Friday 7th April is Walk to Work Day. In this age of growing awareness about how bad a sedentary lifestyle is for our health, walking to work can make a huge difference in our lives, our lifespans, and if enough of us do it, our environment. Here is a recipe to help you on your way!

Makes 18 Bars
Preparation time 15 mins
Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 60g sunflower seeds
  • 60g sesame seeds
  • 60g pumpkin seeds
  • 60g flax seeds (also known as linseeds)
  • 60g Pine Nuts
  • 100g semi-dried cranberries
  • 100g semi-dried blueberries
  • 100g gluten-free porridge oats
  • 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
  • 5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 5 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 x 397g tin condensed milk
  • 150g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 1800C/3500F/gas mark 4. Line a 24cm square baking tin with baking parchment.
  2. Place the seeds, fruit, oats, sugar and spices in a large bowl and mix well.
  3. Put the condensed milk and butter into a bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water. Melt together until well blended and hot. This will take about 15 minutes.
  4. Stir the butter mixture into the fruit and seeds and mix really well.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and pack down lightly with the back of the spoon.
  6. Bake for about 20 minutes, until slightly golden.
  7. Remove from the oven, cool and cut into bars.

You can experiment with other seeds and dried fruits according to taste.

In season this month

Fruits & Nuts
Forced Rhubarb

Vegetables & Herbs
Cabbages, Cauliflower, Morel Mushrooms, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Spring Greens, Lettuce, Radishes, Sea Kale, Sorrel, Watercress

Meat & Game
Lamb, Wood Pigeon

Fish & Shellfish
Brown & Cock Crab, Pollack, Wild Samon, Sea Trout

Going out of season
Cockles, Oysters, Venison, Wild Garlic, Winkles

Suzanne is a professional chef, wife and mother who has lived in south East London all her life. You can email Suzanne with any comments or questions at info@suzannejames.co.uk

www.suzannejames.co.uk

This article first appeared in the April 2017 issue of SE22 magazine.