MIXED SUMMER SALAD W/ SWEET SESAME DRESSING

following on from my fresh and healthy rocket, apricot, cherry tomato + sesame miso salad, and keeping in line with my meal plan, i decided a salad for dinner was a good idea! again relying on the fresh produce in the fridge, i put this mixed summer salad w/ sweet sesame dressing together. 

how? 

1/2 a ripe avocado, diced into largish 'chunks'

1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes

6-8 button mushrooms, quartered

1/2 cup of diced red capsicum

1/2 cup of diced ripe pinapple

2 loquats, peeled and deseeded, roughly diced

1 teaspoon of tahini

1 teaspoon of miel de caña (or molases)

place the diced fruit and vegetables in your serving dish and drizzle over the molases and tahini to dress.  

ROCKET, APRICOT, CHERRY TOMATO + SESAME MISO SALAD

making the most of the salad resources on hand, i improvised and pulled together this rocket, apricot, cherry tomato salad with a sassy-salty-sour miso and sesame dressing - yum! 

how? 

1 1/2 cups of rocket

2 apricots, cut or (if you like it a bit more rustic like me) torn into peices

1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, whole or halved if you worry about these tasty little gems exploding all over you! 

1 teaspoon of miso paste

2 teaspoons of hot water

1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds

place your salad items (rocket, tomatoes and apricot) into your serving bowl. put the miso paste into a small bowl and add the hot water gradually until a smooth creamy-dressing consistency is achieved. pour the dressing over your salad and top with the sesame seed. 

i enjoyed this peppery, sassy salad on my balcony in the sunshine, whilst people-watching saturday shoppers and those talking they fur-kids for a walk.

SALT + PEPPER TOFU SALAD

o-m-gosh yum! this delicious dish was the amaze result of a "what can i do with this 1/2 a block of tofu?!" moment and so incredibly simple and quick to smash together!

how? 

225g of firm tofu, cubed

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

4 leaves of cos lettuce, roughly torn into pieces

1 medium sized vine ripened tomato

1/2 a lemon, halved again

combine the salt and pepper in a dish and roll the tofu pieces into the mix. heat a small frying pan and dry fry the tofu until crispy (i always charcoal mine a little [as you can see from the pic] as i love the smokey flavour!) Serve on top of the lettuce and tomato salad base with the lemon generously squeezed over the top - sooooo good! 

LOW-FAT VEGAN GOLD!

at 75 calories (315kJ) this fresh and delicious salad is the perfect lunch time meal! to reduce the energy density of any salad simply swap salad dressings or mayonaise for a sprinkling of salt, pepper and garlic granules or finely chopped fresh herbs - yum!

FRUIT 'N SEED SALAD

a great low energy way to start your morning! at less that 900kJ (215 calories), this fruit 'n seed salad is a super healthy, super nutritious breakfast idea.

how?

1 cup of diced pineapple
1 cup of diced watermelon
1 cup of strawberries, quartered
1/4 of a green 'granny smith' apple
1 teaspoon of chia seeds
1 teaspoon of sesame seeds
2 teaspoons of sunflower seeds

mix the fruit and sprinkle over the seeds... simple!

SPRING RISSONI SALAD

this is a favourite in my family for lunch gatherings and very straightforward to make. 

how? 

1 cup of rissoni 

1/4 large red capsicum, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

3 spring onions, diced

1/4 cup of capers, drained

a handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped

1/4 cup of black olives (kalamata are great for this!), chopped

salt and pepper to season

1 tablespoon of evoo

cook the rissoni as directed (around 8 mins, or until al dente), drain and rinse with cold water to cool. whilst the pasta is cooking dice up all the other ingredients and combine in a large salad bowl. add the cooked pasta and season with salt and pepper. drizzle over a little evoo to dress and serve! 

fresh and delicious

serves 4-6

WHITE BEAN + ARTICHOKE SALAD

not only does this salad look great but it is also super healthy - not so surprising i guess since it is a salad after all but it is one super ingredient that really offers a health kick - artichokes!

why? 

in a study of the antioxidant content of 1,000 different foods, artichokes (which contain quercertin, rutin, anthocyanins, cynarin, luteolin, and silymarin) ranked seventh

studies have also shown that artichokes can cause apoptosis (programmed cell death) and lower cell proliferation rates in a variety of cancers (including cancers of the prostate breast and luekemia)

on the subject of digestive health, artichokes are a natural diuretic, improve gallbladder function (bile production), lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) levels whilst raising HDL cholesterol (the good kind) levels, and aid in digestion due to their high fibre content

recommendations have been made to include an artichoke each day – diced in a salad such as this – to reap the health benefits of this super food!

MILLET + CHICKPEA 'VEGGIE' BURGERS

i needed to find a use for the millet that i excitedly bought in manor foods last weekend - and burgers sounded like a great idea... here is the recipe i used to whip up some tasty, heathy, vegan millet burgers that will leave you wanting more!

how?

3/4 cup of uncooked millet

1 cup of chickpeas (soaked overnight and precooked), mashed

1 cup of finely grated carrot

1/4 cup of finely diced onion

1/2 sunflower seeds, roughly chopped

2-3 tablespoons of corn flour (dissolved in a tiny bit of warm water)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

salt and pepper to season

to cook the millet add it to a dry pot over high heat and stir constantly for 3-4 minutes until fragrant and the millet is 'popping' (being careful not to burn it!). once toasted, add 1/2 cup of boiling water. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover. cook until all liquid has absorbed (roughly 20-25 minutes). remove from the heat and leave to stand, keeping it covered, for 5 minutes. uncover and ‘fluff’ the millet with a fork.

combine the cooked chickpeas, garlic, coriander and chilli powder. add to the cooled millet. add the finely grated carrot, onion and sunflower seeds. season and add the corn flour mix 1 tablespoon at a time until the mix holds together. form the burgers using 1/4 cup of the mixture and fry in a little oiled frying pan over medium-high heat until golden/slightly charred on both sides. serve with some red pepper relish and a side salad or in a burger bun with the lot!

