rainbow noodley salad

I just love the look of this salad.  It’s so bright and interesting shapes and textures.  Looks like it MUST be good for you! Serve it with your favourite salad dressing – something fresh and lime-y I think would work really well.

• 1 zucchini – spiralized (or grated)
• 1 carrot – spiralized (or grated)
• 1 beetroot – Julienned
• 1 bunch asparagus (chopped, blanched, drained and cooled)
• 1 bunch broccolini (chopped, blanched drained and cooled)
• 1 pomegranate – seeded

Toss together all ingredients and dress with your favourite dressing.  Serves 4-6

This would work well with nuts if you eat them or adding some diced orange, the options are endless!   Looks fabulous all spread out on a platter.  We ate it topped with poached chicken.

Enjoy.

 

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?

how to make: zucchini & silverbeet spaghetti

Since going largely grain-free and 100% gluten-free, I have discovered zucchini ‘spaghetti’.  You can cook it with so many things, but here is my latest…

First you have to shred/Julienne the zucchini.  This recipe used 2 large ones.  I use my mandolin – it’s one of the best little kitchen gadgets!   Place the zucchini in a colander in the sink and salt it – reasonably generously.  This helps the zucchini stay together when cooked and not turn to mush.

After about 30 mins rinse it fairly well (otherwise it’s a bit too salty).  Drain like this on a teatowel, you can also roll it up in the teatowel to absorb most of the moisture.

Then you dry fry the zucchini for a few mins to again reduce more of that moisture.  I then added a bit of oil (my favs are macadamia or coconut oil), and tossed it around for another couple of mins.

adult spaghetti bolognaise

I am so sick of cooking ‘mince & pasta’ that I rarely eat it.  I use mince and pasta nights to cook an adult alternative, but the other night, I just couldn’t be bothered making 2 meals.  I don’t eat gluten (due to an auto-immune issue) so I often make my zucchini spaghetti.  This time I added bacon, mushroom and silverbeet…. YUM!  I actually really enjoyed my mince and ‘pasta’! 

You can pretty much put any pasta topping (I’ve done it a lot with creamy chicken) on top or just have it as a side to a steak or chicken breast.

See separate step by step to making the zucchin spaghetti….