Health4Tips: dinner

Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Zucchini and vegetable slice

I've seen lots of zucchini slice recipes, usually involving up to 10 eggs, heavy cream, lots of hard cheese and rashers of bacon making them tasty but only suitable as "sometimes" food. I have given these recipes the LGH magic wand to make a more nutritious option that you can eat more regularly if you wish. It's tasty and also versatile and can be eaten hot or cold. Add whatever you have in the fridge for a delicious summer meal.
My version had zucchini, carrot, onion, fresh parsley, dill, peas, spinach and red salmon - but this recipe has flexibility to use whatever is in your fridge!

Ingredients
2 large zucchinis

2 large carrots
1 onion
a cup of whatever other vegetables you have handy (fresh frozen or canned) such as spinach, corn, peas, shallots, capsicum
fresh or dried herbs
1 cup of leftover rice or canned cannelini beans or chick peas for low GI energy
200g can red salmon (optional - consider adding diced tofu for protein if you are not a fish eater)
1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
5 eggs (whisked)

squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 cup grated low fat cheese

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 C
Grate your zucchini and carrots into a large bowl
Finely dice onion, herbs and any other veggies and add all into the bowl.
Add rice or drained beans and can of salmon, season with salt pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice

Mix everything well then add flour, whisked eggs and mix through
Sprinkle cheese on top
Spoon into a well greased cake tin /baking dish and bake for 30-40 mins or so until golden on top and springy. Slice into squares. Serve hot with a salad or vegetables, or cold .

Serves 8-10
Keep for 3 days in the fridge or 4 weeks in the freezer.

Bon appetit!

Deliciously decadent chia pudding

Privacy chia , dessert

Chia seeds seem to be one of the newest "superfoods" on the block and get mentioned everywhere. These little black (or white) seeds are probably closest in taste and texture to poppy seeds, but with a whole lot more exciting properties.

Chia seeds are derived from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, a member of the mint family. They can be eaten raw or added to foods and have some pretty impressive nutritional properties:

Omega 3 fatty acids– These essential fats that are important for heart health and brain function. Chia seeds are unusually high in omega 3s, and one of the best plant sources. Of the 30% total fat found in chia seeds, more than half is alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which is the plant form of omega-3.
Fibre - Chia's 34% fibre is higher than that of flaxseeds (linseed) or sesame seeds, and works out to be about 10g in two tablespoons (which would make a significant contribution to the 25–30g it's recommended we consume daily). Chia seeds are so high in fibre you need to be careful not to go overboard when you first start eating them- or your belly will notice!
Protein and calcium - They are also an excellent source of protein and extremely high in calcium – at 631mg per 100g, this is five times the level in milk (although it may not be so readily absorbed).
Chia is also a source of other important minerals including iron, magnesium and zinc. Oh – and it's gluten free, too.

Not surprisingly, many foodies claim chia is a "super" food and list all sorts of health benefits, many of which are over-rated. But while it is a food with some nutritional advantages, it is not magical. What we do know from limited evidence is that including chia seeds as part of a healthy diet may help improve cardiovascular risk factors, such as lowering cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. And although claims of weight loss may be far-fetched, the claim that chia helps you feel fuller for longer is likely more valid, due to its high fibre and protein content.

So what can you do with chia seeds?

Add them wherever you like.I have long been using them sprinkled on breakfast cereal or added to porridge and bakers put them in pancakes, bread, muffins and cakes. But the neat thing about chia seeds are their ability to retain water- in fact they will soak up ten times their weight in liquid - making them ideal for setting and "gelling" puddings and sauces. Apparently they can be used as an alternative to eggs? (Can't say I've tried that one).

I was a little skeptical in making chia puddings as I have bought commercial ones from the supermarket before and to be honest found them gag-worthy - the one I bought in a little tub was cloyingly sweet, watery and a little slimy and went straight in the garbage. So with some hesitation I tried them at home without a completely different outcome - I think using Greek yoghurt changed the texture to a rich creaminess which was divine!

