by independentkitchen | Tuesday, November 27, 2018 | Diet |
My diet has changed too many times to count. I have cut out dairy, meat, eggs, wheat, and even entire food groups – high fat low carb, low fat high carb, you name it, all in the quest to find the “healthiest” diet. What does “healthy” even mean? If I think back to my teens and early 20s, I’d have probably said healthy meant slim. I had no clue about macro or micronutrients. I...
by independentkitchen | Tuesday, January 24, 2017 | Travel & Lifestyle |
In December 2013 I began Independent Kitchen to document my escapades in the kitchen. My motivation for starting the blog was to share my love of all things food with my friends and family. Almost 100 posts later, my recipes have been featured on Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Strength and Stretches and Demuth’s Cookery School to name a few. Independent Kitchen’s main focus has always been on well sourced ingredients from local independent retailers. I have created a collection of recipes as well as mapping independent businesses I...
by independentkitchen | Wednesday, January 11, 2017 | Food, Soups |
Happy 2017! To welcome in the new year, I have made a delicious broccoli and blue cheese soup to share with you. This recipe is an excellent way to use up any extra cheese you have leftover from the holiday season so be adventurous, any cheese from stilton to cheddar will work. I used a Wensleydale blue made in a county close to my heart – Yorkshire! I studied at the University of Leeds...
by independentkitchen | Thursday, August 11, 2016 | Salads |
I have just come back from an awesome week in Berlin. I haven’t been to Germany since I was young and after spending the week exploring I have fallen in love with both the culture and the capital. On the final day I went to a traditional German restaurant in the city centre, where after a week of a diet mainly consisting of weißbier and chips I was grateful to finally find salad on the menu. ...
by independentkitchen | Sunday, July 17, 2016 | Food, Main Dishes |
Carbonara is a very well-known yet misunderstood recipe, as so many people get it wrong, either adding milk or cream or letting the eggs become scrambled. Traditionally, the Italians use dried cured unsmoked pork called pancetta, however I have substituted mushrooms which offer an earthy flavour, especially when sauteed in olive oil. Other than the swap of mushrooms for pancetta, I have kept the sauce very traditional, using only eggs, parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper. I...
by independentkitchen | Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | Snacks and Appetisers |
This superfood sprinkle is easy to throw together and keeps in an airtight jar for months. I use it in smoothies, to top my porridge, bircher, oat and fruit jars, over yoghurt or even as a tasty healthy snack on its own. This recipe is also fully adaptable, just use whatever packet of nuts, seeds or dried fruit you have in the house. Superfood Sprinkle Hemp Seeds Bee Pollen Milled Linseeds Cacao Nibs Chia Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Sunflower...
by independentkitchen | Wednesday, June 22, 2016 | Breakfast and Brunch, Food |
Smashed avocado on toast is one of my favourite weekend brunch meals. Add a poached egg on top and I’m in heaven. So, as it is asparagus season, why not throw some lightly cooked asparagus on top to make the ultimate Spring breakfast! This recipe is super easy with only a handful of ingredients. I find the key to perfect poached eggs is a splash of apple cider vinegar in the water, it keeps...
by independentkitchen | Tuesday, June 14, 2016 | Breakfast and Brunch, Food |
A few years ago I went through a phase of making raw buckwheat porridge EVERY DAY, so I am surprised it has taken me this long to write about it. I have used organic ingredients as part of the Soil Association‘s #WakeUpToOrganic campaign, which I purchased from my local Bristol health stores Harvest, Scoopaway and Better Food Company. There are plenty of versions of buckwheat porridge online, however I like to keep the base ingredients simple and...
by independentkitchen | Sunday, June 12, 2016 | Food, Sweets and Treats |
I made these fudgy coconut brownies for a bake sale we are hosting at work to raise money for WaterAid. Therefore, they are not full of beetroot, black beans or any other substitute I usually use to make brownies “healthier”. However, I cannot make a recipe without meddling a little, so to make the brownies even more coconutty, I replaced butter with coconut oil. They are therefore dairy-free for all you lactose intolerant folks (however not vegan). They...
by independentkitchen | Saturday, June 4, 2016 | Food, Main Dishes |
Falafel is a staple recipe across the Middle East and North Africa, so it is no surprise that the recipe varies greatly from region to region. I have posted two versions of falafel before, 5 bean and almond falafel, and the falafel wraps I made when I was catering at Rumbellion Festival. Both recipes I followed no specific ingredient list, process or regional variation. I just added what I had available in my cupboards and went on...