Main Meals + Soups
Immune Boosting Green Soup
Ingredients
2TBS olive or coconut oil
1 red onion chopped
2 x heads broccoli (florets and stalks roughly chopped)
2 x zucchini (roughly chopped)
3 x small pieces fresh ginger peeled and grated (3cm x 3cm)
3 cloves garlic
2 heaped tsp ground turmeric
2 heaped tsp ground cumin
500g frozen peas (defrost before adding in)
½ cup fresh basil
1 packed cup of fresh mint
1/2 cup coriander
1 x tin coconut cream
1L stock
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté the onion in the pan until soft. Add the cumin and turmeric and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Finely grate the ginger and garlic- add to the pan and cook for a minute or two.
Add the zucchini and the broccoli to the pot, keep cooking for around 5-10 minutes to coat the vegetables in the spices. Add the stock, coconut milk and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 30 minutes. Add the defrosted peas and the fresh herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for an addition 10 minutes. Blend until smooth.
Sprinkle with Dukkah and garnish with basil or fresh herbs. Serve with your choice of toast (with a good slather of butter :)
Easy and Nourishing Dahl
The beauty of Dahl is you can add as many vegetables as you like to make it even more nourishing! We often add capsicum, carrot and pumpkin. Whatever is in your fridge and you like! This immune boosting Winter Warmer hits the spot every time.
Ingredients
2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
2TBS coconut oil or butter for cooking
1L vegie stock
1 x 400ml tin coconut cream
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
5cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 bay leaves
1tsp cinnamon
4tsp turmeric
2tsp cumin
2tsp garam masala
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp chilli flakes
1.5tsp salt
To serve and garnish:
1 serve warmed pitta bread OR ½ cup brown rice OR 1 slice toast
1 dollop natural yogurt
1TBS chopped coriander
1/2 cup roasted cauliflower- optional, but DELICIOUS!
Method
Heat the oil in a pot and stir fry the onion until soft on a low-medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant. Add the remaining spices and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the lentils to the pot and stir well. Add the stock or water, coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add the bay leaf and salt to taste.
Allow to simmer on a low heat for at least one hour, stirring every 5 minutes and until the lentils have soaked up the liquid and are soft. Discard the bay leaves.
Serve Dahl in a bowl with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh coriander with pita, bread or rice. Garnish with roasted cauliflower.
Serves 6.
Mexi Bean Bowl
Ingredients
Olive oil to cook with
1 red onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 red capsicum, chopped into small pieces
1 carrot, peeled and chopped into small chunks
2 x 400g tins red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 x 200g tin black beans (drained and rinsed)
500g firm tofu chopped into small cubes
2TBS maple syrup
1L Pasata
Spices:
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS ground turmeric
1 TBS grounf coriander
3 TBS smoked paprika
1 TBS cracked black pepper
2 TBS Moroccan Ras El Hanout
1 TBS cayenne pepper or crushed chilli
2 generous pinches of sea salt
Toppings and to serve:
1/2 avocado mashed
1TBS fresh coriander washed and chopped
1 Pita bread toasted and broken into pieces
2TBS natural yoghurt
Method
Heat up the oil in a large pot. Stir fry onion and garlic on a medium heat until soft and fragrant. Add the carrot, capsicum and the spices and cook until the spices until fragrant, stirring continuously. Add the beans, tofu and stir to coat in the spices. Add the pasata, sea salt, maple syrup and stir to combine.
Allow the beans to simmer for around an hour on a low heat until carrots are soft.
Serve beans with toasted pita bread, mashed avocado and yoghurt and a sprinkle of coriander.
Eggplant, Basil and Chilli Rigatoni (pasta alla norma)
Image via www.cookieandkate.com
Ingredients
500ml Marinara sauce. We use a store bought “eggplant tomato pasata”. If you would like a recipe to make your own, click here.
1 packet Rigatoni (enough for 2 serves)
2 medium eggplants
1/2 cup fresh basil chopped plus a few extra leaves to garnish
3/4 cup parmesan
4 balls of bocconcini cheese
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Olive oil
Salt + Pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line 2 large baking dishes with baking paper. Wash the eggplants and slice into small discs or small chunks. Place on the baking tray, drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt. Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes until the eggplant is golden and tender, but not mushy.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve some pasta cooking water before draining (about ½ cup should be plenty), then return the pasta to the pot.
Whilst the pasta is cooking, add the Marinara sauce to a large pot bring to a low simmer. Add the eggplant, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Stir to combine.
Add the pasta to the sauce with a couple tablespoons of the reserved pasta cooking water, and gently stir it in. Add about two-thirds of the cheese, reserving the rest for garnish. Season to taste with additional salt (I usually add ¼ teaspoon more) and black pepper. You can add a bit more of the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen up the sauce, if desired.
Divide the pasta between four bowls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the individual servings, followed by some extra fresh basil and torn up fresh bocconcini.
Notes: Original recipe via Cookie + Kate. We have adapted the recipe.
Wholemeal Pizza with Spinach, Pumpkin and Pine nuts
Ingredients
BASE* - if you don’t have time to make the base, we recommend using a wholemeal flat bread. Healthy, delicious and they crisp up a treat!
2 cups of organic wholemeal flour
1 sachet of yeast- approx 7g
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS of any dried herbs you have on hand- oregano, sage etc.
