Warm Sunny Salad!

Here’s what I’ve been eating lately: warm sunny salads. Its something I put together from the intelligence of my genious tastebuds that called for something warm, something toasty, something sweet, something crunchy, and something creamy all in the one dish. It all started out when I went to mash some avocado to indulge my then-current obsession: guacamole. However, the avocado was too hard to mash (I even let rip with a potato masher I was that determined to turn this avo into guacamole!); it wasn’t meant to be. It had to be sliced.  So, I let my culinary juices flow and went about creating a salad. And you know what? It delivered. It worked. I consider this a Masterchef moment a la Heather. This beautiful salad went down ever so nicely sitting out in my backyard on a blanket, enjoying the lasting hours of sunlight before the dreary winter sets in.

Here’s how to make this baby:

Boil 2 eggs for about 5 minutes so they are softly boiled.

Meanwhile, slice an avocado (as opposed to mash ), chop some spring onion and cherry tomatoes and add to a bowl.

Add in half a small tin of drained chickpeas.

Peel the eggs, chop them up and add to the bowl.

Toast some pumpkin and sunflower seeds and sprinkle on top. Add pepper and very generous lashings of wholegrain honey mustard (this is a crucial ingredient!). Introduce a good squeeze of lemon juice and you’re good to go!

This salad has a beautiful warmth to it from the combination of the mustard and the egg, and every ingredient plays its part to make it all so delicious.

Enjoy!

Wellness WA – Angry Almond Review

Hello readers! I must alert you to a wonderful website written by an even more wonderful gal. It’s called Wellness WA and was created by Perth girl Annette. She started this website because she noticed a lack of information about the best places to go for health and beauty in WA. Annette has certainly succeeded in turning this around! Her site is jam-packed with reviews and information about anything to do with health, beauty and wellbeing in WA! She is on a quest to explore all corners of the world of wellbeing in WA and report back to us fellow Western Australians so we can go forth confidently knowing what’s good and what’s not!

Annette’s written voice exudes friendliness, openness, and honesty, and she encourages the interaction of her readers. There are reviews on Wellness WA written by other contributers as well, and there is always an opportunity to enter giveaways! I believe Annette’s project evokes a sense of community among like-minded West Aussies, and provides a great platform to showcase local products and services. I urge everyone to check it out! Even if you are not local to WA, there are some interesting and thought-provoking articles written by Annette that share her thoughts and feeling on her journey towards optimal wellbeing!

Here is my review of one of my favourite food stores Angry Almond that I was lucky enough to write  for Wellness WA!

Be well!

Guacomoooooole!

Who doesn’t like guacomole? If thats you, then bugger off! Nooo I’m just kidding, come back! If you make this you might change your mind Seriously, I love avocados, and I love guacomole. Yum. It is ridiculously easy to make, is super-dooper healthy, and tastes goddamn great! I whipped up this bowl of guacomooooole for lunch the other day in between uni and work and it was deeelish!

I didn’t make this proper as such, I just used what I had at home to make my little creation.

I mashed up half an avocado, added chopped up spring onion, chopped up cherry tomatoes, black pepper, salt, and a good squeeeze of lime juice fresh from the tree. Perfecto!

And yes, that is celery in the pic. I was being all healthy using celery to eat my guaco but then I gave in to temptation and used yummy wholegrain crackers to scoop the rest

Quinoa and Roast Veggie Salad

This has got to be one of my favourite things to eat for dinner! I absolutely love it! It tastes so darn good that I could just about eat it every night, but variety is better of course It is really easy to make and I usually make quite a bit so I have some for leftovers, yummy! This meal is really healthy because it has a whole bunch of protein from the quinoa, and the mixture of vegetables and seeds provide lots of different nutrients – you only have to look at all the colours to realise that this dish is jam-packed with goodness! The dressing I use is even good for you, as the apple cider vinegar is a reknown alkaliser for the body and tahini has calcium and added protein.

