The perfect companion for a chilli con carne.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 large ripe avocado – coarsely chopped
10 plum tomatoes – finely chopped
4 spring onions – finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
3-4 drops of tabasco sauce
Method:
Put all the prepared ingredients in to a bowl and mix gently.
So many people still think a salad consists of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. Glances of pity are thrown in the direction of my husband when he states we had a salad for lunch!!
This delicious salad was simply a combination of soft boiled quail eggs, chopped avocado, chopped plum tomatoes and grilled halloumi sitting on a bed of watercress 🙂
Having spent the last few weeks immersed in studying nutrition I have done a great deal of thinking about food… even more so than normal! This combined with my slowly changing relationship with food has made me come to some conclusions…I am no longer dieting – hoorah but instead I am eating mindfully. It is different!
I am no longer driven by the all consuming need / desire to lose weight or a quick fix but instead I eat to enhance my health and improve my lifestyle.
I have stopped counting calories and now eat quality calories.
I’m giving myself permission to eat the good foods until I am satisfied not depriving myself or denying myself.
I eat when I am hungry and listen to my internal cues rather than being driven by external cues.
and…finally, food is no longer my enemy / nemesis or a trap but to my absolute astonishment it is my ally and liberator. Two words I never ever thought would be written by me about food!
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Serves 3 Preheat oven to 180c / gas mark 4
Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash deseeded and chopped in to small chunks
plum / cherry tomatoes
3 smoked mackerel fillets torn into large pieces
300 g rice noodles
rocket
tamari (soy sauce if non gf)
Olive oil
Method:
Put butternut squash on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in oven for about 30 mins until cooked and edges crisping.
Put a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan and, once hot, add the rice noodles. Stir for a minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for a further minute. Drizzle with tamari. Add the fish and heat through. Finally add the roasted squash, stir and serve on a bed of rocket.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 salmon fillets
2 courgettes – spiralised 1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup of chick peas (tinned) 1 tsp ground ginger
Tamari to flavour – 1 tbsp olive oil for cooking
Method:
Bake the salmon fillets in the oven in a tin foil parcel for 10-15 minutes – no additional flavours / oil added.
Whilst it is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chick peas, pine nuts and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the courgetti and cook for a further minute. Add tamari – heat through and serve.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
100 g Gluten free plain flour 1 egg
1/2 pint whole milk 2 tbsp chia seeds
Pinch of salt
Method:
Make a well in centre of flour, add salt, chia seeds and egg and mix. Gradually add milk to make batter.
Make pancakes in usual way. I have assembled with full fat natural yoghurt, fresh raspberries, sliced banana and blueberries.
Recipe testing and experimenting with flavours and balance resulted in these pancakes. Eaten hastily by my husband and number 1 food critic – which I take as a sign he enjoyed them!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut milk 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut flour 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 cup chestnut flour
4 eggs (seems a lot but tried with 3 and the pancakes were very dense)
Method:
Whisk the eggs and then add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spoon out mixture on to a hot griddle and cook till golden brown on both sides.
To complement the sweet nutty flavour of the chestnut flour I served them with Greek yoghurt and then a fruit topping.
Salad: roasted butternut squash, tomatoes, radishes, mixed olives, watercress and rocket mixed with a drizzle of apple cider vinegar, tamari and extra virginity olive oil with beetroot and a pickled cucumber.
Trout portion baked with a squeeze of lemon.
Cup full of quinoa washed thoroughly and cooked. Whilst hot squeeze juice of 1 lemon into it and add 2 cubes of rosemary frozen in olive oil – or a sprig of fresh rosemary. and a dash of olive oil. (I put any leftover fresh herbs in to ice-cube trays and cover with olive / coconut oil and then freeze)
Cut the peppers in half and deseed. Roast for about 10 minutes and then stuff with the quinoa mixture and put back in the oven to roast until the peppers are cooked.
I served this dish with cayenne and olive oil roasted sweet potato and butternut squash chunks (neither peeled) and a chunk of corn on the cob.
So simple to coat and roast nuts yourself rather than buying them. This way you know exactly what has been used as ingredients. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with coconut oil. Sprinkle with seasoning of your choice – I used harissa and then roast for about 10 -15 mins at the top of a hot oven. Once golden brown, remove from the oven. I then sprinkle with a pinch of pink Himalayan salt.
Jo's food bites. 