Somehow this works.

After a long summer hiatus I'm back, in a new (my old) city, full of fresh and exciting produce and exotic influences. 

But before we dive in, here's a quick and gorgeous summer salad I discovered during my travels in Spain. 

You'll need:

1/2 an avocado

handful of salad leaves, I used Florette Crispy mix but anything with a mild, fresh flavour works just as well

90g raw king prawns

parmesan 

lemon for squeezing

olive oil

1. Fry your prawns on a medium-high heat in a little olive oil for 4-5 minutes until pink and fully cooked. 

2. Slice up your avocado. In a bowl, mix up your salad, avocado and prawns. 

3. To serve, dress with a dash of olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon and as many parmesan shavings as you like. 

Feed! 

Chocolate is tremendously versatile, and these never fail to impress. 

Makes around 30. 

You'll need:

4 bars dark chocolate

1 bar milk chocolate

4 passion fruits

3 tbsp coconut oil 

mug of cocoa powder

1. Scoop out your passion fruit seeds and place aside in a small bowl. 

2. Heat up your milk chocolate, and 2 bars of dark chocolate in the bowl using a bain-marie technique over very low heat, until nearly melted but not completely. 

3. Take off the heat, and stir in your coconut oil until all blended. 

4. Stir in your passion fruit seeds. 

5. Pour this mixture into a shallow dish, and place in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours. This will be your melt-in-the-mouth truffle filling. 

4. Remove your filling from the fridge and set aside. Meanwhile, using a bain-marie melt the last 2 bars of dark chocolate. Put your cocoa powder into a shallow bowl, and set up a chocolate station with your filling, melted chocolate, powder, and an empty plate for the finished product. 

I know it's not beautiful, but its the tastiest kind of mess. 

5. To shape your filling, you can use a teaspoon to scoop out and roll small balls, or use a knife to coax out more organic chunks.

6. One by one, dip in your melted chocolate and roll in the cocoa powder, before placing on the plate to set. 

Leave in the fridge to set for an hour or so.

These can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks, or kept in the freezer for a later date. 

The passion fruit can be replaced with any other fruit, nut butter, or with liqueur (using a mug of gently heated champagne works wonders). 

Coconut oil can be replaced with 150g butter, and you can get creative with toppings too e.g. chopped nuts, desiccated coconut. 

Enjoy the possibilities!

Having woken up with a cold, I needed me some Vitamin C. 

This tastes of summer days. 

You'll need:

a handful of red cabbage

2 medium tomatoes

1/2 avocado

1 tbsp capers

1/2 grapefruit

2 fingers of feta 

1 tbsp olive oil

squeeze of lemon

1. Slice your cabbage into strips, your tomatoes, avocado, grapefruit and feta into bite size pieces. Save the juice that comes out of the grapefruit whilst slicing for your dressing. 

2. Mix everything together, and throw in your capers. 

3. Dress with 1 tbsp olive oil, the grapefruit juice, a little salt and pepper if you like, and finally a good squeeze of lemon. 

Summer, here we come..

You'll need:

5 limes

2 cans coconut milk (full fat is best)

1/2 mug honey 

1 mug water

desiccated coconut (optional)

1. Place a shallow dish in your freezer to chill. Grate the rinds of the 5 limes and set aside. 

2. In a pan on low heat, mix your honey and water until dissolved into a sweet syrup. 

3. Take out the shallow dish, pour in your coconut milk, syrup and squeeze in the juice of the limes. 

4. Add your lime rind, and a good shake of desiccated coconut. The sweetness of the mixture can be adjusted to suit your tastes - just heat up a little more honey with a few tbsps water to add. 

5. Place mixture in the freezer. Once an hour for 3-4 hours, take out of the freezer and thoroughly comb through with a fork to achieve a granita texture. 

Great served with melted dark chocolate. 

This is warm hugs, organised mornings, and relaxed evenings in Dubai Marina. 

You'll need:

3 tbsp oats (quinoa works too)

1/2 breakfast bowl equivalent of almond milk

1/2 " " coconut milk 

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

grated dark chocolate 

honey

1. In a saucepan over low heat, add your liquids and oats. Stir on a very low heat until cooked, and the consistency turns sticky and thick (about 10 minutes). 

