Summer Peach Salad with Chicken

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Peach SaladI saw beautiful juicy peaches at the shops today. I wanted to make a nice summer peach salad with some chicken for tonight. Peaches are rich in phytochemicals (antioxidants) that fight against diabetes, heart disease and cancer. This orange/ yellow fruit has beta carotene which is responsible for eye health and blood circulation. Want beautiful skin? You should eat these guys more. Vitamin A and C in them keeps your skin healthy, great for skin care. Peaches can also calm down an upset stomach and help you lose weight because it has low calories with no fat. For the recipe, I added chicken and toasted bread for Daniel, but you can make it a vegetarian salad without them. Weather is cooling down slowly. Enjoy summer fruits as much as you can now before they are gone!

Peach Salad2Ingredients

600g of grilled chicken
1 cup of sliced peaches
2 cups of lettuce
1 cup of bitter greens
1/2 cup of coriander leaves
1 stick (about 50g) of crumbled feta
2 tsp of toasted pepitas
1 tsp of poppy seeds

For dressing
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of e.v.o.o
salt and pepper to taste
To assemble the salad, toss the chicken, lettuce and green leaves in desired amount of the dressing. Arrange sliced peaches and finish the salad with crumbled feta, toasted pepitas and poppy seeds on top. Serve with warm toasted bread.

Posted in: Dinner, Lunch, My recipes, salads

GF Almond Cookies with Goji and Cacao Nibs

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Almond Cookies2After a couple of days of being sick I’m finally starting to feel better today and actually do things around the house. Yay! I was sick of getting stuck inside and not being able to move away from the couch. I’m still treating my body kindly today though. Cleaning up the wardrobe, donating my old clothes to Salvos, putting ads on Gumtree to sell my stuff (well..Daniel is helping me with most of this), cooking Daniel’s lunch for tomorrow, a bit of baking, etc. Today is going so fast! When we moved to this house a couple of years ago, I thought I threw away a lot of things I didn’t need. Then somehow spare rooms and shed are full of junk again. I’m so looking forward to moving to a new house and starting all over again in Melbourne. Fresh start, how exciting!

Using almond meal is one of my current obsessions in baking alongside coconut flour. I put in everywhere, muffins, cookies and powder balls. Yes, I’ll admit I’ve been eating way too much of these recently. I like baking a simple, whole grain baked good like this with festive spices, the tangy pop of goji berries and bitter sweet cacao nibs. I enjoyed a bite with a cup of chai and Daniel with a sweet citron tea. I like this relaxing afternoon with my hubby 🙂Almond CookiesIngredients (8 little cookies)

50g almond meal
50g buckwheat flour
1 egg
1 tsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1 tsp of stevia powder (or any kind of sweetener)
1 tsp of goji berries
1 tsp of cacao nibs
1 tbsp of coconut water
a touch of Himalayan salt

Mix all ingredients together and make 8 little balls. Bake in the preheated oven (180) for 20 minutes or until cooked. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container for a couple of weeks.

Posted in: Baking, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack

Warm Artichoke and Spinach Dip

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Artichoke SpinachIt was in Soho, New York, when I first tried this artichoke and spinach dip. It was called Freemans restaurant in one of the small alleyways, a very hidden place. A couple of friends recommended that place so we decided to go for lunch after hours of shopping in Soho. We ordered the dip for entrée to share and thought it would be just an ordinary dip with some bread. But oh my goodness gracious is it amazing! It has become one of my favourite dishes. When it just comes out of the oven hot and steamy, it smells and tastes incredible. Other recipes include sour cream, mayo or oil which I’m sure will add more creaminess to it. But I kept it healthy and simple. I served with seared steak on the side for Daniel, but you can add protein in a baking dish. Put seared chicken breast and pour this dip mixture all over. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Fish or pasta will work well too. It is delish!

Ingredients

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup quartered artichoke hearts
1/2 cup chopped spring onions
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp low fat cream cheese
1/4 cup of milk
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, stir well to combine and transfer to a baking dish. You can sprinkle more cheese on top here. Cook in the preheated oven (180) for 20-30 minutes until bubbly and brown on top. Serve hot with toasted bread or pita chips.

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, Snack

“Cheesy” Popcorn

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PopcornI’ve posted using nutritional yeast on zucchini fries and tofu scramble previously. It’s time to sprinkle on popcorn! The ones from the movies or microwavable packages are horribly salty and oily. Making popcorn at home is super easy. So I definitely recommend it on the movie night or any weekends when you relax with a good movie.

Ingredients

1 tsp of coconut oil
100g popcorn
1 tsp of Himalayan salt
2 tsp of nutritional yeast
1 tsp of curry powder

Drizzle coconut oil in a large pot. Add popcorn kernels and put the lid on. As kernels pop, shake the pot holding the lid on until popping sound stops after about 5 minutes. Transfer popcorn into a serving bowl and sprinkle with salt, curry powder and nutritional yeast. You can add more oil just before sprinkling spices which helps for the spices to stick to popcorn more. That’s it. So easy. Munch away 🙂

Posted in: Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Two Salads For Sunday Lunch

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LettuceIt’s 37 degrees again today! I thought it would cool down in March, but Autumn seems so far away yet. After successfully sprouting quinoa, I decided to make some cool salads with it. Something refreshing, crunchy and tasty! I wish I added some chopped parsley in this green salad, but oh well, I didn’t bother going down to the veggie shop today. Too hot for me >.< I also decided to make some pasta salad for Daniel, as well, with sweet potato, sage, green onions and sardines.Sweet potato pastaSprouted Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

1/2 cup of sprouted quinoa
2 cups of lettuce
1 cup of grated zucchini
1 cup of chopped cucumber
50g of feta cheese
1/2 cup of chopped green olives
1 tsp of dijon mustard
1 tsp of white wine vinegar
1 tsp of e.v.o.o
pepper to taste

Wash and tear the lettuce leaves into bite sizes. Mix them with sprouted quinoa, grated zucchini, chopped cucumber and olives, crumbled feta cheese. For a mustard vinaigrette, mix dijon mustard, vinegar and e.v.o.o in a small bowl and drizzle over salad before serve. I just used pepper to taste because olives and feta cheese are salty enough.

Pasta and SaladSweet Potato Pasta Salad

Ingredients

a cup of cooked pasta
1/2 cup of diced sweet potato
1 bunch of sage
a stalk of spring onion
a tin of sardines in spring water
a tsp of nutmeg
a tsp of coconut oil
a tsp of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta in a boiling water with a touch of salt for 9 minutes or follow the instructions on the packet. Cook diced sweet potato with coconut oil in a pan. Season. Add sage leaves and chopped spring onions into the pan. Once sweet potatoes are cooked and sage leaves crisp up, take them off the heat and place them in a mixing bowl. Then drain the sardines from tin and cook in the same pan to crisp up outside (you can lightly crumb the sardines). Drain cooked pasta and add into a mixing bowl. Gently combine pasta and sweet potatoes with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Put on the serving plate and top with crispy sardines. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta and Salad2

Posted in: Dinner, Lunch, My recipes, salads