Poached Apricots

For me, these beautifully golden orange coloured fruits truly mark the start of summer. Walking into the supermarket or visiting the local market, I can't help but pick up a punnet of the golden orange delights, encasing a smooth and sweet flesh within their velvety outer body. I love them because they're so delicious and can provide numerous health benefits. They're also rich in many plant antioxidants and are extremely low in calories. Unfortunately, I haven't seen many recipes take advantage of these gorgeous fruits. They're great in a crumble or a tarte tatin, but I think they're delicious poached and served with some natural yoghurt for pudding or granola at breakfast. They're perfectly sweet and unbelieveably quick and simple to make. 

Makes 1 large bowl

640g of apricots (I used 2 punnets)

200ml of water 

1 dessert spoon of vanilla extract 

2 tbsp caster sugar or runny honey

Method

- De-stone the apricots by chopping them into halves. 

- Put the apricots, water, vanilla extract and caster sugar into a large pan and leave to simmer over a medium-low heat with the lid on for 8-10 minutes. 

- Put into a large serving bowl. Either serve hot or cover with cling film and put into the fridge once cooled. 

Top tip: If you want to make the apricots slightly 'posher,' add a small splash of Cointreau, the beautiful orange-flavoured liqueur whilst the apricots are simmering and serve with good quality vanilla ice cream. 

Enjoy!

10 Minute Peach & Raspberry Crumble

I absolutely love crumble. It is such a crowd pleaser and I don't think a traditional English Sunday Roast would be the same without without one. When the family are all together, I would not even hesitate about making a large crumble that I can stick into the oven just before we sit down to eat our main course. However, when cooking for yourself (like moi...) it's a little different. I didn't want to make something that would take 30 minutes or more in the oven. I wanted something that would be ready to eat under 15 minutes with a health kick twist I'd never tasted before. Therefore, I picked some of my favourite ingredients from past recipes I've posted on this blog and made them into a marvellous crunchy crumble that would give any other traditional crumble a run for its money. 

Healthy sweet dishes are the best as they're completely guilt free and still sensationally satisfying. The traditional flour has been replaced by crunchy desiccated coconut, fibrous oats and magical milled flaxseed, while the butter has been replaced with pure maple syrup. Did you know that despite maple syrup's high sugar content, pure maple syrup is a much healthier sweetener than processed white sugar, which is stripped of its nutrients in manufacturing. In fact, a ¼ ; cup serving of maple syrup contains more calcium than the same amount of milk and more potassium than a banana! It’s also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and iron.

Serves 1 

2 dessert spoons organic oats

2 dessert spoons pure maple syrup

1 1/2 dessert spoons desiccated coconut

1 dessert spoon flaxseed (with biocultures & vitamin D)

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 can halved peaches

6 fresh raspberries

Method

- Preheat oven 200 celsius, (392 F), Gas Mark 6 and find 1 ramekin. 

- Slice the two peach halves and put in a high watt microwave for 1 minute. Remove then and add the raspberries and put in for a further 30 seconds.

- Place the oats, flaxseed, cinnamon, maple syrup and coconut into a pan and delicately heat on a medium to low heat, stirring often for 3 minutes.

- Put the sliced peach and raspberries into the base of the ramekin and cover with the crunchy oat topping. 

- Place the ramekin in the oven and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Remove and serve with raspberries and cream. 

Enjoy!