Our seasonal recipe database is complete with healthy recipes for all the family. You'll soon find that healthy food is not only quick and easy to prepare but it's delicious too.
Grilled chicken with broad bean, avocado and olive salad
This delicious spring recipe from The Greengrocer’s Diet (published by Pan Macmillan RRP $39.99)is a sneak preview of the fresh tasting meals you can look forward to eating in spring.
Those of you who need to lose a few kg's before the warmer weather kicks in, may want to buy a copy of this excellent book from your local greengrocer, book store or on line.
Crispy Skin Salmon Fillets with Bean Mash and Mango Salsa
When you use fresh herbs and seasonal produce there’s no need to bombard a dish with fat and salt for flavour.
Unless of course it’s good fat. This is a recipe that is packed full of flavour and contains essential Omega 3 fats.
It’s a beautiful dish to look at, it tastes delicious and it’s very easy to make.
Spanakopita
This is a real favourite and incredibly easy to make. Don't be put off by the filo pastry. The real trick is allow it to reach room temperature and work fast. I use a pastry brush to brush the sheets lightly with oil. Thanks to Costa Georgiadis for passing this recipe of him mother's on.
Date and Walnut Loaf
This is a variation of a recipe I found on a site called Baking with Granny. I cuit down the amount of sugar in it given how sweet dates naturally are.
Bright colours add to the beauty of this clean and fresh dish that is easily prepared. Low in fat and carbohydrates yet high in protein it's a winner all round.
A good veggie lasagne does take a bit of preparation but it’s not hard to do and the results are well worth the effort.
And unlike traditional lasagne made with whole milk and full fat cheese this roast vegetable lasagne is low in saturated fat, with less than 200mg of sodium and with so many veggies and it’s loaded in fibre, vitamins and antioxidants.
To find a healthy sweet dessert that tastes great AND is easy to make ticks all the boxes in my opinion. Easy raspberry and yogurt souffles are some of these great dishes. It’s an impressive low GI treat that will satisfy a sweet tooth yet it’s not that high in KJ. It’s very yummy and looks much harder to make than it really is.
This spicy and flavoursome marinade is delicious with a robust textured fish such as blue eye trevalla. The longer you allow it to marinate the better, and if you are feeding a family, don’t be put off by the term spicy – it’s not peppery spicy and will kids love it.
For those of you who haven't noticed it's hot, and I for one am not in the slightest bit interested in all the traditional nonsense of Christmas. Take a large salmon, ask the fishmonger to remove the head, fins and scales, bake it in the oven and serve with new potatoes with chopped mint and a drizzle of olive oil, a crisp green salad with sliced avocado and a cool refreshing mango and coriander salsa. If you want to be more decadent decorate fresh prawns around the outside - what could be nicer, and how much better knowing it's good for you.
A very fussy-eating friend of mine described this salad as a 'taste sensation' and I am still reeling from the compliment. The tartness of the pickles against the sweetness of the mango is simply divine.
Another low fat dish, this dish gets its wow flavour from the orange and pinenut combination. Watercress is such a rich source of vitamin C and in my opinion should be added to every salad to boost good health.
A great lunch or dinner served with a huge green salad and steamed sweetcorn, or could serve eight people as an entree. Make sure to use camellia tea oil for its numerous health benefits.
Recipe courtesy of www.phase5.com.au
With some gluten free muesli costing as much as $14 for 500g, from a financial point of view it’s worth making your own. From a health perspective it’s also worth making your own as you can fill it up with many more nutritionally valuable ingredients. Puffed grains typically have a high GI therefore to counter this and make a breakfast which will sustain you for most of the morning it’s good to add nuts and a few seeds.
With the miso used for flavour and pinenuts added to the sauce and crust this vegetarian pie will suit most meat eaters tastes hearty and meaty. This is gluten free, vegetarian food at it's best.
If you want something substantial and delicious here's the meal. It will give you a great feeling of satiety similar to what you would experience from a meat stew. The mushrooms, eggplant and onion give it substance while the tahini sauce transforms into creamy stroganoff type dish, without the cream.
If, like most of us you don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen cooking and washing up, this dish is for you. In one pot you combine the healthful properties of leek, low GI cannelini beans and flathead for protein. Add to it some gluten free kudzu to thicken the sauce and promote complete digestion and you’re done in less than 30 minutes. For an extra boost of veggies, serve with steamed broccoli.
Black eye beans are native to Africa but are used extensively in the Deep South USA in soul food. They are a great source of calcium, vitamin A , folate and fibre. Here's a very easy meal the whole family can enjoy.
Gluten intolerant or not, this breakfast quinoa will give you an exceptional kick start to the day. It doesn’t take long either. Once made you can keep it in the fridge and enjoy it over a few days.
Now, we all know that blokes love meat on their plates. So, how do you cook up a nice slab of meat and impress your guest just as much? This whole rib goes beautifully as a Sunday lunch, served on a bed of leafy greens and accompanied with a lovely Shiraz. It’s also great for dinner any other day or cold for the next day’s lunch.
Recipe courtesy of Alec Bragg's new recipe book 'Pants off Salmon'. It is available in September at all good book stores and online at: www.jojopublishing.com
This meal is sweet substantial and delicious and referred to as a meal because being a soup it contains complex carbohydrates, vegetables, lean protein and a little fat. Everything you need to feel sated and fulfilled.
Here's a lovely soup to enjoy for lunch or as a quick "pick me up" snack in afternoon when you really feel like something sweet.
Sweet? Well pumpkins are sweet and a good deal more healthy than that cake you might have chosen instead!
For an easy, inexpensive, flavoursome soup this one takes some beating.
Those of you unfamiliar with miso, it is a fermented soy bean paste used to flavour soups and casseroles. Like yoghurt, miso boosts the digestive system with friendly bacteria to aid digestion and strengthen the immune system. It is available from health food stores and Asian grocer.
The recipe below is not an authentic version of the classic mulligatawny, a traditional watery Indian soup. This version is anything but watery. It’s a complete meal in itself and the perfect way to boost your veggie intake in one hit.
This is a lovely recipe that's ridiculously easy to make. It may seem slightly daunting to cut up and skin a chicken yourself but do it once and you'll wonder what all the fuss was about. It's the cheapest and freshest way to go!
There's nothing to beat this winter warmer. It heats you up from the inside and fills you up for hours. Make sure you use a great quality stock though. It makes all the difference.
This is one of my favourite recipes. The extent to which you make of it is up to you, but I like to make everything including the chilli sauce! Choose a couple of varieties of Asian greens to accompany the chicken. I like to combine a crunchy variety like Pac Choy or Buk Choy with a leafy green such as Gai Lan.
Who doesn't love a roast dinner? Many people buy those horrible rotisserie chickens from the supermarket but baking your own is so easy to do, and the taste is far superior.