Roasted Sweet Potato Salad - One Last Post

So I had promised myself to post one last article on the blog before the end of the year and here it is. I feel very sorry for not having shown up on this space for the last few months.

I started this blog back in 2010, when we lived in our small studio flat in Exeter, UK. At the time, I didn’t know anything about food styling and photography, and over the years, I have developed those skills all the while thoroughly enjoying writing about food and developing recipes. Through the blog, I have established connections, got opportunities to get my work published and most of all enjoyed the process of preparing and eating delicious nourishing foods.

Ever since becoming a mum, I have seen my priorities change and spent most of my time looking after my little boy and running my yoga business and as a consequence I left the blog on the side. I still feel absolutely passionate about wholefoods and eating well for me and my family + I also carry on working with foods, providing plant-based catering for events + I still have as a project to write cookbooks, but I have now decided to stop writing my beloved blog Food Moods. It’s not easy to let go of what’s felt like my baby for the past seven years or so, but I deep down feel that it’s time to move on and focus on what is calling my heart at this very moment.

I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who have read or taken part in Food Moods – what a wonderful adventure it’s been! And a special thank you to my hubby for all his behind the scenes help and letting me use his camera!

As for this one last recipe, it is simple but all the same delicious, which seems to have been my food philosophy the past few years, and we’ve loved having this salad over the holidays. It can be served as a side or as a main dish, and is equally nice warm or cold. Let me know what you think if you try it!

Food Moods will stay live for a few more months, and if you’re interested in following what I am up to and reading about holistic wellbeing (including a few recipes once in a while), you can follow me on my yoga blog.

I also keep on posting on my Instagram account on a regular basis.

With love and gratitude x

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad – serves 4 as a main or 6 to 8 as a side dish
•60g pumpkin seeds
•4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
•2tbsp coconut oil, melted
•1tbsp smoked paprika
•1tbsp ground cumin
•Salt and pepper
•Seeds from ½ pomegranate
•100g feta, crumbled
•A few sprigs of mint, leaves picked

1.Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the pumpkin seeds on a small baking tray and place in the oven for about 10min or until golden and fragrant.
2.Turn the oven up to 180°C.
3.Place the sweet potatoes on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Add the coconut oil, spices, salt and pepper and mix well. Place in the oven for 30-40min, until the sweet potatoes are tender.
4.To serve, transfer the sweet potatoes to a serving dish or plates and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds, feta and mint. Eat warm or cold.

Salade de Patates Douces Rôties – pour 4 personnes en plat principal ou 6-8 personnes en accompagnement
•60g de graines de courges
•4 patates douces de taille moyenne, pelées et coupées en morceaux
•2cs d’huile de coco, fondue
•1cs de paprika fumé
•1cs de cumin moulu
•Sel et poivre
•Graines d’une demi-grenade
•100g de feta, émiettée
•Quelques brins de menthe, effeuillée

1.Préchauffer le four sur 160°C. Mettre les graines de courges sur une petite plaque à four et enfourner pour une dizaine de minutes, ou jusqu’à ce qu’elles soient dorées.
2.Augmenter la température du four à 180°C.
3.Mettre les patates douces sur une plaque de cuisson recouverte de papier cuisson. Ajouter l’huile de coco, les épices et assaisonner de sel et de poivre. Enfourner pour 30-40min, jusqu’à ce que les patates douces soient tendres.
4.Pour servir, transférer les patates douces dans un plat de service ou des assiettes et parsemer de graines de courge, de grenade, de feta et de menthe. Servir chaud ou froid.

Veggie Breakfast

On an every day basis, I’m definitely more into eating a sweet breakfast and I tend to rotate between porridge, overnight oats, smoothie bowl or granola, plus the weekend specials such as pancakes or waffles. Back when I lived in the UK, the full English breakfast was what my mates used to have most weekends, but I never really got into it, as the veggie versions of the full English often didn’t match my expectations. Once in a while however, I do love something on the savoury side of things for breakfast, and I have found memories of egg baps on camping weekends and mighty avocado on toast before going to teach yoga.

Here, I’ve gathered in a plate what, to me, makes a perfect savoury veggie breakfast. It is also totally fitted for a weekend brunch or if you’re after a light lunch. Other delicious topping options could include chilli flakes, za’atar or fresh herbs. If you’re not into poached eggs, you could very well replace it with a fried egg or soft boiled egg.

What about you, are you more into sweet or savoury breakfasts? Do you have any favourite combos?

