No cook, no fuss!
Just store bought hot smoked salmon, avocado, raw slaw and baby spinach on a pumpkin chive GF bread roll. Tasty!
Tag: fit food
Vegan Pumpkin Soup
Warms the soul as well as the belly!
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
- 200g butternut pumpkin
- 4 large carrots
- 125g can coconut cream
- 4 fresh sage leaves
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- Chives to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200*C and roast the pumpkin and carrots until soft and golden. Allow to cool slightly.
- Place the roasted pumpkin and carrot, sage, rosemary, stock and coconut cream in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Alternatively, place the mixture in a large bowl or saucepan and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
- Serve hot with chives on top.
Pie Maker Savoury Muffins
After a recent baking spree for night shift, I can now truly appreciate why people are going nuts over these pie makers!
You’d be surprised at what people can create in such a short space of time with one of these (a real bargain considering they’re only $29 from Kmart). For some epic recipe ideas, definitely look up the Australian Kmart pie maker recipe group on Facebook!
As part of my experimentation, I made an old recipe of mine, a cross between a muffin and a frittata – a fruffin if you will (because mufftata sounds a bit risky).
I made two different flavours of these by changing the spice, otherwise the base recipe is the same!
Ingredients (makes 12)
- 1 cup self raising flour (can use GF)
- 1 cup low fat milk
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt
- 150g baby spinach leaves
- 3 large slices of Gouda, quartered
- Spice mix of your choice – I tried the Smokey BBQ and tangy turmeric dip bases by Morlife
Method
- Turn on the pie maker.
- Beat the eggs, then add the milk, flour, yogurt and spice mix and stir well to combine.
- Place spinach leaves at the base of the pie mould, then pour 1/8th cup of filling mixture on top. Place a small piece of cheese, then add another dollop of filling mixture to cover.
- Cook in the pie maker until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes). These will cook more evenly the more full the mould is.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge if they don’t all get eaten!
Spiced Protein Porridge
Hooray! The weather is FINALLY cool enough for the first protein porridge of the season!
Ingredients (serves 1-2)
- 3/4 cup rice flakes or oats
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp flaxseed
- 2 tbsp vanilla pea protein
- 1/2 tsp chai spice (or cinnamon / cardamom)
- Banana and almond butter for serving
Method
- Mix the rice flakes, milk, protein, flaxseed and spice together in a bowl.
- Microwave on high for 2.5 minutes.
- Serve topped with banana and almond butter. Easy!
Breakfast berry oat protein bars
A mouthful to say and a mouthful to eat! Another delicious creation on my never ending quest to keep my scrub pockets full of snacks….
Ingredients (makes 8)
- 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
- 1/2 cup vanilla pea protein (I use Botanika Blends)
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1 and 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup cacao nibs
- 2 tablespoon liquid coconut oil
- 1/2 cup frozen berries
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200*C. Line a slice tray with baking paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
- Add the wet ingredients and stir well.
- Add the frozen berries and mix through.
- Spoon and flatten the mixture into the slice tin, bake until set (about 30-40 minutes) and allow to cool before slicing into 8 pieces. Store wrapped in baking paper in the freezer or in an air tight container in the fridge.
Lemon quince Pterodactyl wings
Sorry for the radio silence! Between studying for fellowship and moving, I’ve barely had time to function this year.
Now, I know this is not my normal kind of recipe, but if these make dinner easy and delicious for anyone else who’s busy like me then I’ll be happy! These enormous turkey wings were cooked in my brand new oven, and what can I say, I’m impressed!
Ingredients
- Turkey wings (about 800g which was 5)
- 2 tablespoons lemon infused olive oil (I used Cobram Estate)
- 2 tablespoons quince paste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170*C.
- In a bowl, mix the lemon olive oil and quince paste together. Spread the mixture on top of the turkey wings.
- Wrap the turkey wings all together in a parcel of baking paper (so that the quince doesn’t burn) and bake until cooked through (about an hour). Allow to rest before serving with your favourite greens!