Here's the recipe:

CHIA BREAKFAST PUDDING

1 cup milk (cows milk, almond, soy, whatever)

1 cup Greek yoghurt

1/3 cup chia seeds

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 TBSP honey or maple syrup (or stevia or whatever sweetener you prefer)

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Fresh fruit

Method:

Mix milk, yoghurt, vanilla, cinnamon and honey in a jug and whisk until smooth.

Add chia seeds and stir well. Let sit on the bench for 20 mins or so until it starts to set then stir again to ensure the seeds haven't all sunk to the bottom.

Pour mixture into four containers and cover in the fridge overnight to set fully. You can eat them in 2 hours but they taste best after 8 or so.

I layered them with strwberries, blueberries, passionfruit pulp and coconut. I sprinkled almonds on the top of mine and ate it out of the jar, my husband spooned his into a bowl and topped it with muesli. Delicious!

OTHER OPTIONS

Once you have the liquid : seed ratio right, then go wild. Blend fresh or frozen berries with your yoghurt, add nutmeg and star anise for a chai flavour, use coconut milk (watch the saturated fat) and sliced mango for a tropical summer feel, or add oats or quinoa to make a bircher pudding. They also work for dessert options as below:

CHIA MOCHA CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Want the amazing texture of chocolate mousse with extra health benefits? Chia puddings can go there too!

1 cup milk (cows milk, almond, soy, whatever)

1 cup Greek yoghurt

1/3 cup chia seeds

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla extract or coffee extract for a mocha flavour

2 TBSP honey or maple syrup (or stevia or whatever sweetener you prefer)

berries and choc chips for topping (or nuts, honeycomb, crushed cookies, whatever!)

Method:

Mix milk, yoghurt, vanilla/coffee, cocoa and honey in a jug and whisk until smooth and the cocoa is well mixed through.

Add chia seeds and stir well. Let sit on the bench for 20 mins or so until it starts to set then stir again to ensure the seeds haven't all sunk to the bottom.

Pour mixture into four containers and cover in the fridge overnight to set fully. I poured ours into fancy dessert glasses and topped with fresh raspberries and dark choc chips. You can eat them in 2 hours but they taste best after 8 or so.

Bon appetit!

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Recipe - easy cheesy veggie bake

Privacy dinner , recipes

I posted a picture of this meal on a Facebook group a few days ago and have have had lots of requests for the recipe for my vegetable pots in the photo. These are nothing fancy, just steamed vegetables in a basic cheese sauce. But, if someone in your family is not a lover of vegetables, or if you are getting sick of steamed vegetables, its another nice way to serve them.

Please note, this is not a really low calorie recipe as it uses milk, cheese and a little butter and flour, but it is a lovely home cooked comfort food and a delicious option. Unless you have specific health reasons not to, you shouldn't be afraid of using ingredients like this occasionally as part of a a balanced diet. Everything in moderation, remember? Just make sure you keep the rest of your meal light for balance. My meal is the one at the back left, I had it with steamed beans and carrots and 150g of baked fresh salmon. Yum!

First roughly chop your vegetables into small pieces and lightly steam your vegetables of choice. For these pots I used cauliflower (as they were on special at $2.50 for a whole head of cauli last week!) and also sweet potato which is a great low GI carb to include. My husband is not a huge sweet potato fan so his was cauliflower and a little white potato. Really, you can include any vegetables you like - broccoli, beans, zucchini, squash, peas, corn, carrots, asparagus, spinach .. it all works!

I cut the cauliflower into pieces about the size of a golf ball and sliced the sweet potato and potato into thin circular slices (I left the skin on). While you are steaming your vegetables, its time to make the cheese sauce and preheat your oven to around 200 degrees C.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan on low heat. Once its melted, add two tablespoons of flour (wholemeal flour is great- but use whatever plain flour you like to use) and stir until well mixed. You should end up with the flour mixing into the butter so you have a ball of paste a little like cookie dough. If its too runny add a little more flour.

Next add 2 cups of cold milk gently to your mixture and start whisking. This will work perfectly fine with full fat or low fat milk. It will be lumpy to start with, but as the milk warms and the butter dissolves it will become smooth. Keep whisking with the sauce on low heat (don't let it boil) for about 5-10 minutes as the sauce thickens. Don't walk away from it :) I add dried parsley, black pepper and a handful of grated parmesan cheese in the last few minutes for flavour. You will know when your sauce is ready as it starts to thicken.

