Turkey Meatballs with Honey Sesame Sriracha Sauce

Taking a very short break from my regularly scheduled programming of cake and brownies.

Turkey mince is healthy, but it isn’t always the easiest meat to work with. I find that if you’re not careful, it can turn out a bit bland. Adding a highly flavoured sauce is the answer here. You cannot go wrong with spicy sesame, honey and paprika and it’s a combo that I rely on often. The sauce here is delicious and full of flavour, and would also be great with shredded chicken breasts.

I was also sceptical about cooking meatballs in the oven, I didn’t know how they would survive being cooked like that – and I was pleasantly surprised! They came out perfectly cooked and perfectly formed!

I made this as a main meal with rice and roasted veggies, but these meatballs would make an amazing pita sandwich. Just imagine them, stuffed inside the bread pocket with that sauce drizzled all over, some shredded red onion and salad to make an incredible lunch.

Makes 20

Green Soup

Healthy eating is really hard and I totally fell off the wagon big style. Like, from Christmas. It’s now summer. That’s not good. So this seems as good a time as any to try to get back on it while getting the blog back up to regular updates!

I have been trying to think of ways to get more vegetables into my diet because I am quite immature in my vegetable tastes. I will happily eat sweetcorn and peas and carrots, but I really struggle with things like aubergine and spinach and cucumber. And I just point blank refuse to eat a green shake.

But I have an ace up my sleeve. Soup! I really like soup. It’s quick to make, you can throw a whole host of veggies in it and the best part is you can hide the veggies by blitzing the whole thing up to make a smooth and creamy lunch.

I find it easiest to make changes for my lunches. Gone are the sandwiches and crackers, behold the era of soup! For this soup, I knew I wanted to have the main part be broccoli, and the rest I just kind of threw in based on what I like and what was in the cupboard.

Ham and Lentil Slow Cooker Soup

All right, we are doubling DOWN on Christmas cooking now. We're knee deep in the season, people.

For me, Christmas is about eating with family and friends. I have a really awesome family. We meet up all the time when I’m home and have a great time together. They’re also full of good ideas that I can pass off as my own.

This soup is a prime example. My aunt makes the best soup. She is the queen of soup. One day she came to my nanny’s house with her massive 15L soup pot full of lentil soup and put it on the stove. When it was ready to be served, she went into it with a massive fork and pulled out a large joint of ham.

That’s right, she cooked the ham right there in the soup.

Absolute genius.

And I’ve shamelessly stolen the idea and made it into a slow cooker meal, something I can put on in the morning and then all of a sudden at dinner time a wonderful meal appears. I don't add any salt because the stock and gammon are salty enough, but a little bit of pepper works wonders.

Perfect dinner. My boyfriend doesn't think soup is enough of a meal for dinner, so he gets a grilled cheese with his.

Tomato and Sweet Potato Soup

Winter is here! The nights are dark and the weather is absolutely BALTIC. My duffel coat feels like it is permanently attached to my body, and I don’t leave the house without thick socks.

This is firmly soup weather.

And it's good timing, as I've just realised that I haven't posted anything savoury to the blog since August. That's a little embarrassing.. but I love sugar!!

I do enjoy soup, but for me to look forward to making and eating it, it has to be absolutely delicious. Otherwise it can feel a little like a runner up dinner. Luckily, this soup is really delish, and uses up a lot of my cupboard/fridge staples. It’s thick and creamy and full of nutritious veggies, a perfect wholesome dinner for those days when you go out for breakfast and then manage to have a massive slice of cake and a mocha as well. 

Everything in moderation!

The chorizo on top is a nice little smoky treat, but feel free to skip it if you’re feeling veggie, or add something else like diced scallions or buttery sweetcorn.

Cauliflower Rice

I am incredibly out of my comfort zone here. What has led me down to the dark valley of rice substitutes, avocado pudding, and ALMOND MILK EVERYWHERE?

Well, it started off with doing a detox for 14 days. And that meant no carbs. No rice, no bread, no noodles, no muffins, no cake, no biscuits, no brioche, no NOTHING. I’m not going to lie, I was really upset. And slightly dizzy. And INCREDIBLY HANGRY ALL THE TIME.

I made it 48 hours with no carbs. This was a part of it.

It’s no secret that I love rice. I could happily eat only rice with a bit of curry sauce or peri-peri mayo for the rest of my life. Dip a tortilla wrap in it and I would be in heaven.

What I’m trying to do is to is make better choices, and exposing myself to things that I otherwise wouldn’t even think about trying. I can then incorporate the healthy stuff that still tastes good into my everyday diet. Now, I’m only on day 2, and so far I know that cauliflower mash is pretty edible. And something that all the crazy health bloggers like is cauliflower rice. So, I’ve gone from buying one cauliflower EVER in my life, to buying two this week.

I won’t lie, I can taste a good deal of the cauliflower still, but eating it with a curry mitigates that somewhat. I didn’t love this. I hate posting stuff that I’m not in love with, but my Swedish boyfriend really liked it, so I’m going against my instincts and sharing it.

It is incredibly easy, which isn’t always the case with these “healthy” alternatives. Feel free to experiment with spices, or throw in some fresh garlic when you’re blitzing it. This thing can take on a lot of flavour.