Parsley and Garlic Prawn Salad

This is such a quick, easy and yummy dinner.  And perfectly compliant if you are doing AIP.

I fill a bowl with chopped iceberg lettuce, chopped cucumber, and chopped avocado.
I sprinkle that with garlic powder.  (You could dress it if you want to.)

Once that is ready, I cook up the prawns.

My fish shop has these amazing prawns that are already peeled and have garlic and parsley added.
I use those but you can use anything you like.

So, I cook up the prawns and then pop them on the top of the salad.

Done.

Crock Pot Steak Fajitas

I found this recipe here.
I, of course, didn't cook it to the exact recipe instructions.

Here's what I did ...

500g round steak or beef flank steak
2 medium onions, cut into strips
1 large jar of medium salsa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 2 fresh limes
4 cloves garlic, minced
A pinch of ground chillis
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small green bell peppers, cut into strips
2 small red bell peppers, cut into strips

For serving: chopped avocado, shredded cheese, chopped tomato, chopped spring onion, sour cream and flour tortillas, warmed

Cut steak crosswise into thin strips; place in slow cooker. Combine onion, 1 cup salsa, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours.

The original recipe said to ...add bell peppers. Cover; cook on LOW 1 hour. BUT we didn't. We sauteed them in a cast iron skillet instead.

I first posted this recipe in 2009 but tonight I added something new to these tonight so thought I'd repost it with the addition ...

Garlic ... as much as you's like, diced

Jalapenos and assorted red chillies out of my garden, also diced

Fry these two in olive oil til garlic is browned.  

Remove from oil to paper towel and set aside.  Pop this into the fajita when serving.  So tasty!

Black bean chili

1/4 c. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, diced (the original recipe calls for red and green. I usually get at least two colors.)
1.5 tbs minced garlic
2tbs paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/3 tsp salt
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, very finely chopped
1 tbs cumin seed
1 tbs dried leaf oregano
2 cups cooked black beans
1.5 cups canned chopped tomatoes in puree

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion, bell peppers, garlic, paprika, cayenne, salt, and jalapeno peppers. Saute until onions are soft.
Add cumin, oregano, beans, and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook slowly for an hour.

We eat this over rice with cheddar cheese, sour cream and sometimes avocados.
I usually use 2 cans of beans to one can of tomatoes, and I don't think I get them in puree. I think they're just chopped, and if I have the option, I will buy the ones with mexican spices, or chilis or whatever already in them, but not always. If it's cheaper to buy beans fresh cook them yourself.. that's a good option too.

The girl who gave us the recipe puts hers in the blender and purees it, but we like the texture of the chili instead of soup.

Plus, it freezes great!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe at A Year Of Slow Cooking. You all know about that blog right ? No ... well, you need to go check it out !! The blog author, Stephanie, made a new years resolution to use her crock pot EVERY DAY for the year 2008 !! And she did it ! So, yeah, no shortage of crock pot recipes over there !!!

I modified the recipe just a little ... here's how I did mine.

2.5 lbs (just over a kilo) potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pinch chili powder
1 quart chicken broth ( i used water and stock cubes)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, to add at the end
crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado to serve

Put everything minus the cream cheese, bacon, spring onions and avocado into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. (I did high last night) The potatoes should be fork-tender. Add the cream cheese and put lid back on to let cream cheese melt.  I left it for about 20 minutes.

Cook the bacon.

Get your stick blender into the crock pot and blend everything together.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado !! Delish !!

My husband who "doesn't like soup" had two helpings of this last night and took if for lunch today !! Soon he will have to stop making the "i don't like soup" statement because he likes many many soups now !!

Crunchy Spicy Tuna Roll

I'm not a huge fan of raw tuna. I mean, I'll eat it, but it's not my favorite.

This, however, is quickly becoming one of my favorites !

There's no real measurements, I just do this all to taste.

Ingredients (for the spicy tuna):

Sushi Grade Tuna, the size depends on how many you are feeding (and how much you want to spend!)

Kewpie Mayo

Spring Onion, thinly chopped

Sriracha Sauce

What else you need for the roll:
Masago

Avocado

Tempura Crunchies

Sushi Rice

Seaweed

To make the spicy tuna. Chop the tuna into small pieces. Add mayo and mix. (You can see how is should look in the photo) Add spring onions. Add Sriracha to taste. I only add a small squirt at a time. That stuff is spicy hot !

