Lamb Rissoles with Guacamole

Another great idea for lunch or snacks, team in layers of capsicum, guacamole, tomato and lettuce to create a tower burger!

 

Lamb Rissoles

500gm premium lamb mince (lean)
1 courgette, small, grated
1 egg
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 tbs fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
4 tbs coconut flour

Mix the ingredients until well combined. Heat a heavy based fry pan to a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add a touch of olive oil. Roll the lamb mixture into balls and then flatten to make rissoles. Cook in hot oil on both sides, draining on a piece of paper towel as they cook. You will need to do this in batches.

Guacamole
2 ripe avocadoes
1/2 tomato, seeds removed, finely diced
1/4 red onion, finely diced
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Mash the avocado, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Store in the fridge until required.

Serve with tomato and greens, and a couple of wedges of lemon.

A great base recipe which can be used for meatballs as well!

Enjoy!

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Chicken Thighs wrapped in bacon

Another late night requires another quick meal! This is easy to put together and takes about 20 mins.

What I used:

4 Chicken Thighs Fillets
4 rashers paleo bacon (sugar-free, pastured)
1 clove garlic
1/2 a carrot
broccoli
cauliflower
1/2 a yellow courgette
small handful of cashews
1 spring onion
1 tsp coconut milk
coconut oil for frying

Heat a frypan to medium heat for 3 mins, then add a small amount of coconut oil. Meanwhile, wrap one piece of bacon around each chicken fillet. Add the chicken to the pan and cook 5-7 mins each side, then put the pan to the side and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes while you stir fry the vegies.

Heat a wok to high, add a little coconut oil. Next add the garlic and spring onion, followed by the carrot and keep moving around the pan. If you find the wok is drying out or the vegies are sticking, just put a splash of water in, don’t add to much of the vegies will become soggy. Next add the broccoli, cauliflower and courgette. Keep moving/tossing the vegies in the wok, adding small splashes of water as needed, cooking for about 3-4 minutes or until courgettes are amost cooked. Finally add the cashews and a tsp of coconut milk and stir through.

Pop the vegies onto a plate. Check the chicken is cooked all the way through, it should have clear juices but no blood, and position beside or on top of the stir fried vegies.

Quick, easy and healthy. Ticks all the boxes for a fast meal, in fact this meal would beat a pizza delivery any day! So when you are craving those take aways, remember, sometimes it’s actually faster to make a healthy meal, even if you don’t feel like it!

Enjoy!

Baked Egg with Paleo Bacon

This is what I made us for dinner tonight. We had our running technique course, so it’s always a rush to get good food into us when we get home and this worked a treat!

I used:

1 leftover salmon cake from last night (see post from last night 28 Jan 2013)
1/4 avocado sliced
2 pieces of roast courgette (see the post below for roast leek and courgette)
2 pieces of roast leek
1 wedge of lemon
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
2 rashers Paleo bacon (sugar-free)
2 eggs

In the bottom of a ramekin, place the garlic, then line the inside edge with bacon and break 2 eggs gently into the centre.  Bake at 200 degrees celcius for about 20 mins, or until the eggs are almost set.  The eggs will keep cooking when you pull them out of the oven.

Meanwhile prepare your plate however you wish to present it! I always figure, if it looks pretty on the plate, people are more likely to enjoy it, even if it is healthy and Whole30 friendly!

Try different things, think of it as a tapas plate or mezze dish.  If you want a more mediterranean feel, add some basil, cherry tomatoes and olives.  This also works well with a tablespoon of tomato puree or hunk home made tomato sauce at the bottom of the eggs.

This is a fabulously versatile dish.  It also works well cold and can be easily reheated, so make double and you have lunch sorted for the next day!

Enjoy!

Roast Leek and Yellow Courgette

You can make use of old leeks by trying this simple recipe.

Cut the green part off the leek and wash. Cut the courgette and leek into thick chunks, drizzle with a little olive oil, some salt and pepper and about 2 tbs water and roast at 200 for 20 minutes or until the leek and courgette are soft.

If you aren’t orthodox paleo, a small dollop of butter on each of the leeks turns this dish into something extraordinary!

I usually cook a batch up, serve a couple of pieces with dinner as a side and save the rest to put in a roast vegetable salad the next day.  Great eaten hot or cold, so a nice one for lunches, enjoy!

 

 

Salmon Cakes

 These were fabulous!  I made a non-paleo batch for Matty and he loved them so I came up with these.

What I used:

• 1 small yellow courgette, grated
• 1/2 carrot grated
• 1 whole spring onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely sliced
• 2 tbs fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1-2 tbs lemon juice (depends on how tart you like them, I used 2 tbs)
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tbs coconut flour
• 1/2 small can tinned salmon, drained
• 1 medium kumara mashed
• pinch of salt

In a small bowl, whisk the egg and then add to the cooled kumara mash (if mashing from scratch) with a pinch of salt and put to the side.  In a medium sized bowl, mix courgette, carrot, spring onion, parsley and lemon juice.  Next add the salmon, and mix it through so the salmon is well dispersed.  Add the egg and kumara mix to the salmon mixture and then add the coconut flour.