**This is an amazingly easy basic white sauce that is so versatile once you've got it mastered. Instead of the cheese, add a teaspoon each of dijon and grain mustard for a beautiful sauce for corned beef. Add a heap of chopped fresh dill for a sauce to serve with fish. I certainly don't recommend you add creamy sauce to every meal, but it's a wonderful alternative from packet sauces with all their salt and added preservatives**

Back to our veggie pots. Take your sauce off the heat.

Choose small oven proof dishes and give them a spray with olive oil spray. Now layer your vegetables. I put sliced orange sweet potato on the bottom and then cauliflower on the top for two pots, and plain potato and cauliflower in the third. Pour your white sauce over the vegetables. Don't panic if it has got a little lumpy in the time you were doing the pots, it does that, just give it another quick whisk and pour it in, it will work out fine, I promise!
Top your pot with a sprinkle of grated cheese and I put one slice of sweet potato on top - just for decoration and so I could tell the different mixtures apart.

Pop it in the oven for 10 minutes or until the top is golden. By steaming your vegetables first the cooking time is really quick. Serve as a side dish with a lean protein and some more vegetables :)

Serves 3 medium sized or 4 small vegetable pots.

Recipe alternatives:
While I made this as a side dish, you could easily use this basic recipe to make a full meal, just don't forget the principles of a balanced plate. Remember it should be half fruit or vegetables, quarter lean protein, quarter low GI carbs and some good fats. Consider making a slightly larger pot with a small can of red salmon or cannellini beans, some sliced sweet potato, a large serve of broccoli or cauliflower, a handful of peas, the mustard or dill sauce and cheese on top. A tasty balanced one pot wonder!!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

What does a balanced meal look like?

Privacy breakfast , dinner

I keep harping on about a balanced diet. Balanced this and balanced that. In my posts about breakfasts and even snacks, I keep referring to this. What do I mean?

I think its important to think about each meal as an opportunity to nourish yourself. To nourish your senses with wonderful colours and flavours, aromas and textures. And to nourish your body with an array of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients it needs. And finally you could also go as far as to say to nourish your soul with the pride of a home cooked meal, or the company of friends on a special occasion, or family around your regular dinner table or the quiet peace of contentedly eating by yourself.

Now not every single meal will do all of these things, but I believe its a great way to think about your food and how it nourishes you. But moving beyond these qualities of your meal, how much of everything do you include? Well this first post is about balance, then later we will talk about portion sizes.

Think about your plate like a clock face and divide it into quarters. Two of these quarters (half your plate) at every meal should be fruit or non starchy vegetables. One of the quarters should be lean protein, and one of your quarters should be starches - low GI carbohydrates. Add to this a small amount of healthy fats and oils and you have a balanced meal. This is how I try to plan every meal.

So what does this look like practically?

Well let's start with the easiest plate to imagine - dinner time. Here's a dinner photo I found off the internet:

This plate is about right with half the plate made up of salad, a quarter of lean protein (the lamb cutlets) and a quarter of low GI carbohydrates (the tasty looking wild rice mix). But most of us don't get this right at dinner - we tend to eat too much carbohydrates (how much pasta do you pile upon your plate? how many potatoes? what about bread?) and also too much meat - imagine how large a big steak would look on a plate like this. And rarely do we as a population eat HALF of our plate as fruit or vegetables. But these are the simple changes in proportions that will make all the difference when you're watching your weight or improving your health.

So that's some ideas for dinner, the easy one, but what about the other meals? You see EVERY meal should be in balance like this. Over 90% of Australians don't eat enough fruit and vegetables a day, and this is the case for most other Western countries. Do you eat fruit and vegetables with every meal?

Here's a breakfast plate to show you- its a photo I took when I was eating out for breakfast with my husband. Half the plate is vegetables (spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes) with lean protein (eggs), low GI carbohydrates (the beans) and some good fats (avocado). Granted it is quite a big breakfast, but it was also delicious!