Once that is done, you can make your rolls. Just add the other ingredients, along with the spicy tuna, and roll it up ! Done !!

Quinoa Black Bean Salad - Combined

When I was planning my menu this week, I knew I wanted to make Quinoa Black Bean Salad.  But I discovered that there were two yummy looking recipes on the blog to choose from.  So I took a little from one and a little from the other - and this is what I got!

mine didn't look exactly like this...but you get the idea

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quinoa, washed and drained
1 ¾ cups water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1 teaspoon cumin

1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half (optional - I didn't use any this time because fresh tomatoes are on "baby no like" list since I've been pregnant)
1 red bell pepper (I like it cut small)
1 avocado cut into chunks
5 green onions, finely chopped
Salt (pepper – optional) to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Wash and rinse quinoa. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Once hot, add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two.  Add water, stir once, cover and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed!

 2 In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cumin, salt, and garlic.

3 Combine cooked quinoa, beans, red pepper, tomatoes, and green onions in a large bowl.

4 Drizzle dressing over salad.  Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.  Can also add cilantro and/or red pepper flakes.


As a note - this is great as a side dish to a meal (one of the boys declared it tasted like guacamole), but also keeps well in the fridge for a healthy, protein packed lunch or snack. 

Caprese Avocado Boats

I've looked at this recipe quite a few times and finally made it the other night.   I didn't do it exactly like she said because I was in a bit of a hurry.  I didn't make the basil garlic oil sauce maybe I will try that next time. But only maybe ... because this way was so easy.  Here's what I did.

Avocados (one per person, but I only did half each for the kids)

Baby Bocconcini, 225g (8oz)

Cherry Tomatoes, 250g, quartered

Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Fresh Basil, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar

Cut the avocados in half, take out the seed and carefully peel off the skin.

Mix bocconcini, tomatoes and fresh basil (as little or much as you like) with a good drizzle of the Garlic Infused Olive Oil.   Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When ready to serve, spoon bocconcini mixture into avocado halves.  Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar and serve.

Greek Omelets with Tomato, Avo and Tsatsiki .... It's what's for dinner.

I am always on the lookout for a good quinoa recipe.  I also LOVE omelets.  This to me, seemed like a match made in heaven.  And I was right.  I loved this!  It wasn't complicated to make either.  Just do it in the five steps listed below and you'll be fine.

This recipe was my inspiration, and while I followed the ingredient list, I didn't follow any of the measurements.  I thought it looked like a recipe that would be easy enough to do with out measuring and I was right.  I'll give you estimates, but if you want exact measurements, go to the original recipe.  Also, I make my tsatsiki different.

I made four omelets and we had enough quinoa leftover to eat as part of two lunches today.

What you'll need for the tsatsiki:
Greek yoghurt
Cucumber
Garlic
A Lemon
Salt and Pepper

What you'll need for the omelets:
12 eggs (if you are making four omelets ... basically, it's three eggs per omelet)
Milk
Butter
Quinoa
Baby Spinach Leaves
Kalamata Olives
Roasted Red Bell Peppers (Capsicum)
Sun Dried Tomatoes, in oil
Feta Cheese
Pine Nuts
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Cheese
Cherry Tomatoes
Avocado

Cook the quinoa ... I cook my quinoa in the rice cooker.  You can cook it however you like, but get that started.  For the four of us, I did two of the rice cooker measuring cups of uncooked quinoa.  

Make the tsatsiki ... I used four or five big spoonfuls of greek yoghurt, added about a 1/4 of a large continental cucumber (finely diced), squeezed in some minced garlic (to tasted) and then the juice of what ended up being 1/2 a lemon.  I just kept tasting as I went.  Add a tiny bit of salt and pepper ... again, to taste

Make the quinoa salad ... to your cooked quinoa, add chopped spinach (I probably used 2 cups) kalamata olives (sliced) and a couple of spoonfuls of the brine out of the olive jar, roasted red bell peppers (chopped), sun dried tomatoes (chopped) and a couple spoonfuls of the oil out of the sd tomato jar, crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts, the herbs and salt and pepper.  I just kept adding and stirring and tasting until I like what I saw and tasted. 

