Recipe: Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies are delicious and they can be healthy too! Forget about the processed high sugar cookies and tuck into these wholesome goodies instead. All of the ingredients used in these cookies have their own health benefits:

• Oats contain a type of fibre, beta-glucan, which helps to lower cholesterol and controls blood sugar levels. By lowering cholesterol the risk of heart disease is reduced. 
• Bananas are a rich source of potassium which lowers blood pressure and they also have a low GI maintaining stable blood sugar levels. 
• Dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher) is full of antioxidants, like polyphenols and flavonols, that improves blood flow and insulin sensitivity. 
• Walnuts are very high in the omega-3 alpha linoleic acid which lowers cholesterol and improves cardiovascular health. Walnuts also contain anti-inflammatory phytonutrients which can help protect against certain cancers. 
• Cinnamon is a spice derived from the bark of the cinnamon tree. It contains essential oils such as cinnamaldehyde which helps to prevent blood clots. 

These oatmeal cookies are super easy to make with only two base ingredients and you could add mix-ins to your liking. For this recipe I would add no more than half a cup of extra mix-ins otherwise the cookies may not hold together. Hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do :)

Banana Oatmeal Cookies (Makes 8)
Ingredients 

• 1 cup blended oats 
• 2 ripe bananas 
• 1/4 cup 85% dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius. 

Mash bananas with the blended oats until is all combined into a nice dough. 

Thoroughly mix in the dark chocolate, walnuts and cinnamon so that everything is evenly mixed in. 

Put spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a lined baking tray and shape into round disks.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. 

Allow to cool before serving. 

Look at that deliciously melty chocolate!

Recipe: Baked Barramundi with Sweet Potato Chips

Whether you're single or in a relationship, I hoped everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. 

I myself is still part of the singles party, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a lovely Valentine's Day dinner (with my mum). Saturday night's dinner consisted of rosemary and thyme baked barramundi with purple sweet potato chips and blanched bok choy. 

This dish tasted amazing and the fact that half of it was vegetables makes it even better! Brimming with macro and micronutrients, here's a little low-down of the nutritional benefits of what this meal offers:

  

Barramundi is a source of omega-3 fatty acids which can help prevent heart disease and is important for brain development in young children. 

Sweet potato chips are usually made with orange sweet potatoes (kumera) but purple ones work just fine. Purple sweet potatoes are not only high in fibre for good gut health, they also contain contain the antioxidant anthocyanin which reduces harmful free radicals in the body. 

To add a bit of green to the plate I went with bok choy, a very popular Asian green leafy vegetable with a subtle sweet taste. Bok choy is also teaming with antioxidants and is a rich source of vitamins A, C and K. Vitamin A as many of you may know is important for keeping your eyes healthy. Vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid) aids in the absorption of iron and helps to form collagen (for nice and firm skin :D). Lastly, vitamin K is necessary for blood clotting. 

I hope you like this simple yet delicious recipe. 

Baked Barramundi with Sweet Potato Chips 

Ingredients 

• 2 x 150 g barramundi fillets 
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp thyme 
• Salt and pepper to season 
• 1 large purple sweet potato 
• 2 bunches of bok choy 
• 1 tbsp + 2 tsp rice bran oil 

Preheat oven to 180 C. 

Cut the sweet potato into chip shaped batons and soak in a bowl of water for 30 min. Drain and dry thoroughly. Evenly coat the sweet potato with 1 tbsp of rice bran oil and spread out on a baking tray in a single layer. Sprinkle over with black pepper. Bake for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile season the barramundi fillets with salt and pepper. Evenly sprinkle the rosemary and thyme over the two fillets. Place skin side up on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle skin with the remaining oil. 

After baking the sweet potato chips for 20 minutes, turn each chip to bake the other side. Place the fish in the oven and bake together with the chips for 15 minutes. 

Whilst the fish and chips are baking, wash the bok choy and segment the bunches into quarters. Cook in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and arrange on the serving plate. 

When the fish and chips have finished baking, plate up and enjoy :)

Recipe: Oat Pancakes (sweet and savoury)

Yep once again I was in the mood for pancakes. Not just for breakfast, for lunch as well. That's right pancake for lunch and it was delicious!

Breakfast was a stack of mixed berry pancakes with bananas and honey.

