Pizza pizza pizza

Hi everyone!

Wow, how long has it been between post?! I'm sorry- I've been busy, and let's be real, I've been lazy and preoccupied snuggling with my babes, enjoying the beautiful weather, and forever cleaning my kitchen /never ending housework.
Also, we lost our beloved pooch Turkish after a short illness. He was our baby before we had babies, our most divine, sooky, cat hating, doona stealing, lover of kisses, talkative, smiling, escape artist, loving, fatty fat boy, Turka, Turkey, Turkey Werky, Turkey Boy. He gave us 10 beautiful years of unconditional love, and we miss him dearly. Our dear little Pip seems to be ok about it- she picked a star in the night sky so she can talk to him when she wants. I ask if she misses him and she said 'Nope! It's ok Mummy, we've still got the chooks'. (Yep- we got 4 girls named Rosie 1, 2 & 3 and Rainbow). It seems that kids aren't as emotionally attached to animals as us adults are! RIP Turk

If you follow my Instagram you'll see that I have been cooking, just finding the motivation to sit down and blog it is lacking at the moment. So I have decided to make you all a promise! I WILL blog you a recipe every week. Maybe even twice a week! I'm going to get my butt organised!! 

So- today's recipe is a delicious pizza base, and I say base because you can put whatever you like on the top- as long as it's wonderful and nutritious, and going to nourish your insides ;)
This base is gluten free, grain free, nut free, dairy free, vegan and delicious! It's a soft pizza base, very delicious and nearly fluffy due to the moist zucchini, so be careful with it when removing from the tray.

You can see here I've put some raw, dairy free supergreens pesto (super simple- check out The Whole Pantry app) some roasted red onion, roasted eggplant, fresh sliced tomato, and oven cooked spiced chicken, and topped with dollops of yummy creamy avocado mash. This is pretty much just what I had in the fridge on the day I made it- you could top with anything you like!

zucchini pizza base with sweet potato chips on the side

Recipe

Zucchini pizza base

3/4 cup grated zucchini

1 tablespoon cold water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon sea salt

3/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

3 1/2 tablespoons of hulled hemp seeds (optional but an extremely great source of nutrients)

4 tablespoons flax seeds.

3 grinds of pepper (or how much you like) you could also add any herbs or spices you like.

Method

Roast up your favourite veg- or decide what topping you want and pre prepare them.

Preheat oven to 150 C

Line and grease (with coconut oil) a baking tray 

In food processor,  grind up seeds (except flax seeds) until fine. 

Add in zucchini, water, lemon juice, flax seeds and salt and pepper. Pulse until well combined.

Spread mix on baking tray in 5 mm thick circle- either 2 small circles or 1 large circle/ depending on how big you want your pizza.

Tip- wet a spoon, or you hands and smooth it out- the water will stop the mix sticking to your hands/spoon.

Cook pizza base for 15-20min, checking after 10 min to make sure it's not burning (every oven is different). The edges will go golden well before the centre. A bigger circle will take much longer than smaller ones ;)

If you find edges are burning and the centre not cooking, turn down your oven by 10-15 degrees and cook for longer.

Very carefully remove from baking tray, and top with toppings of your choice!

Summer salad with quinoa, peach and sweet dukkah chicken

It's really hot here.
We've not had a day under 28 degrees for about 2 weeks.... TOO LONG! Today we're sitting on a cool 35 degrees, with the next 7 days expected to be between 35-40. Delight. The amazing CFA have been doing it tough battling fires that continue to burn in our area. Hats off to these awesome people who are keeping us all safe.

This hot weather has me pining for a refreshingly light salad and simple protein to keep me satisfied. And since peaches and nectarines are in season here I thought I'd throw them in for that lovely fresh sweetness.
The dukkah chicken is also great- since it's baked, you don't need to stand next to a hot pan. Pop them in the oven for 12-15 min and you're done.
This salad is so delicious- the dressing is a light vinaigrette which matches perfectly with sweet peach, creamy avocado and nutty quinoa, and that satisfying crunch of cos lettuce. Top with the dukkah chicken (hot or cold) and you've got a scrumptious lunch or dinner that everyone will love!

