Balsamic Glazed Pork on Warm Lentil Salad

This meal was a Friday at home date night meal I made for the Dragon. I found a good special on pork fillet and wanted to do something special with ingredients we had on hand in our pantry and fridge.  The result was a pretty easy meal to make over a glass of wine before retiring together to the balcony to overlook the city lights with our chimenea burning to set the mood. Toasted marshmallows made for a perfect desert.

I literally licked my plate clean. This meal is A.May.Zing. The pork is moist and soft, the glaze is beautiful and the lentil base is a perfect compliment. This is a great special dinner at home/date night meal.

The Blood of my Enemies (Beetroot, Ginger, Celery, Pineapple and Rockmelon Juice)

Last week I spent a few nights away at a training workshop down south.  Unfortunately the workshop itself did not live up to its reputation, but there were a few other good things I took away instead.  For one, I made some lovely friends and had a ball outside of the workshop.  Secondly, I fell in love with juices.  One in particular included beetroot and carrot and a few other ingredients, and was red and frothy. This may sound a little gross but it looked a bit like blood with coagulate on the surface. We laughed about drinking the blood of our enemies, and I felt great afterwards. I was inspired to create my own version at home. Its a power drink!

The Dragon and I usually just do smoothies in our nutrininja. Usually we take a banana and almond milk base, then add various fruits/veggies/other add ins.  We don't really do much juicing. Juicers themselves seem a waste because they take out all of the good fibre, so the nutrinja seemed like the perfect way to start making yum juices at home.  We have been having this particular one with breakfast every day this week and we have been feeling really healthy as a result. I've been pre-chopping all the fruit and veg on the weekend so they are ready to assemble in the nutrininja cup each night before bed, put into the fridge, then in the morning we can just grab, blitz, laugh maniacally and go!

From my very un-educated trawl of the internet, pseudoscience tells me that this may benefit blood pressure, the liver, kidneys and pancreas, but just eating healthily generally will do that for you.  Don't be fooled into thinking drinking one juice is going to make you healthy, but in combination with a balanced and healthy diet generally, this juice is a great addition.

I present to you the Blood of My Enemies.

Enlivening Orange, Ginger and Mint Juice

Welcome back! After a long hiatus I am ready to return to blogging again. Life had gotten really hectic with home renovations and my being unwell for some time, so I haven't been able to dedicate the time to this.  I've made a bunch of changes to my life to simplify things now (which includes dedicated rest days with no plans and no projects/jobs) and I am feeling healthier and more relaxed. In addition to that, I have time again!  So without further ado.....

This juice is perfect for a Saturday afternoon.  It is so simple - just three ingredients - and it tastes zingy and delicious.  Interestingly it also tastes quite creamy, despite not having any ingredients in it which would usually be used to make a "creamy" finish.  One of the many things I love about my nutrininja is how it can use the whole fruit and make it into something great.  For this, I don't even need to take the seeds out of the oranges - simply chop it up, take off the skin and you are good to go! It has heaps of fibre and goodness, including vitamin C, folate and calcium.

Also I figured out how to put text on my photos using Gimp, which makes me happy.

Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole

This meal is not pretty. At all. It is, however, delicious. Sometimes I want pure comfort food but I don't want to feel bloated and guilty afterwards.  This meal hits that spot.  And  more.  Plus it has stupidly high amounts of protein. I can't emphasise enough how much you need to cook this meal. It tastes so so naughty but is so so nice.

Berry Beautiful Smoothie

I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to get sick of smoothies. They are too darn good. We would have them every weekday morning if we could drag ourselves out of bed early enough to actually EAT breakfast.  We were so good for so long, and lately with all of the renovation we have been doing in all of our spare time, we are over-tired so rarely manage to get up early enough to eat at home. This means hitting the egg bacon and cheese muffin for breakfast from the work cafeteria way more often than I should admit.  My waistline cannot lie though. Sigh.