2. Take off heat, stir in a squeeze of honey, your cinnamon and nutmeg. 

3. In your serving vessel, layer with the grated chocolate. 

You can either eat this warm as a dessert, or chill in the fridge overnight for a fabulous breakfast. 

Staring at cabbage sometimes inspires me. 

You'll need: 1 salmon fillet

1 large handful of chopped cabbage

1 leek, prepared and chopped

For the marinade:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp chilli paste (or a fresh bird's eye chilli) 

2 tsp honey (cuts the acidity) 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp soy sauce 

1 tsp Thai fish sauce (available in most UK supermarkets and the good French ones)

1. Preheat your oven to 200 C. Line a tray with aluminium foil, and place your vegetables inside with the salmon on top. Season your salmon with a little salt/pepper, lightly season the vegetables. 

2. Mix all sauce ingredients together, and pour mainly over the salmon, but flick over the vegetables too. 

3. Cover with foil, and bake for 12 minutes. Rest for 2-3 minutes before opening. 

Serve with brown rice for the perfect fitness food. 

This dinner was the bomb. 

Take pity on that last pumpkin in the store. 

You'll need:

1 large disheveled slice of pumpkin

4 shallots, finely chopped

olive oil

vegetable stock cube 

salt/pepper

a blender (hand-held is fastest)

1. Pour a few good glugs of olive oil into your soup pan, add your shallots and soften over a low heat until golden. 

2. De-seed and peel your pumpkin, cut it up into small chunks with a large surface area:volume ratio. 

3. To the pan, add the pumpkin, a few good shakes of salt and pepper, and crumble the stock cube. Mix well, then cover and leave to cook on a very low heat for 30 minutes until soft and falling apart. 

4. Take off the heat, blend until smooth. Add 2-3 mugs of water depending on preferred consistency. 

This soup can sit on your stove for around 2 days, or in the fridge for 3 and can also be frozen and reheated at a later date.  

Just make sure you heat it all the way through each time before serving. 

A week of the lurgy causes me to sidle tentatively over to the more robust British repertoire. 

You will need:

1 steak, room temperature

couple handfuls of mushrooms

1 leek, topped and tailed and finely sliced 

beer (it works)

3 tbsp chickpeas

soy sauce as an afterthought

1. Heat a pan to a high heat, if you're using oils make sure it has a high smoking point. Cook your steak - I like mine a few minutes each side, medium veering towards well done. 

2. Whilst you're waiting, finely chop your vegetables. 

3. After the steak is done, remove from the pan and throw in the mushrooms, leek and chickpeas. You'll get all of those magical beefy juices. Add a good glug of beer, season with some salt and pepper. Reduce to simmer for 7 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

4. Once the alcohol has evaporated and the sauce has reduced to a concentrate, you're done. 

I added some soy sauce, made the whole thing even better. 

Ideal for pre/post workout when you're travelling. Or studying. Or peckish. 

Works with any dried fruit or nuts. 

You'll need:

1 handful pitted dates

1 handful dried figs 

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 handful cashew nuts 

pinch of salt (trust me) 

2 tbsp desiccated coconut 

1. Chop everything up into smaller pieces. In a bowl, mix all ingredients EXCEPT the coconut, together thoroughly. 

2. Line a tray with baking paper. Press in the mixture until flat and compact. Sprinkle coconut over the top and press in slightly. 

3. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. 

You can cut these into bars, squares, or if you press the mixture into a very thin rectangle it can be rolled and cut like a swiss roll. 

A leaner mediterranean flavoured quiche, ideal for picnics in the park. 

You'll need:

5 eggs

2/3 red pepper

1/3 yellow pepper

handful pitted black olives 

3-4 fingers feta cheese

1/3 mug of milk (almond or soy will also work)

dried oregano 

salt/pepper 

1. Preheat oven to around 200C - this was a '2' for me. 

2. Finely chop up your solid ingredients. 

3. Beat your eggs THOROUGHLY, add milk, herbs and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Whisk a little more - you'll get arm definition.

4. Lightly olive oil a shallow circular tin, throw in your solid ingredients and then pour over the egg mixture. 

5. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until just cooked in the middle but still fluffy.

First of the 'What do I do with...' series, taking awkward vegetables and turning them into magic. 