Summer salad with quinoa, peach and sweet dukkah chicken

Serves 2

Dukkah chicken

1 chicken breast, cut into 2 cm strips 

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

3 cloves

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cracked black and white pepper

1/4 cup almonds

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon pistachos 

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Grind spices together in spice grinder (or mortar and pestle) until finely ground. Add in nuts and seeds and pulse (or smash up) until chunky. 

Toss chicken through dukkah mix, coating evenly. Spread evenly onto a lined baking tray. Pop into oven for 12-15 min (depending on how thick you've cut your chicken).

Tip- I find using whole spices and grinding them myself gives a better flavour and fills your kitchen with a delicious scent. But pre bought ground spices will do just fine.

Quinoa and peach salad

1 head of cos lettuce (or use whatever you like, spinach leaves, rocket, lettuce will also work well)

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 avocado diced

1 peach or nectarine (or even mango would work well) finely sliced

Method

Rinse and cook quinoa in 1 cup water, simmer gently with lid on until you can see 'tails'- about 12 min. Add more water if it's not cooked and you've run out of water (test a little bit- if it's still crunchy it's not cooked).

Once cooked, spread out on a plate to cool.

Wash and drain lettuce, cutting up into bite sized chunks. Add in avocado and peach.

Vinaigrette Dressing 

(enough for 4 serves, so keep some aside)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon of maple syrup/ rice malt syrup

1/2 cup olive oil/ avocado oil.

Whisk together ingredient until combined.  

Add cooled quinoa to salad, drizzle dressing over and toss through salad. 

Plate up salad, and top with chicken and some lightly roasted almonds if you like :)

Clair xx

Turkey burger

We survived! Christmas and New Year are behind us- hooray! Our Christmas was 2 days of non stop eating, family, fun and water! We packed up after Boxing day and headed to the beach (hence my quiet blogosphere!) 

beach fro

New Years morning at the beach

'shameless selfie' 

Get in ma belly

 

 We had a wonderful time at the beach, eating fresh fish, shark, abalone and crayfish everyday. It was delicious! Nothing beats fresh seafood!









Anyway! Onto my turkey burger recipe! This is very simple, tasty and full of goodness to nourish your body post Xmas/ New Year festivities.... Perfect for a light dinner, and easily refrigerated for lunch the next day, so go ahead and make a double mix. It has a great mix of protein, carbohydrates and fats to perfectly fill your belly and keep you satisfied. Choose your own salads to go in your burger- anything tastes great (more tips below).

Turkey burger on a sweet potato 'bun' with seasonal salad and tahini dressing

Ingredients-

Turkey burger (makes 2 burgers)
300gms turkey mince
1/2 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 egg
1/2 carrot, grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
pinch of salt and pepper.
1/2 teaspoon chia seeds ground in mortar a pestle

sesame seeds and poppy seeds to top the burgers.

Feel free to mix up the spices- add extra or omit, depending on your taste.

Sweet potato 'bun'
1 sweet potato, cut into 5mm discs.
1 teaspoon of melted coconut oil to coat

Tahini dressing
1 tablespoon of tahini (sesame paste)
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of water
sprinkle of cayenne pepper (optional)
Mix all together until well combine. Add more water if too thick.

Method.

Preheat oven to 180'
Coat sweet potato in coconut oil, place on lined oven tray and pop in oven for 40min
Meanwhile, make your turkey burgers-

Turkey burger
In a small pan, cook onion and garlic until soft. Put onion and garlic mix in a large bowl and add all other ingredients. Combine well.
With slightly wet hands, shape into two round burger patties with flat tops
Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper/ silpat mat.
Top with sesame seeds and poppy seeds.
After 20min have gone by on the oven, pop your turkey patties into the oven. At the same time, remove, flip, and return your sweet potato discs to the oven.

