Month: January 2016

Simplicity at its best

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Sometimes the best meals are made from a few simple, fresh ingredients. This salad has been one of my all time favourite recipes for years now, and it never fails to deliver on a hot summer day.

I certainly didn’t invent it, but thought I’d share it today to remind everyone how amazing fresh seasonal vegetables can be, without any extra fuss required.

If possible, use a variety of heirloom tomatoes with different colours, flavours and shapes. (Mine are still green on the vines so I had to settle for one variety.) And please don’t store tomatoes in the fridge; it removes all their delicious flavour! Keep them at room temperature so they’re ready to eat.

tomato salad

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad

3 Fresh Tomatoes, room temperature

3 balls fresh mozzarella (I made mine, but you can buy in most supermarkets)

2 handfuls fresh basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon caster sugar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper (I like to use ordinary table salt as it is more delicate than ground salt or flakes)

 

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into slices of approximately even thickness. Spread on a platter, then sprinkle over the sugar. Leave for 5 minutes.

Splash over the vinegar, salt and pepper, and leave for another couple of minutes.

Shred the basil roughly with your hands and sprinkle over the top. Splash the olive oil over the salad, and check the seasoning.

Serves 3-4

The salad is also delicious with the addition of sliced, perfectly ripe avocado and a sprinkle of dukkah.

 

 

 

Cacao Toasted Muesli

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This recipe is inspired by Healthyself‘s Cacao No-Grainola, but I have added oats because I like the way they fill me up, and they make the recipe stretch a lot further. The cacao makes it seem incredibly decadent, but it’s actually full of nutrition.  I like mine topped with almond milk and fresh berries. A little goes a long way…

muesli

4 tablespoons coconut oil

4 tablespoons rice syrup/honey/maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

1/2 cup cacao powder

1 cup mixed nuts (Brazil, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Pecans etc)

1 cup cashews

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup coconut chips/flakes

1.5 cups wholegrain rolled oats. Make sure you use the large wholegrain ones and not the instant/quick cook porridge oats.

 

Preheat the oven to 170. Melt the coconut oil and rice syrup in the bottom of a large roasting dish. When liquid, mix through the cacao powder and vanilla paste.

Roughly chop the nuts, then add them to the dish with all the other ingredients. Using a big spoon or spatula, turn the mixture thoroughly so it it all coated in the cacao mix.

Bake for about half an hour, turning the mixture 3-4 times during cooking.

Creamiest Bircher Muesli Ever

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There’s rarely a day I don’t start with some form of oaty breakfast; oats keep me full all morning and provide a great source of fibre. In fact, there is research showing that the fibre found in oats, beta-glucan, can lower cholesterol and help fight heart disease.

However, one bowl of muesli can start to taste a lot like another, so I like to mix it up with different ingredients and toppings. I hit on a winner today; using a 50/50 milk and coconut cream mix to soak my Bircher muesli overnight resulted in a thick, creamy muesli that tasted more like a dessert!

My muesli ingredients and ratios tend to change depending on what I have to hand, but always include wholegrain rolled oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruit. Here is a general idea of how I made this bowl of deliciousness. Feel free to use it as a guide and change it up to suit you. The important thing is to get organised the night before so the muesli has a chance to soak up all the liquid and get good and creamy.

bircher

Handful wholegrain rolled oats

Handful sunflower seeds

Handful pumpkin seeds

Handful macadamia nuts (or walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts etc)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

2 tablespoons desiccated coconut or coconut flakes

4 dates, chopped (or a handful of sultanas)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup milk (dairy, soy, almond, whatever you like)

1/4 cup full cream coconut cream (I used Kara)

Fresh fruit for topping

 

Get this prepared before going to bed. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, combine the milk and coconut cream and pour over the top. It should just cover the dry stuff, so you might need slightly more or less. Stir until well mixed and leave in the fridge.

In the morning, get the muesli out a few minutes before you want to eat, so it comes up closer to room temperature. If it looks a bit dry, stir through a bit more milk to loosen it. Top with your choice of topping: yogurt, sliced banana, fresh fruit, chopped nuts, dried fruit…I used fresh berries and an extra drizzle of coconut cream.