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Raspberry, Goji & Vanilla Overnight Parfait

Serves: 1

It’s just after 9pm and my mind has no sooner switched off from thinking about a dinner creation and it’s moved straight onto breakfast. This is what happens when you’re a bit food ‘mad’ (I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…I’m no rabbit in the meals department). I have spent many years of a corporate career trying to find an outlet that satiates my creativity and I guess I’ve found it. The purpose of those couple of sentences is to show you what often happens in my kitchen after dinner. Breakfast happens. And attached is yesterday’s breakfast which was lovingly prepared in about two minutes.

People, this is FAIL proof, seriously. As long as you don’t add salt instead of stevia or pepper instead of chia seeds. You get my drift. In any case if you haven’t yet discovered chia seeds, please give these little seeds of joy a go. They are so very good of you – they have the highest known plant source of Omega-3 – sold?! But the best thing is that they are super versatile. Add liquid to chia and it turns into jelly, thickens up in the space of 10 minutes. For a “need-a-spoon-consistency” smoothie lover like myself, chia is a dream come true.

You’ll need:
1/3 cup chia seeds (white or black, no difference)
3/4 cup almond milk (or your choice of milk, you could even use water)
1/4 cup raspberries
1 heaped teaspoon goji berries
1 tablespoon of natural, full fat yoghurt
Stevia to taste (I used a fat pinch)
1 dessert spoon ground flaxseed (or LSA and both optional)
A few drops of vanilla essence or vanilla powder
1 dessert spoon mesquite powder (or maca powder, both optional)

Throw it all in the glass and stir. Cover and pop in the fridge for breakfast. Voila!

A word of warning, don’t leave your chia seeds sitting in the liquid at the bottom of the glass even for a minute. They’ll solidify and you’ll have a battle mixing in all the other ingredients. Also, never fear if you don’t have all of these ingredients. You could throw chia, milk, a sweetener and berries and you’ll have a beautiful thick parfait. You could also add nut butters, chopped nuts, coconut oil (oh lord that’s good – it solidifies in little bits and adds great texture). Go for your life with it. Also, you can do this 15-30 minutes before breakfast. I’m just a bit food mad and can’t wait that long.

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Very Berry Chocolate Chia Breakfast Mousse

Ok, no room for modesty on this blog today – holy moly was I happy with myself this morning when a teaspoon of this creamy, chocolatey delight made it into my mouth! As far as I’m concerned healthy breakfast ideas need to be made multiple times over and enjoyed for their healthy, healing, nutritional value.

As per my instagram post at breakfast I listened to an amazing raw food lecture by David Wolfe yesterday where he shared the fact that there is a proven synergy between chocolate (the number one antioxidant food in the world – 15 times higher than blueberries and THIRTY times higher than red wine!) and berries. When these foods are combined the efficacy of the antioxidants actually getting into your blood is doubled if not tripled. I decided to listen to David and give my body a dose of what it no doubt needs – a beautifully easy and healthy breakfast idea that is also an antioxidant powerhouse! Any excuse for a chocolate hit will do.

Let me preface this by saying I love chocolate and I love it dark. If you struggle with the intensity of rich chocolate perhaps start this recipe with less cacao and see how you go. In any

You’ll need:

1 cup almond milk (or milk of choice) (this portion was edited to add more liquid 5/13)
1/4 cup berries (I used frozen in the mousse)
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tablespoon good quality, raw cacao (in my case, heaped)
1-2 heaped tablespoons greek or natural yoghurt (or CoYo)
1 heaped teaspoon maca powder
2 teaspoons rice malt syrup or stevia to taste

Optional toppings: a dollop of yoghurt and fresh berries (not optional in my book 😉

Throw all ingredients into your blender/Thermomix and blend until smooth. I like mine really, really thick and smooth so I let it run for a good minute or two. Given it’s lack of liquid it will now be pretty thick. I poured mine into a glass and popped it into the fridge for 20 minutes to let the chia seeds soften (easier on your digestion).

I am seriously really looking forward to your feedback so please share!

