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Quinoa porridge

November 7, 2014 by ellied

Quinoa porridge is one of my favourite breakfasts at the moment, especially with some fresh homemade nut milk. If you have a batch of cooked quinoa in the fridge, this breakfast can be made with 1 cup of cooked quinoa, heated up in 1 cup of nut milk! Alternatively, follow the steps below to make a warm cereal in the morning. Quinoa is a gluten-free grain, rich in nutrients and high in protein, vitamins and minerals, fibre, and amino acids. So, this porridge is great for getting your brain going in the morning, and works well with the addition of maca powder, which can increase energy. Maca is an ancient root from Peru which has a malty flavour and is packed with vitamins.

Quinoa porridge
Serves 1

1/2 cup quinoa (soaked overnight)
1/2 cup water
1 cup almond milk (or any other nut milk, brazil nut tastes amazing in this!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of nutmeg +cardamom
1 tsp maca powder (optional)
1 mashed banana (optional, but recommended)

In the evening, soak the quinoa overnight – place it in a bowl with about 1 cup of filtered water, cover, and leave on the work top. Soaking activates the quinoa, enhancing the goodness and making it easier to digest. In the morning, drain and rinse the quinoa, place it in the boiling water, cover and cook on a low heat for 12 minutes. After this time, add the nut milk, a pinch of nutmeg and cardamom and the vanilla. If using a banana, mash this in a small bowl and add to the pan. Mix in the maca powder and stir for a couple of minutes until most of the milk has dissolved.

Top your porridge with fruit/nuts/seeds/superfoods. My favourite combination is banana quinoa porridge with cashews, goji berries, cacao nibs and sunflower seeds. What’s yours?

Back to black

November 2, 2014 by ellied

ASOS jacket, NEW LOOK TALL culottes, MANGO jumper, TOPSHOP boots, HM bag

Do you know what sucks? Plans. I had intended to use this half term to get my arse in gear, as I’m sure every student says at the start of each break. I’ll catch up on coursework, I’ll complete a whole load of blogposts, I’ll sort out my UCAS, I’ll go into London then, then and then, etc etc. And were half as much of the thing I wanted to do achieved? Nope. I’m definitely a list-making kind of person, so when writing my to-do’s on my beloved Garance Doré pad, I perhaps get a bit carried away with planning all the one-hundred-and-one things I need to do. So, here I am again, on the day before going back to school, still with needing to start an English essay to hand in tomorrow and an additional ever-growing pile of coursework, with that Sunday feeling creeping up on me. Final year of school and my lesson has still not been learnt.

Moving on, I opted for an almost all black outfit today; styling my black culottes with a leather jacket and leather fringed bag from H&M – which are both equally as enjoyable items to wear as the same time…especially in the breeze…free, floaty and freakin’ fun. You just can’t beat a high-waisted pair of wide-legged trousers to brighten your day.

Crunchy Brown Rice Salad

October 30, 2014 by ellied

Great for easy summer evenings or brightening up dreary autumn day, this salad makes a hearty meal or beautiful side dish to share with family – quite literally a rainbow salad that looks great served in a big bowl on the table. The blend of the almonds, sesame seeds and brown rice gives a rich, nutty flavour, and works beautifully with the colourful, crunchy cabbage and carrot combination (alliteration queen over here). I also love the creamy taste from mix of avocado and hint of tahini in the salad dressing. As you will probably come to learn, tahini is a staple in my cooking and is used a lot in recipes; from salads, breakfast, baking, and of course, hummus. So if you don’t own a jar of the vitamin-rich stuff, I strongly suggest you invest in one, and if you then find the taste a little strange at first, I advise that you learn to love it sister.

Crunchy Brown Rice Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup short grain brown rice
1/2 large red cabbage
1-2 large carrots
1 small red onion
1/2 red chilli
2 spring onions
1 avocado
handful fresh coriander, chopped
pinch of fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 cup almonds, toasted
sprinkle of black/white sesame seeds
black pepper

Dressing:
Juice of 1 small lemon
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp filtered water
1 tsp tamari
black pepper & sea salt

To cook the rice, bring 2 cups of filtered water to the boil, rinse the rice, and place it in a saucepan with sea salt. Cover with a lid, lower the heat and cook gently for about 30 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Once cooked, empty the rice into a bowl and leave to cool.
Dry toast the almonds in a pan until slightly brown and set aside to cool. Once cool, chop into small pieces.
Finely slice the red cabbage and place in a bowl. You could also use a grater or a food processor to chop the cabbage.
Grate the carrot, finely slice the red onion, fresh chilli, spring onions and fresh herbs, and combine with the red cabbage.
Add the diced avocado, chopped almonds, sesame seeds and black pepper.
Combine all the salad dressing ingredients in a small cup or jar and mix together, before pouring onto the salad.

