RED RAW SALAD

I love grated salads and am currently making an effort to eat them more. After a weekend of severals meals out, I needed a beautiful salad to cure my bloating. My favourite thing about this salad is how vibrant and bright it is. Like some dishes, it actually tastes better the day after it is made and has been left in the fridge overnight. Toss in whatever vegetables you need to make quick use of; just make sure to either shred or finely chop them. Some vegetables I often use that are not featured below include zucchini, lettuce, wombok, celery and several other herbs. Make sure you use gloves when peeling and grating the beetroot! 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium carrots, peeled & finely grated
• 2 small beetroots, peeled & finely grated
• 1/2 small red cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1 large lebanese cucumber or 1/2 continental cucumber, grated
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh curly parsley, finely chopped

Dressing

• 1 large garlic clove, finely diced
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

COOKING 

1. Toss the carrot, beetroot, red cabbage, cucumber and herbs together in a large serving bowl. 

2. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or mug and stir well. Drizzle over the salad and serve. 

Serves / 4 
Total Preparation / Grating time / 20-25 minutes 

x Emily 

BASIC TOMATO (PASTA) SAUCE

Pasta is my go-to dish when I am doing a double shift at work. Its super easy and quick to cook and means I can fit in a siesta before heading back across town. I have found that sometimes the simplest things in life can taste far superior to complicated dishes, such as fewer toppings on a pizza, plain soy sauce on buk choy and basic pasta sauce. Below is my no-fuss, easy to prepare yet delicious basic tomato sauce. The finished product tastes like a lot more effort has gone into making it than what actually has!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 x 800g tin whole peeled tomatoes in their juice 
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce (gluten-free)
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 80g red onion, finely chopped
• 250g gluten-free spiral pasta 

COOKING 

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over low to medium heat and add the garlic and red onion and cook for 4-5 minutes or until onion is soft. Add the dried herbs and stir until combined. 

2. Add the tomatoes and their juice and bring the heat to medium-high until the sauce boils. Turn the heat to low and simmer for around 15 minutes. During this time, stir the sauce occasionally and crush the whole tomatoes. Serve with gluten-free pasta. 

x E

ARTICHOKE & FETA FRITTATA

The inspiration for this frittata came from none other than Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress and founder of GOOP.com as well as the author of some scrumptious cookbooks. Say what you will about Gwyneth but this woman clearly knows how to cook a delicious frittata. Whilst it’s not my style to regurgitate recipes exactly as I find them, I did follow Gwyneth’s stern rule to stick the frittata in the oven for exactly 8 minutes. This has given me a whole new perspective on frittata’s, as I realized that I have been overcooking them for months! No matter what unique ingredients you put in your frittata at home, follow Gwyneth’s cooking instructions and you cannot go wrong. To give you some idea, I also like using other vegetables & herbs in my frittatas including silverbeet, leek, tomato, broccoli, different types of potato, rosemary, thyme, basil etc. Frittatas are my go to dish when I get home late at night from work, as they are a low carbohydrate dream! I make this recipe with and without chicken and it is filling either way. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon rice bran oil / coconut oil 
• Optional- 250g chicken breast, cut into small 3cm pieces
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mixture of fresh chives and shallots (green onion), finely chopped, plus extra, to serve 
• 1 x 400g tinned artichokes, rinsed, drained & roughly chopped
• 1 large handful baby spinach, washed
• 7 eggs, preferably free range
• 3/4 cup milk of choice (unsweetened almond, oat, full cream)
• 50g reduced-fat feta, crumbled or cut into small pieces

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius fan-forced. 

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until all pieces have just turned white. Remove from the heat. 

3. Add the garlic, shallots, chives, artichokes and baby spinach to the now empty pan. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often so that the ingredients do not brown. 

3. Meanwhile, whisk the 7 eggs, milk and 1/2 cup water together in a large bowl or large jug (a large jug works very well). Pour this egg and milk mixture over the pan ingredients. Let it cook, covered, for around 5 minutes, or until the edges of the frittata are set but the middle is still runny. 

4. Scatter the feta cheese evenly on the top of the frittata and place in the pre-heated oven, covered, for exactly 8 minutes; this is all the time that the frittata needs to set perfectly. Remove from the oven and scatter with extra herbs, if desired. Serve warm, accompanied with a salad. 