Or if cooked breakfast isn't your thing, what about cereal? how much do you eat? Most processed cereals are very highly processed, high GI and loaded with sugar and fat and usually doesn't cover our other bases. Here's another balanced breakfast plate. Note that half the bowl is filled with fruit (in this case strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) and the other quarters (piled on top of each other) are the protein (Greek yoghurt) low GI carbs (muesli) and good fats (in the seeds and nuts). This is what I have for breakfast most days of the week.

Getting the picture?

Lets do one more. How about the lunch I had today. You should be getting good at this by now!! This is a bit trickier because its all piled in a heap, but can you pick out the different foods?

I started with the vegetables by piling the bowl full of spinach leaves and tomatoes. Then I added the low GI carbs (can you see the sneaky chick peas? there are about 3 tablespoons of chick peas in the salad). Next came the protein - a small can of tuna and some feta cheese. Finally I topped it with some good fats in the form of sunflower seeds, pepitas and avocado. Oh and the raisins on top are a little more fruit!

Now whether you are eating a salad bowl or breakfast like me, or a big grainy sandwich, or a baked dinner with all the trimmings, think about the balance on your plate. Half non-starchy veggies/fruits, quarter protein, quarter low GI carbs and some tasty healthy fats and you will be on the way to great balanced health. This is an easy change you can make right now :)

So, in summary!

1/2 Plate Vegetables
Fill up your plate with raw or cooked vegetables for nutrition, taste and healthy filling fibre. Remember to include many different colours and types for a full array of nutrients.

1/4 Plate Lean Protein
Lean protein will help you to stay satiated, sustain your energy throughout the day, and protect your heart and waistline. This can be lean meats, fish and also non meat sources of protein such as soy, nuts, tofu and others. Remember, twice as many vegetables as protein.

1/4 Plate Healthy low GI carbohydrates (or starches)
Whole grains, like brown rice, contain fibre to give you long-lasting energy, stabilise blood sugar and provide B-vitamins to protect your heart. Try quinoa, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and more! Legumes are excellent for this also. The more colourful your starch, the better!

We will talk soon about portion sizes. In the meantime if you want to know more about the foods we should be including daily, check out the Australian Healthy Eating Guide. And if you need more specific advice tailored to you, see a dietitian!

Bon appetit!

Related posts:
What to eat for a healthier you
To snack or not to snack, that is the question
The beauty of breakfast

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Recipe - Light and tasty beef stroganoff

Privacy beef , dinner

I was standing in the supermarket today and noticed mushrooms on special. A 500g pack of mushrooms for $1.99 - bargain! So I stood for a moment thinking of options and then thought "STROGANOFF!" So here is my beef stroganoff recipe to share with you all. If you don't eat meat, this would make a lovely creamy veggie casserole, just add lentils for protein and swap the beef stock for veggie stock.

You will need:

500g lean beef thinly sliced (I cheated and bought it already sliced in stir fry strips)

500g mushrooms thinly sliced

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons plain flour (I use GF flour)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (again I use GF)

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup brandy (optional, but I love what it does to the flavour)

1/2 cup beef stock

2 lemons

2 onions (I had a leek leftover in the fridge so I used 1 onion and one leek today)

2 teaspoonfuls of minced garlic (or 2 cloves fresh garlic)

a bunch of fresh parsley

dried parsley and dill

Greek yoghurt (full fat yoghurt works better in this recipe as the fat makes it more stable, but low fat should be fine, just may not freeze as well. )

Olive oil

Black pepper

Pasta or salad for serving

First pop your beef in a bowl with the paprika, flour and a generous amount of black pepper. Stir well and mix through until the meat is well coated and set aside. Slice your mushrooms, dice your onions (and/or leek) and roughly chop the parsley. If you are making pasta, put a pot of water on the stove to boil.

Next put a drizzle of olive oil in a deep heavy based pan and cook the meat quickly in batches. It doesn't need to be fully cooked, just golden brown on the outside and a bit pink in places is fine. Keep it quick, you don't want it to get too tough. As each batch cooks, place it in a bowl and set aside for a moment. Also don't worry if it sticks a little on the bottom of your pan, that will all add to the sauce later!