Once time is up (20 min) check your patties are cooked through (please adjust depending on your own oven) remove and plate up sweet potato on the bottom followed by salad/veggies of your choice, turkey burger then a big dollop of tahini dressing. Sprinkle with nuts if you like (I used activated pepitas in the picture)

On my burgers I had grilled zucchini (i used the same pan as the onion and garlic was cooked on), tomato, avocado and spinach, but you can put what ever you like (think cucumber, beetroot, or even some sweet mango, avo and mint goes deliciously with spicy foods)
My garden is over flowing with zucchini and tomatoes so they go in everything I eat at the moment!

Enjoy

Clair xx

Sneaky vegetable salad with spiced chicken

Sneaky vegetable salad with spiced chicken
This salad tastes so good, you'll forget that it's packed with vegetables full of delicious nutrient to nourish your body and soul.
Inspired by the veggies I had just picked from my garden and some delicious tahini I had the previous night, I threw them all together and the result was mouth watering!
Freshly picked baby kale, broccoli, beetroot, lemon and spring onion out of my garden, adding in some carrot and pear for sweetness and the tahini for a creamy nutty dressing is delicious.
For all you vegetarians, you can easily omit the chicken, or replace with tofu coated in the same spices. 

Salad

Kale leaves, (baby ones if possible, or else massage leaves until soft, see tip below). If you can't get your hands on kale, baby spinach would suffice. About 1 cup chopped.

1/4 beetroot

1 small carrot

1/4 pear

1/4 head of broccoli, 

1 whole broccoli stem

1 spring onion

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Chicken

1 chicken breast (either whole, or chop it up into bite sized pieces)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayane pepper (omit if you can't handle hot spices)

1/4 teaspoon ground corriander seeds

1 teaspoon coconut flour

salt and pepper to taste

coconut oil for cooking.

Dressing

1 tablespoon Tahini

1/8 teaspoon cayanee pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste 

Prepare salad

Cut stem off broccoli and put aside, then cut up the head into very small florets. Steam for 2-3 min, remove from steamer, put in bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Once cold, drain, and spin in salad spinner to get rid of all the water.

Massage kale leaves with a little lemon juice and salt until they ‘wilt’ and go darker. Massaging kale is important to reduce the bitter taste and soften the leaves. The acid in the lemon helps break down the cell wall in the kale, making it softer and sweeter. This may take up to 5 min, depending on your kale. I used baby kale fresh out of my garden and it was soft and palatable as is.

Chop up kale.

Peal the outer layer off you broccoli stem, much like you do a carrot. The outer stem is fiberous and stringy but the inner flesh is soft, crunchy and delicious. Slice up the stem finely. 

Grate your pear, carrot and beetroot (I use a mandolin with a fine julienne attachment)

Finely slice spring onion.

Toss all your salad ingredients together with lemon juice

Prepare Chicken

Mix spices and coconut flour in a bowl, coat chicken breast in mix.

Heat coconut oil in a pan and cook chicken until golden.

Dressing

Mix spices and olive oil in the tahini paste. 

Plate up salad, top with sliced chicken breast and top with tahini dressing. Sprinkly sesame seed ontop for a bit of glamour ;)

Tip: Cook up twice as much chicken and freeze it for a day when you can't be bothered cooking. It can easily be added to a quick salad or steamed veggies in no time.
Preparation is the key to healthy living, having nutritious foods on hand all the time and you can't fail. 

"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail".

Gluten free chicken breast nuggets

Today I saw a horrible video about the chicken nuggets they sell in the US- you can watch it here. It looked at the nuggets under a microscope, and it was gut churning. If you were to take a photo of my face watching it I would have looked like I was smelling a rotten egg, inside a rotting chicken... you get my point.

I know many parents feed their children chicken nuggets (I try to avoid it, but I too am guilty of the easy Macca's dinner very occasionally) What is worse is when I try feed Pip healthy foods when she is surrounded by children eating unhealthy, sugar laden, processed junk. I feel like a bad mother (which is ridiculous!!!) when she is denied the same crap food as her peers. She doesn't want to be different. She sees it as deprivation. And the mother guilt sets in... Or when we go out for tea and all they offer children is chips and nuggets! Ah, I could go on forever about this!