Serves / 4 
Total Preparation time / 10 minutes 
Total Cooking time / 20 minutes 

x Emily

SATAY CHICKEN with VERMICELLI

I got the inspiration to make this dish from a recipe entitled ‘Lemon Grass Chicken with Chilli Dipping Sauce’. Now, if you read below, you will see that I did not use lemon grass or chilli (the only ingredient that remained the same between the two recipes was chicken!). I actually was not in possession of either of those ingredients and had I been I doubt I would have been in the mood to prepare them, being 8pm on a slothful Friday night. Instead I turned to one of my favourite quotes; ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ (anyone who has seen Little Women will get this reference) and I unearthed a bottle of satay sauce in my fridge. Using this as the base sauce with a dash of onion, garlic and sesame oil was delicious when paired with the fresh rice vermicelli noodles, cucumber and carrot. So simple! 

INGREDIENTS

• 400g chicken breasts, cut into 4cm pieces
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons peanut satay sauce 
• 1 lebanese cucumber, sliced into thin strips
• 1 small carrot, sliced into thin strips
• 125g rice vermicelli noodles 
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 

COOKING 

1. Heat sesame oil in a wok on low-medium heat and swirl to coat. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is white in colour. Add green onion & garlic to the wok and stir for a few minutes or until chicken is light brown in colour and is cooked through. Add peanut satay sauce to the wok and stir for 1 minute, coating the chicken. 

2. Meanwhile, place noodles in a medium saucepan and cover with boiling water. Stand for just 1-2 minutes or until noodles are tender and then drain well. 

3. Serve noodles with cooked satay chicken on top and cucumber and carrot on the side or mixed together. Serve with sesame seeds sprinkled on top of chicken. 

x E

MADRAS CHICKEN

My choice to make this dish was entirely decided by the fact that I had an unopened tub of natural yoghurt in my fridge that was due to expire today. Being someone that does not like to waste anything (this must be a quality I inherited from my Russian & German mother) I threw together this Indian dish for dinner last night. I found some madras paste that had been shoved to the back of my fridge but was otherwise completely edible and added some rice, garlic and brown onion to make a basic but satifising dinner. The fact that it was pouring with rain made this dinner taste even better, as eating a warm meal inside four cozy walls only can. I made up a very simple raita recipe as well, which I recommend you add, as this compliments the somewhat spicy madras paste beautifully.

INGREDIENTS

• 400g chicken breast, cut into 4cm pieces
• 2 tablespoons of Madras Curry Paste
• 1 tablespoon natural yogurt 99% fat free
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 60-80g brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup doongara rice (and 2 cups water to cook)
• a pinch of garlic flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Raita

• 200g natural yoghurt 99% fat free
• 1 lebanese cucumber, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced. Line an oven tray with baking paper. 

2. Cook rice by combining 1 cup doongara rice and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer, until rice is absorbed. Stir a pinch of garlic flakes and a teaspoon of ground cumin into the rice. 

3. Combine chicken pieces, madras paste, 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt, diced garlic and brown onion in a medium bowl. Toss well until all chicken is coated. 

4. Place chicken mixture in a single layer on the oven tray and bake for around 10-12 minutes or until no pink flesh remains. 

5. Whilst chicken is baking, make raita by combining the three ingredients and stirring well to combine. Serve chicken on a bed of rice with raita on top or to the side. 

x E

POTATO SALAD WITH CHERRY TOMATOES

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I am rather taken with cherry tomatoes right now, hence their appearance in this dish. I have tasted many potato salads in my time and I have found the majority to be overwhelming fatty and bland. This fresh yet simple potato salad is an exception. With only 1 tablespoon 99% fat free mayonnaise and 1 teaspoon olive oil, the fat content is low. The liberal amount of chives and cherry tomatoes make the potato salad crisp and pleasing on the eyes. The small amount of pine nuts and garlic add subtle flavours to the salad. All in all, a cheap, super easy, satisfying and healthy potato salad!

INGREDIENTS

• 400g sebago potatoes, washed, peeled & chopped into 4-5cm pieces 
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh chives, roughly chopped
• 150g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 tablespoons 99 % fat free mayonnaise 
• salt & pepper

COOKING 

1. Fill a large saucepan with water and potatoes and bring to the boil. Boil the potatoes for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender but not mushy. Drain well and place in a medium serving bowl. 

2. Add the chives, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts to the bowl. Season with salt & pepper. 

3. Combine olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, mayonnaise and garlic in a screw-top jar/bottle and shake until well combine. Drizzle over the potato equally. 

x E