We miss our morning routine and are working on it.  One of the strategies involves making things easier. Our nutrininja is great and makes the smoothest smoothies we have ever smoothed.  We also recently bought a vertical deep freeze (lifelong dream of mine, yes I am that boring).  A couple of weekends ago I  filled two drawers with smoothie supplies.....I got some funny looks at the checkout I can tell you that!

I found out that bananas keep for 6 months in the freezer. Given the large variability in banana prices over the course of the year where I live, as well as the fact that frozen bananas require no peeling and make for a creamier smoothie, I bought all of the ready-to-eat ones in the store. ALL of them.  We took them home, peeled them, chopped them, put the pieces flat into freezer bags (with 5 bananas per bag to provide one week of smoothies per bag) and filled a drawer. Another drawer is now filled with various other frozen fruit when it was on special - pinapple chunks, rasberries, strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, mangoes, cherries...you name it. Now each week we simply have to grab a bag of bananas and a bag of fruit from the deep freeze on Sundays, move it to the normal freezer for the week and its a breeze! Smoothies don't even require ice if the other ingredients are already frozen!  We even have frozen spinach in cube form!  Now to actually get up in time.....

All of that aside, here is the delicious smoothie that I made for us both this morning. Simple and yummy. Pictured with one of the gorgeous flowers the Dragon got me - the colour is out of this world.

Kasundi Chicken Curry

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember the amazing Indian relish that I made about a year and a half ago after being inspired by (of all things) a tasty mid-flight meal.  Who'd have thought it?  Anyway, I have had a hankering to make some more kasundi to put some into a curry and freeze some in my fancy new deep freeze *dances happily*. I'm keen to learn to do canning, and in time I want to make and can big batches of this stuff because it is so tasty and works in so many different ways.  We have used it in a butter chicken curry before, but tonight it will be a different kasundi curry and it will be high protein deliciousness.

Rice and Quinoa Mix

There is this cute little cafe near my work which serves healthy and yummy meals put together by a nutritionist.  Their healthy curries are always served on a bed of quinoa and rice, with some veggies stirred in.  I've taken a liking to it.  Adding quinoa to your rice adds fibre and protein, both of which I am always keen to increase in my diet.  I'll be making this regularly, and thought it would be convenient to have a post demonstrating how to easily cook them in one pot using the absorption method.  Happy cooking!

Pizzata: Pizza Frittata

Because - Why not?

I really want pizza.  But it blows my tummy up like a balloon and leaves me bloated and yuck.  So I thought I'd try something a little different as an experiment.  If the carby crust doesn't sit well with me, I may as well try another kind of crust.  I'm not going to pretend this is super healthy, but it could be if you made a few little changes. Plus it does have high protein and a few veggies.

Meatzza worked a treat! Sweet potato pizza base worked. Why not a pizza frittata? Even better - a pizzata! Badum tish!

Apple, Almond and Banana Smoothie

Who doesn't like a good green smoothie?  Here's another tasty option to add to your repetoire.  It is sweet yet tangy with the almonds and banana lending a comforting layer of flavour and soft texture.  I find it quite an invigorating, Summery recipe.  Apparently lots of people eat sliced apples with almond butter as a snack, so I must try this because I loved it in smoothie form.  I leave the skin on the apples for extra fibre, and because my Nutrininja can handle it, but peel yours if your blender doesn't like skin. If you are wondering about combining the flavour of spinach in there, don't - you can't even taste it.

As well as the general nom-factor, this combination is pretty healthy.  Bananas and spinach are both high in potatssium and bananas pack a B2 punch.  All the ingredients in this recipe are high in fibre (aside from the protein powder of course), almonds are rich in good fats, and the Vitamin E in almonds helps the body to absorb the Vitamin C in the apples. We all know that spinach is a good vegetarian source of iron, and Vitamin C has been shown to improve the body's ability to absorb it.  So overall this combo is a winner! Of course there is a fair bit of sugar and therefore carbs in here, but just factor that into the rest of your day and its all good! Just have a lower carb lunch or a lower carb dinner.  Plus, let's not get all crazy about this stuff - balance is the key and this is delicious :)

It is a great morning pick me up. Plus apples wake you up as well as a coffee. That doesn't stop my coffee addiction once I arrive at work, though.  Still - an apple a day and all!