Heat a heavy based fry pan for 2 mins at a medium heat.  Brush with a little olive or coconut oil, and add spoonfuls of the mixture, flattening once in the pan.  Cook until brown on each side of the salmon cakes. Serve with salad and avocado – also great to eat cold, so double the mixture and keep some for lunch the next day!

Healthy Fish and Chips

 

Healthy fish and chips I hear you say!  No such thing….actually yes there is!  It doesn’t have to be heavily battered and deep fried to taste good, in fact, the way I do it actually tastes better (well so my husband and son tell me!)

What I use:

• Salmon fillets, skin on
• Kumara or sweet potato, skins on (so give them a good scrub)
• Salad items of choice (I used mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, red capsicum, cucumber, avocado, flat leaf parsley and sicilian olives)
• Salad dressing – A drizzle of avocado oil, squeeze of lemon and a little salt

Turn the oven onto 180 degrees celcius.  Cover an oven tray with tin foil.  Scrub the kumara to get the dirt off, dry with a paper towel and cut into chunks.  Put into a bowl with a small drizzle of olive oil and a touch of salt and mix until coated in the oil and salt.  Place the kumara onto the oven tray, giving the chunks a little space to breathe while cooking.  They will take about 20-25 mins to cook.

Prepare your salad while the kumara is cooking.   I like to put the greens in the bowl and drizzle with a touch of avocado oil, a tiny tiny pinch of salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon.  Toss the greens gently to coat in the dressing.  Next chop your salad vegies of choice and place in the bowl.  If you are not orthodox paleo, goats cheese feta is a nice touch!  Gently combine and put to the side.

When the kumara only has 10 minutes of cooking time left, heat a heavy based pan or grill plate on the stove top for 2 mins on a medium heat.  Add a little olive oil (remember salmon is quite an oily fish so you won’t need much oil).

Rub sea salt into the salmon skin, and a little olive oil if you like (I generally find you don’t need it), this will allow the salmon skin to become crispy.

Cook skin side down for 3 minutes then turn over and cook for 3 minutes.  Rest the salmon for 2 minutes before serving as the salmon will continue to cook.

You can also grill salmon in the oven.  Brush the grill rack with a little olive oil and place skin side down.  Cook on a medium heat (my oven that is 170 degrees celcius) for 10 minutes, then rest the salmon for 5 minutes before serving.  You may need more or less cooking time depending on how big the fillet is.

I cannot stress how helpful oven or microwave timers are!  They stop good meals from turning bad or just to remind you that there is something in the oven that needs tending!

We had fish and chips tonight, and all in all I have to say I think the family are converted and it took less than 30 minutes to make (actually buying them probably takes just as long), cost about the same price to feed 3 people and is about one third of the fat.  Not to mention, the Omega-3s in salmon are essential for brain development and function, there you go….a smart food choice that will actually make your brain work better.

 

 

Tortilla

These are really filling and fantastic to whip up when you have very little time. You can chuck any ingredients in them, just be sure to cut the ingredients up quite small so they cook quickly.

I used:

• 5 eggs (free range and if possible pastured)
• 1 clove garlic
• 5 fresh spinach leaves
• 4 rashers paleo bacon (that is sugar and additive free, from pastured pork, I used Verkirk’s)
• 1 spring onion
• 6 fresh basil leaves
• 4 black olives, pitted and sliced
• 4 cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped p
• A pinch of pine nuts
• salt and pepper
• avocado sliced or crisp green salad to serve

Whisk the eggs with some salt and pepper, put to one side.

Heat a frying pan with a little olive or coconut oil to a medium heat. While the pan is heating, finely chop the garlic, spinach leaves, bacon, basil and spring onion.

When the pan is nice and hot, add the finely chopped garlic moving it around the pan to season, add the bacon and the spring onion, cook for 2 mins, then add the spinach. When the spinach starts to wilt, turn the heat down to low and give the pan a shake to evenly distribute the ingredients.

Pour the whisked eggs over the top, then sprinkle the fresh basil and cook on low for 2-3 minutes, the bottom will start to set.

Turn the grill on high and place the frying pan under the heat for a minute or 2, being careful to pull the pan out just before the egg completely sets. Egg will continue to cook after it has been removed from the heat.

Cut in half or in quarters, it is fabulous to keep in the fridge to eat the next day or for lunch if you are making this for breakfast. Scatter the olives, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts on top and serve with the avocado and/or crisp green salad. Enjoy!