Surprising ways with 5 things you have sitting in your pantry right now

Wraps/ tortillas

1. Brush or spray with olive oil, sprinkle with paprika, chilli flakes, oregano or rub with garlic, cut into 'chips' and bake until golden and crunchy.
2. Fold in half, fill with baked beans, tomatoes, corn, cheese and mexican chilli powder and cook in a sandwich press. Top quesadillas with some guacamole and leafy greens to serve!
3. Cut into quarters, press each quarter into the hole of a muffin tin and fill with spring onion, ham, tomato and an egg. Bake until tortilla is crispy and egg is cooked.

Tinned chickpeas

1. Blend along with some garlic, tahini and olive oil for quick hummus dip.
2. Throw a tin in the food processor along with some onion, garlic, cumin, lemon juice and parsley. Add some breadcrumbs if needed and shape into falafels. Pan fry or oven bake until golden.
3. Spread onto a baking tray, spray with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, cumin and a little salt. Bake until crispy for a healthy snack.

Thai curry paste

1. Use to marinate prawns, thread onto skewers and grill
2. Add to fish cakes for a hit of flavour
3. Put a dollop in your stir-fried greens and toss through rice noodles for a quick veggie dish

Pesto

1. Spread onto bread to add instant flavour to any sandwich (try filling with chicken, roasted capsicum, rocket and fetta) or simply onto a piece of toast to accompany a soup or salad.
2. Stir through zucchini 'zoodles' (if you haven't yet heard of these, google it!) and top with some halved cherry tomatoes and pine nuts for a yummy salad.
3. Spread over white fish or chicken, sprinkle with chopped cashews and bake in the oven.

Dukkah

1. Press onto lamb cutlets before grilling for extra flavour.
2. Roll soft boiled eggs in dukkah and use to top toast with roasted veg, a quick salad or some toast
3. Spread toast with avocado, sprinkle with dukkah and squeeze over some lemon juice for a satisfying snack.

'Raw' choc hazelnut cups

Raw, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free treats are blowing up on Instagram and all sorts of social media at the moment. And while I don't agree that these types of restrictions are a necessary part of a healthy (or any) diet, these certainly do taste good! And sometimes you need a sweet, pick-me-up treat that makes you feel as good as it tastes when you eat it. I experimented with a bliss ball recipe and some mini muffin trays to make these, and the only real requirement is strong hands for pressing the mixture into shape!

'Raw' choc hazelnut cups

2 C almond meal

3 heaped Tbsp cocoa

1 ½ C dried pitted dates

¾ C desiccated coconut

1 tsp vanilla essence

Approx. ¼ C Mayver’s Almond, Coconut & Cacao Spread (or equivalent nut cocoa spread with no added sugar, fat or salt)

Hazelnuts to top

1. Combine almond meal, cocoa, dates, coconut and vanilla in a food processor and blend to a fine crumb that holds its shape when squeezed together (at least 5 minutes, to allow the natural oils to be released from the almond meal).
2. Line a mini muffin tin tray with glad wrap. Spoon 1 heaped Tbsp of mixture into each hole and press down firmly with the back of a teaspoon. Use this to also make a small hollow in the centre of each cup. Refrigerate for at least 5 minutes and repeat with mini muffin trays until all the mixture has been used up. Note: you can remove cups from the first mini muffin pan to use again for remaining mixture if you only have the one tray.
3. Remove cups from their mini muffin trays simply by lifting up the glad wrap. Fill the hollow of each chocolate cup with ½ a teaspoon of cocoa nut spread and top with a whole hazelnut.
4. These cups can be refrigerated in an air-tight container, or stored in the pantry if the weather is not too hot.

Makes ~32 ‘cups’.

Raspberry swirl yoghurt bark

Sydney has been ramping up the heat this Summer and I've been searching for refreshing foods and drinks to cool me down. While ice-creams and ice-blocks are delicious (and I certainly do enjoy them from time to time), sometimes you're after more of an everyday healthy treat. This certainly delivers on both counts.

