BUNS WITH BENEFITS!
Get more veggies in your diet with these easy-to-make vegetable-based cakes, ideal with that post long-ride cuppa on a weekend…
Four veggie recipes: beetroot brownies, avocado chocolate cake, courgette muffins and carrot cakes
This month I’ve created four, easy-to-make vegetablebased cakes. Cakes which provide a bit more bang for their buck for those who love a celebratory post-exercise coffee and cake but are trying to cut down on their double chocolate brownie intake. Fear not though, these cakes don’t compromise on indulgence or taste; adding vegetables provides extra sweetness and gooeyness, so much so that it’s difficult to detect the good stuff! First up, a Chocolate avocado cake. Avocados transpose this brownie-like cake out of the naughty-but-nice category to the highly nutritious (and delicious!). Just watch and smile as your avocadohating friends unknowingly tuck into it! With an excellent carbohydrate-to
protein ratio, enjoy post-workout with a glass of milk, or milky coffee, or serve as a dessert with fresh raspberries and a dollop of crème fraîche. The cake is also packed with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamins C, E and K as well as B vitamins, and minerals (including high levels of potassium, one of the electrolytes we lose when we sweat). If you can resist temptation and keep the cake wrapped in foil for a day or two, it becomes even more moist and flavoursome.
In Spain, a typical breakfast often involves cake, and I have to say I’m a fan. These little Carrot rock cakes are perfect to grab early morning before training. More nutritious than a traditional rock cake, crisp on the outside, gooey in the middle, and packed with low-GI carbohydrate, omega-3 essential fatty acids and antioxidants. A great start to any day!
Continuing the cake-for-breakfast theme, these nourishing and sustaining Courgette cinnamon muffins go down a treat, especially warm and slathered with butter and marmalade!
Love it or hate it, there’s significant evidence that regular consumption of beetroot can boost your athletic performance. If you’re not a huge fan, try them in these Red velvet vegan brownies. The beetroot is blended with dates and cocoa to provide sweetness and a fondant, velvety consistency. And virtually no beetroot taste. What’s not to like?
Nutritionist and keen amateur athlete Kate Percy set up the #GoFaster campaign in 2009, and now has a website (gofasterfood.com), several books and a new range of Go Bites - allnatural energy balls.