I don’t follow a recipe for my salad, its just something I make using the food I have on hand and what I feel like on that particular night. This is roughly what I use:

• Vegetables to roast (beetroot, pumpkink, potato, sweet potato, carrot, onions etc)
• Baby tomatoes
• Baby spinach leaves
• Spring onion
• Sunflower seeds
• Pepitas
• Dried cranberries or sultanas
• Quinoa (I use red)
• Apple cider vinegar and tahini (for the dressing)
• Fresh lemon juice

Cut veggies into chunks and roast them with olive oil or however you like it to be done.

Cook quinoa (put 1 1/2 times more water in than quinoa) in a saucepan. Put in a bowl and add roast veggies.

Add in chopped spring onion, tomatoes, spinach, seeds, and dried fruit.

I usually add about a tbsp of apple cider vinegar and a good drizzle of tahini, and lots of fresh lemon squeezed into it.

Mix your salad up and enjoy!! And you will enjoy it because its freakin’ delicious!!

Red Radish Tabbouleh

 

This is the tabbouleh recipe I talked about in my previous post, Fruity French Lentils, and I made this to take to a BBQ along with the lentil dish. This recipe is a Superhero dish from The Kind Diet and provides a great way to use bulgur wheat. I had never used burghul before but I’ve always been a massive fan of traditional tabbouleh so I was looking forward to making this spin on it. And let me say, this dish is DELISH! The lemon juice really makes it and gives it a nice tang, and the parsley, spring onions and radishes go together just perrrrfectly! Its light, fresh, tangy, juicey with a bit of bite from the radishes: YUM.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 3 tbsps fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 spring onions, white and green parts minced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes

Bring 1 1/2 cups water and the salt to a boil in a saucepan and add to the bulgur in a heatproof bowl. Stir once, then cover the bowl with a plate and set aside until the grain has absorbed the water, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Stir in the lemon juice, oil, parsley, spring onions and radished and mix well. Add more lemon juice and salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Fruity French Lentils

Recently I went to my friend’s place for a BBQ where the boys were taking care of the meat and there would be one salad provided. I thought I should probably bring my own food to eat since a bit of salad for dinner just wouldn’t suffice for my hungry appetite! I had been planning to make a tabbouleh dish and this dish for dinner at home anyway so I thought they would be good to bring. That way I could make sure I had grains, protein and veggies all in one meal! I made double the quantity of both dishes so everyone else could help themselves, and it made quite a lot! This dish is lovely and summery, and is great for those who like things sweet (like moi!). Although it may sound odd to have raspberries and fruitiness in a salad, the ingredients really do compliment each other beautifully. The nuts add a nice crunch-factor and the basil goes well with the fruit. I also love the texture of the lentils in this salad, and its nice and light so you feel good eating it.

How pretty does it look?

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 cup green lentils
• Pinch fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries or fruit of your choice
• 1/8 cup fresh basil
• 1/8 cup fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp strawberry jam

Rinse lentils; drain and place in saucepan with 2 cups water. Bring to boil, add salt, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid and rinse under cold water to cool.

Combine fruit, basil, parsley, and walnuts in miing bowl. Stir lentils into the fruit mixture.

Stir together the orange juice and jam in a small bowl. Pour over the lentil mixture and mix well. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

How pretty does it look?

I also entered this recipe on Lover Health Food’s Wholesome Whole Foods carnival.

Soba noodle stirfry

This dish is loosely based on a recipe in The Kind Diet: Fried Udon Noodles. However, I use soba noodles because I like them better most of the time, and I add tofu. I make this dish pretty much weekly because it’s so quick to make and tastes yummy. It has a nice oiliness to it that makes it like a scrumptious noodle take-away that is probably a lot healthier and made yourself! Its so morish that I find myself eating the leftovers straight out of the frying pan instead of saving them for the next day…

Ingredients I use:

• Half a cabbage, shredded
• 2 onions (or a leek), sliced
• 1 serving of soba noodles
• As much tofu as you want, cubed
• 1 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper
• pinch salt
• plenty of garlic
• olive oil

Cook the soba noodles according to package directions.

In a heavy-based frying pan, heat some oil and add the cabbage. Cook for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.

