Following on from my earliest post on Gut Week, which contained a delicious recipes for Oriental Tofu Kebabs and Moroccan Lamb Stew, here is the third recipe suggestion – courtesy of Love your Gut – A twist on a classic fruit salad, the Asian influence of coriander and coconut milk is unusual yet refreshing ­ perfect after a heavy meal.

Mark the 23rd-29th August and pay a visit to loveyourgut.com for helpful hints and tipes for getting your gut in shape!  Digestive problems are no fun for any of us and you would be surprised how just a few changes to your diet (a little extra fruit & veg and more wholegrain particularly) and an active lifestyle can really helpful get your gut back on track!

SERVES 4-­6

4 tablespoons reduced-fat coconut milk

1 tablespoon liquid honey

Lemon or lime juice, to taste

2 blood oranges or small pink grapefruit, peeled and sliced

1 small pineapple, peeled and diced

1 pink-skinned apple, cored and diced

1 banana, peeled and sliced

1 small mango, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

Mix the coconut milk, honey and lemon juice. Toss the fruits and coriander in this dressing.

Per portion: 141 kcal, 0.5g fat, 0.1g sat fat, 0.02g sodium

Got some left over cherries which are not exactly at their best – then consider this delicious way of reviving them. Wonderful served with yoghurt, ice cream or plain cream!

Ingredients
1llb of Cherries
100g of Sugar
50ml of Water
1tbsp of Cherry Brandy

Destone the cherries (or leave this to the eaters if you are willing to take them risk of them choking!).

Place the cherries in a saucepan, throw in the water, sugar and cherry brandy (can be substituted with other liquor if you wish).

Bring to boil and cook until a syrup forms on the bottom – a couple of minutes does the trick, be careful not to allow it to burn or stick! Reduce the heat and cook until the cherries are softened and glisten.

Allow to cool, place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge. Its that simple.

This is a very simple plum sauce I threw together when I had an abundance of plums – the local market was selling end of season plums for 1 euro for 2 kilos!

Ingredients

1 kilo of plums (preferably very ripe)
100g of Sugar
100ml of water

Wash and de-stone the plums. Throw them in a pan with the water and sugar. Cook on a low heat until they fall. Push through a fine mesh and cool.

Wonderful served with yoghurt, ice creams or anything else that takes your fancy. My most recent is a tart version of the plum sauce served as a sauce for Pavalova (my very own creation!)

This is a fun recipe my mother came up with sometime ago.

Pastry:
9 oz plain flour
1 tsp salt
6 oz unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp ice water, plus more if needed
Zest of 1 unwaxed lime – finely chopped
1 egg

Fruit Filling:
3 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups cherries, quartered
2 cups white currants
¼ cup unrefined caster sugar
¼ cup cornflour
1 tbsp Lime Juice

Method

Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl, stir in the lime zest, using a round bladed knife, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add the iced water until the dough just holds together – without being wet or sticky. Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough, if the pastry is still too crumbly add a little more water – a dessertspoon at a time

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, divide in half, and place each half on a piece of cling film. Shape into disks, wrap in cling film and refrigerate overnight

Roll out the dough between two pieces of cling film into a 12” circle. Take off one piece of cling film and use the second to fit the pastry into an 8” pie plate, pressing around the edges. Trim pastry leaving a ½” overhang. Fold edge of dough over or under, and crimp. Roll out remaining dough to the same size, place on a baking sheet and place both pieces of pastry into a refrigerator to chill – for about 45 minutes
Put the different types of fruit into separate bowls

Place the sugar, cornflour and Lime Juice into a small jug and stir to combine, divide between the three bowls and stir to combine.

Spoon the blueberries around the outside of the pastry case, add the white currants next, place the cherries into the centre, ensuring the mixture is nicely rounded towards the centre of the pie

Remove the second piece of pastry from the refrigerator and cut into ½” strips, lay across the pie making a lattice – cut off any excess and crimp the edges

Break the egg into a small bowl and whisk. Lightly brush with the beaten egg and refrigerate for an hour

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and place a baking tin on a shelf in the lower half of the oven

When the oven is up to temperature, place on the baking sheet and bake until the crust begins to turn a light golden brown, approximately 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180° Celsius, bake for another 45 minutes – turning the pie twice during the cooking time. The crust should be golden brown and juice thickened and bubbling

Transfer the pie dish onto a wire rack to cool completely

Best eaten on the day it is baked, or keep a maximum of 2 days covered with cling film

Serves 4

Ingredients
6 clementines, cut in half
2 Vanilla Pods
4-8 tbsp Light Muscovado Sugar
4 tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier
Unsalted Butter

Method

• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6
• Finely chop one vanilla pod and slit the other along its length
• Put the clementines, cut side up, in an oven proof dish of a size that allows them to fit tightly.
• Mix the sugar and vanilla and then pack each clementine on its cut surface with a share of the mixture
• Drizzle with liquer and dot with a little butter on each clementine, and lay the whole vanilla pod over the top
• Cook in the oven for 15 minutes and then grill on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Turn up the grill for the last couple of minutes until the surface of each clementine starts to bubble.
• Serve hot with a good quality vanilla ice cream.