So I decided to make my own chicken nuggets for her. So she doesn't feel like she's missing out. I will freeze a batch for her to eat when I'm in one of those 'cannot be bothered' moods.
These are gluten free and cooked in coconut oil (the only oil that doesn't change composition when heated) Read more about that here (strongly suggest- very interesting read)

Recipe-
1 chicken breast, diced (or however you want your nuggets to look)
2 table spoons of buckwheat flour
1 table spoon almond meal
1 table spoon quinoa flakes

1 egg, lightly beaten

salt and pepper to taste.

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

Method-
Heat coconut oil in heavy base pan.
Combine flour, meal and flakes in a bowl, season with salt and pepper (or any spices you like if making adult version)
dip chicken in egg wash, drain off excess.
Coat chicken in dry mix.
Cook chicken until golden and cooked through.

Try not to eat them all... ;)

Quinoa stuffed capsicum with beetroot chips and rocket salad

Looking for a delicious, healthy dinner, packed with goodness and flavour?
This is one of my favourites! Quinoa stuffed roasted capsicum with beetroot chips and rocket salad
I added chicken into the quinoa stuffing, but if you're vegetarian simply omit, or replace with chickpeas or lentils for extra protein.

Ingredients

1 Capsicum, top removed, deseeded and charred on open flame (I put mine over the gas hot plate) 

Stuffing

100gm cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed in cold water until runs clear.

1 cup of good quality stock (chicken or vegetable)

1/4 teaspoon each of cummin, ground coriander, tumeric and paprika (or any spices you like) plus a sprinkle of chilli powder (optional)

1/2 cup each of grated zucchini and carrot

4 small cubes of goats cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Beetroot thinly sliced

1 cup rocket

6 walnut halves, broken into pieces.

olive oil

2 cubes of goats cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 180' (less if fan forced)

Cook quinoa in stock and spices until seed becomes opaque and looks like they have tadpole tails. Add in cooked chicken, veges and season to taste. 

Put stuffing into capsicum, push down 4 pieces of goats cheese into stuffing, and cook in oven until capsicum is soft (20-30 min).

Meanwhile:

Place beetroot slices on lightly oiled (coconut oil) baking paper. I actually use silpat mats (nonstick baking mats from my old macaron baking days). Lightly spray beetroot with coconut oil. Cook in oven for 10 min, watching that they don't burn. Remove, flip chips over, roast again for 5-10 min until cooked.

Toss together rocket, goats cheese beetroot chips and walnut halves with a dash of good quality olive oil

Remove capsicum from oven, serve with salad

Lunch- Cauliflower, chickpea and bacon soup

My freezer is full of soup!! My lovely MIL stocked me up on her yummy pumpkin soup before Jimmy was born. She is a typical farm cook, and makes great hearty food, although not as 'clean' as I would normally eat!!

My yummy cauliflower soup is something I love to whip up on a cold day, and since today was miserable, I made a huge pot- enough for 5 generous meals. So I had one bowl, and I have 4 Tupperware dishes full in my freezer on top of the pumpkin soup! 

Recipe:

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

1 can of chickpeas

4 rashes of shortcut bacon, chopped  

2 onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped

3L of the best chicken or vege stock (or 2L if you like it really thick, up to you)

Sauté onion and garlic. Add in bacon and cook until fragrant. Add in cauliflower and chickpeas and cover with stock. Simmer for 30min or until cauliflower soft. 

Blitz with stick mixer until smooth, and serve with cracked pepper to taste.

Tea tonight was clean burritos!

I love burritos!! But finding a nice, gluten free, clean wrap is near impossible! So here is my substitute! Good old iceberg lettuce. Hubby and Pip both still have wraps, and I've learnt from past failures that as good as cos lettuce tastes, it just doesn't cut it as a wrap! 

I also make my own mexican spice mix with coconut flour to coat the chicken instead of the packet mix which has gluten in it (and a heap of salt!)