Cooking with Coori at Food at 52

I have been a vegetarian all my life and  until very recently, I always found it very hard to eat out , finding suitable vegetarian food when I went abroad, or simply explaining to people that it was not OK to eat fish or animal products added to vegetarian dishes. I thought I had it hard but I have a friend that has a gluten intolerance and it seems that for her its is even more difficult to find places that will have a dish that is gluten free. Furthermore there are limited ready meal options for people with a gluten free diets. However this is about to change as Coori have developed a delicious range of gluten free products that are perfect for people with allergies, gluten free diets and nut allergies.

Coori has created a range of free from foods that taste fantastic whilst being free from any ingredients that you might wish to avoid.  The Coori offering includes ready-to-eat dishes, treats and every day ingredients that are dairy free, wheat, gluten and nut free, with a focus on taste and texture so that those following a ‘free from’ diet can enjoy all their favourite foods without compromising on quality. All products are taste tested by Coori’s team of experts who also ensure that there is no cross-contamination when producing and packing the foods. 

Products include fresh and dried pastas, bread flours and pizza bases, snacks like biscuits and chocolates, pre-prepared meals and sauces, and much more. The company will also offer The Coori Monthly Subscription Box which showcases ten unique and delicious free-from recipes a month, delivered to your door with the ingredients to make them at home. A series of Coori cookery classes with top chefs will also be available to teach the art of free-from cooking.  I was fortunate to attend one of these gluten free cookery classes at Food at 52. The evening was so much fun  and we didn't even realise that the spread of nibbles and appetizers on offer were gluten free. They all tasted amazing.

Food at 52 has amazing kitchen space where we were taught how to make gluten free ravioli from scratch served with sage butter. I didn't realise that making pasta from scratch could be so easy and that working with gluten free flours is not as difficult as one would anticipate.

We created our own ravioli with various fillings and enjoyed it for our meal with gluten free profiteroles as dessert. It was a really enjoyable event  and I am really excited at the range of products that are available from coori. I can now create a lovely gluten free product hamper for my friend for her up coming birthday.

I was invited to the cookery class by Coori, all the views and opinions in this post are my own and of my own experience.

Peach Lemonade

Juicy Peaches and Nectarines are one of my favorite fruits in the summer. Nothing beats biting into a juicy peach and letting all the juices run down your chin as you savour the sweet nectar.Some of my favorite recipes with peaches are upside down peach cake, peach sorbet, peach bellinis  and even peach and mint salad. But one recipe that is most popular in our household is peach lemonade. Not only is it refreshing but it is high in vitamin C with no added sugar.

print recipe

Peach Lemonade

by Nayna Kanabar July-27-2015

Refreshing and fragrant peach lemonade with a citrus kick.

Ingredients:

• 4 Peaches
• 2 Lemons
• 100 ml sparkling water
• 1 tablespoon stevia sugar
• 1 cup icecubes
• 10 mint leaves

Method:

1. Wash the peaches, cut them in half and stone them.2. Cut one of the peaches into slices and reserve it for garnish. 3. Peel the  lemons and remove the skin and pith.4.Add all the peach halves and whole peeled lemon into the Optimum 600 and extract the juice, once all the fruit has been juiced add some stevia sugar to sweeten it. 5. Strain the juice into a jug and add the sparkling water, ice cubes, peaches slices and mint leaves 6. Stir and serve in tall. 

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: None Total time: 5 mins Yield: 4 servings

The Optimum 600 juicer is slow juicer that extracts juice keeping all the nutrients in it.To find out more about it and make a purchase You can check it out here. The RRP is £329.00 however
the juicer is currently on sale. To get the Summer Sale Special price of £279, Key Coupon 50SUN At Check Out To Receive £50 Off.

Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

I am very lucky to live in an area where there is a really nice residents society which creates a lovely community feel amongst the residents. Every one in the neighbor hood always pitches in be it for a pot luck part, street lunch, a church jumble sale or helping at local  community hall. These events are all run by volunteers and the funds to provide for them are also raised by the residents too.The money is raised through quarterly resident magazine, memberships, sponsor ships from local businesses, jumble sales and bring and buy sales too. Of course we mustn't forget the Christmas and the summer fetes too.

A lot of the residents in the area are elderly and some are often craving for some company and a meet up. Loneliness is something that a lot of elderly people face and because of this Sunrise Senior Living, the UK care home provider have created a campaign to reduce loneliness amongst the elderly and encourage community participation like ours to combat this.

Every Friday in our  the local community center we host  a help the aged Friday lunch and drop in session. This gives the  residents a chance to enjoy a delicious home cooked meal and also to mix with other people be it for a game of cards, a chat or a game of bingo. This is a great way to provide support to the elderly residents and it gives them a chance to get out of the house and socialise  too
The lunches are all provided by the residents and cooked by volunteers.

One Friday every month, I go in to help cook the lunch.The lunches are always three course starting with soup, a main meal an a dessert.The soup that I really like to cook is Butternut squash and lentil. Its hearty and delicious and easy to make too. Below you can see the recipe.

print recipe

Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

by Nayna Kanabar July-4-2015

Creamy rich butternut squash soup with lentils

Ingredients:

• 400 ml Vegetable Stock
• 150 g Butternut Squash peeled and Diced
• 2 Medium Onions finely diced
• 3 Carrots peeled and diced
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon White Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Green Chilli finely sliced (optional)

Method:

1. In a pan add the 200 ml of stock and add the lentils ,cook for 20 minutes and once cooked keep aside. Don't overcook the lentils they should hold shape.2. In a separate pan add the oil and saute the onions for 2-3 minutes, Take out a tablespoonful of cooked onions and keep for garnish and to the remaining onions add the carrots and butternut squash and saute for 3-4 minutes. 3. Add the 200 ml vegetable stock and simmer the soup for 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.4. Blend the cooked vegetables in a blender and transfer the soup to the pan with the cooked lentils. With a spoon mix together the vegetables and the lentils. 5 Season with salt and pepper.6. Serve the soup in mugs and garnish with the fried onions and sliced chilli. Serve the soup with fresh crusty bread.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 minsTotal time: 30 mins Yield: Serves 4

In my Veg box~Spring Onion roundup

Thankyou to every one who sent in their recipes for this event, here is the lovely round up.

An InLinkz Link-up