Hellim (hallumi) oat fritters

Every now and then when I flick through Pinterest I see a glimpse of fritters and I never really committed to making them till I saw a friend of mine make them. My inspiration was instantly sparked and the next day I made fritters using her recipe. After devouring my portion I thought to myself I could make these more healthier. So I swapped flour for oat flour and instantly your fritters have more of a healthy benefit to you.

Oats supports healthy weight loss as it’s a low calorie food that slows digestion and allows you to feel fuller for longer. Which ideally should help carb any midday cravings.

To create oat flour I buy rolled oats and blend them in my food processor till they turn into a fine grain and I put them in a air tight container ready for any recipe that calls for them.

I’d also like to mention that I make dairy exceptions for hellim as I know exactly where the one I buy comes from. My cousin has her own farm with goats and sheep that she hand milks and creates beautiful hellim from. There are organic brands of hellim (hallumi) you can buy which ideally is better.

Anyway I’ve rambled enough so without furtherado the recipe is as follows:

You will need:

• 1 block hallumi, grated
• 1 large courgette, washed & grated
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk of choice
• 1 Tbsp dried mint
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Cayenne pepper
• Olive oil

How to:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together apart from the olive oil and pour the cup of milk slowly while stirring, you may not need to use the whole cup depending on the consistency of your batter.
2. Meanwhile oil your pan and heat the oil, have to heat on low.
3. Using a spoon gently spoon 2 discs into your pan and flip once you notice bubbles on the surface, then cook for another minute and stack just like pancakes.

Serve with whatever you like, I had avocado and sundried tomatoes and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

Spinach & Chicken Meatballs

As someone who suffers from low iron I try to think of new ways to incorporate food high in iron into my diet. Luckily my mum is always showing me new dishes and of course I am learning from the best ;-P. This is a meal that is high in protein and will help you if you have low iron. Also, don’t think you need to have low iron to eat spinach! Spinach is great for your skin, your eyes, the lining in your stomach – preventing constipation, it flushes toxins out of your colon and is full of vitamins like vitamin K, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin A, copper, folate, magnesium, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. It is an excellent source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, protein, and choline. Need I say more to convince you to eat more spinach?

 

You will need:

• 1kg chicken mince
• 1 spanish onion, grated
• 4 large bags of washed spinach
• 250g chopped tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• 100g all purpose flour

Preparation:

1. Mix your onion’s with your chicken mince and add salt and pepper to season. Roll your chicken mince into small little balls, dusting them lightly with the flour, making sure to coat them evenly.
2. In a pan pour in some olive oil of about 1cm depth, then once your oil is hot, add a few meatballs at a time to shallow fry each side until lightly brown.
3. Once your meatballs are done, put them to the side and pour in some olive oil into a deep pan, with your pan on a low heat. In small increments you want to cook down your spinach, (don’t worry, it may look like a lot, but it will all cook down and disappear). Make sure your spinach doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan.
4. Then add in your tomatoes and once those have softened you can add in your meatballs and a little bit of water if you want your dish to be a bit watery.
5. Add in your meatballs and at this point you can season with more salt and pepper if you wish. Cover with a lid and allow to boil gently.
6. Then serve with a dollop of greek yogurt and enjoy!

 

Courgette, prawn & pesto spaghetti

If you’re like me and have the weakest spot for pasta then this will tickle you in every possible way! This dish is specifically targeted towards anyone on a low carb diet, or just for anyone who wants to eat something delicious without feeling bloated at the end. It is very very low in carbs and this dish is suitable for vegans and vegetarians once you take the prawns out and buy vegan pesto or make your own.

You will need:

• 600g spiralized courgette
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 400g raw prawns
• 190g pesto
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Cherry tomatoes
• Basil (for garnishing)
• Black pepper

Preparation:

1. Heat up your saucepan and drizzle your olive oil in. Once that’s heated, add in your onions and garlic and stir until they are translucent.