Me by Bryant Lee

October 23, 2014 by ellied

A few shots from a fun little shoot with Bryant Lee in Shoreditch on Sunday. All photographs were taken by Bryant and the outfits were styled by myself. Lots of monochrome, camel and navy tones to sum up the contents of my wardrobe at the moment in just three main outfits. The all-white outfit I picked out was definitely fitting for a sunny Sunday – clinging onto the final rays of warmth before the big drop into excessive layering and 200 denier tights. More photographs will be posted on Bryant’s site soon so stay posted and check out his page for lots of his great work.

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Outfit one: H&M trousers and necklace, TOPSHOP shirt, GAP coat, DR MARTENS shoes, ACCESSORIZE hand-chain.
Outfit two: ASOS leather jacket, NIKE AIR MAX THEA, TOPSHOP culottes and top.
Outfit three: H&M jacket and skirt, GAP jumper, TOPSHOP boots.

Photos by Bryant Lee // mrbrybry.tumblr.com
Styled by me.

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Hola Coat Season

October 4, 2014 by ellied

GAP coat (similar here), MANGO shirt, H&M skirt and necklace, DUNE shoes.

There’s a great feeling you get when wearing a coat with bare legs; it’s like a big coat and sunglasses combo, you just feel good. Unfortunately, this may be the only bare-leg-coat outing I’ll be braving this season as the weather will probably be dropping to -12842°C; this country doesn’t seem to recognise transitional-autumnal weather and just plummets straight into the icy depths of winter. A slight exaggeration perhaps, but the constants rainy, grey, dreary weather is pretty grim.

This camel coat from Gap has returned for another year, being an utter life-saver last winter. It was picked up on a whim in the Gap sale just before Christmas, and was not taken of ever since being excitingly flung out of the box. Unfortunately, living in this coat has taken it’s toll and I’m not sure this jacket will make it through winter ’14/15 too. The buttons just can’t bring themselves to stay attached, even with multiple attempts at re-sewing, and re-sewing, and re-sewing. I don’t know if it’s that my sewing skills aren’t quite up to scratch, but being an A Level textiles student I’d like to think that wasn’t the case. The classic shape and amazing colour of this camel coat will be hard to replace and with that, the boring, yearly winter coat hunt begins. Boring because I can never find the ‘right’ and reasonably priced one, not because of the coats – I love coats.

The boyfriend shirt was another sale purchase, a bargain picked up in Mango. I love the over-sized and thick, soft quality of the cotton, and this style is great for layering in the winter, as well as being teamed with a pair of comfy tailored shorts in the summer, and accessorizing with a good ol’ statement necklace for a feminine touch. This h&m necklace does the trick, but a triplet of dainty necklaces is equally as flattering – basically, I just adore gold necklaces.

Keeping on the topic of wearing items to death, I couldn’t not mention my favourite pair of shoes from Dune. Pointy, monochrome, beautiful – I needn’t say any more – I will be wearing them until the day my pinkies poke through the edge.

Lentil Chilli

September 24, 2014 by ellied

This Lentil Chilli was a little bit of an experiment tonight, hence the random spoonful of tahini and dash of cacao powder – which I would not usually add, however, it strangely worked and although barely noticeable, adds to the flavour and consistency!

Lentil Chilli
Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion
Small chunk fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A small handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1/2 large red chilli
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp oregano
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup green lentils
3 mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
1 tin of kidney beans, drained
1 tbsp tahini
1/2-1 tsp cacao powder
3-4 cups water
sea salt and pepper

Fry the onion, ginger, chilli, coriander and garlic in a pan with coconut oil for about 5-10 minutes..
Add in the spices, tomato puree and stir the contents of the pan together – this should form a sort of paste.
Then rinse the lentils and add them into the pot with the finely chopped mushrooms.
Add about 3 cups of water, sea salt and pepper, and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes add the drained kidney beans, cacao and tahini.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and adding more water if required. After 20 minutes the chilli should be cooked and good to eat, however, you can also continue cooking the chilli for a further 20-30 minutes on a very low heat to really soften and blend the ingredients.

