Barley Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is traditionally made with bulgar wheat but I like this slightly different version which uses barley cous instead. Barley is the lowest in calories of all the grains and bearing in mind that many diets now are heavily dependent on wheat, it makes a good nutritious change. It does contain gluten however so is not suitable for anyone required to follow a gluten-free diet.

Use 80g of barley cous sous per person. Place it in a heatproof bowl and cover with 100ml of boiling water. Stir and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes. Next add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a good glug of lemon juice to taste, season with sea salt and pepper and fluff up with a fork. Cover and leave aside until required. Just before serving stir in large quantities of freshly chopped parsley and mint, the more the better.

Lavender Sorbet

With aging being one of the topics covered during the evening it seemed appropriate to include a recipe containing lavender. Lavender essential oil and lavender water are both excellent to use in skin care products for anyone wanting to postpone the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles (see Mature Skin Moisturising Oil and Lavender Water). In this sorbet however, the fresh flower heads were used.

To make 750ml of sorbet (6 generous servings)
use 250ml sugar syrup (made by stirring together 150ml water and 150g of granulated sugar until dissolved)
4 fresh lavender heads
Juice of 1 lemon (strained)
375ml water
Pour the syrup onto a pan, add the flower heads and bring slowly to the boil. Remove from the heat and add half the lemon juice, cover and leave to cool. Strain the syrup to remove the lavender, add the water and taste. Add the remaining lemon juice if required. Pour into an ice cream maker and churn for about 10 minutes. Transfer the sorbet to a freezer box, cover with greaseproof paper and a lid and store in freezer compartment. Remove to fridge for 10-15 minutes prior to serving.

Ginger & Lemon Balm Iced Green Tea

1 good quality green tea bag
Fresh ginger (about 2cm of root peeled and grated)
A good handful of fresh lemon balm leaves (plant this herb in your garden and it will self-seed forever)
1 litre of boiling water

Steep the tea bag in the boiling water for 5 minutes only. Remove then add the grated ginger and the lemon balm and stir in 1 -2 tablespoons of sugar to taste (use honey if you prefer, adding 1 dessertspoon at a time until the desired sweetness is achieved). Leave the tea to cool then strain and store in the fridge until required.


Cocoa & Courgette Muffins

I'm not pretending here that muffins are actually a health food as suh but I served them up on the evening as an alternative to the lavender sorbet which I wasn't sure would be to everyone's taste. Also, the meal was primarilly salads and there's nothing wrong with a little indulgence from time to time. Muffins are an excellent alternative to regular cakes (and far better than most shop-bought options) because they are proprtionally lower in sugar and fat.

For 11-12 standard size muffins

280g of plain organic flour (I favour a 50:50 mixture of white and fine wholemeal)
2 tsps baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp sea salt
2 tsps ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons of unsweeteneed raw cocoa powder
1 egg
110g soft brown sugar
90ml rice milk (or water)
90ml organic sunflower oil
2 tsps natural vanilla essence
340g courgettes (finely minced in a food processor)

Prepare the muffin tins by lining with paper cases and pre-heat the oven to 190oC (375oF, Gas mark 5-6)

In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients.
Mince the courgettes in a food processor, add the egg, milk, oil, vanilla and sugar and process again.
Tip the wet mixture into the dry ingtredients and stir quickly together to form a lumpy mixture with no visible dry flour remaining.
Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until tops spring back when gently pressed. Remove from tin to cool on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight tin for 2 days maximum, or freeze and defrost at room temperature before serving.