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Beetroot Quinoa

Last week I posted a photo on my instagram feed and my Facebook page of one of the easiest dishes of all time and it attracted a little attention (seriously not worthy of it’s lack of effort!). It almost feels like cheating putting this up as a recipe. But hey, if it helps you create a pretty (and pretty impressive looking) dish then isn’t that the main thing?! I am not going to go through the entire dish today because the hero here is the quinoa side. Quite clearly you can see what we have here is a piece of baked salmon on beetroot quinoa with a big dollop (oh how I love the dollop) of dairy free basil pesto.

This recipe makes enough for the side you see in the photo, so one portion. For those of you who don’t know this already, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Cooked quinoa freezes beautifully. I always have a sweet and a savoury quinoa serve in my freezer ready to go. Simply whip it out on the day you need it and let it defrost (it defrosts quickly). To reheat just add a little more stock (if savoury) or a little milk etc (if sweet). Or water of course. You would never know it had been frozen.

You’ll need:
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (you will need to use quinoa cooked in stock for this recipe I feel, it needs the extra oomph)
1 heaped teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/3 cup raw beetroot, grated

If you are cooking the quinoa from scratch throw the lemon rind in during the cooking process. If you’re using frozen quinoa like me here, put the cold quinoa in a small saucepan with a little stock and the lemon rind and heat gently. Just before serving stir through the grated beetroot. The colour of the quinoa quickly stains the entire dish.

And that my friends, is it!

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Strawberry, Orange and Vanilla Chia Jam

strawberry-orange-and-vanilla-chia-jam

Last weekend I went to the markets on Sunday afternoon. As many of you would know, visiting the markets at the end of the week has it’s upside – you get loads of produce very, very cheaply! The downside can be the sheer volume of people with the very same idea, which is one reason I don’t tend to go on a Sunday. Anyway. This particular Sunday I bought a LOT of strawberries (a lot of very ripe strawberries) which needed immediate attention. After the recent success of my Raw Raspberry and Vanilla Chia Jam, I decided to create an equally delicious jam, only this time using fresh strawberries. As with the last recipe – jam was never easier to make, mark my words! Oh and a special little shout out to the gorgeous Catie at The Staple Store, who is one of the most loved functional food store owners going around (in Melbourne). She rocks.

You’ll need:
1.5 cups fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 orange, peeled
1 teaspoon orange peel or zest (I literally just sliced a little of the peel, omit if you prefer less tang)
Seeds of one vanilla pod (or vanilla essence)
Sweetener to taste (I used 4 drops of liquid stevia, the orange is quite sweet so you don’t need much).

Simply throw all your ingredients into your blender and blend until smooth. Cover and pop in the fridge for a minimum of an hour or overnight. The jam should last in your fridge for up to a week. If you prefers yours runnier, add 1/4 cup water to the blender.

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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My Typical Green Juice Combo

To all those green juice addicts out there you’ll understand my sentiments here. I am a green juice addict. But with all habit forming activities this one took a while to set in. I remember (not so long ago) coming home from work and pouring myself a a big fat gin and tonic (with 3 large ice cubes and a hefty slice of lemon). I’d sit down and watch the SBS or ABC news every night with my ‘relaxant’. Far out I loved that little routine.

I thought about that tonight when I came inside from the routine afternoon dog walk. How things have changed. These days there is something about the greenness of these green juices, the thought of the goodness running through my veins that keeps me coming back for more (I promise if this addiction happened to me, it could happen to anyone!). This evening I marched straight to the fridge, pulled out bundles of chilled greens and commenced my 5.30pm (ish) green juicing routine.

 

So you can throw anything green in a green juice, you can also throw lemon in green juice (which I recommend if you are new to green juices, it softens the flavour). It just needs to be raw (obviously), pesticide free, ideally organic and fresh (it’s all well and good to juice your veg because they’re going soft in the chiller but let’s be honest, soft veg is lacking in the nutrients department). Green juices are seriously one of the best things you can do for your health.

You’ll need:
1/2 bunch english spinach
1 or 2 stalks silver beet and kale
1 stalk celery
Handful of parsley & mint (if you’ve got it)
1 lemon
1/2 cucumber
1 knob of ginger (to taste)
1 small piece of turmeric
1 clove garlic

Throw it all in the juicer and press play. Voila!