With love x

Veggie Breakfast – serves 2
•1tbsp olive oil + extra to drizzle
•2 large handfuls cherry tomatoes
•Salt and pepper
•2 large slices wholemeal sourdough bread, toasted
•1 avocado, peeled and stoned
•A squeeze of lemon juice
•2 large eggs
•2tbsp hummus
•1 small spring onion, finely sliced
•50g feta, crumbled

1. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan/skillet on a medium heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and leave them to cook for 5-10min, shaking the pan every so often, until the tomatoes start to burst. Season with salt and pepper and serve onto two plates.
2. Mash the avocado with a squeeze of lemon juice and spread it onto the bread slices.
3. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Break one egg in a slotted spoon placed over a small bowl and shake the excess water off the egg before plunging it into the boiling water. Repeat with the other egg and cook for three minutes. Take them out of the water with the slotted spoon and serve onto the plate alongside the tomatoes, avocado toast and hummus.
4. Season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and top up with spring onion and feta. Serve.

Petit Dej Veggie – pour 2 personnes
•1cs d’huile d’olive + extra
•2 grosses poignées de tomates cerise
•Sel et poivre
•2 grandes tranches de pain au levain complet, grillées
•1 avocat, pelé et dénoyauté
•Un trait de jus de citron
•2 gros œufs
•2cs d’houmous
•1 petit oignon nouveau, émincé
•50g de feta, émiettée

1. Faire chauffer l’huile d’olive dans une petite poêle à feu moyen. Ajouter les tomates cerise et les faire cuire 5-10min jusqu’à ce qu’elles commencent à  se fendre. Assaisonner de sel et poivre et mettre dans des assiettes de service.
2. Ecraser l’avocat avec un trait de jus de citron et l’étaler sur les tranches de pain.
3. Porter une petite casserole d’eau à  ébullition. Casser un œuf dans une écumoire placée au dessus d’un petit bol et égoutter l’excès d’eau présent dans l’œuf avant de le plonger dans l’eau bouillante. Répéter avec l’autre œuf et faire cuire 3min. Sortir les œufs de l’eau avec l’écumoire, bien les égoutter et les placer sur les assiettes de service avec les tomates, les toasts à  l’avocat et l’houmous.
4. Assaisonner le tout de sel et poivre, arroser d’un filet d’huile d’olive et parsemer d’oignon nouveau et de feta. Servir.

Carrot + Ginger Soup with Carrot Top Pesto

I started the month with a juice cleanse, something I had meant on doing for a while. The cleanse itself lasted five days, with an introductory period beforehand and a follow-up afterwards. I feel it’s had benefits on my body, but it was harder than I imagined. Maybe doing it at home with a toddler around isn’t the most appropriate of environments, but I’m still glad I did it and learnt that preparation (on all level) is key for undertaking a detox of that kind.

Soup was naturally the kind of meal that I went back to when starting eating ‘solid’ foods again. Set aside the pesto, this recipe is a year-rounder – it requires few ingredients and is packed with flavour. I however tend to make it in the spring using tender new-season carrots and making a delicious pesto with the tops. I tend more and more to cook using as much of the ingredients as I can, as going waste-free is a topic that has become dear to my heart. I hope to get the chance to develop my thoughts and ideas on this in the future on the blog, but while you bear with me here’s a simple recipe to get you started.

Carrot + Ginger Soup with Carrot Top Pesto – serves 4

•1tbsp coconut oil
•1 large shallot, peeled and chopped
•2 garlic cloves + 1, peeled and minced
•A knob of ginger, peeled and minced
•A large bunch of spring carrots with tops
•1L vegetable stock
•30g sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
•Juice of ½ lemon
•150ml olive oil
•Salt and pepper
•A handful flaked almonds, toasted

1.Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan. Add the shallot, two cloves garlic and ginger and fry gently for a few minutes until tender.
2.Chop the carrots and add them to the pan, and fry for about 5min, stirring regularly. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 30min.
3.In the meantime, prepare the pesto. Wash the carrot tops thoroughly and place the green leaves in a food processor, discarding the hard centre stems. Add the sunflower seeds (previously rinsed and drained), lemon juice, one clove garlic, the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Blend until you get a pesto-like texture.
4.When the soup is ready, season it with salt and pepper and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
5.Serve the soup with a dollop of pesto and a sprinkle of flaked almonds.