I've seen recipes for yoghurt bark floating around on the internet and thought, what a great idea! You really can use any type of yoghurt and top it with just about anything- nuts, seeds, fruit, coconut, mint, lemon, etc. Get creative with it! Here's the basic recipe for raspberry swirl yoghurt bark, but you could always just top it with whole raspberries (or any other fruit) instead.

Raspberry swirl yoghurt bark 

300-400g reduced fat plain Greek yoghurt (e.g. 2x tubs Chobani)

½ C frozen raspberries

3 Tbsp boiling water

2 tsp honey

Toppings:

Flaked almonds

Coconut flakes

Chopped mint

1.       Blend raspberries, water and honey until smooth.
2.       Pour yoghurt into a bowl and swirl through a third of the raspberry mixture.
3.       Pour onto a tray lined with baking paper and spread out evenly until 0.5-1cm thick.
4.       Drizzle over some more of the raspberry mixture (you probably won’t need it all but make sure you save it for a later use!) and sprinkle over toppings.
5.       Freeze for a few hours or until hard. Break into pieces (‘bark’) and store in a snap lock bag in the freezer.

Toasted Coconut & Date Slice

The other weekend I had it in my mind that I wanted to bake a healthy slice. So I looked through all my recipe books and searched online, with no luck! Eventually I came across a date and coconut slice recipe from One Handed Cooks  but after pressing the mixture into the pan realised I had forgotten a key ingredient- the coconut! As it turns out, the coconut on the top of the slice rather than mixed in it turned out really well as it gave a lovely toasted coconut flavour. You'll notice there's no sugar in this recipe which is because the dates give a lovely natural sweetness without being over-powering. This slice makes a great healthy snack!

Toasted Coconut & Date Slice

1 C pitted dates, roughly chopped

½ C water

1 tsp lemon juice

1 C wholemeal plain flour

1 C rolled oats

¼ C flaked almonds

1.5Tbsp (30g) table spread, melted (or oil)

½ C apple puree

¼ C desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

1.       Preheat oven to 190°C. Line a 20cm square dish with baking paper.
2.       Put dates and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring     until the water is just absorbed and the dates are smooth.
3.       Remove date mixture from heat and add lemon juice and apple puree.
4.       Combine flour, oats, almonds and table spread or oil in a medium     sized bowl. Add dates and stir to combine.
5.       Press mixture in square dish and sprinkle with coconut. Bake for ~25 minutes or until slice is cooked and coconut is golden.

Makes 16 squares

Beef and black bean stir-fry

Beef and black bean is a traditional Chinese dish, but you'd be hard pressed to find its star ingredient in your local supermarket. Sure you'll be able to find prepackaged 'black bean sauce' but I really wanted to make my own using the real thing. I managed to find fermented black beans (also called dried or salted black beans) in my local Asian grocer without much trouble at all. And the result was a lovely, easy, flavoursome dish with all the benefits of gut benefits of fermented beans, iron from beef, fibre from brown rice and a whole host of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals from a load of colourful veggies!

Beef and black bean stir-fry

500g beef eye fillet (or another lean cut), sliced

50g Chinese black beans, rinsed (found in an Asian grocer)

2 long red chillies, thinly sliced (remove seeds for a milder heat)

1.5 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

1 C reduced salt chicken stock

½ brown onion, thinly sliced

1 ¼ C long grain brown or white rice

2 dinner plates full of vegetables (~8 cups) e.g. broccoli, bok choy, carrots, beans, mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage etc

1. Cook rice in boiling water, drain.

2. Meanwhile, cook beef, chilli, ginger, garlic and black beans in a large frypan over medium-high heat until beef is well browned. Remove from frypan and keep warm.

