Category: Dinner Recipes

Dinner Recipes

Spring Salad

Here is a deliciously light, yet satisfying spring salad that showcases the best seasonal produce you can pick up at the local farmer’s markets this spring.

Simply pick yourself up a bunch of baby greens of any sort (beetroot leaves, spinach, rocket, lettuce, kale), carrot, a few radishes, a nice ripe avocado and a few lemons and you have yourself the basic real food ingredients to whip up this super nutritious salad.

What I love about this dish is that it is chocker block with nutrient dense fresh produce that we can get in season right now. It is a bowl full of nature’s nourishment.

This dish is so versatile too. You can whip it up for a lunch salad bowl for one on a warm spring day, or you can use it as a beautiful colourful side dish teamed with BBQ fish, chicken or steak on those balmy spring nights still gracing us in the early change of season.

 

Ingredients:

Serves 1 as a main or 2 as a side

1 handful of baby green leaves (beetroot leaves, spinach, rainbow chard, rocket, lettuce or kale)

1 carrot (grated or spiralised)

2-3 radishes (finely sliced)

1/2 ripe avocado (sliced)

Sprinkle of pepitas and sesame seeds

1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Pinch of salt and sweet paprika

Method:

To assemble the salad all you need to do is toss the (washed) leaves in a little olive oil and pinch of salt, add the grated or spiralised the carrot and thinly sliced radishes and toss to ensure even coating of oil.

Place greens, carrot and radish mix on a plate, top with 1/2 an avocado. Sprinkle with a pinch of sweet paprika for a touch more colour and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Delish.

Salmon Superbowl

This nutritious meal is super simple to whip up in under 15 minutes and offers a bowl full of nutrient dense ingredients that not only looks so exciting and colourful but also taste divine. This is simple, fast food at it’s best.

The combination of crisp steamed seasonal vegetables, creamy avocado smash and melt-in-your-mouth pan fried salmon, topped with a zesty lemon and herb dressing is simply sensational. And take my word for it, this meal will take you less than 15 minutes from the minute you start prepping, making it a winner of a weekday dinner.

Serves 2

 

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets – skin on

2 handfuls of spinach / rocket leaves

1 bunch of fresh asparagus spears

1 small head of broccoli

1 avocado

1 tbsp coconut oil (or butter/ghee)

Zesty Citrus Dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp dried oregano (or Zaa’taar mixed herbs)

1 tsp tamari (or soy sauce)

2 tbsp olive oil

 

Method:

Boil water in a large saucepan with colander.

Melt 1 tbsp oil (coconut or ghee/butter) in small frypan over medium heat.

Cut up asparagus and broccoli into bite-sized pieces and steam over the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and place in cold water to stop them cooking further.

Place salmon, skin side down, in heated fry pan and cook for 3-4 minutes (lid on). Flip salmon and cook for another 3 minutes (or until cooked to your liking).

Whilst salmon is cooking, slice the avocado and season with some salt to taste, set aside and then make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a jar and shaking to combine.

Now on to assembling. Place the spinach/rocket leaves at the base of the bowl, place half the avocado into each bowl, then add the steamed vegetables to take up 1/4 of the bowl. Add the salmon fillet to the remaining half of the bowl and drizzle over dressing. Season to taste.

I also like to add a little fermented vegetables and a sprinkle of hemp seeds or sesame seeds to the top of my salmon for a little extra deliciousness. Enjoy.

 

Super Awesome Fish Burgers

Super simple to make and super nutritious this burger will leave you feeling well satisfied and full of energy and zest. The combination of crispy lemon and parsley almond crumbing encasing a deliciously moist fish fillet is pure pleasure to bite into. Top it with a lovely zesting aioli and some salad and whack it all on a sourdough (or gluten free) bun and you have a super awesome fish burger!

Enjoy with all your mates and a few golden ales….how very Australian!