Serves 1

Ingredients 

1/4 cup oat flour (rolled oats blended into flour)

1/4 milk 

1/2 an egg 

1/8 tsp baking powder 

1/4 cup mixed berries 

To serve,

1 banana 

Honey

Method

In a food processor blend the oats, milk, 1/2 and egg, baking powder and berries together (I reserved some blueberries and mixed them into the batter whole afterwards).

On medium heat pour the batter into a lightly oiled pan to your desired size. When bubbles start to form flip the pancakes and cook for 1 minute. 

Plate up and serve with your own choice of toppings :)

Lunch was a massive corn pancake topped with tomato, corn and teriyaki salmon. The batter base is the same as the breakfast pancakes, but instead of mixed berries I added corn. I used frozen corn kernels.

Ingredients 

1/4 cup oat flour (rolled oats blended into flour)

1/4 milk 

1/2 an egg 

1/8 tsp baking powder 

1/4 cup corn kernels (cooked)

To serve,

1 small tomato 

1 tbsp corn kernels 

Slices of teriyaki salmon 

Parsley leaves 

Method

In a food processor blend the oats, milk, 1/2 and egg, and baking powder together. When the batter is smooth stir in the corn kernels. 

On medium heat pour the batter into a lightly oiled pan to your desired size. When bubbles start to form flip the pancakes and cook until the underside is golden brown. 

Plate up and serve with tomato wedges, corn and salmon slices. 

Teriyaki salmon 

Thinly slice a salmon fillet. 

Cook on a pan on medium heat until nearly cooked through. Turn off heat and add a mix of teriyaki and soy sauce to taste (1:1 ratio). Toss salmon slices around pan so they are coated in sauce.  

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

I could smell it before I saw it. Bourke Street Bakery, a little store on the corner of Bourke and Devonshire St.

At last I have tried THE much talked about pork and fennel sausage roll ($4.50). That was all I had my eyes on for the savouries whilst my friend went for the new beef and beer pie with cheesy mash ($6). I tried a bit of my friend's pie and the first thing that hit me was the beer - it was strong but it works well with the other flavours. The pie base was thin, buttery and holds together well. The mash - cheesy and fluffy - tops the pie perfectly. 

Pork and fennel sausage roll ($4.50), beef and beer pie with cheesy mash ($6)

 Now, to my long awaited sausage roll. To be honest I actually preferred the flavours in the pie over the sausage roll. It's my first time trying fennel and I wasn't sure if I liked it. It may be more of an acquired taste. That being said, the encasing pastry was lovely and flaky, and the pork was still tender and moist.

Cross section of the pork and fennel sausage roll.

And how could I possibly leave without trying their equally as famous ginger brulee tart? This time I was not disappointed. The tart was everything I imaged it to be - thin buttery pastry, punchy ginger custard and the crack of the brulee top. My friend is not a fan of ginger and opted for the strawberry meringue tart. The tart base was just as buttery and thin holding a fragrant strawberry mousse a layer of fresh strawberries and the pillowy, not too sweet meringue.

Strawberry meringue tart ($5.50), ginger brulee tart ($5)

Seating 

3 small in-store tables - sits max of 6 people 

A few tables are set up outside but its hard to find a shady spot during lunch time

Probably easier to take-away

The Fine Food Store, The Rocks

The Fine Food Store is a quaint yet spacious cafe located inside The Rocks Centre. Theres the choice of indoor table seating, window seats that look out onto Kendall Lane, as well as outdoor seating.

I stopped by to grab a quick lunch of a roasted vegetable frittata which comes with a complimentary salad and baby spinach. I opted for the pumpkin cous cous salad from their range of salads displaying in the cabinet. The other salads on offer were red quinoa, kale and quinoa, and beetroot and feta.

The frittata was also displaying in the cabinet so I suppose they would heat it up (microwave?) before serving. The frittata was light on flavour but I still enjoyed its fluffy eggy texture with chunks of pumpkin and slices of potato. The cous cous salad was pretty enjoyable too with a lovely crumbly texture. The best element of this dish was the mustard seed vinaigrette on the spinach leaves - tangy and sweet with pops of mustard seeds.

A pot of tea here is (in my opinion) quite dear at $5 a pot, but I was in the need of a calming caffeine hit. The green tea with jasmine was very fragrant and exactly what I needed.    

Roasted vegetable frittata $9.50 and a pot of green tea with jasmine $5

 

        

Overall I had a pleasant experience at The Fine Food Store. The food itself is reasonably priced with decent portion sizes.

