cheap, healthy, delicious.
Date and Walnut Cake
Ingredients
6oz self-raising flour
6oz sugar
6oz butter
3 eggs
Handful of finely chopped walnuts
Handful of finely chopped dates
Splash of strong, black coffee
Method
Preheat the oven to Gas 4
Grease and line a 9″ round cake tin (I use cake tin liners, they are cheap and guarantee you can remove your cake from the tin successfully!)
Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed
OR… Cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly (don’t worry if it curdles). Fold in the flour, dates and walnuts. Finally, stir in the coffee
Spoon into the lined cake tin and bake for around 50 minutes. Keep an eye on it, if it is going brown too quickly, pop a double layer of tin foil over it.
It’s easiest to remove from the tin after it has cooled.
Lesson 1 – Healthy Chicken Noodles on a Budget
We made chicken noodles in today’s Joy of Food introductory lesson. This recipe is simple, quick, cheap and much healthier than your standard pot noodle, or chicken chow mein. At a cost of around 90p per portion, the price is comparable with even the cheapest of ready meals – with no hidden nasties. We bought from a local, independent shop, not a supermarket. If you have one of the big retailers near you, you could probably get the ingredients for even less. Obviously, you can use whatever vegetables, meat, herbs and spices you have available. This recipe is just a starting point for you to add your own ideas to.
Ingredients (makes 4 generous portions)
2 medium chicken breasts (or substitute for quorn, tofu, other meat – or leave out altogether)
1 red onion
1 red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 head of broccoli
1 tin of sweetcorn
4 dried egg noodle portions (nests or slabs)
3 or 4 mugs of water (add as needed)
2 tbsp. Oil
Soy sauce
Sweet chilli sauce
Black pepper
Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Add the onion, cook for a minute then add the garlic. You are aiming to cook without too much colouration, so keep the heat down. On a separate chopping board, cut the chicken (or subbed ingredient) into bite sized chunks, add to the onions and garlic. Keep turning the chicken until it is sealed on the outside. Chop your broccoil into smallish florets, and add to the pan with the noodles, water and sweetcorn. This will take a few minutes to cook, keep an eye on it, and add more water according to whether you want it soup-y or noodle-y. Once the chicken is no longer translucent, the dish is cooked. Add pepper, soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce to taste.