You'll need:

2 garlic cloves

4 or 5 asparagus

1/2 aubergine

olive oil

dried herbs- oregano, herbs de provence.. whatever you have around

dried vegetable/ chicken shakeable seasoning

salt/pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 200-220 C. 

2. Chop up your asparagus, aubergine, garlic cloves, place in a baking tray. Add a glug of olive oil, shake over some seasoning, herbs, a little salt and pepper. Mix it around with your hand. 

3. COVER in aluminium foil and bake for 15 minutes. 

Feed. 

The basic ingredients are here, it's up to you to figure out how exactly how you like it. 

You'll need:

oats/ muesli

almond milk/ oat milk/ soy milk

nut butter (almond, peanut, walnut, etc.)

maple syrup/ honey

nuts

dried fruits 

spices, if you like

NESQUIKKKKK (or melt dark chocolate if you can be bothered)

1. Preheat your oven to around 200C.  Sorry, my french over just has '1-2-3' written on it so most of the time I really have no clue what's going on. 

2. On a low heat on the stove, pour a mug of your milk into a saucepan. Add around 2 loaded tablespoons of nut butter, and 1 tbsp of nesquik, a little honey/maple syrup, and stir until it all melts. Taste and adjust accordingly. 

2. Fill a big bowl about 2/3 with oats, I tend to throw a whole bag in. Add other dry ingredients like dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, whatever you feel like. Pour in the warm milky mixture and stir until it looks like this:

If you need more liquid, add some more milk. More chocolate, get crazy. 

3. Add spices and give one final mix before transferring to a large, shallow baking tray. Use your hands to break apart the mixture into biteable chunks. 

4. Place in the oven. Leave for about 8 minutes, take it out and use a fork to break up the chunks a little. Bring the cereal on the edge of the pan, and move what's in the middle to the edges (so they all dry out evenly). 

5. Every 6-7 minutes you can repeat this process, until it gets to your desired crunch level. I tend to take it out twice, so it has 3 rounds of baking. 

Let it cool, and store in an airtight container. Perfect with yogurt and fruit, milk, or on its lonesome. 

Feed. 

I have newly acquired The Body Book by Cameron Diaz - which I do recommend as a basic introduction to health and the like - and the amount of times black beans are mentioned within made me feel like something beany. 

This is a stew thing which will last for a few days in the fridge, and can be added to salads (more details below), used as an omelette filling, or simply eaten on its own. 

You'll need:

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste

400g kidney beans, drained

small jar of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

olive oil

salt & pepper (optional)

1. Heat up a glug of olive oil in a pan on medium heat, and add in your shallot.

2. Add the beans and tomato paste. Cover and leave to simmer on a low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

3. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and turn off the heat. Season to taste. 

For saladtimes: chop up 1-2 baby gem lettuces, half an avocado, 2 fingers worth of feta cheese and add some Beanspiration. I would recommend you dress it with lemon juice and a little olive oil, but I'm all out of lemons and used balsamic vinegar instead. It still works, you'll just get a sepia salad.

One of the best. Use the measurements as guidelines and adjust it to your tastebuds. 

Makes 4-5 

a plastic bag full of fresh spinach

potato the size of a man's fist

handful of cashew nuts

4 large garlic cloves

1 large white onion (I used an oignon doux des Cévennes)

1 courgette

1 stick celery

2 fingers of butter 

glug of olive oil

salt

ground pepper

1 1/2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes 

handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley

You'll need a large soup pan with a lid. 

1. Soften the chopped up garlic and onion in the butter on a low heat for about 7 minutes, stir to prevent burning.

2. Add in finely sliced potato, celery,courgette. Throw in a good 2 or 3 large pinches of salt, some vigorous shakes of pepper, and a glug of olive oil. Place the lid on the pan and soften for 10-15 minutes on a low heat. 

3. Add the spinach, stirring well to coat it with all that vegetabley juiciness. Crumble in your stock cubes, and leave on a low heat with the lid on for 7-10 minutes, or until the spinach has completely softened. 

4. Throw in the cashew nuts, and the parsley. Blend until smooth (I use a hand-held blender, it makes me feel powerful). 

5. Add water until it reaches the consistency you want, and heat the whole thing through on the stove until it's steaming hot. 

Please excuse my photography.