Healthy Salad Sunday

I thought I would post this 'go to' salad recipe, the ingredients seem to vary depending on what I have on hand in my fridge. But that is one of the appealing things about this kind of salad I think!

Ingredients

- 1 cup diced sweet potato

- 1 cup diced red capsicum

- 1 cup diced carrot

- 1 cup broccoli florets

- 1 cup diced zucchini

- 1 cup shredded red cabbage

- 1 cup cooked quinoa

- 2 cups of veg stock

- Chili infused olive oil

- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)

- 1 tbsp grated ginger

- 1 Lemon

The first thing you need to do is cook up your quinoa. When cooking quinoa the most important thing to do is rinse it thoroughly, easiest way to do this is to place the quinoa in a sieve and rinse under running water. 

Once it is well drained place the 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of veg stock ( or any kind of stock will do) into a pot and bring to the boil until all the stock is absorbed. This should take about 8-10 mins. Once the stock is absorbed, remove from heat and fluff up the quinoa with a fork and place aside.

The process is very much the same as cooking rice. You can use water to cook your quinoa, but I find using stock brings a lot more flavour to the quinoa.

 

Next you want to stir fry your veg!

Place a generous splash of Chili infused olive oil into a wok and fry up your minced garlic and grated ginger until them become fragrant. Then throw in your sweet potato and let this soften for a few minutes, then throw the remaining veg into the wok and stir fry until they have softened slightly. You still want a nice crisp crunch when you bite into your salad!

Now for the fun bit! grab a large bowl and mix the cooked quinoa and the stir fried veg together. 

And it is that simple!  

I always find it great to squeeze some lemon over the top to freshen it up and give it a nice zing.

This would be the prefect thing to bring to a bbq or what I like to do is cook this up on a Sunday night and then you have a great salad to bring to work or school for lunch the next few days, I find this salad keeps from around 2-3 days. 

Much love,

Nanna Gloria's ribbon sandwiches

Never know what to bring to gathering? Then keep on reading! Best thing is that they are cheaper than your standard box of chocolates and you are guaranteed to come home with an empty plate!

Ingredients

300gm Ham
Half a bunch of spring onions, roughly chopped
1 loaf of wholemeal bread
1 loaf of white bread
1 jar of Cream cheese spread
*All ingredients are just rough guides, depending on how many sandwiches you want to make

-Grab three slides of bread, I like to grab two slices from one loaf and one from the other
-Layer some ham on one slice
-Spread a generous layer of cream cheese spread on another
-Sprinkle some spring onions over the slice with the cream cheese
-Then stack the layers; Ham slice, cream cheese slice and top with the remaining slice of bread
-Gently cut off all the crusts and slice into three 'ribbons'

It's as simple as that!

Nana's top tips
- If you have an electric knife it will make it a lot easier to cut off the crusts
- Be careful not to push down on the sandwiches too much when cutting them as you will end up with flat sandwiches

Much love,

Banana cake//

Ingredients
160g Butter, room temp
3/4 Cup Firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups Mashed banana (over ripe)
2 Tbs Hot milk
1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1 Cup Plain flour
2/3 Cup self raising flour

- Preheat oven to 180 deg (fan forced) line and grease a cake pan, I prefer to use a loaf tin
- Beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy

-Beat in eggs one at a time

- Stir in mashed banana, the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups, but I just use whatever I have on hand, normally anywhere between 3-5 bananas will do perfectly
- Warm up the milk in the microwave for about 20sec then mix in the bicarb soda and pour into banana mixture and stir
- Stir in sifted flours in two batches

- Spread into pan
- Bake for around 40mins, or until cooked through

- Allow to cool in pan for 5mins, before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completly

- I have used a basic cream cheese icing which I will link here. But the cake tastes great just on it's own as well
- It is really important to crumb coat your cake when icing, which is simply spreading a thin layer of the icing over the cake and allowing it to set and form a kind of 'crust' which will allow all the crumbs to set in. This way you will not pull up crumbs when icing your cake!

- Then you can spread the remaining icing over the cake

Tips
- Always allow cake to rest 5mins before removing from pan
- Crumb coating a cake will always give it a nicer finish

Much love,

Morning crunch// Easy homemade muesli

Slightly adapted from 'Good Chef Bad Chef'

I generally use a mix of the below ingredients or whatever I have on hand. The best thing about this recipe is that you are not limited to what you can throw in or what sweetener you use. For example, mix it up with different nuts, seeds, dried fruit or maple syrup instead of honey. It lasts minimum a month in an airtight container and is a great easy breakfast option. Also this makes a nice big batch, so feel free to halve it or be prepared to give some to your friends and family!

Ingredients
4 cups oats
1 cup flaked or slivered almonds
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
½ cup plain flour
½ cup sunflower oil
½ cup honey

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (fan forced) Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour the honey and sunflower oil over the top, mix through the dry ingredients. Spread the mixture out on a lined baking tray and bake until brown and crispy (approx. 15 min). Allow to cool. Serve with a thick Greek yogurt and seasonal fruit if desired. Store in airtight container.

Tips
- Keep an eye on it, as it can burn quickly if left too long!
- If adding dried fruit, add to cooked muesli after it has cooled


Much Love,