2. Add in your prawns, cook them until they turn pink.

3. Throw in your courgette and mix your prawns through. At this point some liquid will come out, you may pour the liquid away or keep it. I kept it, to thin out the pesto.

4. Scoop your pesto onto the courgette and gently stir in.

5. Once your courgette has warmed up, turn the heat off and decorate with tomatoes, basil and add black pepper. (You may also add a little bit of Parmesan cheese).

Prawn & Cashew Butter Curry

You will need:

• 500g raw king prawns
• Florets of 1 broccoli
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper, chopped (can opt out)
• 2 tbsp Pip & Nut cashew nut butter
• 200g mushrooms, chopped
• 50g coconut cream
• 2 tbsp jerk paste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt for flavour (if it needs it)

Preparation:

1. Make a paste out of the coconut cream and jerk paste and stir in your prawns coating them evenly, then put to the side.

2. Pour in your olive oil to your skillet and once it’s hot add in your garlic and onions. Once they turn translucent, add in your mushrooms, scotch bonnet pepper and broccoli.

3. Once you notice the broccoli soften slightly (you don’t want it mushy, still tender to the bite), you may add in your prawns and cashew butter.

4. Mix everything in nicely, allowing the prawns to turn pink. Taste your curry and if it needs any salt, add it in.

 

Serve this dish on it’s own or with white/brown rice.

Prawn, Kale & Sweet Potato

Easiest meal prep ever! This is basically a mix of a few spices and some garlic tossed together. Super easy to make in under 10 minutes, especially if you’re rushing for time before or after a workout.

You will need:

• 400g raw prawns, deveined and skinned (serves two meal preps)
• 3-4 large handfuls of kale, washed and shredded
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled
• Olive oil
• Chopped coriander (for serving)
  For the Marinade: 
• Cajun, jerk, Peri peri, chilli flakes, cayenne chilli pepper, black pepper, garlic salt.

 

Preparation: 

1. Firstly you’ll need to marinade your prawns in your spices and a drizzle of olive oil. Meanwhile heat up your pan, with no oil and cut slits down your sweet potatoes and wash them, then wrap them in tissue and put them in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, once they are done, leave them in the microwave.
2. Pour your prawns into your hot pan spreading them out evenly and cooking each side until you notice that they are pink. Throw in your kale and stir it into your prawns, coating them with the lovely flavours in the pan.
3. Take your pan off the heat and prepare your sweet potato. You’ll have to gently peel off the tissue and poke your fork into the centre, if it’s hard, put it back in the microwave for another 1-2 minutes. If not, sprinkle some coriander onto your potatoes and serve with your prawns.

I usually get two servings out of this but who’s to say you can’t eat it all at once? If you guys enjoy my recipes and give them a go, don’t forget to tag me and hashtag #eatingwithshen.

Salmon Kebab

Salmon can be difficult to eat sometimes but not with my recipe. These salmon kebabs make eating fish fun, especially for the kids.

You will need:

• 4 pieces of salmon washed, deskinned and chopped into cubes
• A few pieces of fresh coriander, washed

For the marinade:

• 3 tb sp olive oil
• 2 tbsp cajun spices
• 2 tbsp peri peri spices
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes (can opt out)
  
• 1 tbsp cayenne chilli pepper (can opt out)
  
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1tbsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp dried mint

Preparation:

1. Add your salmon into your marinade and sprinkle over coriander pieces. You may cover and put in the fridge over night or allow to marinate for an hour or just cook straight away. However, I’d recommend allowing some marinating time to allow the flavors to infuse into the salmon.
2. Put your oven on gas mark 200 and line a baking tray with baking paper. Using a fork spread your salmon pieces evenly on the tray and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, turning half way to cook evenly on both sides.

You may serve with whatever you wish. I made a basmati, lentil and porchini mushroom rice with a side of kale and it worked so well with the salmon. I hope you enjoy and if you make it don’t forget to tag me and hashtag #eatingwithshen.