Soupe Carotte-Gingembre et Pesto de Fanes – pour 4 personnes

•1cs d’huile de coco
•1 grosse échalote, pelée et émincée
•2 gousses d’ail + 1, pelées et émincées
•Un morceau de gingembre, pelé et émincé
•Une grosse botte de carottes avec leurs fanes
•1L de bouillon de légumes
•30g de graines de tournesol, trempées pendant une nuit
•Jus d’½ citron
•150ml d’huile d’olive
•Sel et poivre
•Une poignée d’amandes effilées, toastées

1.Faire chauffer l’huile de coco dans une grande casserole. Ajouter l’échalote, deux gousses d’ail et le gingembre et faire revenir quelques minutes.
2.Emincer les carottes et les ajouter dans la casserole et les faire revenir environ 5min en remuant régulièrement. Ajouter le bouillon de légumes, porter à ébullition, puis laisser frémir à feu moyen pendant 30min.
3.Pendant ce temps, préparer le pesto. Bien laver les fanes de carottes et mettre leurs feuilles vertes dans le bol d’un robot. Jeter la partie centrale un peu ferme. Ajouter les graines de tournesol (préalablement rincées et égouttées), le jus de citron, une gousse d’ail, l’huile d’olive et une pincée de sel. Mixer jusqu’à l’obtention d’un pesto.
4.Quand la soupe est prête, l’assaisonner de sel et de poivre et la mixer avec un mixeur plongeur, jusqu’à l’obtention d’une texture lisse.
5.Servir la soupe avec une cuillérée de pesto aux fanes et parsemer d’amandes effilées.

Green Quinoa

This recipe is an example of the kind of meals we have on a weekly basis, mixing whole grains, greens, raw vegetables and seeds – full of flavours, healthy and nutritious. I guess it’s yet another take on the ‘Buddha Bowl’ I talked about a couple of months ago, but I can’t help but think that these types of meals are the best!

We’ve been growing leafy greens on our balcony and nothing beats picking fresh leaves straight from the plant and using them in cooking, which is what I did with this simple pesto recipe, which could also be used many other ways: in pasta, spread on a slice of bread, topping up a soup, etc.

Over here, spring is in full swing, and in spite of the unpredictable weather, we’re always in awe of nature coming back to life and the abundance of produce available at this time of year.
Happy Spring to all!!!


Green Quinoa – serves 4 to 6
•125g white quinoa
•125g red quinoa
•A bunch of greens (parsley, kale, baby spinach, chard, etc.), roughly chopped
•30g toasted pumpkin seeds
•Juice of 1 lemon
•Salt and pepper
•1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
•125ml olive oil
•1 small head broccoli, separated into florets
•½ cucumber, cubed
•2 avocadoes, peeled, stoned and sliced
•A handful cashew nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
•2tbsp sesame seeds
•2tbsp seaweed flakes

1.Rinse the quinoa, then place it in a small saucepan with 500ml water. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, reduce to a simmer and leave to cook for about 15min. Take off the heat and leave to cool down. Transfer to a large salad bowl.
2.Prepare the pesto by placing the chopped greens in a small food processor with the pumpkin seeds, lemon juice, some salt and pepper, the garlic and olive oil. Process until you get a pesto-like consistency. Add to the quinoa and mix to coat it well.
3.Place the broccoli florets in the food processor and pulse until grain-like. Transfer to the salad bowl.
4.Add the cucumber to the bowl and mix well.
5.Dish out the green quinoa into plates and top up with the sliced avocado, cashew nuts, sesame seeds and seaweed flakes. Tuck in.


Quinoa Vert – pour 4 à 6 personnes
•125g de quinoa
•125g de quinoa rouge
•Une poignée de feuilles vertes (persil, kale, pousses d’épinards, blettes, etc.), émincées
•30g de graines de courges, toastées
•Jus d’1 citron
•Sel et poivre
•1 petite gousse d’ail, pelée et émincée
•125ml d’huile d’olive
•1 petit brocoli, séparé en fleurettes
•½ concombre, coupé en dés
•2 avocats, pelés, dénoyautés et coupés en lamelles
•1 poignée de noix de cajou toastées et grossièrement émincées
•2cs de graines de sésame
•2cs de paillettes d’algues

1.Rincer le quinoa et le mettre dans une petite casserole avec 500ml d’eau. Porter à  ébullition, couvrir, réduire le feu et laisser frémir pendant une quinzaine de minutes. Retirer du feu et laisser refroidir. Transférer dans un saladier.
2.Préparer le pesto: mettre les feuilles vertes dans un petit robot avec les graines de courge, le jus de citron, du sel et du poivre, l’ail et l’huile d’olive. Mixer, jusqu’ à l’obtention du pesto. Ajouter au quinoa et mélanger.
3.Mettre les fleurettes de brocoli dans le robot and utiliser la touche pulse jusqu’à l’obtention d’une texture similaire à des petites graines. Transférer dans le saladier.
4.Ajouter le concombre et bien mélanger.
5.Répartir la salade dans des assiettes de service et ajouter des lamelles d’avocat, des noix de cajou, des graines de sésame et des paillettes d’algues. Déguster !

