Buckwheat noodles with the best fresh tomato sauce

I LOVE TOMATOES. Maybe it's because I'm Italian but beautifully ripe tomatoes are delicious and smell just like summer, they take me back to my childhood summers spent in Puglia with my family.
It's kind of hard to find some really good ones here in England but when I do, I feel really lucky and want them in my kitchen straight away!
These days, I'm trying to reduce the amount of gluten in my diet just because I always feel so much better and my tummy is nice and flat when I do that, sure, I cannot resist sourdough pizza from Franco Manca sometimes, but in general, I try to keep gluten to minimum amounts.
Lately I discovered buckwheat noodles (see a recipe for a summer buckwheat noodle salad here), and since I have been craving spaghetti this week, I  used these beauties instead of regular pasta. Together with quick fresh tomato sauce, it tasted incredible without the bloat and heavy after dinner feeling. Score!
It's a very quick dinner to prepare and you get lovely fiber and magnesium from buckwheat, plus the fresh tomato sauce provides you with lycopene which has antioxidant properties. Enjoy!x

INGREDIENTS
1 pack buckwheat noodles
1 tbsp coarse pink Hymalaian salt

For the sauce:
1 pack (4 or 5) ripe vine tomatoes thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic chopped small
2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil
a pinch of organic coconut palm sugar (you can use regular sugar if you don't have it but start thinking about                                                               substituting it, coconut palm sugar it's sweeter but doesn't upset your                                                              blood sugar levels as much due to it's low glycemic index)
a pinch of salt
some ground pepper
4 or 5 chopped fresh basil leaves

METHOD

Pop all the ingredients for the tomato sauce in a small pan, except for the basil, and let it cook over medium to low heat for about 10 minutes stirring  every now and then.
After 10 minutes add your noodles to boiling water (noodles generally take 5 minutes) and add the basil to the sauce stirring it in.
Drain noodles and add to the pan with the sauce so everything mixes in real nicely.. Time to serve!
Buon Appetito.x

Rainbow Buckwheat Noodle Salad

I made this a few days ago for the first time and it's so delicious,  fresh, filling and good for you that I had to pass it on! I looked at a few different recipes than made my own.
Buckwheat noodles will be a staple in my house this summer, gluten free and with a beautifully earthy flavour.They can be eaten hot or cold.
This salad is very quick to assemble and the dressing takes 10 minutes if you make your almond butter yourself like I did (just pop a cup of raw almonds in the food processor and let it go for 10 minutes and you got butter!!!), otherwise you can just buy the almond butter (preferably raw as to keep its nutrients intact) and add the rest of the ingredients.
The vegetables I used are my favourites but you can use anything  you like.
Next time I'm thinking of adding some crunch and probably sprinkle around some cashews, pecans or pumpkin seeds...Yum!
So here is what I used:

INGREDIENTS:
1 red bell pepper (chopped small)
Half a large cucumber (chopped small)
4 carrots (you can chop them small or if you're lazy like me just shred them in the food processor)
3 small spring onions finely chopped
a big handful of chopped coriander
1 pack of buckwheat noodles or 4 small bunches (this made enough for three meals!!!)

FOR THE DRESSING:
3/4 cup raw almond butter
1 tbsp tamari
juice of 1 lime (plus a few wedges to use if need extra)
2 tsp honey or rice syrup or maple syrup (I only had honey in the house so that's what I used)

METHOD

Boil the noodles following instructions, mine were 5 minutes.  A good trick is to prepare the dressing in the bowl first so then all you have to do is add the veggie and noodle and mix, that way you only have that bowl to wash up afterwards! BONUS!!!
So add all together, mix it up and sprinkle some more coriander and lime juice on top. Ready to go.
PS: leftovers can be kept in the fridge and used for lunch on the following day.

Easy Raw Wrap

I've been meaning to write a post about this quick lunch to go because I've had a few weeks where I was working at the film school almost every day and just couldn't afford to buy lunch on each single occasion, also I do prefer to make lunch myself if I can, that way I know exactly what kind of ingredients go in it.
I normally do this wrap in the morning, it takes 5 min tops and it's healthy delicious and satisfying.
The avocado is added in at the last minute, so you take it with you whole and I always have with me a spoon and knife (reusable ones) to cut it and spoon it out before adding it to my wrap.

INGREDIENTS  (makes two big wraps)
1 ripe Avocado
1/2 Cucumber thinly sliced ( probably less than that, use what you can and munch on what's left like I do)
1 Tomato thinly sliced
Hummous (bought from a shop, I use sainsburys organic hummous, or you can make your own)
2 Handfuls mixed salad (or whatever you have in the house ex: watercress or spinach)
Wholewheat large tortillas (I use discover Wholemeal Wrapbread, but you can get corn tortillas or any other kind you'd rather use, just make sure they are large otherwise it'll be hard to fold them with the filling in)


Now, it's all about layering! Spread some hummous first leaving a few cm from the border, otherwise it'll get messy when you roll it, add a little salad, then half cucumber slices and tomatoes, finally roll it and put it in your airtight container or lunchbox. Same thing with the other one.

As I said before all you have to do before eating is unroll, add half avocado in one wrap and half in the other then roll up again and bite into it!x

Happy Scrambled Green Eggs and Smashed Avocado on Rye

I'm writing about this tonight as I've just come home from a lovely spring day filled with new headshots and quality time with my beau and I now realised I haven't got many ingredients for dinner..Oops.

But I do have eggs and one avocado. So I'll have a simpler version of the recipe you'll see below.

I eat this a lot. I love eggs, I love spinach and I ADORE avocado so I really can't go wrong here.

 I normally have it for lunch after a late morning workout or on a Sunday for brunch accompanied by a glass of orange juice (not from concentrate!) but to be honest I could easily have it at any time of the day, like tonight for example.

Eggs are a really good source of protein and avocado, you probably already know, contains vitamin E which is great for your skin and its fat is mostly monounsaturated which is good for you, definitely better for you than saturated fat from processed food.

Now get cooking!

Serves 2:

4 Eggs (possibly free range and organic)

2 Big handfuls of chopped spinach (I add a bit more as I really love it)

1 Thinly Sliced Red Onion or 1 Small Leek

2 tsp Extravirgin Olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

On a low heat, drizzle the oil in the pan and add the chopped onion or leek stirring every now and then till soft.

In the meantime, crack the eggs in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and whisk.

Once the leek is soft, add the chopped spinach and stir for about 30 seconds, till spinach becomes slightly wilted and a beautiful bright green.

Now it's time to add your eggs! And make sure you keep stirring slowly so they don't stick to the pan.

The trick is to take them off the heat when they're still a little runny as they'll cook for a few seconds more even in the plate.

SMASHED AVOCADO

1 Ripe Avocado

1 tsp Extravirgin Olive oil

salt and pepper

A little lemon juice to taste

Spoon the avocado flesh out and into a bowl, add the lemon and oil and smash till smooth, add salt and pepper to taste.

You can toast your rye bread or have it just like it is and then spread you green creamy goodness on it, pop on a plate with the eggs and eat!