3. Add onion to the pan and sauté over a medium heat until translucent. Add vegetables and cook until just tender. 

4. Lower to a simmer, add stock and return beef mix to pan, stirring until well coated and beef is heated through.

      4. Divide rice and stir-fry among dishes.

Serves 5-6

Recipe Index

I've posted quite a few recipes since I started this blog a year ago (yes I know, it's already been a year!) and sometimes I have clients or friends tell me they can't find a certain recipe. So I've put them all here in one place, divided into sweet and savoury! So browse to your heart's content :)

Sweet Recipes (breakfasts, desserts and snacks)

Homemade muesli bars

• My healthy homemade muesli bars
• Berry yoghurt & coconut balls
• Banana date loaf
• Rum balls
• Wholegrain berry pancakes
• Apple cinnamon crumble muffins
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Porridge from scratch
• Baked raspberry and barley mini puddings
• Strawberry, macadamia and oat muffins with sweet spices
• Lemon souffles
• Makeover: Lemon yoghurt cake
• Makeover: Pumpkin pie
• Makeover: Chocolate souffles 

Savoury Recipes (breakfasts, lunches and dinners)

Lentil 'meatballs'

• Stuffed capsicums
• Chilli-lime chicken with minted quinoa and Asian greens
• Vietnamese chicken pho (chicken noodle soup)
• Homemade basil pesto
• Ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken with white bean smash
• Beef and red wine pearl barley risotto
• Spicy tomato & bean baked eggs
• Homemade dumplings
• Lentil 'meatballs' with pasta, greens and lemon pesto sauce
• Chermoula spiced beer bread
• Makeover: Thai cashew nut beef stir-fry at home

The complete balanced meal planner

Here it is: the dietitian-devised complete balanced meal planner! Choose any combination of steps 1-6 and you will create a healthy, and flavoursome, balanced meal. Give it a try for yourself and have a go planning your dinners (or lunches) for the week.

Step 1: Choose your protein

This should take up ¼ of your plate. Choose lean meats and trimmed of skin and fat, dried or reduced salt tinned versions of lentils and other legumes, raw or dry roasted, unsalted nuts and natural nut and seed butters (without added sugar or salt) and reduced fat dairy, where possible.

Meat:

100g beef, lamb, kangaroo, veal, chicken, turkey, pork or fish (in the form of mince, steak, breast, diced, sliced, tinned, skewers, rissoles, meatballs, etc)

Meat alternatives:

2 large eggs

170g tofu or tempeh

1 C lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans, cannellini beans and other legumes

30g nuts, seeds, or nut or seed paste

Dairy:

1 cup (250mL) milk

½ cup (120mL) evaporated milk

2 slices (40g) hard cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, fetta)

½ (120g) cup soft cheese (ricotta, cottage)

¾ cup (200g) plain natural or Greek-style yoghurt

Step 2: Choose your carbohydrate

This should take up another ¼ of your plate. Choose wholegrain and low GI versions where possible.

Grains:

1 cup cooked pasta (spaghetti, penne, risoni, lasagne sheets, cannelloni tubes, wonton wrappers etc), noodles (rice, egg), rice, quinoa, pearl barley, buckwheat, bulgur, polenta or semolina

2 slices bread, 1 medium roll, 1 flatbread (wrap, pita etc)

4 crispbreads

2 small English muffins or crumpets

1/3 cup flour (wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, rice, corn) or breadcrumbs- into patties, pancakes etc

Starchy vegetables:

1 medium potato, sweet potato, parsnip, taro or cassava

1 medium corn cob

1 cup lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans, cannellini beans and other legumes

Step 3: Choose your vegetables

This should take up the remaining ½ of your plate. Each of the following is 1 serve; aim for 3 or more serves to fill half your plate. Choose fresh, frozen, or reduced salt tinned versions and as many different colours as possible.

Cooked:

½ cup cooked green, orange, white or purple vegetables (e.g. broccoli, carrot, pumpkin, cauliflower, mushrooms, beetroot, etc)

½ cup cooked beans, peas, lentils or other legumes

Raw:

1 cup leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, rocket, kale, silverbeet, etc)

1 cup raw salad vegetables (cucumber, capsicum, sprouts, etc)

1 medium tomato

Step 4: Choose your cooking method for each element

Note: Plate elements (protein, carbohydrate and vegetables) can be cooked together or cooked and kept separately.

