FISH & SWEET PoTATO CHIPS WITH ITALIAN SLAW

This is a new family friendly recipe to add to your culinary repertoire.  

When I think about family friendly recipes they obviously need to be appealing to the kids. Kids are impressionable and eat with their senses - meaning, make healthy food appealing to their senses and they will consider loving it for life (well...consider). In order to appeal to their senses meals need to:

• look good - be colourful and have different shapes and textures,
• taste good - add simple dressings and herbs and cook with healthy fats to make vegetables taste good,
• smell good - no one likes the smell of boiling vegetables, and
• feel good in their mouth - incorporating different textures and adding a crunch can help with this versus serving soggy vegetables.

Kids also like to touch their food and eat with their hands - think how much they love a Mexican feast!

Getting them involved in the cooking process will also teach them more about food and nutrition and encourage them to try new foods – this recipe is great for that. Kids are often proud of the meals that they prepare and excited to eat it...Hallelujah they just tried 2 new vegetables and ate dinner with the family without a fuss!

I feel like this recipe ticks all of these boxes and more:

• It contains lots of different vitamins, minerals, fibres and antioxidants through the vegetables.
• The simple homemade dressing makes the vegetables taste good and encourages everyone to eat them (without an abundant of additives and preservatives).
• The salad is crunchy and colourful (and may introduce the kids to some new vegetables).
• The sweet potato ‘chips’ provide a healthier alternative to chips and the kids can pick them up and eat them with their hands.
• The fish adds important healthy fats and protein to the whole diet. It can be flaked and served with the salad and a spread of avocado in a soft taco shell as an alternative.
• This is a balanced meal – some protein, healthy fats, a small serve of quality carbs and lots of veg.
• This is a gluten free meal for those requiring a gluten free diet.

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 Pieces of snapper with the skin on (you could also use salmon or any fish you like and are comfortable cooking with)

2 Medium-large sweet potatoes cut into ‘chips’ (leave skin on)

1 Tablespoon of olive oil for the fish + some extra for drizzling on ‘chips’

1 Large carrot, grated

½ Fennel bulb, thinly sliced

¼ Red cabbage, thinly sliced

1 Large kale leaf, thinly sliced

Lemon wedges to serve 

Dressing ingredients

¼ Cup of olive oil

• ½ Teaspoon of dried oregano

• 1/8 Cup of apple cidar vinegar

• 1 Tablespoon of honey

• ½ Tablespoon of Dijon mustard

Methods

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Place sweet potato ‘chips’ on a tray lined with baking paper and drizzle with olive oil, lightly season with salt and place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden.

Meanwhile, mix dressing ingredients together in a small bowl (one of the kids could do this) and combine the carrot, fennel, cabbage and kale in a larger bowl (one of the kids could do the grating and mixing). Toss the dressing through the salad mix

Season the fish skin with pepper and a little bit of salt – this helps to get it crispy.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a high heat (this heat is fine for olive oil but you could use rice bran oil as an alternative). Place the fish skin side down and gently press on the fish while it starts to cook with the back of a spatula so it starts to cook evening on the bottom. Cook for approximately 5 minutes then turn the fish, turn the heat down to a medium heat and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until the fish has cooked through. This will really depend on the size of the fish.

Serve the fish with lemon wedges, sweet potato chips and Italian slaw and enjoy as a family sitting at the table.

Notes

You may need to increase or decrease ingredients depending on the size of your family and their appetites!

Taste the dressing and adjust ingredients to taste

ENJOY!

Chilli Con Carne

Chilli Con Carne is a favourite in many households, including my own. I find this is a great recipe to cook at the start of the week with the option to freeze for times of need or to reheat for lunches the next day. A few healthy facts about this recipe:

• I have modified the traditional recipe by including more vegetables. You can include even more by adding grated zucchini to the mix and serving this dish with a side salad. Adding the extra vegetables lowers the total saturated fat and energy content per serve and increases the fibre content.
• This recipe has approximately 25g of protein per serve, which is an excellent amount to consume after exercise or any meal during the day for active people.
• This recipe is great topped with Greek yoghurt instead of the traditional sour cream. Greek yoghurt it much lower in total fat, saturated fat and energy, with the added bonus of some calcium and extra protein.
• This recipe is great served on its own for a light meal or served with rice, spuds or wraps for a more active eat.

Ingredients (serves 8)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 medium onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

2 red capsicums, diced

1 large carrot, diced

2 tablespoons of cumin

2 tablespoons of ground coriander 

1 tablespoon of paprika

1/2 - 1 tablespoon of chilli powder (depending on your preference)

500g of lean beef mince

800g (2 large tins) of kidney beans

1 large tin (400g) of diced/chopped tomatoes

700g jar of tomato passata

1 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

To serve

Thick Greek yoghurt

Grated cheddar 

Salad

Rice, baked potatoes or wraps

Method

Heat a large, heavy based pan over medium-high. Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, carrot and capsicum. Cook, stirring, until onion is translucent. Add the paprika, cumin, ground coriander and chilli powder and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cooking until fragrant and everything is starting to brown.