1. Place 1 cup of hot water into a bowl with the yeast and stir until yeast has dissolved. Sift in two cups of flour and mix/knead to form a dough. Add more water if required.
2. Roll dough into a ball, place back into bowl and cover with a tea towel for half an hour to rise.
3. Once dough has risen, roll out on a floured surface, adding more flour if required, into two large circles slightly larger than the pizza tray. Drape the dough over a well oiled pizza tray and roll down excess dough to create a crust.
TOPPINGS
2TBS tomato paste or pasata OR use a green pesto for a green base- YUM
1 cup baked pumpkin (pumpkin chopped, drizzled with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roasted on 180 for 45minutes until soft)
2 cups fresh washed spinach
2 TBS pine nuts
A few cubes of feta or goats cheese
1. Generously spread tomato paste over pizza base, followed by the fresh spinach and then pumpkin. Sprinkle pine nuts over evenly and crumble feta over whole pizza.
2. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes on 200 degrees until golden.
Vegan “Meatballs” with Almond Feta & Greens
This recipe was created by Chef Ashly Hudson for the Fort Green cafe and it was one of our most popular dishes! You have the option to use a store bought pasata sauce as well as almond feta (or goats feta, if not vegan!) to lighten the cooking load. However we have included the recipe for both if you would like to make your own :)
Meatballs
Ingredients
Olive oil for cooking
2C cooked quinoa
2C cooked black/brown rice
1 cup besan flour (chickpea flour)
2 brown onions, peeled and chopped
4 clove garlic peeled and minced
Fleg (A “fleg” is a vegan egg. Simply combine (4TBS of flaxmeal with 16TBS of water and allow the mixture to absorb and combine. This will act as the binding agent)
2TBS cumin
2TBS smoked paprika
2TBS mixed dry herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary)
Pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
Method
Heat a pan and sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil and the spices until soft and fragrant.
In a food processor, pulse the cooked grains, with the onion and garlic mixture. Transfer to a bowl and add the fleg, salt, pepper and besan flour. Stir to combine.
Roll the mixture into individual balls (around 35g).
Heat a pan with olive oil and bring to a medium heat. Add 3 of the meatballs and gently fry until golden on each side. Add a generous ladle of pasata to the pan to heat through.
Serve the meatballs with roasted seasonal greens (or vegetables), a slice of toast (for mopping up that sauce). Sprinkle with almond feta to serve.
Makes 12-16 balls.
Almond Feta
Ingredients
2 cups raw almonds
1 probiotic cap
½ cup nutritional yeast
Zest from 1 lemon
3TBS salt flakes
Method
Soak almonds in water in a container overnight to soften.
In a food processor, blitz the almonds and nutritional yeast with enough water to combine
Twist open the probiotic capsule and empty the contents into the mixture and stir to combine.
Place mixture in a clean chux cloth or piece of muslin and tie it up tightly. Place something weighted on top so it can press out the moisture overnight.
The next day, place the feta in a bowl and add the salt. Rest in the fridge for an hour before serving.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Makes a generous container full.
Pasata
Ingredients
4 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
2 x 400ml tin whole or crushed tomato
1TBS dry oregano
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVOO)
Method
In a pot on the lowest heat, add EVOO and garlic
Cook until the garlic is soft, then add tomatoes and oregano
Simmer for 20-30 minutes
Allow to cool and transfer mixture to a blender or using a stick blender to blitz and smooth.
Add salt to taste.
Makes approx. 1L of sauce. Store in a clean jar or container in the fridge for up to 7 days. Also freezes well!
Chickpea Curry with Brown Rice
Ingredients
1 red onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 TBS ground cumin
1 TBS ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
2 x 400g can tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 x 400g tinned organic tomatoes
1 x 400ml tin organic coconut cream
1/2 sweet potato chopped into discs
1/2 head cauliflower chopped into florets
Salt to taste
To serve
1/2 cup organic brown rice cooked
1 TBS fresh coriander to top with
organic natural yoghurt to top with
Method
Heat a large fry pan with olive or coconut oil and add the onion and garlic, stirring until onion is soft and fragrant. Add all of the ground spices and cook for a minute or two.
Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and coconut cream, stirring to combine. Add the vegetables and allow to simmer on a low heat for around 45 minutes until vegetables are tender. Season with salt.
Serve with brown rice and top with natural yoghurt and fresh coriander.
Serves 6.
Roasted Pumpkin & Avocado Brown Rice Sushi
Ingredients
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked baked organic pumpkin cut into batons
1 ripe avocado sliced into batons
pickled ginger
1 packet of Japanese Nori
2 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
*Optional 1TBS kewpie or vegan mayonnaise spread
Method
1. In a bowl, combine the rice wine vinegar with the stevia. Then add to the cooked rice and mix with a fork.
2. Lay down the nori sheet, shiny side down on a sushi rolling mat.
3. Use slightly wet finger tips to spread the rice across the nori approx. 1cm thick. Leave 3cm of bare nori at one end. Add optional mayonnaise and layer pumpkin and avocado on the opposite end of the bare nori.
4. Using wet finger tips, roll the nori around the filling as per rolling instructions on nori packet.
5. Use a sharp knife and cut into pieces, using a gentle sawing motion.
6. Serve immediately with pickled ginger and soy sauce.
Makes 3 sheets of sushi, which makes 18 pieces.