Make the omelets ... (Do this for each individual omelet) Whisk three eggs, a blub of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl.  Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and add a scoop of butter.  The original recipe said to add 1 tablespoon of butter but we were at the end of the butter dish so I probably only used a teaspoon for each omelet and I would do the same next time. Once butter is melted, pour egg mixture into pan.  Tip the pan up and around so that the uncooked egg goes up the side of the pan and cooks. Using a spatula, push the cooked egg down towards the middle of the pan.  Tip the pan again to repeat this process until there is no runny egg left.  I found that when the runny stuff was gone, the egg in the middle was still a bit wetter than I liked so I left it to cook just a little bit longer. (this is when I whisked the eggs and milk for the next omelet!) Sprinkle with a little bit of shredded cheese.  Let that melt for a minute or two and then slide the omelet onto a big plate.  Add butter to the fry pan and start again .... 

To assemeble ... Add a few scoops of quinoa salad to one side of your omelet.  Fold the empty side over the quiona.  Top with halved cherry tomatoes, slices of avocado and tsatsiki.

Yum Yum Yum.

PS. The omelets cooked up pretty quick but I still had each person grab theirs and start eating straight away.  Omelets are always better hot!  They are quite big portions too ... my omelet was made last and I still finished eating it before my daughter who had been served second! In fact, she never finished eating ... it was too big a serve.  She saved about 1/4 of it for today.

Pink Smoothies

These were delicious!  

I changed the original recipe a bit ... mainly I didn't add celery ... eww!  

Here's what I did ...

  

1.5 cup water or coconut water (I used water)
1/2 a medium avocado, pitted

1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 a medium raw beet, chopped 1/2 a lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon coconut oil
a handful of ice cubes
1 sweet apple cored and roughly chopped

Throw all ingredients into blender.  Blend.  I started with one cup of water and then added the other 1/2 cup as necessary to keep the blender moving ...

Simple Avo Tom Salad

 

The other night I was trying to throw together a meal from the fridge since I hadn't planned anything and I needed to shop.  I had made Japanese mince and rice as the main but I needed a veggie side. I found a few cherry tomatoes, an avocado and a spring onion.  I thought of the  simple cucumber salad that my sister taught me to make and decided to do a little variation.  This is it ...

Cherry tomatoes
Avocado
Spring Onions
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sesame Seeds

She added sesame oil to the cucumber salad, I didn't add it to this one. 

I'm not sure you need instructions but all you do is chop your veg, sprinkle with vinegar and sesame seeds. 

Delish.

Bacon Salad. With Bacon.

 

So, the other night, Ellie was cooking a putanesca (not this one but if you want to try one, this is a good one to try) for dinner.  I was tasked with making a salad.  Ryan had seen a salad he wanted to try that was topped with bacon and pumpkin seeds.  Turns out the salad he was thinking about was actually a soup so we never did find a recipe.  No biggie though.  I threw this little beauty together and it was DELICIOUS!

There aren't really measurements ... it's a salad.

Bacon, however much you like.

Red Onion

Garlic, I think I used about eight cloves

Spinach
Avocado

Mushrooms
Mixed seeds (my mix was pumpkin, sunflower and pine nut)
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Dry toast the seeds in a small frying pan until just brown.  Just enough for a topping.  You don't see my seed topping in the photo because we had to change platters while we were assembling the salad so my seeds are actually on the bottom!  Anyway ... set the seeds aside.

Chop bacon, dice onion, sliver the garlic and saute together.   While that is cooking, slice the mushrooms and add to bacon mixture when it's just about done.

On a large platter, lay spinach.  Top with bacon mixture.  Chop avocado and lay on top of salad.  Sprinkle with seeds and grate parmesan cheese on top.

I didn't add any dressing. 

I like to think that the bacon was the dressing. 

But, you could add dressing if you like ...

Chicken, Mango, Avo Salad with Lime

 

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided it was the winner for dinner one night last week.  However, we had an experience just a couple nights before with an orange juice dressing that overpowered the salad so I decided to not do the dressing.  And I added chicken ... If you want the orange dressing (that looks amazing) then go check out the original recipe.  If you want to try it my way, here's what I did.