Boil

Microwave

Steam

BBQ/grill

Stir-fry

Pan-fry

Poach

Bake/roast

Stew/casserole

Toast

Step 5: Choose your flavour base

Usually in tablespoon quantities per plate.

Marinade

Tomato

Stock

White or red wine

Soy/tamari/hoisin/oyster/fish sauce

Herb or spice rub

Reduced fat cream or evaporated milk

Pesto

Curry paste

Step 6: Choose your flavour additions

Usually in teaspoon or tablespoon quantities per plate.

Herbs- fresh, dried or paste

Spices

Onion

Garlic

Chilli

Ginger

Lemon, lime or other citrus

Cheese- parmesan, fetta, ricotta, mozzarella, etc

Condiments- mustard, chilli jam, etc

Olive or nut oils

Strawberry, macadamia and oat muffins with sweet spices

A few weeks ago I went to a spice appreciation class at Herbie's in Rozelle (click here for their website). It was a lovely afternoon and the perfect birthday present for anyone who, like me, loves anything related to food. The idea of flavouring your food with herbs and spices instead of added fat, salt and sugar, is definitely one that appeals to me, and which, in my opinion, offers infinitely more possibilities! 

Now, when you think of herbs and spices you generally think of savoury dishes, right? Well, if you have ever added vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice to cakes or other baked goods, you've added spice to sweet dishes too! This time, I decided to venture further than these traditional ingredients and experiment with one of my Herbie's purchases: fragrant sweet spice mix. Made up of coriander seed, cassia, cinnamon quills, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, poppy seeds, cloves, cardamom and rose petals, it really is delicious to smell (and taste!). 

And so, this was my creation: sweet and fragrant strawberry, macadamia and oat muffins, full of fibre, low in saturated fat and sugar and with plenty of flavour! A perfect afternoon treat. Note: if you don't have access to this fragrant mix, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with still give a lovely flavour!

Strawberry, macadamia and oat muffins with sweet spices

1 ½ C wholemeal SR flour

¾ C rolled oats

¼ C LSA 

¼ C brown sugar, plus 1 Tbsp extra

2 tsp fragrant sweet spice mix

1 egg

½ C skim milk

½ C reduced fat Greek-style yoghurt

¼ C oil (olive, canola or macadamia)

1 tsp vanilla

¾ C strawberries, diced, plus 2-3 extra, sliced

2 Tbsp macadamias, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine flour, oats, LSA, brown sugar and fragrant sweet spice mix in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, yoghurt, oil and vanilla.
4. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and gently combine. Fold through diced strawberries.
5. Divide mixture among 12 muffin cases, top with chopped macadamias and a sprinkling of brown sugar (from 1 Tbsp extra). Place a strawberry slice on each.
6. Bake for 25-30mins or until lightly golden and skewer comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

Can I still eat dessert if I’m trying to be healthy?

I’m going to be honest here and say it makes me sad to imagine a world without dessert. I’m a self-confessed dessert fiend and I’ll have something sweet after dinner most nights. My family and friends can vouch for that- if I turn down dessert they know something’s wrong!

Many of you are probably thinking that as a Dietitian, shouldn’t I be eating healthily, like, all the time? The truth is I’m just like you, I have my vices, and dessert is one of them! So I wanted to answer a question I commonly get asked:

Can I still eat dessert if I’m trying to be healthy?

The answer is: Yes! But it does depend what you consider ‘dessert’ and how much you have of it.

The reasons why dessert has made it into the dieting bad books:

1. Often eaten after a large meal, when we’re not hungry, making it unnecessary kilojoules (or calories) which can be difficult to burn off if all you’re doing after eating it is relaxing on the couch then going to bed.
2. Typically laden with excess sugar and fat, particularly pre-packaged and restaurant types.
3. Extras like whipped cream, ice cream or icing sugar, which can really add up.
4. Can provoke a night time binge that starts with a bowl of ice cream, gets followed by some chocolate and finished with a few bickies. 

