Pesto is incredibly versatile and can provide both colour and flavour to your meals. This silverbeet based pesto is vibrant in both colour and flavour and is free of gluten, dairy and sugar.
Baked salmon on a bed of silverbeet pesto with rosemary sweet potato chips.
Most pesto’s have lots of garlic in them but l haven’t put any in this recipe as l react badly to it, but if you love garlic add a clove or two.
Add some sparkle to a meal with this delightful pesto!
Ingredients:
Three large silverbeet leaves
A handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (use more or less depending on the consistency you want)
1 dessertspoon organic apple cider vinegar.
1/2 cup raw cashews
Juice of a small lime or 1/2 a large lime (or all of it if you love lime)
Spring onion green tops( 1 or 2 pieces chopped depending on their size)
Pink rock salt and black pepper (season to taste)
The ingredients plus organic apple cider vinegar and spring onion green tops (which are low FODMAP)My favourite Apple Cider Vinegar. The one you buy at the supermarket tastes nothing like this amazing product.
Give it all a whiz in the food processor until well chopped and blended. Have a taste and see if any adjustments need to be made such as more oil or seasonings. I served it with both hot and cold meals and it was so delicious and added a real zing to the meal.
A salad in a cup with layers of silverbeet pesto on the bottom, then pumpkin seeds, tomato, tuna and chopped snow pea sprouts.
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A delicious chocolate slice free from gluten, dairy and processed sugar, while also being incredibly nutritious.
This will be gone in a flash!
This is a simple raw slice that l made using the food processor in just minutes. A taste test of the processed ingredients was delicious.
Ingredients:
1 cup of organic almond meal (blanched)
1/4 cup rice malt syrup
1 cup organic shredded coconut
1/2 cup organic raw coconut oil
2 generous tablespoons of organic raw cacao
6 organic medjool dates (seeds removed)
1/2 cup flaked almonds
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
Place all of the ingredients in the food processor. (The nuts could be substituted for any other kind of nut you like)
Give all the ingredients a quick whiz in the food processor.
Place the mixture into a baking dish lined with baking paper. Push it down with a spatula so there is a nice even layer of approximately 1 cm thick. Smooth the surface with the spatula.
The mixture is sitting on baking paper and has been smoothed out with a spatula.
Place in the freezer and when frozen cut into individual pieces. The slice freezers in about an hour and can be stored in an appropriate container in the freezer where you can just take a piece or two out as required.
Cut the slice into individual pieces.
Note: You can buy blanched and natural almond meal. I have been using natural almond meal in most of my recipes which is almond meal with the skin on. I have now switched to blanched almond meal as it is so much softer in my baking.
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Bake a batch of mini quiche and discover how delicious they are! Fantastic for the whole family.
A small quiche can be part of a meal or a great snack.
The basic ingredient of the mini quiche is eggs (preferably free range or organic). What you add to the mix is entirely up to your preferences. This could include seeds, nuts, vegetables, cheese and seasonings as examples.
Broccoli quiche:
Mix in a bowl eggs, grated carrot, spring onion green tops, parsley, a meat such as tuna (optional), pink rock salt and black pepper. Grease the pan very well or use patty pans. Pour the mixture into each hole in the pan and place a piece of raw broccoli in the centre of each. Cook in a 200 degree celsius oven until firm and golden.
These muffins are poured directly into the pan. Ensure you grease it well.Nice and golden,. Use a knife to cut around the edges and gently pull out.
Egg and bacon quiche are delicious straight out of the oven.
Place a strip of bacon into the greased tray and crack an egg into each hole. Season with pink rock salt and black pepper.
These simple egg and bacon snacks are so easy to make and the bacon makes them easy to lift out of the pan.Cook until the eggs are just cookedFantastic served with vegetables
Mini quiche are also a great snack and lunch box filler. Have the leftovers the next day with a salad for lunch or grab one for morning tea. Alternatively enjoy the quiche the next night by gently reheating in the oven and serving with a delicious salad or roast vegetables.
Small broccoli quiche with a beetroot spiral salad, sweet potato chips and bacon. Quite a combination.
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This soup has a wonderful balance of flavours with the most important element being a beautiful home-made chicken stock. It is such a delightful colour and looks so much like tomato soup but has a very distinctive flavour of beetroot with a lovely sweetness.
A thick and delicious soup with a surprising flavour.
