Italian Recipes During Lockdown By Chanelle

Spicy Chick Pea Scramble

Following the massive success of her Celery Soup recipe in last week’s Zips It Up, my contributing lifestyle Editor Chanelle Clark is back with another healthy lockdown dinner delight, all the way from Italy, to keep us healthy and super slender throughout the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Over to you Chanelle. 

“This recipe is healthy, plant-based and a regular go-to for me as it takes, quite literally, five minutes.

Many of my favourite recipes include chickpeas as they are a brilliant meat replacement for Vegetarian and Vegan diets, although in this recipe they are being used as an alternative to eggs; A Vegan Huevos Rancheros if you like! Chickpeas are high in protein, aid weight management and improve digestion.

There is just so much goodness in this recipe; the fat content is minimal and it’s very filling. The ingredients are cupboard staples, so if you can’t face the Corona V induced queues, this is a very handy dish to have in your arsenal.

Note, you can opt to have a non-spicy version by swerving the Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder and Fresh Chillies. OK, let’s prep guys…”

Ingredients

1 medium sized Onion

½ cup of Water

Tin of Chickpeas 400g

5 Cherry Tomatoes

Handful of Spinach

½ an Avocado

½ Green Chilli (Optional)

Teaspoon of Garlic Powder

½  teaspoon of Salt

½  teaspoon of Pepper

½ teaspoon of Coriander powder  (Optional)

½ teaspoon of Chilli Powder (Optional)

To Cook

1) Chop  Onions, drain Chickpeas, quarter the Tomatoes and cube the Avocado.

2) Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat, add in The Onions, Water & Garlic Powder.

3) When Onions are translucent (about 2 mins) add the Chickpeas and Seasoning.

4) Roughly mash the Chickpeas with a fork then add the Tomatoes and half of the chopped Chillies.

5) When cooked to taste ( another few minutes) serve it on the Spinach and top with the Avocado and in my case the rest of the Chopped Chillies.

Quarantine Routine!

During these challenging times I think I little T.L.C. and self-kindness goes a long way.

Personally, if I start the day well, it tends to progress well so I thought I’d share a little of my morning routine:

To flush out all those nasty toxins and ensure my system isn’t sluggish,  I turn to the failproof two cups of hot water and lemon with fresh grated ginger. It’s hydrating, gives you a Vitamin C boost, supports weight loss and improves your skin as well as helping protect us from numerous diseases. An absolute must for everyone.

I follow this with Bootea.  I do a 28 day course every few months and find that it kick starts weight loss in an effortless way. All you have to do is drink of cup of Bootea in the morning and every second night (one before bedtime). It’s the best slimming tea on the market. I eke it out, using the tea bag twice in the morning, thus with the hot water, ginger & lemon combo and the Bootea you have consumed half of your daily 2 litre recommended water intake already. Genius ,huh?!

As well as the above, I have been doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions with LiveLikeLiv at 8.15 a.m. GMT Mon/Wed and Fri mornings.  The sessions are brilliant, free and when you are time pressed, as I am (with little Oliver to entertain, Students to teach and you lovely lot to write for),  getting a “quick blast” to fit into my schedule is essential. I am salivating at Liv’s abs and If joining her in-session helps me achieve even some of her toned, lean physique then I am a convert. Find her on her Facebook page. Great tunes too!

So, let’s all start as we mean to go on, remerging butterfly-like from this enforced chrysalis state.

See you next week Amici,