How To: Fish Curry

This dish was inspired by a family friend, she was making curry and I fell in love with her sauce. I added my own touches to the dish and that’s the beauty of taking a recipe and making it your own. I first tried the recipe with chicken then I tried it with fish, the techniques are done exactly the same way, nothing is different apart from the meat.

A few years ago you wouldn’t catch me eating such a spicey dish because I couldn’t handle it, but somehow I’ve built myself up over the past year or so and to some people this dish still isn’t spicey but to me it’s tolerable.

You will need:

• 4 salmon fillets chopped into 5cm cubes.
• 2 cod fillets chopped into 5cm cubes.
• 250g raw or cooked king prawns (without shell).
• 2 bramley cooking apples, skinned and chopped into cubes.
• 5 cherry tomatoes, halved.
• 1 whole onion, cut up into small pieces.
• 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped.
• 1 star anise.
• 1 tbsp turmeric.
• 3 tbsp curry powder.
• 1 tbsp cayenne chilli pepper.
• Salt & pepper for taste.
• 1tbsp red chilli flakes.
• 1 red or green chilli, chopped.
• 1-2tbsp olive oil or coconut oil.
• 1 handful of fresh coriander, chopped.
• 400g coconut milk.
• 200g water.

Preparing your meal:

• Firstly you’ll need to make sure your pan is hot, then sprinkle in all of your spices and the anise, turning them with a spatula on the heat. By doing this you activate more of those spices and flavours. Remember to keep turning them, the colour will start to pop more as well.
• Then add in your olive oil/coconut oil and make sure it coats your spices.
• Throw in your garlic, tomato and onions and allow the spices and oil to cover them, then put the heat down and allow those to gently sizzle.
• Once you notice your onions are transparent, place your apples inside and pour in your water. Place the lid on your saucepan and allow the apples to gently soften.
• In this time, you’ll place another saucepan over the heat and allow your pan to heat up. You’ll then place your chunks of salmon and cod in the pan and season them with salt and pepper, (I use garlic herbs but again, it’s your own preference).
• Keep turning the fish so each side gains a nice brown colour and then remove off the heat.
• Then you’ll want to check on your sauce, it should be slowly bubbling and you should notice that some apples have almost melted.
• Remove the star anise then, gently crush the other apples with a spatula.
• Pour in your coconut milk and stir into the sauce and then add all of your fish, including your prawns, then gently continue to boil.
• Stir in your coriander and chopped fresh chilli and if you wish you may also add potatoes to the dish.

Serve this with rice or on its own and let me know what you think :-).

 

Service this with rice or on it’s own and let me know what you think by tagging me on Instagram @iamsheniz or @eattravelinspire using the hashtag #cookingwithshen. I’d love to see your take on this.

Prawn Tacos With A Twist

As of late I’ve been cooking up a storm in the kitchen, trying out new flavours, new techniques ending up with good and bad. I feel like a little kitchen Guinea pig making sure I present only the best to my readers and viewers.

This recipe is inspired by a taste of Los Angeles and Hawaii, Cuba and a bit of my own ideas. I’ve put together tacos, burritos and fajitas into an idea.I hope you guys like it, there is a lot of effort behind this and you will end up with a lot of clutter but it’s oh so worth it for the reward in the end.

You will need: Serves 3-5

• 23-25 prawns, washed, deveined & dried.
• Marinade for prawns: 1tbsp olive oil, 1bsp piri piri powder, 1 tbsp medium curry powder, 1bsp cayenne chilli pepper and half a lemon.
• Fresh washed bunch of coriander.
• 200g pineapple.
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved.
• 150g shredded red cabbage.
• Pina colada sauce for red cabbage: 100ml coconut milk & a few pieces of pineapple blended to your taste. Toss your red cabbage in the sauce leaving some left over sauce to drizzle on prawns later. – You may add rum if you wish but I opted out.
• Guacamole paste with a twist: 2 avacados pitted, half of your coriander, 100g mango, 1-2 jalapeños or mixed chillis, 1 red onion, 1 juice and zest of lime and salt for flavour. Blend this all up to a lumpy paste, you may have it smooth too but I had mine with character.
• Tortilla wraps.
• Red beans.
• Couple of limes.