How to make dessert part of a healthy diet

• Don’t eat if you are truly stuffed after dinner (a feeling we want to try and avoid at any meal).
• Dessert should be small and not a hugely significant energy contribution to your diet- practice the art of mindful eating if you struggle with this one.
• Avoid pre-packaged and processed desserts and instead choose desserts made from wholefoods. Cooking, or preparing, it yourself is generally the best option so you know exactly what’s going into your food.
• Make dessert contribute positively to your nutrient intake in some way- whether it be a source of  calcium, fibre, protein or antioxidants (from dairy, whole grains, nuts, fruit, etc).
• Reduce your portion size- if you enjoy making your own sweet treats, cut the cake or slice into smaller pieces than the recipe recommends and avoid going back for seconds.
• Dessert shouldn’t really be a habit. Always ask yourself ‘do I really feel like this?’. If the honest answer is no, then it would just be a waste to eat it- save it for a time when you know you’d really enjoy it!
• And who said dessert has to be ice cream or cake? When I think of dessert I think of sweet, but that doesn't mean you're limited to ‘dessert’ foods. How about yoghurt with berries? Or a hot chocolate? Or a muesli slice? Or even a handful of trail mix or dry cereal? 

Healthier dessert options

• Fruit salad with yoghurt.
• Milk based rice, semolina or sago pudding.
• Baked ricotta with berries.
• Homemade cake lower in sugar and butter, made with wholemeal flour and flavoured with fruit, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut or nuts.
• Individual serves of (ricotta-based) cheesecake, pudding, cake or pie, baked in a muffin tin or small ramekins. 

Links to some of my healthier sweet treat recipes:

• Chocolate souffles
• Pumpkin pie
• Baked raspberry and barley mini puddings
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Apple cinnamon crumble muffins
• Lemon yoghurt cake
• Rum balls
• Banana date loaf
• Berry yoghurt and coconut balls

Lentil ‘meatballs’ with pasta, greens and lemon pesto sauce

Lentils. They were once only the domain of vegans and 70's hippies, but I'm keen to bring them back. Small legumes, full of fibre and protein, they make a wonderful meat alternative, and are a great way to bulk up a meal (without the cost of meat). You can buy them dry or canned and I must say, for me canned is the way to go. No soaking or cooking required, you just open the can, pour into a fine sieve and rinse. 

Brown lentils especially go well as the basis of burgers, rissoles and 'meatballs'. I adapted this recipe from another one I saw floating around the internet and they're super tasty. They work especially well with my homemade basil pesto, but if you don't have the time, you the bought stuff and just add a good squeeze of lemon.

Lentil ‘meatballs’ with pasta, greens and lemon pesto sauce

375g tagliatelle or fettucini

1 leek, sliced

3 C silverbeet, finely sliced

1 large zucchini, cut into matchsticks

½ medium eggplant, cut into matchsticks

1 C beans, halved crossways

1 C broccoli florets

Lentil ‘meatballs’

2x400g cans brown lentils, rinsed

2 eggs, lightly beaten

¾ C reduced fat ricotta

¼ C grated parmesan

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp mixed herbs

2 Tbsp fresh parsley

¾ C breadcrumbs (preferably panko)

Lemon pesto sauce

1 bunch basil (~2 C)

4 Tbsp toasted pinenuts

2 Tbsp grated parmesan

1 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp water

1. In a food processor, process lentils and parsley until mostly smooth, but some texture still remains. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Add eggs, ricotta, parmesan, garlic, mixed herbs and breadcrumbs. Stir well and let mix sit for at least 20 mins.

3. Make lemon pesto sauce: in the same food processor process all lemon pesto sauce ingredients until smooth. Add more water to thin further, if desired. Refrigerate until needed.

4. Roll tablespoons of lentil mix into balls and place on lined baking trays. Spray with a little olive oil. If making 'meatballs' ahead of time, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until needed.

