raw grated salad with orange dressing

I remember a while ago I had a request to post more salad recipes.  I think now that Spring has sprung in sunny Brisbane, Australia, it feels much more like salad weather and so, I’m finding more salad inspiration again!  I do find that grated salads are a good way to eat a larger amount of vegetables and they are colourful too, which is visually appealing and they say it’s good to ‘eat the rainbow’ to get a variety of vitamins & goodness!

There are many variations to this salad depending on what’s in season/you have in your fridge.  A few toasted pepitas, sunflower seeds and/or chopped nuts would be nice on top too (unless you want the AIP version).

Raw grated salad with orange dressing

1 medium beetroot, peeled
1 large carrot, peeled
1 zucchini
1 apple
1-2 handfuls kale
1-2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
1 ruby grapefruit
1-2 avocados

Dressing
Juice 1/2 orange
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp mustard (leave out for AIP)
1 tsp apple cigar vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Grate beetroot, carrot, zucchini and apple.
2. Finely chop or blitz in a food processor, kale and spinach.
3. Mix all vegetables in large bowl.
4. Cut skin off grapefruit and dice, stir through salad mix.
5. Top with diced avocado and dressing.

For dressing:
In a small jar shake together all dressing ingredients, adjust to taste.

Serves 3-4

And if there is any left, eat the leftovers for lunch the next day, that’s what I did:

poached chicken, sauteed mushrooms & herbed salad (AIP)

Looking for an easy dinner?

Here is one of those meals that can easily be whipped up for a mid-week meal, but feels a bit more special.  The challenge I’m finding on the auto-immune protocol (elimination diet) is variety.  When a number of usual go-to ingredients are no longer go-to, it is a bit challenging!  I have to say though, it is forcing me to be a bit more creative, and I am feeling better and even lost a few kg so that’s great.

 For the chicken: 

1. Bring about 500ml of chicken stock (see recipe) to the boil.
2. Place 2 chicken breasts in the stock, reduce temperature & simmer for 4-5mins. (Lid on)
3. Turn stove off and leave the chicken in the stock with the lid on for about 15 mins.
4. Remove and slice or shred the chicken.

For the mushrooms:

1. Pour about 3 Tbsp olive oil in the pan. When hot fry 1 clove of grated garlic.
2. Then add 300g chopped mushrooms (I used portabellos) + 1 tray of mixed gourmet mushrooms. Sautee.  Add more oil and a little bit of chicken stock.
3. Cook until soft.  Season with salt.

For the salad:

• few handfuls of mixed salad leaves
• 1/2 cup basil leaves
• 1/4 cup coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup mint
• 1 cup watercress.
• 1/2 granny smith apple, chopped.
• 2 sweet potatoes roasted (see my tips here) in olive oil and salt.
• 1 avocado chopped

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl to serve.

Recipe serves 2-3 with enough for salad left-overs.

liquid lunch – raspberry and banana parfait

There was nothing inspiring for lunch in my fridge today.  As I have a smoothie for breakfast most days,  I usually like to actually ‘chew’ my lunch and dinner, but today I thought I’d do a ‘liquid’ lunch instead of munch my way through lots of bits and pieces out of the fridge and pantry.   The result was a ‘creamy’ parfait/smoothie. It was thick enough to eat with a spoon. Now I’m full and hopefully won’t snack away the afternoon.

salmon avocado and kale lettuce tacos

Are you looking for a quick, easy lunch or afternoon tea snack that’s high in protein? Here it is.  This could also be sent in school lunchboxes if you have kids far less fussy than mine!

thai coconut poached chicken salad

The Spirit House at Yandina on the Queensland Sunshine Coast is a completely standout Thai restaurant.  A few years ago for my husband’s 40th birthday we booked out one of their famous cooking classes for  our friends and together we sliced, diced and ate divine Thai food.  This poached chicken comes from the Vietnamese Chicken Salad we cooked on the night.  My  paper copy of the recipe is well marked, stained and often cooked!   This version is much simpler than the original recipe which makes it good for every night cooking.  Next time I make the full version, I’ll post that too.

avocado chocolate cake (GF) with avocado creme anglais

Avocado in a cake? Surely not!  I was inspired to make this cake as my father-in-law, who is an avocado farmer was telling me of a customer who boughts 6 bags of avos for his wife to make cakes!  Intrigued, I went where we all go now to see if it is true, and Google did not let me down.  Who was to know that there were so many avocado cake recipes?