Shelly Meltzer & Associates

Easy to make and can be wrapped in foil and parchment paper as a ‘portable’ for your ride.

RICE CAKES

Makes 20 Cakes

This recipe is widely available on the internet as one generally used by cycling teams.

Ingredients

500g rice (pudding, abborio, risotto, sushi rice)

800ml water

3tbsp sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

2tsp cinnamon

2tbsp honey

250g cream cheese (can use low fat)

Method

• Wash the rice and add water, sugar, cinnamon & vanilla essence. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Replace the lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until all water is absorbed.
• Put the rice in a bowl, add the honey and cream cheese and mix well. Spread evenly in a pan and press flat, then cover with baking paper and leave in the fridge overnight to set.
• Cut into 20 even pieces.

Ring the changes: add chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit or coconut to the mixture. Alternatively, make the rice cakes thinner and include a spread of nut butter in between 2 slices.

Nutrition breakdown per rice cake:

This recipe comes from 'Feed your fitness: a cookbook to fuel high performance', written by the dietitians in our practice. This book contains 80+ recipes for quick easy meals and portable snacks designed to fuel and optimise training sessions. It also provides tips on planning your nutrition around training sessions, and planning meals to get you in and out of the kitchen quickly - and give you more time for training and rest!

OAT PANCAKES

Serves 3

These wholegrain flavoursome pancakes are healthier than classic homemade ones. If you like, serve them with blueberries and honey for additional carbohydrate.

Ingredients

75g quick-cooking oats

360ml plus 2 tbsp buttermilk

90g wholewheat flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

⅛ tsp grated nutmeg

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp canola oil

1½ tbsp brown sugar

blueberries and honey to serve (optional)

Method

• In a medium bowl, combine the oats and 180ml of buttermilk. Set aside to soak for about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Lightly grease.
• In a large bowl, stir together the wholemeal flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Stir in the egg, oil, and brown sugar, remaining buttermilk and the oat–buttermilk mixture, until just combined.
• Pour about 4 tablespoons of batter per pancake onto the hot griddle, and cook for about 1 minute or until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake and the underneath is golden brown. Flip the pancake with a spatula, and cook the other side for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Serve immediately with blueberries and honey, if desired.

Storage: You can freeze leftover pancakes, defrost them, and reheat them under a hot grill to serve.

Change it up: Swap blueberries and honey for maple syrup and bananas, apple or pear slices, or strawberries. If you would like a more easily digestible pre-training meal use white flour instead of wholewheat or half half.

Sunshine Crustless Quiche

Serves 4-6

We like this Ottolenghi inspired quiche (or as he calls it a ‘cake’) as it makes use of two good food sources of Vitamin D namely egg and cheese. We’ve adapted it a bit.

Ingredients

1 small cauliflower, broken into smaller 3cm pieces (450g)


1 medium red onion (170g)

20 -30 ml olive oil

½ tsp finely chopped rosemary or thyme

7 eggs

15 g basil, chopped

120 g plain flour, sifted

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1/3 tsp ground turmeric

100-150 g coarsely grated parmesan cheese mixed with cheddar cheese (can be reduced fat cheddar cheese)

Melted butter or oil to line the tin

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

1 tsp black onion or mustard seeds

Salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 . C.

Method

• Place the cauliflower florets in a saucepan and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with water and simmer for 15 minutes until the florets are soft. Strain and set aside in a colander to dry.
• Cut 4 round slices, each 0.5cm thick off one end of the onion and set aside. Coarsely chop the rest of the onion and place this on a small pan with the oil and rosemary or thyme. Cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat, stirring from time to time until soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Transfer the cooked onion to a large bowl, add the eggs and basil, whisk well and then add the flour, baking powder, turmeric, Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of pepper. Whisk until smooth before adding the cauliflower and stirring gently trying not to break up all the florets.
• Line the base and sides of a 24cm springform cake tin with baking parchment. Brush the sides with melted butter or oil , mix together the sesame seeds and mustard seeds and toss them around the inside of the tin so that they stick to the sides. Top with the cauliflower mix and arrange the reserved onion rings on top. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and leave for at least 20 minutes before serving.