Carrot & courgette bars of loveliness

Carrot cake is one of my weaknesses… nice cup of rooibos and a freshly baked carrot cake. I’m not talking about the coffee shop versions that are a little too ‘mainstream’ for me (makes me sound like a right twazzock, doesn’t it?!). One of my old work friends used to bring in a gorgeous carrot cake that her mum made… oh my heavenly taste buds. What a freaking delight and joy. There’s something about the freshness of the carrot, the blend of gorgeous spices and the little pockets of sweetness that make it a melt-in-your-mouth orgasm. Yum. I was never too crazy about the icing though (any icing actually)… it was a little too sweet for me and felt like it would plaster itself directly on my waist or hips. Hips smeared in icing might be your kind of thing, you kinky minx, but it ain’t mine.

So with my mind occasionally frolicking off in a carrot cake day dream, it was bound to make it’s way into my recipe collection at some point. I’ve been looking for a lower carb snack bar that I can share with my clients (and for me too, obviously!) in my 4 week fat blitzing programmes. And so when I stumbled across a courgette muffin recipe that I could adapt and change to make a healthy version of carrot cake, I jumped at it! (And if I had a bowl big enough, me and my hips would be swimming in it too…. mmmmm…)

Carrot & courgette bars of loveliness

Now I’m not a baker. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. So one of my absolute rules about things that I try to bake is that they have to be EASY. And these beauties are…. They’re quick, easy and relatively cheap. Not unlike some of the girls I went to school with! 😉 (I’m kidding ladies, you’re all well classy chicks and I love you enormously).

So here’s the recipe! It’s dairy free, grain free and refined sugar free… but tastes yummy. And it’s good for you (although not if you eat the entire batch in one sitting. Don’t do that.) I’d love to see some pics if you make them – just tag @NutriBelleUK in them on Facebook or Insta!

Carrot & courgette bars
Makes 6-8 bars

Mix all the ingredients together

1 cup grated carrot (roughly 1 medium carrot)
1 cup grated courgette (roughly ¾ medium courgette)
2 eggs whisked
1 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of nutmeg
Bit of allspice
1 tbsp honey
1 cup ground almonds
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup sultanas and dates
2 tbsp seeds

• Pre-heat oven to 180C
• In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients (except the seeds) together well.
• Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Tip out the carrot mix and pat down to fill in all the corners. You want it to be around 1.5cm thick. Sprinkle over the seeds across the top.
• Bake for up to 25min, or until the mix is set and is golden.
• Leave to cool, then cut into bars or squares. I got 6-8 good sized bars from this.

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Happy International Hummus Day!

Yes, apparently that’s an actual thing. Who comes up with this stuff? It’s awesome!

As a lover of hummus, I figured it would be rude not to get involved in the celebrations… so I whipped up a little batch of my Nigella-inspired nutty hummus! Usually when you’re making hummus, you add tahini (or sesame butter) to it – but in this recipe, instead of seed butter, we’re going with my kitchen staple nut butter! And when hummus and nuts collide, it’s a damn fine thing I tell ya!

I used 100% chunky peanut butter in this recipe, but it would work with almond butter too. Whatever you do though, try to make sure that you’re using 100% nut butter – it does limit your choice to just a few brands on the supermarket shelves, but you skip a whole heap of sugar, salt and added oil nasties that you don’t need.

Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients (makes three portions)

Nutty hummus for International Hummus Day

• 1 tin (400g) chickpeas
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp crunchy (or smooth if you prefer) peanut butter
• 1 tbsp cashew nuts
• Lemon juice (I used a whole lemon, but use as much as you need)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-3 tsp garlic powder (more if you prefer it garlicky)
• Chilli flakes if you like it hot
• salt
• small amount of water if needed (or you could use Greek yoghurt to thin it out)

Chuck all the ingredients into the food processor and blitz it up. Add water, a tablespoon at a time, if it’s too thick and stodgy for you, or add in some Greek yoghurt for a creamier version. You could also add more lemon juice or soy sauce to loosen it.

To serve, drizzle with either a little more olive oil or sesame oil, or hoisin sauce, or sprinkle paprika over. Eat with a big salad for lunch, spread on a wholemeal pita bread with cucumber slices, dip carrots and other crudites in for kicks, or just eat with a spoon!

And have a happy hummus day! I wonder what other yummy food days they’ll dream up next…. International Day of Cheese? Mmmmmmm……