Choc Raspberry Smoothie Bowl

Raspberries & chocolate are one of my favourite combos… pair that with a silky smooth avocado based protein smoothie bowl, I’m in heaven!

So simple …

Throw into a food processer and blend until smooth:

• 1 Medium Avocado
• 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
• 20g Vanilla protein Powder
• A drop of coffee essence (if desired)
• A sprinkle of stevia if extra sweetness is desired
• A couple of ice cubes (if your blender can cope)
• Approx 1/2 cup coconut cream (start with less, and add as much as needed to achieve a thick, creamy consistency)

Pour smoothie mixture into a bowl, and top with berries, shaved chocolate, toasted coconut, or anything else that takes your fancy!

Green Veggie Open Omelette

This Frittata style omelette makes a perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner! Packed full of protein, nutrient rich veggies and satiating fats, to me, it is the perfect meal!

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Omelette:

• 12 eggs
• 1 brown onion
• 1 leek
• 1 head broccoli (or a couple of cups of frozen/cooked broccoli florets)
• 1 cup lightly cooked spinach
• 2 tomatoes
• 2-3 large orange kumara, cut into 0.5mm-1cm slices & cooked (optional)
• Grated cheese
• Coconut oil or Ghee
• Salt & Pepper

Sides/Garnish:

• Sauerkraut
• Basil
• Watercress
• Chermoula
• Aioli
• Bacon
• Portobello Mushrooms

Method:

Note: I used silicone cake pans for mine (I wanted to serve individual round open omelettes and these allow me to cook them simultaneously in the oven and are easy to flip out. But you can also divide mixture into ramekins or loaf tins (use baking paper for easy serving), or, just one big pan.

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee in a large pan
2. Sauté onion and leeks
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs together with some salt & pepper
4. Add in onions & leeks (once cooled) along with cooked spinach and broccoli
5. Grease silicone cake pan with coconut oil or ghee
6. Layer cooked kumara slices on the base of each pan (leave out for keto)
7. Distribute vegetables into cooking vessels
8. Evenly distribute egg mixture between pans (I did two ladles per pan – you want the egg mixture to almost cover the veggie mix
9. Add 2-4 tomato slices to each omelette and sprinkle with cheese (optional)
10. Place omelettes into a pre-heated oven (180ºC) and cook for 15-20mins (until egg mixture is set) … you can pop the oven on grill for the last few mins if you want more of a crispy top
11. To serve, I flipped each omelette out onto a spare plate and then flipped (right side up) onto serving plate. Then top with your sides or garnishes.

• I added two rashers of bacon to each, 2 grilled Portobello Mushrooms, some fresh Watercress, Green Herby Chermoula and Beetroot Sauerkraut. Seasoned with some cracked pepper, and popped a bit of Aioli on the side
• Adapt the recipe to suit your tastes or preferences. You could obviously include the mushrooms and bacon in the omelette mixture if you prefer.

Yellow Coconut Chicken & Veggie Curry

Serves 4-8 (depending on portion size)

Note: There are two ways I make this – fast and slow. Both work, I just prefer the slow-cooker sometimes for convenience and softening the veggies/meat…

Also, you can leave out the chicken to make it vegetarian/vegan friendly.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 Brown Onion diced
• 2 Large Tablespoons of Yellow Curry Paste
• 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce (more if you like)
• Splash of lemon juice and/or white vinegar (for tartness)
• 2-4 tsp Soy Sauce
• Salt (to taste)
• Ground cumin – 1-2 tsp
• Ground coriander – 1-2 tsp
• 500-700g Boneless Chicken thigh or breast (thigh tends to be more flavoursome & tender)
• Seasonal Veggies (whatever you like or is reasonably prices – I like pumpkin, mushrooms, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, courgettes, capsicum)
• Frozen vegetables e.g. 1 packet of Watties Chinese Mix or equivalent, frozen spinach, frozen Okra, frozen peas (I use more or less of this depending on how many fresh veggies I have used)
• Fresh coriander – to garnish
• Coconut Cream – 2 tins or 1 carton (I like to use the thick part only, so the sauce is not too watery)