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Egg Salad Wrap

I honestly think the one meal I miss the MOST since being diagnosed with a wheat intolerance about seven years ago is a beautiful fresh salad roll or sandwich. The whole combo of fresh multi-grain bread and beautiful fresh salad (and ham off the bone if at Christmas time) was hard to beat. But when ingredients are omitted from your diet there is always a silver lining…if you just take the time to think outside the bread bin/box. I have become very sensitive to my body’s daily fuel requirements and it’s clear to me that I need good quality protein in at least two of my meals each day. Eggs (or ‘magic bullets’) and I have a very close relationship and are my very favourite protein source. So I would like to share the recipe for my anti-bread salad wrap. Don’t blink or you really will miss it.

Give two eggs a really good whisk or beat. Finely chop a heaped teaspoon of parsley and mix into the eggs with a little salt and pepper. Heat oil (I use coconut oil) in a small omelette pan. Once the pan is hot pour in the eggy mixture and whirl it around the pan. As the edges are just drying, with your spatula drag the mixture into the centre allowing the wet egg mixture to fall to the sides. Do this around the pan until it looks almost cooked. Then flip the omelette over and cook the other side, for about 1-2 minutes. Turn onto a plate and lay along one end your chopped salad ingredients. Then very carefully roll your wrap up, cut in half and hey presto – an eggy wrap!

You can add whatever salad ingredients you like but I suggest the following are essential additions: chopped cherry tomatoes, avocado, herbs (heaps and any!), rocket or spinach.

Enjoy x

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Spicy Sardine, Cherry Tomato & Coriander Open Sandwich

spicy-sardine-open-sandwich

About five months ago I started eating sardines, for the first time in my young (ish ;-)) life. I wasn’t fed them as a child and they’re certainly not appealing on face value so I was happy to keep them at arms length. Irrespective, there is little fish in my diet. I eat a piece of farmed salmon once a month and canned wild red Alaskan salmon every couple of weeks. I eat the farmed salmon purely to give me variety, not because of it’s nutritional value (of which I believe there is little?) and because it is likely to have a lower mercury content than a lot of non-farmed, large fish. I wrote a post about my fish intake here, but if you’ve not got time to take a look at that I rarely eat fish because of it’s mercury content and terrible trouble with heavy metals in my system.

Roast-Chicken

Why then would I starting eating sardines you may ask? Well it’s simple, and goes a bit like this: big fish eat smaller fish eat smaller fish eat smaller fish…got it?!  On that basis, BIG fish have a high mercury content because of all the smaller fish they’ve consumed (I will not touch tuna as a result). Little fish, like sardines and anchovies have a lower mercury count and are therefore a healthier option for those of us needing to be extra special careful. And other sweeteners? Sardines are one of the highest sources of Omega-3, are an excellent source of B12, a rich source of Vitamin D and  packed with protein. That’ll do me!

yogurt-love

It was during a visit to my local organic store Plump

that I discovered the organic sardines and a recipe kindly shared over the counter by a very helpful staff member (not sure I’ve got it 100% right but it’s pretty good regardless, if I don’t mind saying so myself).

You don’t have to have this on bread (gluten free or otherwise), but it’s definitely a great combo and is pretty much the only time I eat this beautiful sprouted bread/toast (which is by ‘Pure Life’ by the way, you’ll find it in the fridge of most health stores in Australia).

You’ll need:
1 slice of toasted bread of choice
1/2 can organic sardines
Approximately 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
A good handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
A good handful of parsley, roughly chopped (note, I used rocket in this photo, had run out of parsley damn it)
1 spring onion, finely chopped
A heaped teaspoon (or two) of capers, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon harissa paste or a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Salt & Pepper

Roughly mix the harissa through the sardines, not mushing them completely but enough so that the harissa assimilates. Mix through the remaining ingredients and tumble over a piece of toast. Grab a knife and fork, turn the TV off, put the newspaper away, and enjoy a mindful, relaxed and very easy lunchtime treat.

P.S if my friendly Plump recipe sharer has any tips/alterations to this recipe I’m all ears! Thank you for sharing!

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Vanilla Infused Sesame Seed Milk

vanilla-infused-sesame-milk

Makes: about 3 cups of milk and a large cup of sesame pulp.

