At the start of the term we all begin to notice the effects of all the turkey, mince pies, wine and chocolate we consumed over the past four weeks; gaining weight over Christmas is unavoidable. But we all like to think we can have a fresh start come New Years Day, with the majority of our new years resolutions being along the lines of ‘I will start going to the gym this year’ or ‘I will lose weight this year’, however these resolutions are often abandoned a week later when Uni begins again. Therefore HCX has come up with a few healthy recipes to help you kickstart the term with!
Breakfast: Toasted Oats with Berries
Ingredients:
- 25g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 125g rolled oats
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 125g strawberries, chopped
- 250g blueberries
- 200g Greek yoghurt
- 2tbsp runny honey
Method:
- Put the hazlenuts into a bowl with the oats. Drizzle with oil and mix well, then spread out on a baking sheet. Toast the oat mixture for 5-10 minutes in the grill/oven until it starts to crisp up. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Put the strawberries and blueberries into a large bowl and add the yoghurt. Stir in the oats and hazelnuts, drizzle with honey and then serve!
Lunch: Chickpea Burgers
Ingredients:
- 2*400g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1tsp ground cumin
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 20g pack of fresh coriander
- 2tbsp plain flour
- Olive oil for frying
Method:
- Dry the chickpeas with kitchen roll, and then put them into a food processor with the garlic, cumin, coriander and onion. Mix together until smooth, then stir in the flour.
- With floured hands, shape the chickpea mixture into 12 small, round burgers and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers in batches for about 2 minutes on each side and then they are ready to serve!
Dinner: Zucchini Spaghetti Bolganese
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- 500g minced beef
- 1 medium carrot
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 can of peeled tomatoes
- 2tbsp tomato puree
- 1tbsp ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Finely chop the onion and carrot. Peel and chop the garlic
- Fry the minced beef in a large pan on medium high heat, stirring well until cooked through.
- In a different pan, fry the diced vegetables, stirring well. Add the garlic, cumin and bay leaf.
- Once the vegetables have softened, add the beef and mix well.
- Add a can of tomatoes and 2tbsp of tomato puree and then fill the empty can with water and add to the sauce as well.
- Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer on a low heat for 2 hours
- Slice the zucchini with a vegetable slicer or use a knife to slice thin spaghetti-like pieces
- Season the zucchini with salt and pepper, then microwave the zucchini for 2-4 minutes until hot
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper and then add the sauce to the zucchini ‘pasta’!
TOP TIP: You can try zucchini pasta with all types of different sauces – why not try it with pesto or in a stir fry!
Desert: Sweet potato cinnamon brownies
Ingredients:
- 240g whole wheat flour
- 120g unswettened cocoa powder
- 1tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 240g cooked sweet potato
- 120g honey
- 60ml olive oil
- 1tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 egg whites
- Icing sugar to sprinkle on top
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C/gas 4
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a food processor, combine sweet potato, honey, oil and vanilla. Puree until smooth and combined.
- Gradually mix all of the ingredients together, adding the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until fluffy, then gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the mixture.
- Grease a baking tin (9 x 9 x 2-inch). Pour the mixture into the tin and place in the oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow brownies to cool, then sprinkle icing sugar over the top of them and they are ready to eat!
Image credits: www.pinterest.com