10 Minute Tasty Superfood Dinner

I'm not sure how healthy this actually is, but based on how much I love it, how quick it is, and that a few of the ingredients are healthy- i've talked myself into believing that its the healthiest thing that has ever existed!

The bacon (i know, not healthy) adds saltiness, whilst the lemon cuts through it with a sharp addition and the tomatoes bring sweetness. The kale reduces a lot so you eat more good stuff without realising and.. cheese is just awesome. It's a balanced meal that includes two of your 5-a-day, protein, fibre and calcium. You should definitely try this whether you agree that its healthy or not. You can choose which cheese to use, I've tried this with mozzarella, brie and camembert. Camembert is my favourite, but always with parmesan sprinkled on top!

Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I would never eat carrot cake when I was little because I hated the idea of a vegetable cake, but then I discovered the amazingness that is cream cheese frosting and decided to try one out- its good! I made them in cupcake form first, but it seems to work better as a proper cake. The thing which makes this carrot cake better than other recipe's you might find is that as soon as you take it out of the oven, you prick the top all over and feed the cake with lemon juice mixed with a little icing sugar. This gives it a sort of second topping, under the frosting which seems to work really well! Also, this is the only cake I ever use oil rather than butter, but I guess thats another factor which makes carrot cake a 'healthy cake'.


Ingredients
240g grated carrot
80g desiccated coconut
80g toasted walnuts (chopped coarsely)
240g self-raising flour
1/4tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
180ml sunflower oil
200g castor sugar 
+ Juice of half a lemon mixed with icing sugar


For the Cream Cheese Frosting
60g butter (soft)
120g light cream cheese
60g icing sugar
1tsp grated lemon rind


Method
(preheat oven to 170°C)
1. Sift the flour with baking powder and soda into a large mixing bowl with the caster sugar
2. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and add the vanilla essence
3. Beat the egg mix into the flour and stir in the coconut and carrots, followed by cooking oil and walnuts
4. Pour mixture into a greased bake tin and bake in the middle shelf for 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
5. When you take the cake out of the oven, leave it to stand for 30 seconds before pricking the top all over with a knife and pouring over the lemon juice mix, making sure it all gets soaked in
6. Leave to fully cool


Frosting
1. Beat cream cheese and butter on a low speed setting until well blended
2. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar and blend until smooth
3. Finally, add the lemon rind


You can ice the cake however you like and put on decorations as you wish, I think it looks lovely with a pile of frosting on top, an inch away from the edges, then sprinkling crushed walnuts over the top.


Enjoy! x