Baked Eggs with Chickpeas

To continue my slow return to ‘Healthy not Hard’ recipes (that is, recipes I’ve previously refrained from sharing as I feared they’re so simple no one would be interested in them), I’m sharing this very simple baked eggs dish.


This is something I make regularly for any meal of the day. This is the basic recipe, but you can add extra veg (grated zucchini or left over roast sweet potato is a favourite of mine, but so many veggies work here) to the sauce to make it even more nutritious and delicious. Although it only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish to make, I do sometimes make a veggie-packed version of the sauce for the freezer to whip out on busy nights, popping it in the pan to cook and adding the eggs just before serving whenever something (usually around 3 years old) needs me more than I need to make a more complex meal.

The garlic yoghurt is delicious, but can be replaced by feta (or cashew cheese to keep it dairy free). If you don’t like eggs it’s also delicious with some seafood popped on the top - salmon, prawns or white fish would be my pick, and add some lemon if you go down that route.

Scroll to the bottom to find the recipe card which you’ll also find in my newsletter (sign up here), or you can screenshot below. They’re also great for pinning to Pinterest (which I’ve returned to as well).

BAKED EGGS WITH CHICKPEAS
Serves - 2-3 / Prep time - 5 minutes / Cooking time - 10 minutes

Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 can of chopped or crushed tomatoes
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 a tsp of cumin powder
- 1/2 a tsp of smokey paprika
- 1/2 a cup of Greek yoghurt
- 1 small clove of garlic, minced
- Parsley and fresh crusty bread, to serve.

Method
1. In a medium-sized fry pan, fry the onion in a little olive oil over medium heat until translucent.

2. Add the spices and chickpeas, stirring until fragrant (about a minute)

3. Add the canned tomatoes with a splash of water and cook for 5-10 minutes on a low heat, or until it starts to reduce and deepens in colour.

4. Make 3 small wells in the chickpea mixture, pour in a little olive oil and crack one egg into each.

5. Cook on a medium heat, covered, for 3-4 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

6. Meanwhile mix the garlic with the yoghurt and season to taste.

7. Once the eggs are cooked, dollop the garlic yoghurt on top, sprinkle over some fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread.


Enjoy!

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And here’s the recipe card I was talking about which I hope you like (i’d love to hear your thoughts on this and whether you find it useful / if you use Pinterest!).

I can’t tell you how much fun it was to create and capture this. I’m not posting often, but I so love it when I create and share something with you. I love cooking super simply, I always have, and I know that prior to having Alexander when I was working to win as many jobs as I could, that I veered off the path of what I truly love onto the path of what I-thought-everyone-else-would-love.

It’s good to be home and share Healthy, not Hard with you again.

Thank you for reading and for your beautiful support,
Nat x

Simple Toasted Muesli

I never actually make the same muesli twice - heading out to the shops to buy walnuts when I already have peanuts I need to use, or buying more Medjool dates when I have a few left in the fridge because I needed more according to the recipe is not my thing. I like to make use of what I have and I hate buying groceries most than once or twice a week.

So how do I make my toasted muesli?

Well after making different variations for years and years, I’ve, without even realising, developed my own little formula, and it goes a little something like;

- 3 cups of oats
- 1 cup of chopped nuts
- 1/2 a cup of dried fruit
- Flavourings (like cinnamon, maple syrup or orange rind)
- 1/3 of a cup of oil
- 1/2 a cup of sweetener (like honey or maple syrup)

And then bake (my exact recipe for the muesli pictured is below).

This method does mean my fruit is chewier than most toasted mueslis as it dries out a little, but not only do I like it like that, but I prefer to bung (what a word!) everything together so I can clean up while things are cooking. Adding different things at different stages is too high maintenance for me. (Perhaps I should change ‘Healthy Not Hard’ to ‘Tasty and Lazy’!).


While I am about to share the exact recipe I used here, I want to encourage you to use what’s in your pantry. Oats are kind of needed, for sure, but any nuts you have (PSA - Peanuts in muesli or granola are THE BEST) - use them! Dried fruit (Apricots, dates, sultanas, even prunes), get it out and chop it up all together (and if you’ve got none skipping the fruit is fine!). My only tip is if you do want to add seeds like flaxseeds or LSA, add them for the last 5 minutes of baking - I don’t think they fair well baking for a long time.

If you use the above ratios, you can’t go wrong.

But here’s what I did on this day….

Ingredients;
- 3 cups of rolled oats
- 1 cup of roughly nuts (I used a combination of walnuts, peanuts and almonds)
- 1/2 a cup of sultanas
- 1/3 of a cup of olive oil
- 1/2 a cup of honey (heated a little so it was easy to stir through)
- Rind of 1 orange
- 1 tbsp of cinnamon

Method;
1. Preheat your oven to 180c and line a baking tray.

2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Pour in the oil and honey and mix until the muesli mixture is well coated.

4. Spread flat onto a tray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden and toasty, stirring every 5 minutes and being sure not to leave alone for too long (it can get too golden very quickly).

5. Remove from the oven, give it a final stir and allow it to cook on the tray.

Super simple, super delicious (I often find myself eating it out of the canister as a snack).

After a few times making this the quantities will be in your brain forever and you’ll never have to wonder which toasted muesli recipe to make again.

Nat x

Eggless Pancakes

One of Alexander’s beautiful little friends L, who he’s known since birth (L’s Mama is a close friend of mine), has an egg allergy.

As Alexander eats pancakes almost every morning (wholemeal with fruit and spinach in them, drizzled with honey and served with a dollop of yoghurt while I sit next to him eating the end of the bread or left overs, as is the life of a mama…), I set about creating a simple pancake recipe for L that doesn’t use eggs which I’d never done (I’ve never had the need!).

After doing a little reading on making eggless pancakes and then a little testing (to make sure my quantities not only tasted good but looked, smelled and bubbled-before-you-turn-them-over, just like real pancakes, so little L could learn when to flip them one day, too), I settled on the below…

A classic pancake recipe and one very similar to what I make Alexander every morning with fruit and spinach, but no sugar…

Eggless Pancakes - Natalie Zee

Classic Eggless Pancakes for our friend L

Ingredients
- 1 cup of Self Raising Flour of choice
- 1 cup of Milk (use plant based for a vegan pancake)
- 1/2 a tsp of baking powder
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence (optional)
- 1/4 of a cup of caster sugar (optional but delicious!)
- 2 tsp of White Vinegar

Method
1. Add all of the dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix well.

2. In a separate small bowl, mix the vanilla and vinegar.

3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and at the vanilla and vinegar mixture as well as the milk. Stir well immediately.

4. Dollop large spoonfuls into a greased pan (I use butter) and cook until bubbles appear on top before flipping over.

To make Eggless Banana and and Spinach pancakes, omit the sugar and add one mashed banana (or mashed/grated fruit of your choice), and 1-2 frozen spinach cubes, defrosted. If you use a more watery fruit, such as pear or cooked apple, you can add an extra tablespoon or two of flour to thicken the batter a little.

Serve either as you would your favourite pancakes.

Let me know if you try them! Also let me know if you’d like to see me try more usually-eggy, eggless recipes.

Nat x