Every single thing happens for a reason; there is a blessing in every challenge; always see the positive in the negative….I could go on all morning! The point here is that my Vanilla infused sesame seed milk is indeed a blessing from a challenge…that being I purchased the hugest bag of sesame seeds recently (self service, got a bit carried away), got home and wondered on earth I was going to do with all of these little seeds. I’m not talking 1/2 cup here, I had about 6 cups – now that’s a challenge! So, I put my thinking cap and Hey Presto! We have this lovely creamy, vanilla infused, dairy and nut-free milk.

Firstly though, let’s not ignore the humble sesame seed and it’s nutritional value. It may be tiny but my goodness it packs a punch (it also turns into tahini…..and oh my goodness me, my teaspoon LOVES a bit of tahini).

Sesame seeds are a great source of manganese, copper (which provides relief from rheumatoid arthritis), calcium (helps prevent PMS, colon cancer, osteoporosis), magnesium (supports vascular and respiratory health), iron, phosphorous, vitamin B1, zinc (supports bone health) and dietary fibre. Significantly they also contain two unique substances called sesamin and sesamolin which have been shown to have a cholesterol lowering effect in humans. Sesamin is also said to help protect the liver from oxidative damage.

You’ll need:
1 cup sesame seeds, soaked overnight in water
4 cups filtered water
Seeds of one vanilla pod
Sweetener of choice, to taste (I used 2 heaped teaspoons maple syrup)
Pinch of sea salt

Throw all of the above ingredients in your high powered blender and blend for 1-2 minutes, depending on the quality of your blender. You want it to be really smooth. Pour the mixture through a nut bag or strainer into a bowl, straining really well until you get all the liquid out of the pulp. Store in the fridge in an air tight bottle or jug for 3-5 days. The pulp can be dehydrated and used as meal (as you would almond meal…I’ll post a recipe for this next week). You could also add it to porridge, soups etc.

If you would prefer your pulp not to have a vanilla flavour, don’t hesitate to make the milk without the vanilla and sweetener, strain it and then pop the milk back into your blender with those ingredients. If you choose to heat this for a hot drink I discovered yesterday that it doesn’t curdle (like my almond milk does). Perfect!

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Quinoa Porridge Infused with Chai Tea and Orange

quinoa-infused-with-orange-and-chai

Serves: 3

I do believe this is now the sixth quinoa recipe I have posted – clearly I hold it in very high esteem. Here’s hoping I am not the quinoa Lone Ranger because this is a beautiful take on the Steaming Hot Quinoa porridge which has undoubtedly been one of the most popular recipes on this blog.

You’ll need:
1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
2 cups of chai tea, cooled
6 small dried apricots, chopped
4 dates, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Zest of half an orange
Juice of half an orange

The night before brew your tea. I simply used a couple of chai tea bags, infused them in 2 cups of hot water (in a saucepan) for 15 minutes or so and removed them. I then left the saucepan on the stove (heat free!) for the night, to cool. In the morning simply add the quinoa to the tea and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer, add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 12 minutes. At this point I give it a fluff with a fork and then pop the lid back on for a couple of minutes. Top with whatever your heart desires. The left overs (assuming there are any) will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Source: theholisticingredient.com

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Spicy Yoghurt Marinated Chicken Breast

spicy-yoghurt-marinated-chicken-breast

This marinade is enough for 2 small chicken breasts, or 1 large.

I reckon I love yoghurt more than anyone I know. I probably eat more of it than anyone I know too – every single day without fail, I get closer to the bottom of the container. So I was a little bit chuffed to be asked to be an ambassador for five:am yoghurt, because let’s be honest, supporting a product you love is anything but work. One of my promises to five:am is to create yoghurt inspired recipes so you’ll be seeing many more of these in time. I am determined to start bridging the gap between sweet and savoury yoghurt creations. This (quite clearly), sits firmly in the savoury camp. Easy as and tasty to boot.

You’ll need:
2 small/1 large chicken breast, sliced into strips
1/3 cup full fat natural or greek yoghurt (I used Five:am natural)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 garlic clove, crushed
5cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
Good pinch of salt and pepper

Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add the chicken and pop in for the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night. To cook the chicken, heat large pan until hot and add coconut oil. Cook on both sides for a few minutes, until golden brown. Do not turn chicken too often, this can make it tough. You could also pop this under the grill.

This chicken is delish for left overs – it goes beautifully with a lovely fresh salad, combined with steamed vegetables or with quinoa cooked in veggie stock.

Source: theholisticingredient.com