Add the mince and brown for a few minutes, stirring and jabbing frequently with a big wooden spoon. Pour in the diced tomatoes, mushrooms, kidney beans and passata. Bring to boil, then reduce and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until sauce reduces, thickens and darkens slightly. Taste the mix to see if you need to add more heat, salt or pepper - you want it to have a bit of heat without too much!

Sprinkle with coriander leaves. Serve accompanied with rice, spuds or wraps and a nice big dollop of Greek yoghurt and a handful of grated cheese.

•  A great recipe to make at the start of the week and reheat for a quick and easy dinner.

•  Keep frozen portions in the freezer.

Nutrition information per serve (for the chilli only) 1332kJ (317 cal), protein 26g, fat 12g, saturated fat 3g, carbohydrate 22g, sugars 9g, fibre 11g, sodium 461mg

Warm Mexican Bean & Rice Salad

With the vibrant colours, interesting textures and obvious nourishing ingredients, this recipe speaks for itself. Please don't be alarmed by the long ingredients list, this dish is so quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2/3 cup of uncooked brown, black or wild rice

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large red capsicum, diced

1 large red onion, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

1 teaspoon of paprika

2 teaspoons of cumin

1 large zucchini, diced into small pieced

Kernels from one cob of corn (you can use a small tin for convenience if needed)

1 large (400g can) of black beans or kidney beans

1 fresh chilli, seeds removed and thinly sliced 

1/2 bunch of coriander, leaves picked and stems chopped 

Juice from 2 limes

To top

1 tomato or 1 cup of cherry tomatoes (when in season), diced

1 avocado, mashed

1/4 cup of pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 

Cracked pepper to season

Method

Start cooking rice (remember brown rice takes double the amount of time to cook than white rice).

Meanwhile, heat pepitas with a big pinch of cumin over a low-medium heat in a dry pan. When the pepitas start to become fragrant remove them from the heat - they are easy to burn! 

When there is about 5 minutes left for rice to cook, heat olive oil in a frying pan or heavy saucepan over a medium heat.

Add onion and capsicum and cook for about 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add garlic, zucchini and corn and cook over a high heat for 1-2 minutes, or until zucchini starts to become tender.

Stir through spices, chilli, beans and half of the lime juice and cook for a further minute. 

Remove from heat and stir through coriander and rice.

Serve in bowls, and top with avocado, pepitas, tomato and an extra squeeze of lime juice. 

Serve this dish hot, cold or at room temperature.

Nutrition information per serve Energy 2370kJ (564cal), protein 20g, fat 28g, saturated fat 5g, carbohydrate 50g, sugars 6g, fibre 17g, sodium 21mg

Notes

This dish is great for lunch or dinner and don't forget to save some for leftovers!

Have a smaller serving size and match with some fried egg, grilled chicken tenderloins or a small lean steak. 

Soba Noodle and Sesame Stir-fry

I just cooked this lovely flavoured stir-fry and just needed to share it. We were planning for a meal with plenty of veggies that had a good amount of carbs after a long run in the Adelaide Hills today and to get ready for training tomorrow. It still had to be quick and easy to prepare for a lazy Sunday night eat. This is what we came with…

Ingredients (serves 4)

Approximately 300g of dried soba noodles (you may need more if you have been really active)

2 tbsp of rice bran or any nut oil

2 medium-large chicken breasts (approximately 500g), thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 butternut pumpkin, cut into 1cm x 1cm cubes

1 medium red capsicum, thinly sliced

1 handful of green beans, ends trimmed

1/2 bunch of brocollini, roughly chopped

3 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of black or white sesame seeds

Dressing

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

3 tablespoons of salt-reduced soy sauce

1 chilli, seeds removed and thinly sliced

Juice from one lemon

1 tablespoon of honey

Method

Heat half of the rice bran oil over a medium to high heat.

Add chicken, onion, and garlic and stir-fry until starting to brown and set aside.

Turn the heat up to a high heat, heat the rest of the rice bran oil then add pumpkin and cook for 1-2 minutes, only turning when starting to brown on the bottom. Next add beans, capsicum and brocollini  and continue to stir-fry for approximately 2-3 minutes so the veggies are starting to cook through but are still crunchy.

While the vegetables are cooking, cook the soba noodles in boiling water for approximately 3 minutes then remove and rinse with cold water until ready to put in stir-fry.

Add the chicken, garlic and onion to the pan, stir through then add the soba noodles and the dressing.

Serve in bowls and garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions.

If you would prefer a vegetarian option, add some more vegetables and serve with a fried or poached egg on top – I think this would be just lovely.

Nutrition information per serve Energy 1628kJ (387cal), protein 30g, fat 14g,  saturated fat 2g, carbohydrate 30g, sugars 12g, fibre 8g, sodium 580mg