Preparing your food:

• Firstly you’ll need to marinate your prawns in the sauce above. Leave that covered in a cool place.
• Then you’ll prep all your sauces with the same instruction as above.
• Then cook your pineapple chunks on a griddle pan until they have some colour on each side. Then remove them from the skillet and once they’ve cooled down you can cut them into smaller pieces.
• I used the same skillet for my prawns because the pan is still hot and the prawns will not take long to cook at all!
• While you are cooking your prawns you can cook 1 tortilla at a time. Flipping to show colour on both sides. Then I remove both of my skillets off the heat and start with the good part. I tend to do this to keep my wrap staying warm but of course you can transfer your wrap to a plate and start the wrapping business.
• Firstly you’ll spread your guacamole paste around the middle, then place your Pina colada red cabbage on top, then some coriander, then your grilled pineapple pieces, little bit of your tomatoes, then your prawns, then your red beans. On top of this you’ll want to drizzle your saved Pina colada sauce on your prawns and a squeeze of lime.
• I’d serve mine like that to allow your guests figure out the wrapping and let them eat their food how they like, unless they want you to wrap for them.

These were so refreshing and tasty and took me back to L.A, Cuba and Hawaii. If you try these out tag me on Instagram @eattravelinspire. 😉

How To: Stuffed Salmon

Lately I’ve been experimenting with salmon a lot because it can be hard to eat, especially with the strong flavor, but I think I’ve worked my way around defeating that fishy flavor. I hope you guys try this you and let me know what you think :).

• 4 fresh salmon steaks, washed and skinless.
• 100g goats cheese with chives
• 2 garlic cloves chopped thinly
• bunch of fresh parsley diced
• salt, pepper & paprika
• olive oil

• Preheat your oven on gas mark 180-200, then line an oven proof tray with baking paper.
• Rub your fillets with olive oil, and cut small and large slits into the top of the salmon.
• Slot your garlic slices into the smaller slits and goats cheese evenly into the larger slits.
• Season with salt, pepper and paprika, then sprinkle parsley all over.
• Place in oven and cook for 20 mins or until your fish flakes apart once a fork is poked through.

Enjoy!

How To: Sea Bream, Wasabi Potato Mash & Broad Bean Sauce

I’m always looking for  a healthy yet simple dish to make where I can enjoy it and feel healthy afterwards. This dish is perfect for healthy eating, it has the right amount of carbs, protein and vitamins. The flavors are slightly insane because the basil really pops your taste buds! I never used to be a fan of basil because it would remind me of fatty pizzas that were served for school dinners. HOWEVER I am learning to love basil again :).

You will need: 

6 Sea Bream Fillets
10 Organic Baby Potato’s
2 Tbsp Wasabi Paste
1/2 Cup Organic Milk
1 Tbsp Butter
15 Broad Beans
15 Baby Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper & Parsley To Taste
Basil To Garnish

Preparing Your Food:

• Preheat oven to gas mark 200C. Wash your sea bream fillets and pat dry with tissue. Line a tray with foil and grease with olive oil. Rub the fillets with salt and pepper and place skin side up on the tray. Cook for 5 minutes on each side.
• Meanwhile boil potato’s in salted water and in a separate saucepan cut the broad beans in half and boil for 10 minutes in salted water.
• Peel the skin off of your tomatoes and chop up into quarters. Once the broad beans are cooked, drain the water and drizzle olive oil, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and parsley. Toss in the pan and turn off of heat.
• Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water, add the milk, butter and wasabi paste and stir in, then mash together.
• Serve on a plate, and garnish with basil leaves.

Bon Appetit 🙂