Archive for June, 2011

Oh dear..

I could not possibly post such decadence straight after Lisa Raleigh’s healthy tips and so I decided to make a low fat, free range roast vegetable lasagne to sandwich between the good and the evil.

Burnt butter is so easy and simple, yielding both a subtle and robust flavour.

I love the combination of something sweet with burnt butter, (ok I actually like sugar with everything) and so I add butternut ravioli, or in this case Woolworth’s Pansotti.

This makes a perfect dinner party starter for 4 or light lunch for 2. It’s way too rich and almost bland to eat alone in large quantities and just wrong to eat with a side salad. You need to wrap your tongue around the velvety pasta and take in the nutty butter with no other distracting textures or tastes.

DELIZIOSO!

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I have two Lisa’s to thank for this yummy recipe:

Lisa Brink (Delicious!) who came up with the easy concept of Mediterranean style lasagne without having to make a white sauce

Lisa Raleigh who is a low-fat, free range, organic vegetarian and wrote my last guest blog without scaring off my customers ( I anticipated suggestions of 500 squats after each Italian class).

With easy –to- shop- for ingredients, this recipe is simple enough for your domestic worker to make and ALL the ingredients are used leaving no wastage and NO pots!

Add a small ready roasted free range chicken, flaked, for a mid-week meal or halve the recipe and only add chicken to your husband’s portion if you must.

It’s also painless to halve the entire recipe as it’s only the lasagne that cannot be halved without waste

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 We all love the decadence of an authentic Italian meal, but few of us can enjoy it guilt-free whilst well aware that we are tucking into a creamy, rich and carbo-crammed meal.

The good news is: if you choose your options wisely and enjoy these dishes in moderation, there are plenty of legitimate health benefits for you to enjoy!

Calcium
High quality cheeses like Parmesan and Romano are typically used in traditional Italian dishes.

Whilst it is only a small amount that stands to benefit you, a dashing of these delicious cheeses will give you bone-strengthening calcium whilst adding richness to your meal.

Cooked Tomatoes
A staple in almost any Italian dish, cooked tomatoes have extra credibility over their raw counterparts.

The levels of the powerful antioxidant lycopene increase as they are heated, banishing free radicals with every bite of that bolognaise.
 

Olive Oil
Traditional Italian dishes often provide us with an excellent excuse for glugging that olive oil into sauces and pastas, but remember it is only raw olive oil that holds health benefits for you. Enjoying it as an appetiser with fresh bread, drizzling it over your salads and pastas or using it in homemade pesto are all excellent ways to improve your heart health. It is still high in fat though, so do your best to enjoy a maximum of one teaspoon per meal.

Garlic
This immune-boosting entity is excellent at warding off illnesses as it has antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiprotozoal properties. It is almost a given with any delicious pizza and pasta, so enjoy using this as a well-deserved excuse for garlic breath!

So there you have it. Even the most decadent and delicious foods can have healthy benefits if you enjoy them correctly – the proof is in the pasta!

Written by
Lisa Raleigh, TV personality, Author, Lifestyle and Wellness expert.
www.lisaraleigh.co.za
lisa@lisaraleigh.co.za
@LisaRaleighSA – twitter
Youtube- LisaRaleighTV

Potato soup, while hearty and delicious, is quite understated and simple and I felt the need to accessorise it for my first course of the year.

And so began a few days of trying out every possible soup accompaniment.

From pesto bruschetta to parmesan croutons, toasted nuts and seeds to herbed butters, I was unable to find (more…)

If you are going to host a sassy La Dolce Vita- style dinner party, standing about in your stilettos and red lipstick stirring over a pot just won’t do!

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LOVE LOVE LOVE the new heart shaped pastel wafers from Nicoletta.

Their delicate little pink hearts were used on my chocolate icing for the cupcake course and the white ones were so delicate and light, they sat obediently perched on top of the lightest fluffiest whipped meringue icing-anything else would have weighed down the meringue or fallen off.

These large ones come  with an edible food colour Koki (in pink of course) so you can write little love notes for lunch boxes, cupcakes and cakes, or pop them in whipped cream on a pavlova!

This is such a speedy and fuss free way to prepare midweek chicken.

It’s packed with flavour and the dish is versatile enough to be served with salad in summer or vegetables and potatoes in this chilly weather.

Don’t be easily misled by “light” coconut milk labels.

Check the nutritional content first, you may be surprised to find that some brands like SPAR regular coconut milk is lower in fat than other brands “light” coconut milk!

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