1 bag of rocket (arugula) 
fresh coriander, a handful (?) or to taste ...
1 ripe mango
1 ripe avocado
1/2 a red onion
1 lime
1 red chilli
1 chicken breast
white wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper

This was super easy.  Have your husband grill the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper, while you prepare the salad.  :) If that isn't an option, then just grill it yourself or throw it in the frying pan with a bit of olive oil and some white wine towards the end.

Thinly slice red onion and red chilli (I removed the seeds and membrane) Put in a small bowl, squeeze the lime into the bowl, add a pinch of salt.  Stir it up and set it aside.  

In a large salad bowl, add rocket (a few big handfuls, depending on how many you are serving) and fresh coriander that you have washed and roughly chopped.  Chop avocado and mango.  Add to rocket.  Pour red onion mixture on top and toss salad gently. 

Chop and add chicken. 

Drizzle lightly with a good olive oil and a nice white wine vinegar, sprinkle gently with a nice rock salt and cracked pepper.

Chicken and Beans on Rice

This was delicious.  Easy too.  I found the recipe here.  I did what she did with minor alterations like, one less chicken breast because I always find these sorts of chicken dishes have to much chicken. I also added rice and toppings.  Oh, and I mixed all the stuff together before adding to crock pot ...

Anyway, here's my way ...

3 raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (400g/15oz) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (400g/15oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (400g/15oz) cans of diced tomatoes
frozen corn, I didn't measure ...
1 (340g/12oz) jar of salsa

to serve ...
avocado, chopped
grated cheese, i used a mexican blend
rice or tortillas or corn chips
sour cream or greek yoghurt (didn't have any in the house this time but will use next time)

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker (crock pot).

In a separate bowl, mix other ingredients.  I just added the corn til it seemed a reasonable amount. Pour over chicken.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours.  I did the full 7 hours then turned it on 'keep warm' til we were ready to eat a few hours later.  When I stirred the mixture up when we were ready to eat, the chicken just broke into pieces! 

Serve on top of rice, or in a tortilla or with corn chips.  Top with avocado, grated cheese and sour cream ...

This was a BIG HIT with the whole family ! And it made lots.  Our family of four ate it for diner one night & everyone had seconds.  Two of us are having it for lunch today.  And there is still enough for lunch tomorrow!

Spinach, Tofu, Avocado Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing

 

This is a little Bonnie invention.

 There are no real measurements for the salad part, just add ingredients as they look good.

Baby Spinach Leaves, finely sliced

Cucumber, finely diced

Cilantro (Fresh Coriander Leaves), finely chopped

Snow Pea Sprouts, finely chopped

Toasted cashews, roughly chopped

Spring Onions, finely diced

Avocado, chopped small

Silken tofu, small pieces

Dressing:

2 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon honey

Make the dressing by mixing all ingredients.  I do it in a small mason jar so that I can heat the mixture a bit in the microwave to help the honey mix in.  Also, it's then easy to pop the lid on to save the leftovers.

Make the salad by combining all ingredients as indicated above.  Originally I was going to chop the tofu but when I tipped it out of it's box, it basically crumbled so I just scooped up pieces of the crumble and added it to the salad.

I made a variation for lunch a few days later.  It was yummy.  I didn't have any tofu and I forgot the cashews.  I added finely diced fuji apple and toasted sesame seeds.  Everything else was the same.

Brown Sugar, Lemon and Orange Salmon

This was delicious !

We love salmon around here and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it.

This was simple.  And tasty.  We'll have this one again for sure.

I based my cooking on this recipe but I added a bit, changed quantities, and didn't use it as a 

marinade but rather just reduced it down to be a nice thick sauce to pour on top !

2 salmon fillets (we ate 1/2 each)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 a fresh lemon - it was quite a big lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 spring onion, chopped small

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh ginger, minced (to taste)

juice of one orange

a few drops of sesame oil

Place all ingredients, besides the salmon, into a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until your desired thickness is met.  This took maybe 5-10 minutes for mine.  Stir and taste while cooking.  You may need to add more lemon, do this to taste ...

Cook salmon as you prefer.  Usually we BBQ but last night we cooked them in a bit of olive oil, with salt and pepper, in the cast iron fry pan.  