Individual Healthy Cottage Pies

This is a delicious meal that the Dragon made for us this week.  It is comforting and warming, which is great because it is just starting to cool down.  I love the slight smoky edge to it.  It has been a bit of a stressful week, so this meal hit the spot.  Plus its packed full of vegetables, has high protein, low fat and a good amount of carbs.  Hitting all the boxes! Boom!

Blueberry Orange Smoothie

This delectible breakfast originated from researching things which I did not think would go together.  I was so wrong.  We had some oranges and bananas in the fridge, as well as some frozen blueberries.  I wanted to make smoothie breakfast, but was 100% sure that would be a terrible combination.  So I googled orange and blueberry and was so surprised to find out that this is actually a reasonably common flavour combination.  Not just in smoothies, but in a variety of contexts.  Colour me confused on a Saturday morning.  So I decided to change confused into curious and give it a go.  Now its your turn.

Greek Chicken Rissoles

Rissoles are such an easy old timey favourite dish.  Sometimes you get bored of the same-old-same-old, and need to spice them up a bit.  A while ago I posted my favourite lamb rissoles which always go down a treat.  In our kitchen, we had some chicken mince, a few veggies and some Greek Yiros seasoning which were itching to be used, so I came up with a new spin on an old favourite.  It was SO GOOD! I shouldn't be surprised.  Lately I've been just rolling chicken breasts in Greek Yiros seasoning and cooking them and they have been De.Licious.

We served the rissoles with quinoa tabouleh because our parsley, mint and spring onions were ready for harvesting from our balcony garden, and it is one of my all time favourite sides.  We made these rissoles earlier in the week without the feta and tomato paste, then immediately made it again with the additions once we finished the first batch.  We loved the original recipe, but knew that those couple of additions would take it to the next level.  Love. These. Rissoles. We will have them again!

Mediteranean Chicken and Sour Cream Pasta

So this meal does not exactly match up with my lower-carb focus of late, but it is incredibly delicious and easy.  It does require a little time in the oven, but it is oh-so-worth it.  Despite being high in carbs, this meal is actually pretty healthy. I can promise you that it tastes like the creamiest naughtiest thing off the menu at your favourite Italian restaurant, without the extra fat.  Don't believe me?  Give it a whirl.

Stir Fried Chicken with Egg and Noodles

One of my favourite lunches to make for myself as a teenager was two minute chicken noodles with an egg stirred through in the hot pan. As weird as it sounds, I loved it so so so much.  I wanted to create a (healthier) blast from the past for dinner one night this week, and this is what I came up with.  It made use of some bok choy, shallots and cayenne chilli which we have been growing in our balcony garden, which was even better.  Cooking with food you have grown yourself feels so grounded and beautiful.  This meal takes all of 10 minutes to make and serves 4.  I loved it.  The egg adds protein, holds everything together, and tastes great.

Chicken Gumby - a healthy and delicious Gumbo

Traditional gumbo is an amazing Louisiana casserole with Creole flavours - smoked paprika, cumin, coriander seed and dried oregano.   Yum.  It is to Louisiana as Chilli is to Texas.  Naturally this makes me curious.  While onion, celery and carrot make the basis of much French and Italian food, the trinity of Louisiana cooking is onion, celery and green capsicum, and is central to making a good gumbo.  This meal is economical and delicious.

Gumbo is basically a casserole made with some sort of thickener (roux, filé or okra), veggies and delicious herbs and spices.  For most modern Louisiana cooks, gumbo starts by making a roux using a cup of flour and a cup of butter.  To begin, you melt the butter and slowly add flour (stirring constantly, being careful not to burn the roux).  Once the roux turns a red-brown/chocolate-brown colour, it is ready to go and the vegetables can be added.  This process takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

I've chosen to skip the roux (sacrilege I know!) to make a tasty version which is easier on the old arteries.  I've also made it quicker to throw together on a weeknight.  Basically, I love traditional gumbo, but it loves my hips too much.  I've made my own version, by shaking wholemeal flour and spices with the chicken rather than doing it the traditional way.  I've always found that this thickens the sauce well and results in a nice tender chicken.  Basically I've created something akin to the flavour of gumbo, but I call mine gumby because it is not completely authentic.  Plus I do love that little green slab of clay.  This meal serves 4-6.

