Food: Healthy spiralized cinnamon carrot dessert

As mentioned in my last post with two delicious and simple recipes, Tabasco got in touch with me and asked if I would like to be part of their new campaign called #FunWithFlavour, which is all about celebrating Tabasco Pepper Sauce’s ability to transform almost any dish. 

The iconic and natural sauce is made from just three ingredients – chilli peppers, salt and vinegar – and has been enhancing dishes all over the world since 1868. All I had to do was create three dishes infused by Tabasco sauce, including a bit of a challenge which was the dessert! The first thing I thought to myself was 'how the hell do I make a dessert with Tabasco??' but a quick google search made me realise people like spicy desserts more than I thought! You can pretty much spice up any pudding which is pretty clever, sort of like Heston Blumenthal style!

I got a really neat spiralizer from Tabasco so wanted to keep this theme going throughout my entire menu. The spiralizer I used was a little tough to spin at first, but after a few tries it became easier. It spiralizes carrots, cucumber and any other soft fruit or veg quite easily, but potatoes may be a challenge. I'm sure you could do the same thing with a peeler, but this is way more fun and makes food a little bit more interesting. It's really easy to clean, too.

This recipe is free of refined sugar (honey used as sweetener), gluten free and dairy free. You can choose to add Tabasco, or just have it without!

I hope you like this little carrot dessert, as originally made by Twirly Bites. It really surprised me and it was yummy!

SPIRALIZED CINNAMON CARROT DESSERT

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 large peeled carrot

2 tablespoons +1/4 teaspoon coconut oil

1 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• Tabasco Original Red Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spiralize your carrot/s and get them ready. Place them in a pan with 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil and sauté for 5 minutes.

2. While the carrots are cooking, put the remaining coconut oil, honey and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in another pot. Place on a low heat and stir constantly until ingredients melt and the sauce has formed (max 5 minutes). Avoid burning, overcooking or boiling the sauce or honey by keeping the heat low and stirring continuously. This is really important as the honey will get a different texture and flavour if it starts ti boil.

3. Remove the ready sauce and add it to the carrots. Keep stirring on medium heat for around 15 minutes, and make sure you serve it warm as the coconut oil will go solid if you leave it out. 

4. Add as much Tabasco as you wish, or sprinkle some chia seeds on top, or raisins, bananas, whatever tickles your fancy! This is a very sweet dessert so a small amount of it was sufficient to satisfy a sweet tooth!

Check out more recipe ideas and tips on Tabasco's Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/TabascoUK

Food: Healthy spiralized recipes + Tabasco

Tabasco got in touch with me and asked if I would like to be part of their new campaign called #FunWithFlavour, which is all about celebrating Tabasco Pepper Sauce’s ability to transform almost any dish. 

The iconic and natural sauce is made from just three ingredients – chilli peppers, salt and vinegar – and has been enhancing dishes all over the world since 1868. All I had to do was create three dishes infused by Tabasco sauce, so I chose to create a light and super healthy starter, main and pudding with a spiralizer. 

I had lots of fun doing it as I made my recipes really easy and quick, and the main made for a good lunch dish the next day, too! I hope you like them Dessert coming tomorrow!

For the starter, I wanted to keep it light but delicious, and a dish that felt almost like comfort food but without the guilt. I made some really simple sweet potato fries with guacamole dipping sauce.

SKINNY SWEET POTATO FRIES & EASY GUACAMOLE DIP

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large sweet potato (or however much you want!)
• Olive oil to line the tray
• Salt
• 1 avocado (peeled, stone removed, chopped)
• 1/2 small red onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 clove of garlic (minced)
• 1/2 ripe tomato (chopped)
• 1/2 lime (juiced)
• Tabasco Original Red Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 200C, and spiralize your sweet potato. I used the Lurch product provided by Tabasco and it did the job, but I struggled a little with the sweet potato as it was so hard. The spiralizer was unable to grip the top of it so I just used my hand to get the noodle textures for the skinny fries. There are loads of different spiralizers on Amazon that you can choose from, but Lurch and Hemsley & Hemsley are usually the most recommended.

2. Line a small tray with some olive oil or place a baking sheet on top. Place all the spiralled sweet potato fried on the tray and add salt on top.

3. Leave in the oven for around 15 minutes or until extra crispy. Don't worry about it looking too burnt as the fries taste the best when they are really dry and crispy, rather than wet or unbaked.

4. While the fries are in the oven, finely chop all your guacamole ingredients, add a few drops of Tabasco Original and stir them together, or blend in a blender. Season with salt to taste and serve with the fries when ready.

For the main dish, I wanted to make sure it was healthy and full of vegetables, but also filling and with a type of meat. I chose salmon as it's one of my favourite ingredients to use in any dish, and it never makes me feel bloated. It's super healthy and full of Omega 3, plus it doesn't taste like other fish so it is much more yummy!

VEGGIE NOODLE SALMON SALAD
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large carrot
• 1 cucumber
• 1 courgette
• 1 avocado
• 2 salmon fillets
• Olive oil spray
• 2 limes
• 1/2 block of feta cheese
• 1 Tbs of chia seeds
• Salt and pepper for the salmon
• Tabasco Original Red Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 170C to make the salmon while you prepare the salad. Line your tray with olive oil and place both salmon fillets on the oiled greaseproof paper. Season with salt and pepper and bake for around 20 minutes. Some people put more sauces on their salmon but I prefer it plain.

2. While your salmon is baking, spiralize the peeled carrot, cucumber and courgette and separate on two plates. I found the cucumber to be a little watery, but it didn't ruin the taste of the salad. If you prefer it to be more dry just remove the cucumber and use more of the other two ingredients.

3. Chop up half an avocado for each plate, then squeeze one lime over the entire salad. Crumble your feta cheese on top and then mix everything up.

4. Take your salmon out of the oven and place it on top of the salad. Sprinkle the chia seeds and Tabasco Original sauce all over, and dig in! There are lots of other Tabasco flavours to choose from, such as Smokey BBQ and Jalapeño...something for everyone.

I found that this dish tasted a lot better when it was fresh and with hot salmon. I had it for lunch the next day and it wasn't quite the same cold!

Have you ever used Tabasco sauce in your day to day dishes, and have you ever mixed it up and made any adventurous meals?

Check out more recipe ideas and tips on Tabasco's Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/TabascoUK