Raspberry Chia Sauce
I went to cooking school in Paris. While I was there, we learned how to make “Canard avec fruites rouge” (duck with red fruits), which was essentially a pan fried duck with amazing raspberry sauce. In my usual habit of trying to recreate things, I tried to make my own raspberry sauce, but with a slightly thicker texture – and so this raspberry ‘jam’ was born. Note that it is supposed to be tart like cranberry sauce rather than sweet like strawberry jam, so don’t get a fright if you put in on your toast and something tastes a little odd!
Ingredients
- 200g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1/8 cup white chia seeds
- 1/8 cup water
- 1 tsb balsamic vinegar (flavoured ones work well here, I used fig and guava with success)
Method
- Using a fork, gently mash the raspberries. Add the water and vinegar and stir to combine.
- Add the chia seeds and continuously stir until starting to thicken. Put aside in the fridge for 5 minutes and stir again (if too thick at this stage, add small amounts of water until it thins out). Return to the fridge until ready to serve.
For example – roasted turkey with spinach, slaw and a sweet potato and pumpkin smash!
Roasted Cauli Salad with Tahini Turmeric Sauce
Another easy meal-prep option that’s vegan and gluten friendly, packed full of nutrition with a hint of spice!
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1 small cauliflower
- 1 large eggplant
- 200g pumpkin
- 4 large kale leaves, washed and de-veined, then finely chopped
- 1/8 cup cranberries
- 1/8 cup flaked almonds
- 1/2 cup plain coconut yogurt (can use plain Greek instead)
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tsp turmeric
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180*C and line a tray with baking paper.
- Wash and chop the cauliflower, eggplant and pumpkin into similar sized pieces. Roast the cauliflower and eggplant on the same tray until slightly charred around the edges (about 40 minutes), and roast the pumpkin until soft and golden (about 30-40 minutes).
- Make the yogurt sauce by mixing the yogurt, tahini and turmeric until well combined.
- To assemble the salad, place the kale on the bottom, then top with the vegetables, then add the yogurt sauce, and sprinkle the almonds and cranberries on top.
Muesli Banana Bites
Banana bites, doo-doo doo-doo-doo. (It’s a Muppet joke, sorry).
These tasty morsels are deliciously moreish, full of fibre and make for a satisfying snack that’s easy to hide in my scrub pocket!
Ingredients (makes 12)
- 2 large over-ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk or mylk (I used hazelnut coconut milk for something different!)
- 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
- 1 cup raw muesli
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (can substitute with almond or hazelnut meal)
- 2 tbsp melted cocoa butter (can substitute for Nuttalex or butter or coconut oil)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200*C and grease or line a 12 cup capacity muffin tray.
- Mash the banana and mix with the eggs, milk and butter until combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredient mix and mix well.
- Pour into the muffin tray and bake until golden (15-20 minutes).
- Serve warm with natural peanut butter or a squirt of maple syrup!
If you like them a little sweeter, try adding 2 tbsp maple syrup into the mix, or experiment by adding some chopped dates or raw dark chocolate – yum!
Pumpkin Spiced Porridge
It’s only cold here for about 3 months of the year, which means there are 12 weeks of prime-pumpkin-porridge-tasting time to be enjoyed!
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 200g butternut pumpkin
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup quinoa flakes
- pinch of pumpkin spice (I use 1 tsp cinnamon with 1 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
- coconut or Greek yogurt and flaked almonds to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200*C. Skin and chop the pumpkin into small pieces and roast until soft and golden (approx 20-30 minutes).
- Place the pumpkin, spices and almond milk in a blender and process until smooth.
- Use the ‘pumpkin smoothie’ as a base to cook the quinoa flakes, on a saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously (particularly the bottom so it doesn’t stick) until the flakes are soft and the mixture is thick and creamy. If you need to add more liquid, add more almond milk as you go.
- Top with yogurt and flaked almonds just before serving.
Tip: The most time-consuming part is roasting the pumpkin. So, roast a large pumpkin early in the week so that there’s plenty on hand to make porridge whenever you fancy!