Tandoori Chicken on Sweet Potato Pizza

 

I've discovered that tandoori chicken and pizza are a match made in heaven.  I've made this a few times now and it is always yum.  It is a blend of my two favourite foods - curry and pizza...drools.

Nom.

Years ago a friend shared her vegan pizza base recipe with me.  I have been tweaking and using it ever since.  It makes for a very unique pizza experience. Using this base it totally optional.  This is my first time of pairing the toppings with this base.  I've made this pizza on normal base multiple times.  I really wanted to try these flavours together and was very happy with how well they worked together.

Salmon Steak with Quinoa Mint and Feta salad

A while ago a good friend of ours made an amazing salad.  My socks were literally blown off by how amazingly good it was - it tasted fresh and fulfilling and I wanted more.  Unfortunately he can't remember what went into it in order to give me the recipe.  So I have come up with my own version. Tada!

I remember quinoa, mint and feta.  The rest I've come up with to try to fill in what I think would work - and we got to use mint and flat leaf parsely from our balcony herb garden which was lovely.  I may post about our herb garden at some point because we have tried a few different methods and have finally found a method which is really working well.

Welcome to my delicious Thursday night feast.  I decided to pair it with a baked ginger and garlic salmon for night one, so have included the salmon in the recipe - it worked a treat.  On night two we had it with steak, and on night three we had it with chicken breast rolled in Greek Yiros seasoning and some blanched broccoli with slivered almonds.  It was gorgeous every time.  This is going to be a regular in our household.

Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Feta Frittata

If you are looking for a quick and easy meal to throw together that will taste gorgeous, then look no further.  We've had too many eggs so I wanted a yummy main to use some of them up, as well as some other veggies I had in my fridge.  This balance of flavours is absolutely lovely.  The sage and the sweet potato make the dish hearty, the feta adds some tartness, red onion adds a peppery kick and the cayenne pepper brings a little spice to the table.  We used about double the amount of cayenne pepper than I've listed in the recipe because we just love spice.  This fed the two of us for three nights with side veggies or salad (pictured above with a side of quickly stir fried spring onion, asparagus, garlic and wilted spinach topped with a squeeze of lemon juice...nom).

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry of Dreams

We first made this slow cooker curry on a Sunday when we were home all day (such a rare treat!).  While technically a vegan dish, its original intention was to become a side dish for meat.  Bwahahahaha.  We had so much meat in the fridge, and I wanted to make up a big batch of side vegetables that could easily go beside any other meal we were serving up.  I'd had a lot of salad recently so wanted something that felt like carby comfort food but was really just veggies and beans.  We made a big batch and it lasted five nights for the two of us :)  As a main rather than a side dish, it serves three nights for two.  After bite one on night one, we were in love.  This curry is beautiful served over rice, as a side, or even as a stand alone meal.  It is creamy and healthy.  Even the most carnivorous person will love this vegan delight.

Gorgeous Asian Sauce

In my Sesame Soy Salmon with Soba recipe, I used my now-favourite Gorgeous Asian Sauce.  It is so simple and so delicious, I can't believe I haven't thought to make it before this year.  I decided to make this a separate post because I anticipate that it will feature in a few recipes from here on out.  It is a regular in my kitchen.  I recommend always keeping soy sauce and rice wine vinegar in the cupboard, and I am never without garlic and ginger.  The quantities can be doubled, trippled etc to meet the need.  This recipe makes enough for 2 serves, so tweak it as needed.  This sauce is good in stir fry, in noodles, in fried rice, with dumplings, on baked salmon, in a parcel of baked or steamed fish and veggies, or any other way you can think to use it. Plus it takes a whole 1 minute or less to make.