Once your beef is done, in the same pan cook your onions/leeks and garlic (with a little olive oil if needed) for 5 minutes or so until translucent. Then add your sliced mushrooms, dried parsley and dill to taste. Let the mushrooms cook for 5-10 minutes.

Next add the brandy and the juice of 1 lemon to the pan, this will deglaze the bottom of the pan. Use your spoon to scrape up the tasty bits. Return your beef to the pan, stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, add the beef stock and another generous grind of black pepper (I do love the pepper in this dish!)

By now you will have a nice beefy looking dish. Turn to simmer, pop the lid on and let it cook for 10-15 minutes while the pasta cooks. We usually use penne or spirals (or both!) as it holds the sauce so nicely.

When your pasta is done, take your stroganoff off the heat, stir through a good dollop of Greek yoghurt (2-3 tablespoons should do it) and your large bunch of fresh chopped parsley. Taste and season if needed. We usually serve it atop a serve of low GI pasta for my husband and son, and a big pile of baby spinach leaves for me. I garnish with a little parsley, a little more black pepper (LOL) and wedges of fresh lemon. This is a great meal to go with a salad, or if its a cold night, some hearty steamed veggies.

This recipe should serve 4 -6 people depending on your appetite. And of course, pop any leftovers in the freezer to avoid getting fast food on a busy night!

Bon appetit! Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Recipe - healthy pizzas (with flatbread or eggplant)

Privacy dinner , pizza

After finding a cute photo of pizzas made out of eggplant the other day I got inspired to do some experimenting. Regular pizzas from the pizza shop can be incredibly high in calories, fat and salt - as they are usually fried and covered in cheese, sweetened sauces and lots of fatty processed meat. Wood fired gourmet pizzas are sometimes a better option, but the meat and cheese is still an issue. For people who can't eat gluten, pizza bases can pose an extra challenge, and for people wit diabetes the large amount of processed carbohydrates in the dough can be a nightmare. I love the flavour combinations, but pizza is just something I don't eat any more... until tonight!

Tonight I made two different pizza preparations. One for me, that I made on eggplant slices, and one for the boys that I made on slices of large Lebanese flat bread. Alternately make individual pizzas on smaller pita bread. If you prefer to make your own pizza bases that's easy to do, I was just going for a really easy option that would give a thin crispy and not too heavy dough base.

You will need:
One large eggplant
A pack of flat bread
sauce for your pizza (I used tomato paste and basil pesto on different pizzas)
Pizza toppings - whatever you fancy - feta, spinach, tomatoes, olives, capsicum, mushrooms, basil, artichokes, roasted root vegetables, anchovies, pepperoni (use anchovies and pepperoni sparingly!) pineapple, onions, whatever you like on your pizza!

For the bread pizzas
Heat your oven griller to 200C and use a baking tray or pizza stone
Place the bread under the grill until one side is toasted slightly - watch it, this bread cooks fast and it's easy to burn the edges.
Take it out and turn it over to the soft side
Add your sauce of choice - I made one pizza with basil pesto and the other with tomato paste

Add a sprinkle of grated cheese (not too much) then your favourite toppings. Health wise be sparing with the high fat/salt/calorie toppings like processed meat and go mad with the vegetables - lots of greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, capsicum, herbs and so forth
Back under the griller for 5-10 minutes at most and its done

For the eggplant pizzas
Heat your oven griller to 200C and use a foil covered baking tray
Slice your eggplant into 1-2 cm thick circular slices

Spray your foil tray with olive oil spray, place your eggplant on, spray/brush with a little olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper
10 minutes under the hot grill until golden then remove.
Turn over as you did with the flat bread, coat with your sauce of choice and pile high with toppings, I used mushrooms , capsicum, tomatoes, feta, anchovies, basil pesto and a sprinkle of grated cheese.
Back under the griller for 10 minutes and its done.

Whichever way you make them, serve your pizzas with a lovely green salad for even more veggie goodness.

Bon appetit!!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Recipe - chicken cacciatore

Privacy dinner , recipes

This is a favourite of ours and another great recipe full of fresh vegetables. If you don't eat meat it would be tasty with tofu or lentils for protein instead. You can cook it in around 45 minutes but this is a meal that's very hard to overcook- leave it bubbling for an hour to really intensify the flavours if you wish.