Ingredients:
Check the recipe-soup section of the website for the chicken stock recipe.
1 litre of home-made chicken stock, 2 small beetroot or 1 1/2 large, 1 medium sweet potato, 1 large brown onion, 1/2 teaspoon pink rock salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.Just a small amount of pumpkin to thicken up the soup.
Method:
Prepare the vegetables by washing, peeling and chopping.
Add all ingredients except the stock, into a medium-sized saucepan with some olive oil.Cook until the vegetables are starting to soften and stir the ingredients every few minutes.
Add the stock and put the lid on and let simmer for about 60 minutes.
When the vegetables are soft take off the stove and blend with a hand blender.Blend well so that there are no lumps. Place back on the stove on a gentle simmer for approximately another 30 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust as required.
This is a very thick and filling soup. It has the most delicious sweet flavour and the colour is enticing. The main tips for this soup are to brown the vegetables before you put the stock in, use a very good quality home-made stock and use fresh vegetables.
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Home made stock is so handy and can be used as a base in dishes such as soups, casseroles, sauces or as a broth. It is extremely nutritious and adds a lovely flavour to your cooking.
A clear and beautiful stock.
When l had a colonoscopy recently l strained it through a muslin cloth and had it before the procedure and it helped me get through the fasting period.
Here it is as a broth with garlic and parsley.
It freezes very well and if you put it in lots of small containers is easy to add to your favourite dishes. Alternatively freeze it in a couple of larger containers and use it as a base for a soup or casserole.
A lovely vegetable soup.Apricot chicken (The recipe is in the main meal section)
To make the stock start off with a good quality organic or free range chicken which you can cook using your favourite method. I usually roast mine and have a meal or two with it then use the leftover bones, meat and skin to make the stock.
A delicious roasted chicken
Place the chicken carcass, left over meat and skin in a large stainless steel pot and cover with cold filtered water.
Put all the leftovers in the pot and cover with filtered water. Don’t use tap water if you can avoid it.
Add the following to the pot:
1 onion or spring onion chopped up
2 or 3 celery sticks chopped into a few pieces
2 medium sized carrots chopped up
Several bay leaves
A small dash of organic apple cider vinegar
A few black peppercorns
Everything is in the pot now.
Put the lid on and bring to the boil. Let the pot simmer most of the day and overnight if you can. When it has cooled slightly strain into a large pot or bowl.
This part is a bit tricky.It is so golden and looks delicious.
Carefully pour into the storage containers. I usually freeze most of it and keep a small amount in the fridge for use during the week.
This size is handy to add to smaller mealsThis size container is good as a base for a soup or casserole.
Some of the stock can be used straight away to make a delicious soup.
Vegetables prepared for the soupCooking nicely and the smell in the house will be lovely.A delicious home made soup.
Do yourself a favour and make your own stock. It is very quick to make and the taste is sensational.
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I feel quite clever making this dish as it is quite fiddly, but well worth the effort. The filling is a selection of lovely flavours and textures but you can easily change the ingredients to suit your own preferences. I used two chicken breasts which meant l had enough for a hot dinner when it is first cooked and then cold with a salad the next night. Each rolled chicken breast serves three people if you have a portion as in the pictures below which highlight how important it is to balance the meal out with healthy vegetables.
Have it cold with a salad!Rolled chicken served with roasted swede chips, steamed brussel sprouts and roasted pumpkin slices topped with raw organic honey and organic sesame seeds.Served with steamed pumpkin, brussel sprouts and cauliflower.
You can use as many chicken breast as you like but l buy the free-range breasts in a pack of two. Give them a good wash with filtered water and pat dry.
Place the chicken breast in between two pieces of cling wrap. Put a tea towel under the chopping board in preparation for the flattening of the chicken as this will make the noise less and stop the board moving on the bench.Flatten the chicken so that it is a nice shape by gently pounding it with a wooden rolling pin.
Make the filling by combining all of the ingredients in a food processor, or alternatively cut and chop them by hand and mix in a bowl. Change any of the ingredients if you don’t like the flavour combination or add in some more spices. The ingredients below don’t have to be exact as long as there are a good mix of flavours.
Ingredients for the filling:
4 brussel sprouts
2 spring onion green tops
1/2 cup raw activated walnuts
1/4 cup raw activated pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Pink rock salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon organic coconut oil
1/2 cup fresh parsley and mint (or any other herbs you have)
A few leaves of silverbeet(use spinach, kale or bok choy as an alternative)
A food processor is convenient here but not essential.
