guilt-free raspberry with a hint of lime cheesecake

Our family is a bit of a disaster when it comes to food limitations (high cholesterol and thyroid issues). The only one who can truly eat what she wants is Iliana and she is in a ‘not feel like eating much mode’ at the moment. Ironic, right? For the last few years, I have twisted and turned most of the recipes I knew into healthier versions. Of course there are still quite a few which would be a sin to lighten up and we do let ourselves indulge (once in a blue moon) and enjoy the full fat/full everything version.

This cheesecake is a much lighter and healthier no bake cheesecake. I hope you will enjoy.

INGREDIENTS

• 200 gr digestive biscuits
• a handful of blanched almonds
• 2 tablespoons of light butter
• 2 packaged of light cream cheese (400gr)
• 1 low fat greek yogurt (200 gr)
• 1 lime (both juice and zest)
• 3-4 tablespoons of agave nectar (you can substitute it with honey, I prefer the agave nectar as this has a less distinct taste)
• 3 gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes
• 300gr fresh or frozen raspberries (or any type of berries or sour cherries)
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Blend the digestive biscuits together with the almonds to produce fine crumbs (don’t overblend).
2. Melt the butter and mix together with the above.
3. Press the mixture into an 8-inch pie dish. Bake in a preheated oven at 150 C for 15 minutes. Leave to cool while making the filling.
4. Beat the cream cheese in a mixing bowl together with the yogurt, the agave nectar, the lime juice and zest until softened. Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a pan and add the soaked gelatine leaves. Once melted, add to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
5. Pour the cream cheese mixture onto the (cooled) crust.
6. Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for a few hours.
7. For the raspberry sauce, combine the raspberries with the sugar in a saucepan and bring to low boil. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to get the consistency you like. I like the sauce to be a bit tart, if you prefer it sweeter just add more sugar.  Leave to cool and refrigerate until needed.
8. Take the cheesecake out of the fridge, pour the raspberry sauce over it and serve. 

‘as easy as it gets’ creamy risotto

I have always loved the taste of a perfectly creamy risotto. Preparing risotto is not that difficult, it just takes a bit of effort and time. This is my version:

Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped
2 whole garlic cloves
1 celery (the white part only), finely chopped
300 ml dry white wine
just over 1 litre vegetable stock (heated)
400 gr risotto rice
50 gr butter
150 gr parmesan
rock salt and freshly grated pepper

Heat the olive oil, add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes until soft. Discard the garlic (I don’t like the garlic to be too strong in this dish). Add the rice and turn up the heat. Keep stirring the rice until it gets slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring until the alcohol evaporates. Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first few spoons of the hot stock. Turn down the heat to medium so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding stock and stirring the rice allowing it to be absorbed before adding the next load of stock. This will take around 10 to 15 minutes. Have a taste. It should not be ‘al dente’ nor should it be too soft and mushy. Should you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some hot water. Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to rest for a few minutes. Don’t skip this resting part as this is what makes the risotto so perfectly creamy. Season it with salt (depending on the stock you use you might not need to add salt at all) and freshly ground pepper. Serve it as soon as possible. Enjoy!

hot dog buns

cretan rusks with tomatoes, capers and goats cheese

This is my version of the cretan dish ‘dakos’. Same principle, slighty different ingredients:
You will need:
6-7 cretan wheat rusks (or 1 large one)
3-4 tomatoes
100gr goats cheese
some rock salt and freshly ground pepper
capers
olive oil

Blend the tomatoes in a blender or cut them up into small pieces (I was too hungry so I used my blender). Cover each rusk with the tomato mixture (use up all the juices-you want to soak the rusk so you can easily cut it). Pour some olive oil over the tomato mixture, season with salt and pepper, add the goats cheese, sprinkle some capers on the rusks and pour some more olive oil. Enjoy!

sour cherry ice lollies covered in chocolate goodness!

chocolate buns

2 T milk
20g fresh yeast
2 T melted butter
2 T sugar
250 g Flour
125 g dark chocolate
1 egg (beaten)

Mix the first 5 ingredients together with 80 ml lukewarm water & 1 t salt until you form a solid but soft dough. Cover it with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 8-10 small buns. Put one chocolate piece in the middle of each bun and seal it with the dough. Cover the buns with a tea towel and let them rise in a warm place for about an hour or until they double in size. Preheat the oven to 190 Degrees C. Coat the buns with the beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Best served right out of the oven when the chocolate is still runny! Enjoy!!

The recipe is from Claire Ptak (www.violetcakes.com) published in Jamie’s May/June 2012 magazine