 

 

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 x firm fish fillets (I use wild-caught Pacific Cod fillets, but you could use Barramundi, Blue
  • Eyed Cod or even Ling)
  • 1 cup ground almonds
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil (I use coconut oil)
  • 4 fresh sourdough (or GF) buns
  • Salad of your choice
  • Aioli, to dollop on top

Method:

In a small shallow bowl, lightly whisk eggs.

In another shallow bowl mix together ground almonds, lemon zest and parsley (add salt to taste).

Place a large frypan over medium-high heat and heat oil whilst you coat the fillets.

Pat each fillet dry, and then dip into the egg before rolling in the almond crumbs. Set aside whilst

you crumb the remaining 3 fillets. Work quickly as you don't want the crumbing to become too soggy before cooking.

Place the fillets in the hot pan and cook for 3-4 minutes each side, until golden and cooked through.

The thicker the fillet the longer it will need.

Drain fillet on absorbent paper towel before placing on a lightly toasted bun with salad and a large dollop of aioli. Delish!

Miso Nori Vegetable Omelette

One of my favourite ways to spend the day is to drive up to the Southern Highlands and trawl through the quaint little shops at Bowral. I often take my 4 year old son on ‘date days’ where we rejoice in each other’s company whilst we trawl the shops for unique finds. Our trips to Bowral are never complete without a stop to Raw and Wild, our favourite wholefood café on the main stretch of town. It never disappoints.

This time around we stopped in for a bite of lunch before heading back home. I am always super inspired by what the talented chef’s create at this place and this time was no exception. Lucas and I chose to share a Miso Nori Omelette from the all day breakfast menu, intrigued to see how the chefs made these unique flavours work. What we experienced was absolutely delicious. The sweetness of the roasted pumpkin and carrot perfectly offset with the savoury, salty miso marinade and nori encased in a golden, creamy egg omelette transported us to another level of taste sensation.

What I love about this recipe is that it not only tastes divine, and is a cinch to make, but it also provides some pretty awesome nourishment for our body as well. Miso paste (fermented soybeans) is great for our gut health providing a great source of probiotics to our diet and nori (seaweed) contains heaps of beneficial minerals and nutrients as well as tasting great. Add to these ingredients the natural goodness of free range eggs and fresh vegetables such as pumpkin, carrots and zucchini and you have a winner of a dish in terms of a delicious, nutritious meal.

Needless to say I set about scribbling down my take on this inspiring dish whilst I was enjoying every mouthful and set about recreating this taste sensation as soon as I got home so I could share the experience with my husband and eldest son also, and now with you too.

This is what resulted. It is a super simple recipe that anyone can make using some super special ingredients to take the humble omelette to a whole new level. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 1 carrot, sliced into thin discs
  • 1 zucchini, sliced into 3cm wide discs
  • ½ butternut pumpkin, sliced/diced into 3 cm slices
  • 1 nori sheet, sliced into strips
  • 2 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 tbsp lukewarm water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 eggs
  • Butter for cooking

Method

  1. Chop and slice the vegies ready to roast and place in a large mixing bowl.
  2. In a small bowl mix the miso paste with the water to form a smooth paste. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil whilst whisking to combine.
  3. Massage the marinade onto the vegetables and then place the vegies onto a baking dish lined with paper, and roast in a moderate oven (180˚) for 30 minutes (or until softened).
  4. Once vegies are cooked, whisk 6 eggs in a mixing bowl until fluffy.
  5. Heat a knob of butter in a large frypan. Pour eggs into pan to line the base of the frypan.
  6. Allow to cook on medium heat for 1-2 minutes before adding nori strips and roasted vegies to one half of the egg mixture.
  7. Using a spatula, carefully flip the empty half of the egg mixture over the top of the vegetables to form an omelette and continue to cook until egg is cooked through. You may wish to put the frypan in the oven to speed things up a little if your egg is still really runny on the inside.

Enjoy!

Stephanie Meades is a Health and Wellness Coach at Life Wellness Co. For more wholefood inspiration and tips on living well, visit www.lifewellnessco.com or follow on facebook/lifewellnessco.