Chocolate Chao(at)s

If you like oats and chocolate, put the two together and you have a party in a bowl.

Before I created this bowl of goodness, I never knew how to feel about chocolate and oats. I didn't think they'd taste very nice. Boy was I wrong.

These chocolate oats are a fantastic brunch meal as they're quite filling!

One thing to note about this recipe – be sure not to get confused with cocoa powder and cacao powder. Cacao powder is very bitter compared to cocoa. You don't want bitter oats!!

Check out the simple recipe below!

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INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp runny honey (1 tsp for oats, and 1 tsp for the caramelised banana)

1 cup any milk of your choice (I use Alpro unsweetened almond milk)

1 tbsp flaked almonds

Fresh strawberries (as many as you like!)

1 banana, sliced in half lengthways

1/2 tbsp butter

2 squares of milk chocolate, or 7 Cadbury milk chocolate buttons, melted

1 Lindt dark chocolate square (optional)

METHOD

1. In a microwavable bowl, mix together oats, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Mix the dry ingredients together until well combined, then add in the milk and 1 tsp of runny honey.

2. Place your oats to one side for now. Grab a small bowl for the milk chocolate, and microwave in 30-second bursts until chocolate has melted. Once melted, put to one side. TIP: It helps to cut the chocolate into small pieces – they melt a little faster.

3. For the caramelised banana, heat up a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and place butter and remaining honey into the. pan. Allow the butter and honey to melt and bubble, then place your banana slices in with the flat sides facing down. Cook these until they are golden brown and glistening. Flip them over and smother the butter and honey juices all over the banana.

4. Begin warming up your oats. Microwave for 2.5-3 minutes on medium power (my microwave's standard power is 600W).

5. Remove oats from the microwave, and take bananas off the pan and into your bowl of oats, along with the melted milk chocolate, flaked almonds, strawberries, and dark chocolate square. Enjoy!

Wholesome Wholemeal Pancakes with Berry Compote

Healthy pancakes – it almost sounds too good to be true

I had so much fun making these pancakes, and the best bit... they taste just as good as they look! They're super healthy and have no refined sugars, and make a perfectly filling breakfast.

This recipe makes about 10 mini pancakes. So if you want more of them, I would double the ingredients. It's worth mentioning that these pancakes taste a lot nicer when smaller – I know what you're thinking... "But how does the size of pancake affect the taste???".

The pancakes come out a little more 'dense' compared to pancakes made with plain or self-raising flour. So having smaller ones and more of them tastes a lot nicer – just trust me.

INGREDIENTS FOR PANCAKES

110g wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

120ml milk

1 tsp cinnamon

Olive or coconut oil for frying

INGREDIENTS FOR BERRY COMPOTE

1 1/2 cup mixed berries (I say mixed berries as you can add as much as whatever berry you want. You can even make an entire raspberry compote, or blueberry compote. Just as long as there is 1 1/2 cup of berries!)

2 tbsp honey

Cinnamon, a sprinkle

METHOD

1. Start by making your berry compote. Heat a pan on low to medium heat and add in the berries with 1 tbsp of water, cover with a lid for about 4 minutes. Allow the berries to soften, and mush them together with a potato musher. Add in the honey and cinnamon and mix. Cover with lid again and leave for 2 minutes before stirring through to prevent the compote from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Take off the hob and pour compote into a small dish – allow to cool.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Then add the egg and milk and whisk until everything is well combined.

3. Heat up a non-stick frying pan on medium to high heat. Drizzle some oil onto the pan, and test the heat with a small amount of batter first. If it sizzles and turns brown, you're good to go!

4. Remember, you're making mini pancakes, so pour small bits of batter around the pan and allow the pancakes to cook. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate, and repeat for the rest of the batter.

5. Enjoy with the berry compote!

Salmon Wellington

I went into this dish with absolutely no direction and wanted to use up a few ingredients in the fridge that were soon to expire. Safe to say it turned out to be an absolute treat!

If you love fish and pastry, this one's right up your alley!

Salmon is a delicious and fatty fish where you can experiment with all sorts of flavours. I usually marinate my salmon in soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and lime juice. But it was about time I switched it up a little – with a coat of shortcrust pastry over it ;)

With this recipe, you can pre-buy your shortcrust pastry – this is a way of speeding things up. Or you can make your own from scratch, which is super easy and doesn't require any waiting around!

INGREDIENTS FOR SHORTCRUST PASTRY

225g plain flour

100g lightly salted softened butter (I use Lurpak)

3.5 tbsp water

INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING

2 salmon fillets

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp butter, melted. Plus another 1 tbsp to spread on the pastry

A handful of parsley, chopped finely

1 egg, whisked

Salt & pepper

METHOD

1. (Skip this step if you have pre-bought your pastry) In a large bowl, combine the plain flour and softened butter and use your fingertips to mix them together until the mixture looks and feels crumbly. Once you have achieved this, add in the water and mix through with your hands until a nice soft dough forms. If the dough is flaking, add a couple of drops of water and knead through. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge whilst prepping the salmon.

2. In a large bowl, mix together garlic, lemon, melted butter, and chopped parsley and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

3. Add in the salmon fillets and cover them with the mixture. Cling wrap the bowl and put it into the fridge for 20 minutes.

4. Prep a baking tray with baking paper and put to one side. Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan.

5. Get the dough out of the fridge once the salmon has been in for 15 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a clean and floured surface until it is the thickness of a £1 coin.

6. Cut the rolled out dough into half and place both sheets onto the baking tray.

7. Brush both pastry sheets with the 1 tbsp of butter. Remove salmon from the fridge and place a fillet on each pastry sheet. Fold the pastry around the fillets, making sure there are no gaps allowing the juices from the marinade to escape during baking.

8. Once the pastry is folded over the fillets, brush the tops and sides of the wellingtons with the whisked egg, and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

9. Enjoy with a side of steamed vegetables or roasted potatoes!