Month: May 2016

Tasty Thai Salad

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meat Free | Paleo-Friendly) This naturally gluten-free salad is an explosion of fantastic flavours and makes a great packed lunch/picnic goodie! The dressing was created and tested in my kitchen from a few different recipes to make it an extra good time. Feel free to add chicken if you want, but it’s still very filling without -especially if you add chia seeds. If you’re not keen on spice, just skip the chili and red pepper flakes in the dressing.

Salad Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 small red onion, chopped fine (I only had a white onion, so I used that)
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 400 g (4 cups) shredded Napa cabbage (I had spring greens knocking about in my fridge so I just used those instead)
  • 3 carrots, grated
  • 2 spring (green) onions chopped
  • Small handful (¼ cup) fresh basil, chopped
  • Small handful (¼ cup) fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
  • Small handful (¼ cup) raw cashews, toasted and chopped

Dressing Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce (You can purchase gluten-free soy sauce)
  • 2 tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
  • 2 tbsp natural peanut butter (I’ve also used whole peanuts that I ground down in a blender when I didn’t have peanut butter on hand)
  • 1 tbsp honey (Add more/less to taste)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 tbsp water
  • 5 cm (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
  • 1 chili pepper (or cayenne pepper) –if you like spicy things!

Instructions

  • Heat coconut oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for two minutes.
  • Make dressing by whisking together or putting all ingredients into blender (the blender option is best).
  • In a large bowl combine cabbage, carrots, green onion, basil, and coriander (cilantro). Toss with dressing. Top with cashews and serve.

Tips

  • Add chicken I you want! Just sauté the chicken breast until browned and fully cooked in coconut oil with onion and garlic. Allow it to cool and shred.
  • I threw some Chia seeds on my salad for added protein, since my salad didn’t have chicken.
  • Because of the hardiness of cabbage (or, in my case, spring greens), this salad makes a great packed lunch! The greens didn’t get soggy even though I had already mixed in the dressing the night before. Here I am on a gloriously sunny Friday eating this delightful packed lunch in the park…what a treat!

Thai Salad

Baked Broccoli Fritters

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(Gluten Free, Meat Free) Not a huge fan of broccoli? No problem! You’ll barely notice them in these little wonders. These gems are packed with flavour and veggies in all the right ways! Great for a quick snack or a tasty meal.

Ingredients:

Broccoli Fritter Ingredients

  • 2 large broccoli stalks and heads (I only had one stalk so I also substituted the second stalk with 8 closed cup mushroom)
  • 2 large spring (green) onions, finely sliced or 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 3 large garlic cloves, diced
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 100 g (about 3/4 cup) or more of ground almond (I didn’t have ground almonds so I just used gluten free flour)
  • 80 g (about 3/4 cup) Parmesan, grated
  • A large handful of chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), parsley, dill or basil (I used coriander)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
  • Ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp ground cumin, chill or smoked paprika (optional -add to taste)
  • 1-2 eggs, beaten
  • Coconut oil to fry(to make trial patty)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to fan 170C (325F)
  2. Grate whole broccoli on course teeth or throw in food processor.
  3. Combine all ingredients except the egg in a big bowl. Mix in one of the beaten eggs and don’t over mix to make the mixture too wet. If the mix is too wet, add more ground almond/gluten free flour. If it’s too dry, add as much of the other beaten egg as you needed.
  4. Take a spoonful to make a tester fritter and fry in a little coconut oil for a few minutes on each side. Try the fritter for flavour and add whatever seasoning you think is needed for the rest of the mixture.
  5. Once you’re happy with the flavour, shape the mixture, making about 30 patties 4cm (1.5in) in diameter and spread across 2 baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes until firm. Here they are before hit the oven:
Broccoli Fritter Prep

Broccoli Fritter Prep

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’

Avocado Dip:

  • 1 avocado
  • 2 tbsp lime/lemon
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 handful of fresh coriander (cilantro)
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/4 tsp or more of cayenne pepper, minced chili or jalepeño peppers to taste
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Serve fritters warm/cold on a big bed of whatever greens you have in your fridge along with  some red pepper or chopped tomatoes if you have them!

So Yum Yum.  xoxo

 

Flower Power Pizza

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(Gluten Free -can be Meat Free and Dairy Free) Let’s face it. Who doesn’t love pizza? But, trying to find a really tasty (not mushy) cauliflower crust pizza can be difficult. Fear not! This one will change your mind about cauliflower in the crust of your pizza. I swear. So buckle up, because it’s time for (cauliflower crust) pizza!

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil (or ghee)
  • 12 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 2 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 fresh or dried chill, finely sliced or chopped (optional)

Pizza Base Ingredients

  • 140g cauliflower (about 1/4 of a head without stalk)
  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • 50 g ground almonds
  • 40 g buckwheat flour (I didn’t have ground almonds or buckwheat flour so I just put in 2/3 cup gluten-free flour)
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Choose your favorite toppings! I chose parma ham, fresh parmesan and a spinach/rocket (arugula) mix.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 190C (375F). Link a baking tray with parchment paper and lightly grease with butter, ghee or coconut oil (I was out of parchment paper so I just used tin foil).
  2. Make the tomato sauce: gently heat the coconut oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 1 minute, then add the chopped tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and a little chilly, if you’re into that.
  3. Cook the tomatoes down to a thick sauce over a medium heat, lid off, which will take about 15 minutes. Then mash the tomatoes with your spatula or blend to a paste if you want.
  4. While the sauce is cooking, grate the cauliflower into rice-sized pieces using a hand grater or food processor.
  5. Put all the pizza base ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a spoon, or add to he food processor and blend to form a sticky dough.
  6. Spread the dough out with the back of the spoon the prepared tray, shaping into whatever shape/size you like (20 cm/8 in) recommended).
  7. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, flipping it over after 15 minutes to cook the underside (I took another pan lined with foil, put it up on top of pizza crust and flipped the pan over the other pan that way…since I was afraid I was going to break crust by flipping it!)
  8. Choosing your pizza topping! If you’ve made the sauce in advance and it’s cold, put the tomato sauce on baked crust and put back in oven for 5 minutes before adding toppings.
  9. Serve the pizza with a big green salad.

Makes 1 Pizza

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’

A Few Tips

  • Double the recipe to make two pizzas so you can freeze one of the bases or freeze the entirely constructed pizza to pop in the oven later in the week (I did this, and it worked like a charm!)
  • I threw a little green pesto I had in my fridge into the sauce to jazz things up – it was delightful.
  • Make a few crusts when you’re having friends around so they can build their own pizza with whatever topping you have…and you can have a pizza party!