Blueberry pancakes

These pancakes are sure to get you out of bed on the weekend. Throw your maple syrup away — even plain pancakes are so easy to enjoy with a sprinkling of icing sugar and lemon juice.


A simple pancake batter will do— the trick is to place the blueberries after the batter is on the pan.

Steamed swimmer crab

This is dinner. You've got to make sure to get these guys as fresh as possible — ideally alive and make them "go to sleep" by placing them in the freezer for 10 minutes.


Remove the top shell by cutting around it, starting from the back where it's softer.


Cut out the gills and wash out the insides under cold running water.


Cut the crab into four parts and place in a steamer for 15-20 minutes.


Serve simply with lemon wedges and small mounts of salt and pepper.

Butternut and hazelnut pie

This recipe is from "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano.
Although the original recipe uses pumpkin puree (from a can), I've substituted it with homemade butternut puree and also use 25 percent less sugar in the filling.


Make a shortcrust pastry by combining 100g flour, pinch of salt, 1 tbsp sugar, 100g chilled butter. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles bread crumbs and then add the water, drop by drop and form into a ball of dough.


Chill the dough for 25 minutes.


Roll it out onto a pie dish and poke holes in the bottom. Bake with pie weights for 10 minutes at 200 degrees C.


Make the hazelnut paste by combining 30g ground hazelnuts with 50g demerara or brown sugar and 2 tbsp softened butter.


Spread onto the bottom of pie shell and bake for 10 minutes are 230 degrees C.


Make the filling by combining 250ml of double cream, salt, cloves, cinnamon, 100g demerara or brown sugar, 1 tbsp flour...


250ml butternut puree, 2 eggs plus 1 yolk.


Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 45 minutes at 170 degrees C.

Falafel Iskandar

The healthiest thing you could get from a kebab shop that is never on the menu: Iskandars. It's basically the kebab you already love with more vegetables in place of the bread wrap.


Start off by making some cus-cus by following the instructions on the back of the packet.


Reheat some (bought)falafel.


And arrange finely chopped red and regular cabbage, tomatoes, grated carrots, sliced beetroot, onions, feta cheese, olive oil and drizzle some hot chilli sauce for extra zing.

Healthy lentil pasta with zuchinni and sardines

Canned sardines taste really good and if you're bored of tin tuna — sardines are a great thing to try. Not only are they packed with all the good oils and minerals, they're also a great source of calcium believe it or not.


Get your favourite pasta, a can of sardines in brine, spring water or even tomato sauce, whatever you fancy — half a can of lentils (you can soak your own pulses, but the canned varieties work and taste, just as good) and one zucchini.


Dice the zucchini and sauté lightly in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil.


Add sardines and lentils and toss in the pan over a medium flame.


In the meantime, boil your pasta and drain once cooked.


Toss into pan and serve.