recipes

Parmesan & ham baked cauliflower…Lazy lady’s paleo dinner.

I’ve got so much happening right now but still gotta eat! Starting study combined with paleo style eating has proved to be a good weight loss tool. I only take a few things like nuts, a boiled egg, salad to school..black coffee is probably actually sustaining me. Please note…I do not profess to be a purist paleo. I’m giving it my best shot, which at the moment, is a hard line on no grains. Coffee will probably stay, chocolate sometimes sneaks in, and my husband brews beer…so…

Anyway..We are also moving house and I should be packing right now. So here’s a quick one…

Parmesan & ham baked cauliflower

Par boil quarter of a cauliflower. Chuck it in a tray with some chopped ham, a knob of butter, a sprinkle of Parmesan and dried herbs. Bake for 10 minutes to crisp the ham slightly and crunchify the Parmesan, voila! Dinner in 11 minutes!

Next time I’m going to try and find something that will make it more creamy…maybe a coconut & chicken version. Mmm.

20130207-201441.jpg

Date, Almond, Coconut & Banana Slice

So I tried something new and it turned out so delicious, I thought I better share! I love this because its takes about 30 seconds to make, has no sugar but is a yummy sweet treat. You paleontologists will love this!

Now, my style of cooking is pretty experimental, and I try to keep things as healthy as possible. The other thing about these type of “recipes” is that I sometimes don’t remember exactly how much I put in. Here’s a guide..

Banana date nut slice

20130201-194041.jpg

2 c almond meal*
1 c dates
1 c desiccated coconut
3/4 c cashew nuts
1/2 – 3/4 c coconut oil
2 bananas
2 eggs
Vanilla

Chop dates and cashews and add them to almond meal and coconut in a bowl. In another bowl, mash up all your wet ingredients together – eggs, oil, banana and vanilla. Then make a well in the dry ingredients and mix!
Pour into a slice tin and cook for about 25 mins or so. Eat hot, cold or frozen!

*Please note… I never use pre made almond meal, I buy bulk almonds (from Aldi mostly) and blitz them in the food processor myself. It’s much cheaper and you get a wholemeal effect from the skin still being on, plus they aren’t blanched or anything. Win!

Vegan Chocolate Ice cream

This delicious and healthy delight is my favourite thing at the moment. Its sooo delicious and makes very good bribery material. My girl loves “Chocolate Ice Cream”, and she will become very compliant at the mention of it.

You can use this recipe as a guideline, and create your own flavour combos. I originally used this recipe from thekitchn.com, and made my own variation.

 

Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

1 x bunch of bananas – chopped into bits (raaar!) and frozen overnight

about 1/3 cup cocoa

about 1/3 cup melted coconut oil

about 1/3 cup brown sugar (for an even healthier version use rapadura sugar)

splashes of vanilla

ingredients             bananablender 2

Put all of these things into a food processor and blend! As always, my wish is that you will experiment and test out different amounts of the flavourings to your own taste. I personally like lots of cocoa and vanilla. It comes out so creamy and delicious, I put it in a container and keep it in the freezer. Its the best thing for a healthy summer night treat.

choc icecream in blender         choc icecream2

 

 

Easy dinners: Sausage, Tomato & Pumpkin with Quinoa

When I’m thinking about writing these recipes down to share, my main goal is to give you a guideline so that you can experiment and make things to your taste.
This is a common type dinner in my house and these items can all be substituted and mixed and matched. The idea is a kind of mix up of veges, protein and a carbohydrate if you want it. I like using quinoa, because it’s low carb and high protein, really nutritious and filling. It’s actually a seed did you know! You could also use lentils or pasta, or brown rice.

Ingredients

4 gourmet sausages
1/4 pumpkin
2 celery sticks
1 onion
1 tin tomatoes
3/4 cup quinoa grain (I use red and white mixed)
Chicken stock

Cook the quinoa in the chicken stock. Cover the grain with liquid and put on the stove.
Cook pumpkin in salted water until soft.
Cook sausages, then take them out and cut them up. Return to pan with celery and onion, cook a bit and then add the tomatoes, pumpkin, cooked quinoa and all the juices. Mix up a little and voila you have the easiest, really nutritious dinner!

20121115-220838.jpg

20121115-220853.jpg

20121115-220904.jpg

Super Easy Mushroom & Green Bits Risotto

This is the easiest risotto ever, and the things I love about it are, is that it doesn’t turn out all gluggy, because its baked in the oven, and its so quick! No standing around spooning ladles of stock into the pan.

Please note. If you start following my recipes, they are often “around about”. I’m a creative type of cook for the most part, and often don’t measure. I go by feeling. I am however attempting to document what I do.

So heres the recipe:

SUPER EASY MUSHROOM & GREEN BITS RISOTTO


375g chopped mushrooms

3 cups beef  stock (or whatever stock you like)

100ml white wine

Butter

2-3 sticks celery

2-3 spring onions

2 cups arborio rice

handful fresh oregano

Condiments: (I love extra bits to put in your food. Particularly lemon. You can add things to your taste, and its just delicious fun.

fresh chopped chives

parmesan

lemon wedges

chilli infused olive oil

To make this especially easy, use a pan that you can use on the stove and then put straight in the oven.

Heat the oven at 180 degrees.

Cook mushrooms in butter in the pan on the stove. Put them in a bowl, set aside.

Cook chopped celery and spring onion in the pan. Put mushrooms back in. Add rice, add a bit more butter if you like, then add the stock. The liquid should just cover the contents.  Mix in the handful of fresh oregano, some salt and pepper, put the lid on and put it in the oven. Bake for 25mins or until the rice is cooked. Serve with the list of condiments. Mmm enjoy!