Makes 11 medium burgers

EXTRAS

pumpkin seeds and muscatel raisin

i really like to add a few extras to jazz up a salad - and these two are a couple of my favorites! a few pumpkin seeds, nuts, or even chopped up dried fruits can make a big difference to that plain old salad mix. they do of course add extra kilojoules/calories too so don't get carried away... which i know is hard!!

think:
- dried apricots
- walnuts
- hazelnuts

OH! ANOTHER SALAD?

that's right! i love eating raw - so salads tend to be a staple for me... as well as being a good way of getting your essential vitamins and minerals, it is also a very low energy density meal that can be very satiating (filling!) which is excellent if you are (like me) looking for a way to lose the winter weight!

for a bit more fill-factor i have added some cous cous (need i say... remember to check the brand you buy doesn't contain any egg!) to this mix of finely shredded red cabbage, diced tomatoes, rocket, shaved carrot and raisins - yum!

(this was a bit of a rushed job for tomorrow's lunch using what i had on hand in the fridge. as i am off to switzerland for the weekend i haven't done a proper produce shop. when i get back i'm plan to go a bit crazy at frutalia in order to restock the fridge!)

SMASHED CHICKPEA FLATBREAD

these smashed chickpea flat-breads (from jamie oliver's jamie's kitchen cookbook) are one of the best ways to make your own bread at home - they are super easy and go great with salads, pasta dishes (rubbed with a bit of oil and finely chopped garlic), as a pita-pocket, or just on their own as a snack

alas, i am in madrid and don't have the jamie book handy - but if you do these are a definte must!!

they demand you usual bread-making ingredients... so flour, yeast, water, some oil. then to make them special you throw in a can (400g) of chickpeas that you have rinsed and roughly smooshed with a fork along with a couple of teaspoons of roughly ground cumin seeds

i make the dough in the kitchenaid with the dough hook and then leave the mixer bowl covered with some cling film and a tea towel over the top near the window in our lounge room (which is super sunny) until it doubles in size... knock it back and then divide, shape and throw them in the oven in batches straight on the rungs - they puff up and bake in around 8 mins (if i recall correctly) and then can be put on a cake rack until they are cool enough to pack away

serving suggestion

THANKS LUCAS!

one of the best gifts i have ever received! a bag full of garbanzos (chickpeas) from my housemate's farm. i had never soaked and boiled my own beans from dry before so i was pretty nervous to give it a go... but success! no longer will i stare longingly at those dried beans in kakulas sisters (when i am back home that is) and walk away thinking its too hard or not worth the effort - it so is!

all you need to do is place about a cup (this will swell up to about 2 cups) of beans in a large enough bowl to consider swelling overnight and cover with about 3 times as much water as beans - cold is probably best if you are bunging these straight into the fridge before heading off to bed

in the morning you'll find nice little swollen chickpeas. at this point i drain of the water, give the beans a rinse and return them back to the fridge in their bowl covered with the same amount of water before heading off for work

a day and night of soaking in the fridge seems perfect for cooking that evening for about an hour to an hour and a half (depending how soft you like your beans)

i have used these so far in salad (rinsing again after cooking to cool them down before transferring into my salad mix) and in a soup - but they'd also be perfect for making your own hummus or frying in a little seasoned oil with some spices for some tasty spiced chickpea nibblies - yum!!

RICESLAW

brown rice w/ red cabbage, rocket, tomato + chickpeas

that's right - riceslaw! to incorporate the nice big red cabbage i lugged back from frutalia into a meal i created my very own riceslaw... a salad combination of brown (integral rice), shredded red cabbage, a handful of rocket, a cup of chickpeas (cooked with the brown rice after an overnight soaking in the fridge) and a roughly chopped vine rippened and kumato tomato - hearty, fresh and satisfying!

for an extra healthy carb kick and to make this a main meal - i served my riceslaw with a microwaved sweet potato (~10-15cm 'jacket' potato = 8 mins on high, or until nice and soft on the inside)

THE BIG SALAD

garden salad

to enjoy some of the fresh ingredients i picked up (and hauled back to my apartment) i threw together a tasty garden salad mix

how?

1 vine ripened tomato, randomly chopped
1 kumato tomato, randomly chopped
6-8 small portabello mushrooms, cut in halves
large handful of rocket
1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas (i soaked overnight and then boiled these dried chickpeas gifted to me from one of my housemates who comes from a farm outside madrid)
1/4 cup of raw or toasted almonds

mix and enjoy!

SIX 'C' SALAD

cous cous w/ capsicum, corn, cranberries + chick peas

SALAD!

brown rice salad #2

add rocket, watercress, chickpeas, raisins, toasted almonds, pumpkin seeds, diced tomato, brown rice and a little EVOO

SALAD!

brown rice salad

add diced tomatoes, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, chopped dried dates, sweetcorn, coriander and brown rice - delicious!

SALAD!

sweet + spicy cous cous salad

add diced tomato, pickled jalapenos, rocket, watercress, toasted hazelnuts, raisins, and cous cous - yum!