Whilst cabbage is cooking, heat oil in another frying pan on medium-high heat. Add garlic, paprika, pepper and salt. Add the onions and tofu and saute until translucent.

Add noodles to the onions. Mix through until noodles heated through. Add everything to the cabbage and mix well. Done!

Enjoy!

Bok Choy Drizzled with Ume Vinaigrette

This recipe is a Superhero vegetable dish from The Kind Diet and is unlike anything I have tasted before. In a good way! I hadn’t eaten steamed veggies in a while, and I always have bok choy in the fridge so I can see this dish becoming a regular. It is such an easy way to turn ordinary bok choy into something that has such an interesting flavour. I bought some umeboshi vinegar for the first time to use with this recipe. I have eaten umeboshi plums – which I love! – but not the vinegar, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much flavour the vinegar has. It is salty of course, but also has that sweet-soury taste of the plums. To quote Alicia Silverstone: “There’s something about the combination of the flaxseed oil, the sour of the vinegar, the freshness of the green and the seeds…Oh my God.”

Serves 2

• 1-2 small heads bok choy (left intact) or 1/2 large head bok choy (chopped into bite-size pieces)
• 1 tbsp umeboshi vinegar
• 1 tbsp flaxseed or extra-virgin olive oil (I used olive)
• 1 tsp Gomashio (I just used sesame seeds)

Steam bok choy for 1-2 minutes until just starting to wilt. Transfer to plate.

Mix vinegar and oil together in a small bowl and drizzle over the bok choy. Serve sprinkled with Gomashio.

You could also use cabbage or leeks. Find the oil to vinegar ratio that suits you.

Enjoy!

Barley Casserole

This hippie-esque recipe is in the vegan section of The Kind Diet and makes a lot. I had never used barley in cooking before so I was looking forward to trying this one after I picked up some bulk whole barley from Manna Wholefoods in Freo. This recipe includes a tahini dressing that goes with the casserole, but both my partner and myself weren’t a fan. I do like tahini, but if tahini itself doesn’t rock your boat, then I’d say you probably won’t like it either. However, the rest of the dish was delicious! Smelled yummy when it was cooking too. Next time I make it I will definitely leave out the tahini dressing; I will skip the oven-baking part and either put a layer of cheese in or eat it as is. Needless to say, I am now a fan of barley!

I am going to post this recipe without the tahini dressing.

You will need:

• 2 c whole (hulled) barley
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, grated
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 rsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Bring 3 c water to a boil in a large saucepan; add barley and cook for approx. 55-60 minutes or until tender. Drain off remaining water and set cooked barley aside.

Heat oil in large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute about 5 mins. Add water if onion starts to stick or brown. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the barley) and cook for 5 mins, stirring often, until veggies are tender. Add the barley and stir for 3 mins.

Enjoy!

As seen on Health Food Lover’s Wholesome Whole Foods blog carnival!

Mochi for breakky

In case you hadn’t already noticed, I have a bit of a sweet tooth; and I especially like my breakfasts to be sweet. I very rarely have a savoury breakfast, and when I do it is usually an egg or tofu scramble, miso soup or vegemite toast

Recently I was hunting around the kitchen for something to make for breakfast, and my usual muesli, polenta or quinoa had run out so I had to get creative. I had only just bought a package of mochi for the first time – and had only eaten it once – so I decided to use some and make a sweet version. Then the question came: what do I eat it with? I didn’t have any milk or fruit juice…or fresh fruit for that matter. (I suddenly realise that I am making my house sound very bare and stingy! I had been away for a few days and this was my first morning back at home, hence the lack of usual food available!)

So anyway, I found a can of berry compote in the pantry so I thought this would give the mochi the sweetness my tastebuds desired. This is what I came up with:

Admittedly, it would have been yummier if I had some maple syrup or honey on hand, but other than that, I quite enjoyed my little creation! The mochi keeps its nice gooey texture even when its submerged in syrup. To cook the mochi, I heated some oil in a frying pan then put the mochi in and put the lid on. I cooked it for four minutes then flipped it and cooked for another four minutes on low heat. It should puff up and become gooey in the middle. Yummmmm.

Enjoy