Method

1. Heat a pan with the sesame oil and then add the diced chicken to brown the outsides  – cook for 2-3 mins the remove and keep to the side for now
2. Sauté the onion in the pan until cooked through/translucent and then add the curry paste, stirring and adding a bit of water if it starts to catch on the bottom.
3. When paste/onion mixture has darkened slightly add fish sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice or vinegar & other spices
4. At this stage, either remove from the pan and add to Crockpot along with chicken and all the other veggies (and coconut cream) OR add your fresh veggies to the pan and cook along with curry paste/spice mix for 5mins or so.
5. Then add the frozen veggies to the pan along with your sautéed  chicken and the coconut cream.
6. Gently simmer until all cooked through.
7. Taste for flavour and seasoning and salt or more fish sauce or curry powder to your liking (and/or chilli flakes if you like more of a kick)

 

Appendix:

These are the curry pastes I like and coconut creams I use (I am for ones with the highest percentage coconut, as opposed to mostly water/emulsifiers). 

 

Mumma B’s Slaw

Mumma B’s special slaw. Original recipe, fresh, flavourful and totally gluten free, vegan, dairy and sugar-free friendly! What more could you want?

The best part, is it is so simple.

For the slaw:

• Finely slice a mixture of white and purple cabbage (approximately 2-3 cups worth)
• Grate or finely slice carrot (approximately 1 cup)
• Finely slice 1/2 a red onion (for a less sharp taste, place in hot water briefly and strain before adding)
• Optional: Finely slice a radish or two

Mix together.

For the seasoning:

• In a pan, lightly toast 2 tsp of fennel seeds 2 tsp of coriander seeds. Slightly crush toasted seeds in spice grinder or mortar and pestle and add to the slaw.
• Chop fresh coriander (leaves and stalks) and add to slaw (as much or little as you like)

For the dressing:

• Dress the slaw with lime juice and olive oil (to taste)
• Optional: If sweetness is preferred, add a little raw honey or stevia
• Season with salt and pepper (to taste) ‘

Serve with your favourite Summer BBQ accompaniment or Mumma B’s chickpea wraps.  This slaw suits Mexican flavours particularly well!

Kumara Paleo Bread

I have tried a few different Paleo “breads” or loaves. Most of them require a lot of eggs and also almond meal – making it rather expensive! What I love about this recipe is that it only uses 3 eggs and a little bit of coconut flour. In addition, it has a beautiful natural sweet flavour (from the kumara) and while it is quite dense, it is also somehow soft and light.

Ingredients

• 300 grams cooked kumara flesh (or 1 1/2 cups cooked kumara)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of coconut milk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Juice of half a lemon
• pinch of salt

To make:

• Preheat your oven to 180 Degrees.
• Grease and line a  loaf tin with baking paper.
• Put the ingredients into your food processor or blender and pulse until well combined.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth over the top with a spoon.
• Bake for 40 minutes.
• Cover the loaf with foil and bake for a further 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Cauliflower Rice Salad

Looking for a grain-free, lower carb summer salad? This cauliflower rice salad is light and refreshing, whilst still adding a bit of substance to your meal.

You can easily adapt this recipe to suit the flavours you like and ingredients you have on hand. Be creative!

INGREDIENTS

½ cauliflower grated

Seasonal vegetables chopped. Such as:

• Pumpkin peeled
• Red cabbage chopped
• 2 shallots, red onion or scallions
• Fennel
• Capsicum
• Courgette

Fresh coriander chopped

Fresh mint, chopped

½ cup roasted almonds

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp mild curry powder

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon of almond slivers

Dressing:

Juice and rind of a lemon

Splash of apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper

A drizzle of honey (optional)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180c and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

• Place chopped vegetables on one tray (I just used what I had in my fridge – fennel, courgette, capsicum), and sprinkle with paprika, cumin, cinnamon and coconut oil.

• Place grated cauliflower on the other tray and sprinkle with chopped shallots/onion, season with salt and curry powder, then drizzle with olive oil.

• Place both trays in the oven for 20 mins (or until cooked).

• Lightly toast the sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a pan or oven with a splash of coconut oil and salt

• Meanwhile in a small bowl mix dressing ingredients together.

• In a large bowl, place cooked vegetables, some raw chopped red onion and/or spring onions, coriander, mint, and cauliflower rice. Mix well.

• Stir through most of the pumpkin, sunflower seeds and almond slivers (I save a few for the top)

• Drizzle with dressing and mix again.