What you'll need:

500g chicken thigh or breast fillets (or equivalent in tofu or lentils for veggie option)

1 diced onion

2 cloves garlic or 2 tsps minced garlic

2 stalks celery

2 large carrots

1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper)

4 large flat mushrooms

2 large fresh tomatoes

1 400g can diced tomatoes

a jar of good quality pasta sauce or if you wish to make your own, more tomatoes & tomato paste

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme or whatever you choose)

a handful of pitted kalamata olives

a slop of red wine

some fresh basil or parsley for serving

cooked penne pasta (preferably whole wheat or low GI pasta)

Dice your chicken and brown in a large heavy based pot along with your onion, garlic, a sprinkle of dried herbs and a drizzle of olive oil. As its cooking, dice the carrots, capsicum and celery finely. Throw it all in the pot and cook for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are softened and the chicken no longer pink.

Add a slop of red wine to deglaze the base of the pan and then add diced mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes and a jar of pasta sauce (alternatively add 2 cans of tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of pasta sauce and about a cup of chicken stock).

If all of your family eats olives then add them now. If you are like my family where not everyone is a fan, save them for serving :)

Add the bay leaves, the rest of the dried herbs, balsamic vinegar, season with black pepper and simmer for 30 minutes or so until sauce is thickened.

In the meantime cook your pasta - choose low GI varieties like wholemal pasta, and remember to keep serving sizes small. If pasta is not on your menu (it isn't for me) then consider eating yours over a plate of fresh green baby spinach leaves or even by itself with a spoon!

To serve top with shaved fresh parmesan and fresh torn basil leaves.
Serves 4-6

Bon appetit !

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Recipe - Grilled vegetable and ricotta stack

Privacy dinner , mushrooms

After making the beautiful eggplant parmigiana two days ago I had grilled a little too much eggplant and had three slices left over - cooked and sitting in the fridge. I also had half a tub of ricotta cheese opened from that recipe. I hate throwing away perfectly good food so last night decided to put my thinking cap on and do something with it.

Nutritional experts recommend we should be eating at least 5 servings of vegetables a day, yet less than 10% of Australians actually do (and the figures are similar for most Western countries). Increasing your intake of fresh vegetables is a simple thing you can do to decrease your weight, increase your health, reduce your risk for many chronic diseases and look and feel better. You will also find that if you fill up on vegetables you will be less hungry and less likely to snack on not so nutritious options! This is a very quick and easy 15 minute tasty meal and best of all, it's full of vegetables!

You will need:

Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
A range of fresh vegetables such as eggplant, sweet potato, zucchini, asparagus, green beans, capsicum (bell pepper) tomatoes, mushrooms, squash or whatever else you can find in the fridge
Fresh spinach, rocket or other salad greens to form salad base
Ricotta cheese or if you prefer a sharper flavour, marinated feta or goat's cheese would be even tastier
Balsamic glaze (this can be bought in most supermarkets. It is sweet, so a little bit goes a long way. Otherwise just use regular balsamic vinegar)
Fresh herbs

Slice your vegetables in slices around 1cm thick for thick vegetables like large mushrooms, eggplant, sweet potato, zucchini, capsicum. I steamed the sweet potato for about 2 minutes to soften it a little, but be careful not too cook too much or it will fall apart. Cut the woody ends off asparagus and top and tail beans. Cut whole tomatoes into quarters.

Heat a griddle pan and brush your vetables with olive oil. Sprinkle with black pepper and a little sea salt if you wish.

Quickly grill your vegetables, watching and turning them carefully so they don't burn. Vegetables cook fast! This won't take long. Set them aside on a plate with kitchen paper until your batches are done.

When your grilling is complete, simply make a stack with salad greens at the bottom, larger sliced vegetables such as zucchini, sweet potato and eggplant first, topped with smaller vegetables. Remember to put some nice dollops of your ricotta, feta or goats cheese in the middle. When you are done drizzle with a little balsamic glaze, black pepper, top with fresh herbs and enjoy!!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Recipe - green pea and ham soup (and veggie option!)