Spread the filling on top of the chicken breasts.
The free range chicken breasts flattened and topped with the filling.Roll the breast around the filling
Use kitchen string to gently hold the breast in place. Tie the string at each end and push in any filling that has come out. Gently lift onto a lined baking tray and drizzle with your favourite oil, pink rock salt and black pepper.
The rolled and tied chicken breast drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, pink rock salt and black pepper.
Cover with foil and place in the oven. Cook until the chicken is golden and then take the foil off and let it brown or place under the grill ensuring it doesn’t dry out.
Another option is to pan fry the rolled chicken which will give a more golden appearance.
Cook on a very low heat with the lid on.Both the oven and fry pan methods work well.
Carefully cut the string along the length of the chicken and remove. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving.
Golden and delicious!
There are so many fillings that would be delicious with this recipe. I am going to try a pumpkin or sweet potato filling next, but the combinations are really endless.
Have one for dinner and the second one cold the next day. A great way to add variety to the same dish and the flavours are quite different between the warm and cold versions.
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Sweet potatoes are versatile, sweet, nutritious and affordable!
A simple dinner with sweet potato as the centre piece.
Oh, how l love the sweet potato which is also known as kumara or yam. Not much to look at in the shops, but once cooked the flavour is enticing.
The orange sweet potato is always in my fridge.
Sweet Potato is a good source of complex carbohydrates, dietary fibre and beta carotene, and this root vegetable also has modest amounts of Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, Vitamin B6 and Magnesium.
A sweet potato mash with silverbeet, parsley and spring onion adds some colour to this meal.
Since l stopped eating processed sugar l like to include foods which are naturally sweet as part of my everyday diet. The sweet potato is a lovely addition to a meal because of its beautiful sweet taste, soft texture and bright colour. It is extremely easy to cook with and difficult to ruin. I am amazed at the lovely flavour it adds to baked goods such as cakes and pancakes and although l prefer it cooked it can be a good addition raw to a smoothie.
Sweet Potato noodles with soupSweet Potato and Walnut cake.A Paleo, gluten, dairy sugar free pancake with grated sweet potato mixed through the batter.Raw sweet potato in a juice tastes a lot like carrot and makes it creamy.
I can’t remember when l first ate a sweet potato but it certainly wasn’t until l was an adult. It has some similarities in flavour and colour to the pumpkin but holds together better when cooked and is especially delicious cut into chips. Sweet Potatoes can be bought quite small or enormously large, and the surprising thing is that in my experience the flavour is the same whatever size you buy. They are also available with a red skin and a white flesh and this is one of those times when your taste buds can get very confused as the taste is the same as the orange version. I have to admit here that l have on occasion tricked my children into thinking they were eating normal potato when in fact it was the red sweet potato just to get them to try a new vegetable.
How many ways can one vegetable be used in recipes?
Here are a few more pictures of how l have used the sweet potato in my cooking:
Sweet Potato Chips as a snack. Coat them in olive or coconut oil and season before cooking.Sweet Potato and vegetable soup. See the main meals section for a soup recipe.Sweet potato chips are my favourite.Sweet Potato casserole. This has chicken, vegetables, coconut and spices. It cooks in the slow cooker all day and is lovely. The recipe is in the main meals section.A gluten free pizza with sweet potato.
I hope you can enjoy the sweet potato as much as l do and make it a regular part of your meals.
Roasted sweet potato with salmon is delicious here. I roasted it with the skin on and then sliced it before serving.Vegetarian lasagna with sweet potato layers.
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A budget friendly, nutritious and easy to prepare meal. I used a whole cauliflower for this recipe and was amazed at the plentiful quantity it made. Cauliflower rice is a great alternative to real rice, and you will be amazed at how similar it looks and tastes.
Enough to feed the whole family.
Ensure that you use fresh ingredients. You can use your favourite vegetables but l used mostly greens in this one such as bok choy, celery, broccoli, spring onion tops and snow peas, plus some carrot and bean sprouts.
A beautiful fresh cauliflower.
This is a dish that can be pre-prepared early in the day so that at dinner time it will take a very short time to cook. It is a matter of processing the cauliflower, washing and chopping all of the vegetables and dicing the chicken. This can all then be kept in separate bowls or containers in the fridge until required.