Chur Burger, Surry Hills

I can't believe it took me so long to try Chur Burger!

I went on a Wednesday afternoon and luckily got there just in time to beat the lunch time crowd. Between me and two friends, we ordered the grilled beef burger, spiced chickpea fritter burger, crumbed fish burger and a side of sweet potato chips.

The beef burger was recommended to us by the waiter and boy was it one hell of a burger! The juicy grilled beef patty, melted cheese and creamy mustard mayo lightened with the slight acidity of the pickles and tomato jam. It was divine!

Grilled beef, cheese, tomato jam, mustard mayo, pickle burger

After trying the burgers from the Veggie Patch Van I've developed a curiosity for other veggie burgers. The one offered at Chur Burger has a spiced chickpea fritter, grated beetroot and honey labne. Without comparing it to other burgers, the flavours in this burger are good. First bite and I definitely got the punch of the spices which suits my liking. The beetroot with its natural sweetness is a nice refreshing element and the labne balances out the punchy spices. I couldn't taste the honey in the labne though. If I were to choose between this burger and the Veggie Patch Van I would go with a VPV burger (VPV's tomato relish is amazing!).

Spiced chickpea, grated beetroot and honey labne burger

Last of the burgers, the crumbed fish fillet, pickled cucumber, lemon mayo and dill burger. This was a very light burger in terms of taste and texture. The fish was soft and flaky but I felt needed some extra seasoning. There was a generous amount of what tasted like minted slaw which got me a little confused since that's meant to be in the chicken burger. 

Crumbed fish, pickled cucumber, lemon mayo, dill burger

On to the sweet potato chips. Chunky, crispy, soft and pillowy. Now these are what I call sweet potato chips! (I had a disappointing experience at Grill'd - over-salted and not at all crispy). Oh and not to mention these were perfectly seasoned with garlic and lime salt. 

On a side note - the price of the sides increased ): (should've came here sooner). All sides used to be $5. Now sweet potato chips are $8 and the other sides are $6. All burgers are still $10 :)

Sweet potato chips with garlic and lime salt

Atmosphere - they really crank up the music when there are more people so you have to shout even to the person next to you. Bright and open seating area.
Service - minimal - order at the counter, find a table and someone brings you your order. Water is self service with cups and bottles on the counter.
Value - 4/5 - the bowl of sweet potato chips could've been a bit bigger for $8

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience at Chur Burger. High quality burgers paired with equally good sides I couldn't ask for more.

Clipper Cafe, Glebe

Clipper Cafe is a cute little cafe situated conveniently for Sydney Uni students on Glebe Point Road.

I was impressed by their large menu and the prices were relatively inexpensive compared to other cafes. 

           

           

My friend spotted that they had a homemade chai latte ($4) on their menu but we weren't sure if they used powder or actual leaves and spices. The waiter was very friendly and helpful and explained that the chai latte is made with real tea leaves and can be sweetened with either honey or sugar. I opted for the honey option whilst my friend chose sugar. Our drinks quickly arrived and it even comes with a little extra in the small milk jug. Both chai lattes tasted pretty similar but the one with honey was a bit sweeter. My other friend ordered the tropical smoothie ($6) which was very creamy with a slight tang. 

         

Tropical smoothie ($6)

For food we ordered the baked eggplant ($12), baked eggs with chorizo ($12.50) and the smoked salmon avo eggs ($13). The baked eggplant had two slices of soft eggplant on top of a few cubes of feta and the Napoli sauce which had a nice and rich tomato flavour. I usually don't like feta cheese as I find it too salty but to my surprise I quite like the feta in this dish. It was only mildly salty and had a nice creamy cheesy taste which complimented the acidity of the Napoli sauce. The herb toast was nice and crunchy but the herb taste was very weak. 

Baked eggplant ($12)

The baked eggs with chorizo comes in the same Napoli sauce as the baked eggplant and was a nice dish in general. Though my friend did comment that the chorizos weren't spicy enough, or at all.

    

Baked eggs with chorizo ($12.50)

I'm not a fan of the texture of smoked salmon so I only tried a bit of the eggs which were nice and fluffy. 

Smoked salmon avo eggs ($13)

     

Overall I had a pleasant lunch at Clipper Cafe. The price and portions were good and its very convenient for usyd students.