This cheesecake has no refined sugar and obviously no diary products. Also the curst is gluten free which is great from those who are on a gluten free diet. I’m not. But having a gluten free dessert is not bad at all.

If I haven’t tempted you enough yet. Let me say that this cake is easy to make and almost fool proof. So what are you waiting for? Give it a go and you won’t regret it.

A detailed video recipe in English is here:

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 7 pitted dates
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• dash of salt

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 cup soaked raw cashews
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbs vanilla essence
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Tips:

• Make sure all the nuts you are using are not salted or toasted
• The cashews need to be soaked for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight to make sure you’ll get the creamy texture at the end.
• You can adjust how many dates you are using depending on the variety and size of them. I used medium sized ones.
• You can adjust how much maple syrup you want to add depending on how sweet you like it.
• You can use fresh berries if you want. But be mindful of its water content so as not to ruin the thickness of your filling.
• You can use other kind of berries if you wish to.
• The cheesecake should be placed in the freezer for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight so that it will firm nicely.
• You need to take the cheesecake out and leave it for half an hour at room temperature before serving it.
• You can serve the cake frozen, half frozen or even thawed.
• You can put the remaining cake back in the freezer or in the fridge if you don’t want a frozen texture.

You can adjust the recipe by adding chopped fresh thyme leaves or adding hot sauce or chillies.

Spinach has many proven health benefits. You can read this article about 34 science backed health benefits to Spinach written by Helen Nichols for Well-Being Secretes.

Usually we eat these spinach triangles with yoghurt. And my go to yoghurt is the one I make at home as it is lighter and tangier than your average store bought yoghurt.

To know how to make the Palestinian spinach triangles please watch this video:

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 6 cups AP flour
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm milk
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 tsp dried instant yeast
• 1 tbsp salt

For the Filling:

1 kilo of washed and chopped spinach leaves

1 medium size onion finely diced

3 tbls Sumac or to taste

1 tbls salt or to taste

2 tbls olive oil or to taste

juice of one lemon

Tips:

• Make sure that the milk and water are at around 40 C.
• Make sure to knead the dough long enough, not less than 10 mins
• Leave the dough to prove in a warm place until double in size for about 2 hours.
• Once you chop your spinach leaves add a bit of salt and let stand for 1 hour so extra juices come out.
• Drain the spinach very well before making the filling.
• Salt and sumac are to taste so feel free to adjust the recipe to your own liking.
• You can add chilli paste or chilli powder if you like some heat.
• Bake the triangles in a preheated oven at 200-220 C for 15-20 mins or until golden.
• Once they are done you can brush them with a bit of olive oil and cover them with a tea towel until serving.
• You can buy the sumac from international or continental supermarkets or sometimes in healthy food section of your supermarket.

To know how to make them watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP Flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 3/4 cup yoghurt
• 1100 grams melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsps lemon juice
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• pinch of salt

Tips:

• The butter needs to be soft and at room temperature.
• Don’t overwork the batter as it will make the muffins dense.
• Preferably use yoghurt  and eggs at room temperature.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 15-20 mins or until golden.
• Keep the leftover muffins in an air tight container.

To make the star shapes is quite easy as you’ll see in the video. And you can use any kind of seeds to top these loaves. Or you can even leave them out.

To know how to make this bread please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 500 grams whole wheat flour
• 500 grams A/P flour
• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 4 tsps instant yeast
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

Tips:

• Water should be around 40 C.
• Make sure that you knead the dough for enough time at least 10-15 mins.
• Leave the dough to prove in a warm place until it double in size. That will take 1 – 2 hours.
• After shaping the loaves leave them to prove again in a warm place for an hour.
• You can use sesame seeds, nigella seeds or any other seeds you like to sprinkle on top of the loaves.
• Bake the loaves in a preheated oven at 220 C for 15-20 mins or until they are golden.

To know how to make this bread at home please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 225 grams or 2 medium sized potato cubed and boiled
• 2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 1/2 tsp crushed caraway seeds
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp or 25 grams butter
• 2/3 cups water from boiling potato
• extra water if needed

Tips:

• Make sure the potato has cooled down before adding it to the dough
• The potato has to be mashed very well with no lumps. So it is better to sieve it after mashing it with a fork or a masher.
• Make sure that you knead the dough long enough 10-15 mins.
• If the dough is dry you can add a little bit of water until it comes together and be a bit sticky.
• The dough need to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size between 1-2 hours.
• After shaping the dough leave to rest again for 30 mins to 1 hour in  a warm place.
• Use a sharp knife to cut slits on the surface of the loaf.
• Bake the loaf in a preheated oven at 200 C for 30-35 mins or until golden.

And because this bread is made with wholemeal flour it can make you feel fuller for longer. You can have this bread slightly toasted for breakfast drizzled with olive oil which I personally like or with butter if you like.

Seaweed bread is also easy to make and is sure to impress those who like Japanese cuisine or seafood in general.

To know how to make this bread please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 300 grams wholemeal flour
• 200 grams AP flour
• 10 grams instant dried yeast
• 10 grams salt
• 10 grams shredded yaki nori
• 1, 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• sesame seeds to sprinkle “optional”

Tips:

• Knead the dough well before adding the seaweed.
• Add the seaweed in batches to make sure that they are distributed evenly in the dough.
• Leave the dough to rest for 1 hour. Then we form into a ball again and leave it to rest for 1 hour. Then we will form into a loaf and then leave to rest for yet another 1 hour.
• You can make slits on the loaf with a sharp knife. You can also brush it with water and sprinkle some sesame seeds.
• Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 250C for 30-45 mins or until the bread is golden.

To know how to make them watch the following video:

Ingredients:

• 500 grams whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 2 tsp salt

Tips:

• Water should be around 40 C.
• Make sure that you knead the dough for enough time at least 10-15 mins.
• Leave the dough to prove in a warm place until it double in size. That will take 1 – 2 hours.
• After shaping the loaves leave them to prove again in a warm place for an hour.
• You can use sesame seeds, nigella seeds or any other seeds you like to sprinkle on top of the loaves.
• Bake the loaves in a preheated oven at 220 C for 15-20 mins or until they are golden.