Sundays are for shawls

September 21, 2014 by ellied

V.FRAAS shawl (via TKMaxx), TOPSHOP jeans and boots, GAP t-shirt

The shawl/poncho/blanket/ginormous scarf is definitely the perfect lazy-Sunday accessory of chose. Simply pick up some jeans sprawled across your bedroom floor, sling on a white tee, wrap the cosy contraption round your bod and you have a half-attempt of an actual outfit.

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato, Lentil Salad & Tahini Dressing

September 17, 2014 by ellied

This meal is a definite favourite of my mum and I, and although this one is made with sweet potato, the salad is equally delicious with a roasted butternut squash cubes to replace to sweet potato! It’s really easy to prepare and makes a great packed lunch. The tahini dressing is a personal fav – used on pretty much anything – and I obviously used more on my salad than is picture above (did it or the ‘gram).

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato, Lentil Salad & Tahini Dressing
Serves two

The roasted potato:
3 small sweet potatoes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp paprika
pink/sea salt and black pepper
fresh or dried coriander
chopped fresh chilli (optional)
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
A handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds

The lemon-tahini dressing: (will make enough with some left over…maybe)
3 tbsp tahini
2-4 tbsp filtered water (more if needed)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic glove
Pepper

The rest:
1 cup green lentils
1 small red onion
1 avocado
Fresh coriander
1 tsp sumac
Large handfuls of rocket/arugula
1 cooked beetroot (optional)

Wash, peel and slice the sweet potato into cubes, toss with the spices, salt, pepper, optional coriander and melted coconut oil. Roast in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. Once they have been cooking for 30 minutes, chuck in the seeds to toast.

Cook the lentils in 2 cups of water for about 30 minutes on a low heat.

Make the dressing and prepare the rest of the ingredients. Once everything is ready, assemble and drizzle with the tahini dressing – store any left over dressing in the fridge, however, feel free to use it all if you want to and just go by your own judgement.

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Vegetable, Lentil Coconut Curry

September 1, 2014 by ellied

I’ve always been a massive fan of spicy food, end of. So, with butternut squash being one of my favourites, this curry is definitely one of my favorites.

The blend of spices, vegetables, exceptionally good fats from the coconut oil and coconut milk, and fresh ginger, creates this hearty, tasty dish that’s equally as amazing for our bodies. It’s also very simple and easy to make!

Butternut squash, as well as fiery tasting red chillies are a very good source of Vitamin C and are high in potassium and iron. The fresh ginger and spices, such as turmeric and cumin, have amazing anti-inflammatory properties. Coconuts provide good fats that are mostly in the form of medium chain saturated fatty acids (MCFA), compared to the majority of oils in our diets, are composed of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA). MCFA are very different and are thought to a positive effect on cholesterol, lowering heart disease. Consumption of coconut milk can also protect the body from infections and viruses. I like to use organic Biona coconut milk, as it is pure coconut rather than coconut milks that contain synthetic pesticides and fertilisers. So, this dish is a great blend of nourishing ingredients and is full of rich flavour.

Vegetable, Lentil Coconut Curry
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large red onion

2 garlic gloves

1 thumbs-sized chunk of fresh ginger

A handful of fresh coriander (plus more to serve)

1 red chilli

2 cups water

1 tin of organic coconut milk (I use Biona)

1 butternut squash

1 cup red split lentils

60g trimmed beans

60g mangetout

1/2 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper & 1/2 yellow pepper

1 large tomato (cut into quarters)

2 spring onions

2 handfuls spinach (sliced in a bunch)

Black pepper & Pink Himalayan or sea salt

Juice of 1 lime (optional)

Spices:

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp yellow mustard seeds (grind in pestle and mortar)

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Heat the coconut oil in a pan and then fry the diced onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and coriander for about 5-10 minutes.
Add the squash, boiling water, and coconut milk into the pot and put the lid on, cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Then add the lentils and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Add the vegetables and sliced tomato and continue cooking for another 20 minutes. At this stage you may wish to add more water.
Towards the end chuck in the spinach, turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lime (if you want to).
Serve with fresh coriander, brown rice, quinoa, or whatever you fancy.

White On White

September 1, 2014 by ellied

TOPSHOP top and necklace, MANGO shorts, WHISTLES bag, LOTTAFROMSTOCKHOLM clogs (here)

I think the beauty of the all white outfit is that you can sort of just throw on two white pieces, a statement necklace, some sandals and shove your frizzy mess of a hair up, and it almost looks as though you’ve made an effort; when in reality approx. 60 seconds was spent getting ready.