or in true Mexican fashion, with nachos and a simple ‘guacamole’, which is my personal favourite.

Banana Soufflé Crumpets

This is one of my favourite weekend breakfast recipes!

These light and fluffy crumpets are pretty healthy, especially if you use wholewheat flour and coconut oil.