Lemon meringue pie (GF)

Some things work really well as a ‘healthy version, lemon meringue pie is not one of them! The only redeeming feature of these pies apart from the taste (and the strawberries for decoration) is the bases are the date nut tart shells I’ve made many times before.

I did TRY to make a healthier version of both the lemon curd and the meringue. Both failed. The lemon curd I tried with coconut palm sugar and it looked brown and tasted bitter. The meringue I made with boiling honey and it didn’t hold together as an Italian meringue and tasted, well, too honeyish. So back to the sugar pot I went and made both with regular caster sugar. The result was delicious!

I just used recipes I found on taste.com.au for lemon curd and Italian meringue.

I did bake the honey meringue mixture so I’ll do a separate post about that one!

chocolate almond torte

If you’re looking for a dinner party hit, here it is.  No one will notice the lack of gluten!

Chocolate almond torte

Serves 6-8

• 1 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
• 4 large eggs – separated (room temperature)
• 200g dark chocolate
• 150g unsalted butter (I suspect you could use coconut oil for DF)
• 150g (3/4C) white sugar (or better sugar alternative eg coconut palm sugar)
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4tsp cream tartar
• cream/ice-cream/berries for serving.

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a 20cm/8″ springform tin.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat.
3. Place eggs yolks and 1/2C/100g of the sugar in a bowl and mix with your electric mixer until pale and thick.
4. Beat in the melted chocolate & butter, vanilla.
5. Fold in the almond meal.
6. In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and keep whisking until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle the remaining 1/4C/50g sugar and whisk until stiff peaks.
7. Quickly and gently fold the egg white mix into the chocolate mix.
8. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 40-50 mins until cooked.  The top will ‘drop’ and crack as it cools.
9. Serve warm or cold with berries and cream/ice-cream.

Enjoy!  The original recipe can be found at Joy of Baking.

 

coconut shortbread (AIP/Grain free/dairy free/paleo)

Christmas is upon us! There’s no escaping it now it’s December,  so many of the posts over the next few weeks will be my favourite Christmas treats (my famous rocky-road/ a new GF & nut free version of the rocky road, nougat etc) are a few on my list to make and post.

I came across this recipe through a blog I follow on Facebook: The Clothes Make the Girl.  It appealed as it’s a biscuit that’s Auto-Immune Protocol compliant which sounded intriguing (no eggs… hard to bake!).  They worked!  They are certainly a shortbread style, coconut-ty and the chocolate on top makes them look good (but not AIP).

They were SUPER easy.  Here is the link to the recipe.

I cut mine after the freezing stage.

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.

choc-caramel bites

(Step 3 (top), step 4 (middle), step 5 (bottom))

Are you looking for something a bit fancy to serve with coffee at a dinner party?  Here is a simple but decadent recipe – combining the winning chocolate/caramel combo.  If you use dark chocolate it’s dairy-free too.

coconut cream caramel sauce

I wanted to take a ‘sweet treat’ to Sydney for a family catch-up whilst my sister was visiting from London.  I also was trying to make something AIP compliant.  Not an easy task! I came up with the idea of making a caramel sauce using coconut cream and then putting it into a chocolate (see choc-caramel bites).  Because of the sugar it’s not really paleo or AIP – you could use honey instead depending on how strict you are, but in the end I came up with a yummy, thick caramel that tasted good and in the end, that was good enough for me!

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!

beetroot slices with avocado mayonnaise

This is a super easy pretty looking starter, nibble or side dish.

what to do with all these greens?!

This is my weekly supply of green leafy vegetables (with a few zucchini and asparagus).  It’s mostly a mix of different types of kale (curly, Russian, Cavelo Nero – flat leaf), chard, silverbeet and sometimes greens I have no idea what they are but they look fresh and healthy when spread out at the organic farmers markets I go to.

My cousin has asked what I do with all these!  So this post has links to some of my recipes that include these greens, together with a few other ideas.  I’d love you to post your comments below about how you use these greens.

These greens are usually consumed within a week by my husband and I.  My kids won’t eat them unless they are very sneakily hidden (like last night in my bolognaise).

• The vast majority of these are consumed in our morning Green Smoothie.
• I often chop them up and toss them together with English Spinach in a regular salad.
• Kale chips – recipe to follow but easily found online
• Add to  bolognaise.
• Zucchini & silverbeet spaghetti
• Stir fried in coconut oil & coconut aminos with baby broccoli & mushrooms.
• wrap asparagus spears in prosciutto  (par cook spears, cook, wrap in prosciutto then pan fry)

What are your ideas?

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.