Privacy dinner , recipes

Its a cool autumn evening and I was working from home so decided to put a pot of soup on to cook slowly over the course of the afternoon. I made one of my favourites- pea and ham! Split peas are low GI- with a glycemic index of 25 they are an excellent choice if you are diabetic or watching your weight as they give you slow sustained energy. According to the Glycemic Index Foundation "Like other legumes, dried peas are a nutritional storehouse because they are slowly digested, a little goes a long way"

So let's use them to make some soup! You can make this recipe rapidly in about 45 minutes, however the soup turns out much better if you take it low and slow and give it around 3-4 hours. Alternatively put it in a slow cooker for 6-8 hours while you're at work. Traditionally pea and ham soups use a whole ham bone or bacon hock. While this gives the soup a very rich flavour, it also makes them quite fatty and salty. Instead, I have chosen to basically make a vegetable and pea soup, and to add diced smoked ham towards the end. For a vegan or vegetarian option, or if you don't like pork, just leave it out for a lovely rich split pea soup.

You will need:
2 cups dried split green peas
3 large carrots
1 large onion
1/2 bunch (about 4 stalks) celery
2 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves fresh garlic
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (salt reduced)
250g ham (I used smoked ham hock meat in a pack from the supermarket (got it at ALDI), but you could use any sliced ham or diced lean bacon if you prefer. Alternatively, buy a whole bacon or ham hock. All preserved meat like this can be salty, so don't use too much, make sure your stock is salt reduced and I doubt you will need any salt for seasoning)
2 tsp dried or fresh rosemary
black pepper
herbs for garnish

To prepare your peas, first check the pack for any instructions. Generally they need a quick wash. Place your peas in a sieve or colander and check for any stray grains or discoloured peas and discard. Wash the peas with running water until the water runs clear- should only take 3 or 4 rinses. If gluten is an issue for you, you may want to be pretty careful with this step in case of stray grains in processing. Set the peas to one side.

Dice your onion, carrots and celery finely and add them to a large, heavy based pot. I use a cast iron pot as it holds the heat well and spreads it evenly, but any large pot will do fine.

To your pot of vegetables, add the garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, the rosemary and a little black pepper and cook for about 5-10 minutes until the onion is translucent.

Next add the peas, 4 cups of stock and 2 cups of water.
If you are using a whole hock, remove the rind and underlying fat and put it in the pot.
Keep the pot on medium heat until the liquid starts to simmer.
Turn the heat down as low as you can (I move mine onto the smallest gas ring) and put the lid on.

Leave the soup to cook slowly like this for the next two hours, stirring every half an hour or so to check it is not sticking on the bottom. The liquid level was just right for me, but if your stove is hotter you may need to top up the water.

After around 2 hours your soup should be cloudy with partially disintegrated peas and very soft vegetables. At this point if you are using a whole hock, take it out of pot now. Either use your stick blender or put the soup into a blender / food processor and whizz until it reaches the desired consistency.

I made mine reasonably smooth, but not completely - I still like a few bits of peas and carrots for texture.

Put your soup back on the low heat on the stove.

If you like pea and ham soup, dice around 250g of ham and add to the soup at this point. Or, if using the bacon hock, remove the meat from the bone, dice it and return to the pot. If you are making the veggie option, leave out this step. Either way your soup needs about another 30-45 mins or so on low heat and it is done and ready to serve.

Serve hot with some fresh herbs and black pepper for garnish. This pot serves 6-8 people and is filling, tasty, nutritious and cheap !

To make this in a slow cooker, do the first step on the stove (cooking onions, celery carrots and garlic for a few minutes) then put it in the slow cooker and continue the rest, just double your cooking time. Bon appetit!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Health4Tips

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Zucchini and vegetable slice

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Deliciously decadent chia pudding

Friday, June 13, 2014

Recipe - easy cheesy veggie bake

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

What does a balanced meal look like?

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Recipe - Light and tasty beef stroganoff

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Recipe - healthy pizzas (with flatbread or eggplant)

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Recipe - chicken cacciatore

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Recipe - Grilled vegetable and ricotta stack

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Recipe - green pea and ham soup (and veggie option!)

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