healthy

I’m not one of those who go overboard with holidays that celebrate something we should cherish every single day, such as love. For us, Valentine’s day is just another opportunity to spend some precious time together and do something that we both like. Big foodies as we are, we love cooking together and have fun in the kitchen. I won’t deceive you, his help is more similar to standing beside me and taking small orders, but he’s trying very hard and I love that ♥ (he also cooked the fish entirely by himself and please, do admit that it looks tasty!).

We decided to make something healthy, something we wouldn’t do every single day, so we went for rockfish and sweet potato wedges with vegetable noodles on the side. For dessert, I recreated Nigela Lawson’s molten chocolate babycakes, which is just the best and the easiest dessert ever! I also love that you can make it in advance and put it in the oven when it suits you best. I used the 75 % dark chocolate and just a hint of honey, the chocolate itself is so rich that any additional sugar would just make it overpowering. I also added hot sour cherries and whipped cream, it was just dreamy!

♥

There is literally nothing better than tasty comfort food. I’ve had a severe cold for the whole week and it doesn’t seem to be over soon. I’m trying to help my body with all sorts of natural remedies, such as honey, lots of Vitamin C, even onion and honey etc. If I’m honest, nothing helped so far, so I gave up and decided to make something comforting, in terms of food of course. I was dreaming of pasta with good old cream sauce, but then I changed my mind and went for a healthy alternative I’ve been thinking about for so long. Blueberry chia pudding, that is. For one generous serving, you’ll need:

1 cup blueberries (mine was frozen)  ♥  2 pitted dates  ♥   1/4 cup + 1 tbsp chia seeds

3/4 cup + a few tbsp rice/almond milk  ♥  1/4 tsp vanilla  ♥  cashew nuts (optional)

Start blending blueberries, 1 date and 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and some rice milk, if necessary. I added some chia seeds to thicken the blueberry sauce as blueberries are quite watery. Pour into a glass and put in the fridge. Then blend 3/4 cup of rice milk with another date until smooth. Stir in 1/4 cup of chia seeds and vanilla and wait for a few minutes to thicken, stirring occasionally. Pour on top of blueberry sauce and put in the fridge for a few hours. Garnish with cashew nuts and serve. Bon appétit!

If you’re having a cold like me, let it warm up a bit before you dig in and eat the whole yummy goodness. This slightly ombré dessert is not just tasty and satisfying, it is also incredibly healthy. Blueberries are very low in calories, contain a high amount of antioxidants and have many other benefits (the ability to improve much needed memory is among them!), whereas chia seeds, besides having low calories and lots of antioxidants too, are a great source of protein, fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids. Or, in other words, this blueberry chia pudding is one of the healthiest dessert or even meal options you can make by yourself!

PS – The pudding did not have any supernatural effects on my health in case you were wondering! ;)

♥