I topped each piece of salmon with a slice of fresh avocado, the sauce and a sprinkle of spring onions.

So yummy.

Salmon & Avocado Nigiri Sushi

I discovered this sushi at a local sushi place a while ago. 

I love it. I've made it a few times at home.

Last night, I had my camera out so

decided to take photos 

and now I'll share

the 'recipe'.

Here's what you need ...

Sushi (short grain) Rice, cooked

Sushi Rice Vinegar (you can buy it or it's EASY to MAKE)

Fresh Salmon (ask your fishmonger if it can be eaten raw), sliced

Avocado, sliced

Red Onion, as thinly sliced as you can make it

Kewpie Mayo

Tobiko (or Masago would do too)

I'm going to assume that you all know how to make sushi rice.  If you don't, I explain it in this post.

If you don't know how to shape sushi rice, here is a video I just found to show you.  It's in Japanese but you can see what he's doing.

Once that is done, top with salmon (if you don't know how to cut the fish, click on the 'sliced' link above), then avocado, red onion, mayo, and finally the fish eggs.

Serve with a dipping bowl of soy sauce. And wasabi if you like.

Guac Salad

 

This salad is so yummy and fresh.

 And it's just guacamole ingredients, just not chopped and smushed !

So ... just make as much as you need depending on how many people are eating it !

avocado, chopped

cherry tomatoes, halved

red onion, slivered

fresh coriander (cilantro)

a squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper

DONE !  YUM !

Fresh and Delicious Quinoa

I found this delicious looking recipe on pinterest and had to try it. I'm glad I did too ! It's amazingly delicious !  I did almost everything the same ... really, the only things I changed were that I roasted the red bell pepper, how I added the garlic, a few measurements and a bit of the how to assemble.  Here's my version ...

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tbsp coconut oil (but I think any oil would do)
1 & 3/4 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, chopped into chunks
a punnet of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper
small handful coriander/cilantro, diced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste

Roast your red bell pepper, set aside.  Here is a little tutorial on how to roast peppers, if you need it.

Put the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed ! (I like my glass lid for this !)

Mix the lime juice, oil, cumin, minced garlic and salt. Stir. Set Aside.  This is the dressing.

In a big bowl ~ tomatoes, beans, & onion.  Remove skins from red bell peppers, chop and add to bowl. Chop avocado but don't add it yet.

When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Let cool for a few minutes, then add to the bowl with the other ingredients and stir.  Add dressing.  Stir.  Add avocado and coriander/cilantro, gently stir.

Spicy Chicken Soup

This was delicious. I used this recipe as a base but I made a few changes. If you are a kitten tongue like my cousin Pam, then you probably won't like this because it is SPICY !! But ... I pulled out some chicken before I added the chipotles, and cooked it in plain broth for Alia ... she liked that.

olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
7 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 chicken breasts, chopped into small bite size pieces
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce
6 cups chicken broth
1 bunch cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
S & P
avocado, sliced for topping

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, add chicken. Cook til just about cooked through. Add chipotles, adobo sauce, and chicken broth. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cilantro and lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Top with avocado.

The original recipe said to top with the tortilla chips ... we didn't but Rory added a few crackers and Jono added sour cream to cool his down a bit.

This fed the four of us for dinner, with corn on the cob on the side, and there was one bowl leftover for Rory's lunch. Next time I might use three chicken breasts to stretch it a bit further ...

Kale, Avo & Asparagus Salad

I have kale growing out my ears in our garden ! I've done the Roasted Kale a number of times and last night tried Khrista's Raw Kale and Avocado Salad for the first time. It is DELICIOUS ! I can't wait to make it again ! In fact, I might be making more for my lunch today ...

I changed it a bit though ... I made this to serve four.

A colander full of kale from my garden, stems removed & shredded
A punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, chopped
Asparagus, 2 bunches
Olive Oil
Juice from 1 small lemon
Sea salt, to taste
Sesame seeds

Put the kale in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkled with salt to taste. Now get your hands in there and massage it a bit. This softens the kale (and according to Khris, makes it tastier and easier to digest)

Saute asparagus in a bit of olive oil til cooked to desired tenderness.

While that is cooking, chop your tomatoes and avocado and mix into kale leaves.

Top with sauteed asparagus and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

YUM YUM YUM !