Healthy Eats Wednesday - Mediterranean Vegetables With Goat's Cheese & Penne with Carrot, Beetroot and Ginger Juice

I recently got satellite TV and I have to admit I am completely glued to the Cooking Channel. If my ass could shoot roots I would blossom and thrive in front of the tube. Saying that I am addicted is an understatement. There is not a show I don’t miss, maybe one, ‘Hungry Girl’. I think it’s the biggest load of bollocks on the network. Most of you have probably seen her show or heard of her. “Making every day meals healthy and delicious.” Bah! The bitch lies! Do NOT trust her overrated pallet!  It might be healthy but it isn’t tasty.

Hungry Girl's version of chicken nuggets is a piece of chicken rolled in crushed up All Bran Flakes and baked! NASTY! Even her famous ‘Hungry Girl’ traditional Italian pasta is something yet to be desired.
It’s basically a plate of cooked pasta sprayed with a bit of tomato juice… Sacrilege!!! I swear when she came up with that recipe age old Italian cooks just suddenly dropped dead or turned around in their graves!

Let’s be realistic for a second, it might be healthy to eat like that but no one can keep up or want to eat like that for the rest of their life. You will snap, develop murderous tendencies to kill your neighbour’s barking dog, divorce your husband or even worse speed to the shop and choke down a huge burger or chocolate. You know who you are!

I believe you don’t need to change your lifestyle and force yourself to eat crap in order to look good or lose weight. Let’s be honest eating healthy sucks! The trick is to explore different types of food and find a healthy dish that you love and are willing to make part of your daily meals.   

I am still on my own personal little quest to find healthy dishes that I love and are willing to replace with unhealthy ones. It’s a painstaking process but finding a dish that you love and happens to be healthy is a great triumph! 

Here is two personal favourites of mine. It took me a while to get it right but the end result was amazing and I have completely fallen in love with it. The best part of this dish and drink is that it is super tasty but also very HEALTHY. Have a look see and tell me what you think! 

MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLES with Goat's Cheese & Penne

Ingredients: Serves 1

60g dried penne

1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small courgette, trimmed and cut into bite-sized slices
1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1tsp olive oil
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 stoned black olives, halved
35g goat's cheese, crumbled
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
few fresh basil leaves, to garnish

Dressing
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp torn fresh basil leaves


1. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the pasta, bring back to the boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite.

2. Arrange the pepper, courgette and onion on a non-stick baking tray, then brush with the oil and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and salt. Grill for about 5 minutes. Turn the pieces and continue grilling for an additional 5 minutes, or until they are tender.

3. When pasta is cooked, drain well and transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, olives and chargrilled vegetables with their oil and juices.

4. Beat together the dressing ingredients and stir into the pasta. Crumble over the goat's cheese, then garnish with basil and serve. 

An early morning or late afternoon energy booster!  

CARROT, BEETROOT AND GINGER JUICE

Ingredients: Serves 2

5 large carrots, unpeeled, roughly chopped

160g beetroot,, trimmed, unpeeled, quartered

3cm piece fresh ginger

1. Pop all of the ingredients into a juicer and enjoy!