5. Bake lentil ‘meatballs’ at 205°C for 20-25mins or until golden brown.

6. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a saucepan of boiling water and stir-fry greens in a large frypan.

7. When pasta is cooked, drain and toss through vegetables along with lemon pesto sauce. Divide among bowls and top with ~6-8 ‘meatballs' per bowl. Top with extra parmesan.

Serves 6 plus a few leftover ‘meatballs’ for lunches :)

Homemade Dumplings

I have this list of things I want to cook. Not simple, everyday recipes, but those which would give me joy to master (yes, I am aware this quite possibly sounds very lame to those of you who aren't as addicted to cooking as I am!). And so came about: dumpling day. My boyfriend and I bought the ingredients, watched youtube clips of how to form the dumpling 'pleats' (the folding pattern you use to seal the dumplings) and he panicked while, instead of following a recipe, I just made it all up as I went along! Then we sat and marvelled at the fact we had just made our very own dumplings (while shoving them in our gobs). This recipe is the result. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

If you don't need 45 dumplings, simply halve the recipe. You can also choose to just make the vegetable or chicken dumplings (to make the chicken dumplings without the vegetable mix, just add 1/4 C of mixed shredded cabbage and carrot, with some of the garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

Homemade dumplings

45 gow gee wrappers (found in the fridge section of the supermarket)

1 egg, lightly beaten

Vegetable Filling

1/8 cabbage (or ¼ Chinese wombok), finely shredded

½ large carrot, finely grated

2 spring onions, finely diced

150g tinned bamboo shoots, finely diced (found in the Asian section of the supermarket)

½ tsp minced garlic

½ tsp minced ginger

1 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp reduced salt soy sauce

1 Tbsp dry sherry (or Chinese rice wine)

Optional: replace half of the vegetables with silken tofu for more protein

Chicken Filling

150g lean chicken mince

1 Tbsp chives, chopped

¼ C ‘vegetable filling’ mix

Dipping sauce

¼ C reduced salt soy sauce

2 Tbsp dry sherry (or Chinese rice wine)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp castor sugar

1 tsp minced ginger

¼ tsp Chinese five spice

½-1 tsp minced chilli, or fresh chilli sliced

1 tsp sesame seeds

      1. Cook vegetable filling in a large frypan over low-medium heat until veg is softened and liquid evaporated. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Mix ¼ C of the ‘vegetable filling’ into the chicken mince and chives, in a separate bowl.
3. Divide beaten egg among both fillings (about 2/3 of the egg in with the vegetable mix and 1/3 in with the chicken mix) and stir to combine.

 4. Place 1 gow gee wrapper on the bench in front of you. Have the bowls of filling sitting close by, along with a small bowl or cup of water. Place 2 tsp of chicken or vegetable filling in the centre of the wrapper and, with your finger, trace a circle of water along the border of the wrapper (you only want enough water to stick the edges of the wrapper together, if it is too wet it will not stick).

5. Fold wrapper in half to form a semi-circle, pressing the opposite edges of the wrapper together. 

      6. Carefully fold over the edges of the wrapper to form pleats. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling mixtures.

7. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Line each level of a bamboo steamer basket with baking paper, place ~6 dumplings on each level (try not to let them touch as they will stick together when cooking), assemble steamer basket with lid on top and place over the boiling water. The steamer basket should sit neatly on top of the saucepan so that no steam is escaping and make sure the saucepan isn’t too full with water as you want to avoid the boiling water touching the base of the steamer basket.
8. Steam for ~15mins, then repeat steaming process until all dumplings are cooked.

9. Meanwhile, make dipping sauce: toast sesame seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 3-5mins or until slightly thickened and sugar is dissolved. Cool before serving.

      Serves 7-8 (~6 dumplings per serve)

      Note: Leftover dumplings can be refrigerated and reheated at a later stage by steaming in the microwave in a covered bowl or container, with a small amount of water.