Preparation is the key! One whole cauliflower, 2 free range chicken breasts and your favourite vegetables.
My favourite way to make cauliflower rice is to cut the fresh cauliflower into smallish pieces and then blend it in the food processor. This takes about 10 seconds to turn into cauliflower rice. You don’t want it in the food processor too long or it will be a pulp and wont cook nicely.
Wash the raw cauliflower and cut it into pieces that will fit into the food processor.Process the cauliflower until it resembles rice and is an even consistency.
Steps:
I used a largish fry pan which l pre-heated on a low temperature and added some olive oil. You know the pan is too hot if the oil is smoking. High heats will damage the oil so go gently with the heat.
Add the diced chicken to the pan and lightly brown. Next add the cauliflower rice and let it cook for a few minutes, followed by the vegetables and any spices you are using. I just used pink rock salt and ground black pepper, but l have in the past added fresh garlic, ginger and lots of spices such as tumeric, cumin, paprika and cinnamon. You can also add some sauces such as a fish sauce or Tamari, but l have been having food intolerance reactions to a lot of spices at present so kept this dish plain. The cauliflower rice often changes colour depending on the spices or vegetables you use and can look so stunning. Don’t over cook the vegetables or rice to retain the nutrients. I put mine on a nice large platter to serve and it looked wonderful.
You can take this to work the next day for lunch to have cold and use different meats, or just have it as a side dish. A very fresh and clean cauliflower is essential to the success of this dish and it is so light and healthy that it is a great meal to have at night when you don’t want to overload your digestive system.
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A lovely cake which is Paleo friendly, gluten, dairy and processed sugar-free. Before this cake is cooked it is the loveliest pink colour which unfortunately disappears after it has been baked in the oven.
The end piece is always so crunchy and delicious!
Ingredients:
2 cups almond meal
1/4 cup organic coconut flour (no need to sift, just squash the lumps))
6 free range eggs (700g)
A generous 1/4 cup organic coconut oil (gently melted)
A generous 1/4 cup raw organic honey (gently melted)
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda (Bob’s Red Mill Aluminium free ).
One small fresh beetroot peeled and grated
1/2 cup raw activated walnuts chopped roughly (or just raw walnuts)
Extra whole walnuts for the top of the cake.
Ready to be mixed
Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and gently combine with a spatula.
The colour is lovely
Place the mixture in a greased and lined baking tin. Smooth the top with a spatula and then place the extra whole walnuts on top of the cake
I greased my tin with coconut oil.
Bake in a 180 degree celsius oven until golden and quite firm.
The cake will be golden and smell delicious
Remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the edge of the cake to separate it from the tin. Turn the cake gently onto the cooling rack, remove the baking paper from the bottom and turn over.
Let the cake cool and then sample a piece! I use a serrated knife to gently cut a piece.The cake is lovely eaten warm!
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Crispy Cinnamon Chicken served as part of a delicious salad
This chicken is moist on the inside and crispy on the outside with a lovely rich spicy flavour. When l say that, remember that l eat quite plainly so my version of spicy is very mild. I have cooked this chicken several times now and the combination of cumin and cinnamon is delicious. You could add a dressing to your salad which would add another element to it, but l actually think that this salad had everything. There was crunch from the greens, moisture from the avocado and tomato, crunch from the seeds and spice from the chicken. The combination of raw and cooked ingredients really gave this dish a good balance of flavours.
This was enough to serve two adults and three children. You will need two free range chicken breasts. Give them a wash and place them in a glass baking dish. Drizzle the chicken with Olive Oil and sprinkle with ground black pepper, Pink Himalayan Crystal Salt, a good pinch of Cumin and a teaspoon of Cinnamon (I used organic Cinnamon). Turn the Chicken fillets over a few times in the oil and spices so they are nicely coated. Cover with Aluminium Foil and bake in a 200 Degree oven until the chicken is cooked through. Place under a grill and brown both sides of the chicken until golden.
The Free Range chicken is oiled and spiced. Top with Aluminium Foil and place in the oven.
Place the meat on a chopping board and slice as desired. I had this lovely chicken with a green salad, seeds (sesame & Pumpkin), avocado and roasted beetroot chips.
The cooked Chicken was looking and smelling so good!
You can pile the sliced Chicken on top of the salad or spread it out more as in the first picture.
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