Feeding Babies - Part 1: Introducing Solids to Baby

I’ve wanted to share some thoughts on introducing solid foods to babies to share our experience and inspire other mums and dads on this wonderful journey. This first article will focus on the first few months of introducing solids (something between 5-12 months old), and I’ll share a few recipe ideas below.

As a frame of reference, I breastfed our baby boy exclusively for the first six months of his life, by which time we noticed he was starting showing interest for food we were eating and we thought he was ready to be introduced to solids. I delightedly started cooking him purées and compotes… but in all honesty, he wasn’t actually very keen in eating them! It took a couple of months for him to happily eat the food that we gave him, and it was interesting to see that he seemed to appreciate more anything on the sweet side of things such as sweet potatoes, butternut, beetroot, bananas and apples.
Because I chose to breastfeed him for the whole first year of his life (and still do to this day), breast milk remained his main nutrient intake and anything else was more of a discovery of taste.

We started introducing solids with sweet compotes and moved on to vegetables next. Each time, we introduced one ingredient on its own for three days in a row and saw how he reacted to it – some he seemed to love, others he would look at in disgust. One day we noticed red spots on his face after he ate aubergine purée. We tried it again another time and he had the same reaction so we knew we’d have to not give it to him again for the time being as he seemed to have a reaction to it.
Gradually, we moved onto mixed fruit compotes and mixed vegetable purées and had therefore the opportunity to reintroduce ingredients that he might not have seemed to like in the first place. I always add a spoonful of oil in his purée (we love this baby oil blend) before serving it, essential for brain development.

Around 8-9 months, we started introducing dairy with ewe’s milk and goat’s milk organic yogurts. Later (around 11 months), we introduced cow’s dairy too and our little man seemed to really like eating yogurt.

As for grains, we started incorporating them around 9 months with gluten-free grains to start with (brown rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth), which we blended in small quantities with his vegetable purées (I often used grain flakes for convenience).
Around 10 months we also gradually introduced legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and beans.

When Kai started having teeth coming through, he also loved ‘chewing’ onto a piece of food by himself and a ring of cucumber (amazing for soothing sore gums) or a piece of melon seemed to do the trick. Later on, we also gave him little chunks of bread, which he absolutely loves!

From a practical point of view, a saucepan and a stick blender are the main utensils that we’ve used (as well as a knife and chopping board, that is!), no fancy special baby cooking device required here!
Even if I know that freshly cooked food is the very best, I’ve often prepared a few portions at once (two or three usually) that keep well in the fridge, or that can also be frozen for later use. I repurposed a few small glass pots to keep his food in for when we are on the go and have to take his lunch with us.
We (almost) always buy organic and seasonal ingredients to cook with, and produced locally as much as possible.

I’ve combined a little list of fruits and vegetables that can be introduced to babies in their first few months of eating solids. Regarding fruits, a number of them are best firstly introduced cooked, I’ve specified it in brackets;
-Fruits: banana, avocado, apple (cooked), pear (cooked), quince (cooked), peach, apricot, melon, mango, plum (cooked), blueberries (cooked)
-Vegetables (cooked): carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin and squash, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, potato, courgette, beetroot, cucumber, peas, parsnip, leek, sunchokes


Finally, introducing solids to our baby boy has taught me to be patient and not get frustrated on days when he wouldn’t have any of what I had prepared. Infusing love into the meals you prepare for your wee one and taking pleasure in feeding him/her surely ensures a pleasant experience and optimal nourishment for your baby ;-)



Below you’ll find three easy recipes for little ones:

Butternut Purée – 2 Ways (roasted + steamed)

•1 small butternut squash or ½ large one

Steamed: peel, seed and cut the squash into small cubes. Place them in a saucepan and add a good splash of water. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 20-25min until the squash is tender. Blend with the water.

Roasted: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Peel, seed and cut the squash into small cubes. Place them onto a large baking tray covered with baking paper. Place in the oven for 25-30min until tender. Blend, adding a little bit of water if needed.

Avocado and Mango

•1 large avocado, peeled and stoned
•A splash of lime juice
•1 mango, peeled and stoned
•1tbsp melted coconut oil

Place all the ingredients into a jug and blend using a stick blender until smooth.

Apple and Quince Compote

•5 cooking apples
•1 large quince

Peel, core and cut the fruits into cubes. Place in a small saucepan with a good splash of water. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 25-30min until the fruits are really tender. Blend with a stick blender and leave to cool down before serving.


I would absolutely love to hear your stories about when first introducing solids to your little ones, so please feel free to share them in the comments box below!