 

Cauliflower Pizza Base

If you don’t do well with regular pizza bases, then this can be a winner. You will enjoy the flavour and (more or less) feel of a pizza, but without the bread! And BONUS – extra veggies, especially if you are feeding it to the kids.

It may take a little experimentation at first to get the consistency of the mixture right for maximum firmness. Sometimes it doesn’t firm up due to too much moisture, in which case you have to resort to knives & forks to consume. But there are worse things!

The below recipe made me one large pizza base on a pizza stone, plus a small extra bread &  butter sized pizza base – which is handy if you have someone who perhaps can’t or won’t eat some of the toppings you want to put on the main.

Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower, trimmed, chopped
• 3 eggs, lightly whisked
• ½ cup finely grated parmesan (optional)
• Additional flavourings if desired (e.g. Nutritional yeast, paprika, curry powder, onion powder)

Method

1. Process the cauliflower in a food processor until finely chopped.
2. Place chopped cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl or pot/frying pan. Cover and cook through until tender.
3. Remove any excess liquid. Combine the cauliflower, with the egg and parmesan in a bowl.
4. Preheat oven to 230°C/210°C fan forced. Line a tray or pizza stone with baking paper.
5. Press cauliflower mixture firmly onto the stone/tray.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden then add your favourite toppings.

7. Return the pizza to the oven until toppings are cooked and ENJOY! 

 

 

 

Tangy Asian Slaw

This is a nice asian-style side dish or you could make a full meal by adding some rice noodles and/or stir fried meat.

Ingredients

SALAD

• Red cabbage
• White cabbage
• Carrot
• Courgette
• Mung Bean Sprouts
• Mushrooms
• Eggplant
• 1-2 Limes
• Coriander

SAUCE/DRESSING

• Tamari Soy Sauce
• Fish Sauce
• Lime Juice
• Honey
• Sesame Oil
• Chilli

INSTRUCTIONS:

I can’t be too precise with the method as I sort of made it up as it I went. The key thing is to make it to your taste and adjust quantities to suit.

Chop finely the cabbage, courgettes and carrot into strips (I peeled the courgette and carrot into strips then sliced it finer from there).

Heat 1-2 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil in a pan. Slice mushrooms and lightly stirfry.

Add some crushed garlic and sauce ingredients (Tamari soy sauce, honey, chilli, ginger, fish sauce, lime juice – adjust to taste). The mushrooms should marinate nicely in the sauce (and release some flavour). Gently simmer until sauce reduces and becomes deliciously thick.

Remove mushrooms/sauce and set aside.

Dice eggplant and pan fry in a bit of sesame oil.

Add the mushrooms, eggplant, sauce, lime zest and some chopped or pulled coriander to the slaw and toss through.

To finish, add some additional fresh lime juice and serve with coriander and sesame seeds sprinkled over the top.

Enjoy!

 

 

Broccoli, Feta & Pine Nut Fritters

Broccoli, Feta & Pine Nut Fritters

Gluten free, alkaline friendly recipe that is super delicious and super healthy!

Broccoli is a super-food with a high nutritional value and it is a great source of fibre.

This recipe comes from Julia & Libby’s website, which was featured in Taste magazine (February, 2014). 

Ingredients (makes 8 fritters)

• 1 medium sized broccoli
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 eggs
• 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
• 150 grams of gluten free flour or buckwheat flour (put an extra 50 grams aside in case mixture is too wet)
• 80 grams of feta cheese
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• Dash of olive/coconut oil

Method

1. Chop up the broccoli finely and steam for 5 minutes.
2. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the flour, garlic, salt and pepper and parsley.
3. Chop up the feta cheese into small cubes and place into the mixture.
4. Place the pine nuts in a fry pan on a low heat and gently roast for 4-7 minutes or until pine nuts are slightly golden. Once cooked add them to the mixture.
5. Before adding the broccoli into the mixture make sure it is finely sliced. I found that I needed to add an extra 50 grams of flour to the mixture as it was too wet.
6.  Heat a large frying pan over moderate heat and add a dash of oil.
7. Scoop 1 large tablespoon of mixture into the frying pan, then flatten it slightly with a spatula. The mixture should make around 8 fritters. Cook the fritters for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden.
8. Place fritters onto a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.
9. Drizzle with lemon juice before serving. Enjoy!