Healthy Muesli Slice

A healthy slice of life

Muesli slices have always been a favourite, but many recipes are so full of butter and sugar or golden syrup that they are almost as bad as biscuits.
This muesli slice is flavoursome & healthy.

It makes 18-50 pieces, depending on whether you cut it into larger bars or small squares, but its quite dense, a small square is enough with a cup of tea. It keeps well for two or three weeks in a tin.
The recipe uses a little oil instead of butter, honey and mashed dates instead of sugar so it's not too sweet, and is chock-full of fruit, nuts and seeds. If you want a lower-fat version, use less coconut, nuts and seeds, and more oats and fruit.

You can use any combination of fruit and nuts: I usually use Brazil nuts and sunflower seeds, figs, apricots, raisins, and crystallised ginger is a really nice touch, but it depends on what's in the pantry. You could also used dried tropical fruit, candied peel, cashews, peanuts, walnuts or almonds.

You could make an economical version using a smaller amount of raisins and peanuts, or luxurious versions using lots of figs, crystallised ginger, prunes, apricots, tropical fruit and Brazils or walnuts. You can vary the spices too. I've been enjoying lemon and mixed spice recently, but vanilla, cinnamon and other spices are good too.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup dates
• ½ cup water
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp oil (use a mildly flavoured oil such as rice bran or grapeseed)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 cup coconut
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• 2 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice etc
• 2-4 cups mixed fruit and nuts, chopped
• 1 tsp vanilla essence or juice and zest of a lemon
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbsp water
• A handful of pumpkin seeds (optional)

Method:

1. Turn oven to 180°C fan bake. Spray a slice tin with oil.
2. Chop dates roughly and put in a saucepan with the half cup of water. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the dates are soft. (You could microwave them instead.) Mash with a fork or masher. Stir in honey until melted, and add oil.
3. Put rolled oats, flour, coconut, spices and fruit and nuts in a bowl, add vanilla essence or lemon juice, egg, baking soda dissolved in a tablespoon of water, and date and honey mix.
4. Mix until everything is combined. The mix should be moist but crumbly.
5. With wet hands or a wet spatula, press into greased slice tin. Press pumpkin seeds into the top if you like.
6. Bake at 180degC fan bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares or bars while still warm and remove from tin when cool.
7. Makes about 18 to 50 depending on how you cut it.

Gluten and Dairy Free Vegetarian Lasagne

Serves 6

Usually I start by explaining a recipe as being quick and easy. Well this one isn’t so quick, but it is easy if you follow the directions. Be rest assured however, the result is sublime; the best vegan lasagne I’ve ever made. It’s ideal for wheat and dairy free people. Even feed it to a keen carnivore and they will probably love it too! Belive me, it’s worth the effort!
Layers of roasted vegetables are layered with rice paper sheets and tomato spinach sauce. Then the whole dish is topped with a savoury tofu cream. The tofu, tahini and miso sauce is wonderfully cheesy; you will feel completely satisfied by this meal. Serve it with a nice green salad – crisp and simple.

Of course if you have no problems with dairy you can make a simple cheese and organic milk sauce. It's up to you!

Jump to:

Baked Vegetables
Tomato Spinach Sauce
Creamy Tofu Sauce
Assembling the Lasagne

Baked Vegetables

Ingredients

1 kilo pumpkin, yams or sweet potato (kumara)
4 T olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Method

1. If using pumpkin, peel it. Otherwise scrub your vegetables.
2. Chop veggies into 1 ½ - 2 cm slices (lengthways).
3. Place in large roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Shake the veggies around until coated with oil and seasonings.
4. Bake in a moderate oven until roast vegetables are tender.

Tomato Spinach Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 x 400 g/ml canned chopped tomatoes (organic are best)
• 500 g silverbeet (Chard) or spinach (stems removed, chopped and washed)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 3 T olive oil
• ½ tsp dried rosemary (or 1 tsp fresh - finely chopped)
• 1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 T fresh - finely chopped)
• 1 tsp dried basil (or 1 T fresh - finely chopped)
• ½ c water
• ¼ cup red or white wine (optional)
• ½ cup olives (de-stoned and roughly chopped) (optional)
• 2 T capers (roughly chopped)
• 1 T soy sauce
• salt to taste

Method

1. If you are using silverbeet/chard rather than spinach, remove the white stems. The spinach stems are fine. Wash the greens, drain and the roughly chop.
2. Sauté the onions and garlic until translucent. Add herbs and fry a further minute or two.
3. Add all remaining ingredients. Simmer with lid on until greens are tender. Place aside.

Creamy Tofu Sauce

Ingredients

• 295 g (about 10 ounces) block of Tofu
• 2 T pale or red miso
• 2 T tahini
• 1 c water

Method

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.

To assemble the lasagne:

For the lasagne sheets use either gluten free lasagne sheets, (or standard - whatever your preferences), or rice paper sheets (from an Asian food store). You will probably need a standard packet size of lasagne, and about 10 sheets of rice paper. Amounts vary depending on the size of your dish and how many layers you do.

Use a large dish. Have a look at all your layer ingredients and ‘guestimate’ a dish size based on that. You could also make a couple of smaller ones.

1. Start with a layer of your chosen ‘lasagne’. Add several ladles of tomato sauce and smear it over lasagne. If using rice paper, use two sheets at a time. It tends to curl up when you add moisture, so hold it down until the sauce is spread on.
2. Add a layer of roast vegetables.
3. Repeat layering until veggies and tomato sauce are used up. It is important that each layer of lasagne has enough moisture on it to cook. I pressed down the layers with my fingers, when I’d almost finished, to make sure the juice was soaking all around.
4. Finish with a layer of ‘lasagne’ sheets.
5. Pour Tofu sauce on top.
6. Bake in a moderate oven (180 º C or 350 º F) until it bubbles around the edges and the top turns golden. It takes about 20-30 minutes). You can also grill the lasagne for 5 minutes to get a nice golden colour on top.