Watermelon Wonder Smoothie

Another recipe from the recipe cards handed out at the healthy eating stand at the health fair at uni last week, this time for a Watermelon Wonder smoothie.

Ingredients

chopped watermelon
fat-free plant-based milk of your choice
ice

Instructions

1. Gradually add each ingredient to blender.
2. Pulse until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
3. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Kiwi Smoothie

On Monday morning, I headed to Student Central for my student radio show and came across the Health Fair (there seems to be a lot of things like this at the moment).  I didn't have much time to spare, so I went straight for the stand where there were trays of smoothie samples.  I tried a Watermelon Wonder smoothie (the recipe for which will come next week) and a Strawberry and Kiwi smoothie.  We were also given questionnaires which had the question of "How would you define healthy eating?"  I would define healthy eating as eating lots of fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water, but also treating yourself in moderation to things like chocolate.  How would you define "healthy eating"?

Ingredients

apple juice, chilled
1 banana, sliced
1 kiwi, sliced
frozen strawberries

Instructions

1. Gradually add each ingredient to blender and pulse until mixture reaches a smooth consistency.
2. Enjoy!

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Another recipe card that I found at the Food Festival back in February, this one being for rosemary roasted potatoes to promote the range of herbs and other foods that can be grown, harvested and eaten on campus.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs small red or white-skinned potatoes (or a mixture)
1/8 cup quality olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary.  Toss until the potatoes are well-coated.
3. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into one layer;  roast in the oven for at least 1 hour, or until browned and crisp.
4. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking to ensure even browning.
5. Remove the potatoes from the oven, season to taste, and serve.

Apple, Orange and Grape Smoothie

Carrying on from the theme of the Food Festival last week (and while it is still Fairtrade Fortnight), I'm going to take the time to share another recipe found at the Food Festival.  This time, it came from my visit to the Sustrans smoothie bike.  The last two times I attended events that had the smoothie bike around (a stall where you could have a smoothie and a massage as a break from exam revision on 8th January, and at the Sustain Health and Wellbeing Fayre on 29th January), the smoothie you could pedal on the smoothie bike to make was a mixed berry smoothie, but last week's smoothie at the Food Festival consisted of green grapes and orange segments as an alternative to the mixed berries.  This now sounds an awful lot like how to make a smoothie containing the fruits I normally have in containers to eat for lunch and as snacks at uni (apple, oranges and grapes) ... Here's the recipe to make at home!

Ingredients

1/2 a banana
3/4 cup apple juice
handful of green grapes
handful of orange segments

Instructions

1. Peel banana and cut into two halves.  You can eat one half.  Peel an orange and cut into segments.  Rinse a handful of grapes.
2. Cut remaining half of banana into slices and begin to pulse in blender.
3. Gradually add orange segments, grapes and apple juice to the blender.
4. Pulse mixture until it reaches a smooth consistency.
5. Pour into glass and enjoy!

Moroccan Mint Tea

On Wednesday afternoon this week, the Cycling 4 All team at university teamed up with local businesses and a few groups within the university itself to deliver the Food Festival, a 3 hour lunch to celebrate food, Fairtrade fortnight, locally-sourced products, and home-grown foods.  There was a banana cake baking competition, the Sustrans smoothie bike, Jamie's Ministry of Food, and other stalls, as well as a quiz where you had to guess which items could be Fairtrade and which could not.  Did you know that you can have Fairtrade gold?  I found a recipe card for the following Moroccan mint tea at a stall for Food on Campus, which is an initiative run by the university to encourage students and staff to plant, grow and harvest their own fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Ingredients (to serve 6)

10 sprigs fresh mint, plus extra to decorate
3 teaspoons green tea
3 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
4 cups water

Instructions

1. Boil the water and pour a small amount in the teapot, swishing it around to warm the pot.
2. Combine the mint and green tea and sugar in the teapot, then fill it with the rest of the hot water.
3. Let the tea brew for three minutes.
4. Set out glasses for the tea, preferable tumblers to match the style of the glasses used in Morocco.
5. Fill just one glass with the tea, then pour it back into the pot.  Repeat this action to help to dissolve the tea and distribute the sugar.
6. Pour the tea.  Aim to have a foam on the surface of the tea by pouring with the teapot a high distance above the glasses.  If you do not have at least a little foam on the top of the first glass, then pour it back into the teapot and try again until the tea starts to foam up nicely.
7. Decorate with the remaining sprigs of mint.