Healthy

Salmon, sweet potato & crispy Kale Nourish bowl

| nicoleskitchendiary

We eat with our eyes first and there is something about a plate of food rich in all the colours of the rainbow that just makes me smile. It’s no lie, I’m a lover of all foods and in particular salads. My obsession with salads started a few summers back; I went on a health and fitness journey, and I’ll be honest, I’ve never fallen out of love with having huge colourful salads for my lunch. Don’t get me wrong, this is by no means a reflection on how I eat everyday, but when I do make a salad, nothing short of the rainbow will do.

Ingredients for the nourish bowl

1 x fillet of salmon

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1 x small sweet potato, chopped into bite sized pieces

50g edamame beans

70g sweencorn

4 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 x small carrot, spiralised, or cut into ribbons

2 x stalks of Cavolo Nero, sliced, removing the centre stalk (or, a handful of curly kale)

1 tsp garlic paste

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chilli flakes, to garnish (optional)

1 tsp black sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

Ingredients for the salad dressing

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Juice of half a lime

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C
  2. Toss the diced sweet potato in 1 tsp of oil, cumin, paprika and season with salt and pepper. Give them a good mix to coat the sweet potatoes all over. Tip them onto to a baking sheet and place in the centre of the pre-heated oven.
  3. Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and set aside
  4. After the sweet potatoes have roasted for 15 minutes, place the salmon into a steam bag, or wrap tightly in foil/baking paper and place in the oven.
  5. When the salmon has had 5 minutes in the oven, add the sliced Cavolo Nero/kale to a ovenproof dish and drizzle with the other teaspoon of olive oil, add the garlic paste and mix to coat. Season with salt and pepper and place this in the oven, alongside the salmon. Continue to cook for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove the sweet potato, salmon and kale from the oven and place into a serving bowl.
  7. Add the sweetcorn, edamame beans, tomatoes and carrot
  8. Sprinkle the dish with chilli flakes, black sesame seeds and drizzle over the dressing
  9. Garnish with a slice of lime

Keto (Vegan) Kale & Courgette Tahini Salad

| nicoleskitchendiary

If you’re one of those who thinks kale is unpleasant or bitter, you’re not alone. It’s one of those ‘super foods’ many people avoid, knowing it’s good for you, but also knowing it is quite bitter. Since starting keto, I’ve been eating lots of salads and trying to incorporate healthy fats where possible, this recipe is the perfect balance of the two.

This is a raw food (vegan) recipe. Being raw makes it more nutritious. It’s as simple as spiralising some courgette, tossing it together with the raw kale and knocking up a quick dressing. I knew the dressing had to pack a punch in order to mask that bitter tasting kale, it’s full of flavour and I know you won’t be disappointed.

kale

This recipe serves 2

Ingredients

  • 2 courgettes, spiralised
  • 100g curly kale, chopped
  • 20g coriander, freshly chopped
  • 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, miced
  • 1 inch fresh ginger, minced
  • 4 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (leave this out if following strict keto)
  • Juice of 1 lime

Method

  1. Place the kale and courgette into a large bowl
  2. Mix together the tahini, oils, soy, Sriracha, garlic, giner and lime in a bowl to make the dressing
  3. Pour the dresssing over the kale and courgette, mix well to coat
  4. Plate up the salad and garnish with the fresh chilli and corinader

Japanese Vegetarian Ramen

| nicoleskitchendiary

I’ve long been a fan of Japanese ramen. It’s like a warm embrace in a steaming bowl of deliciousness and yesterday’s wet weather lent itself nicely to having a bowl for supper. The air has felt very autumnal over the past few days, which makes me incredibly happy. Cosy clothes, crisp mornings and bright blue skies, crimson leaves and steaming hot ramen recipes. What’s not to love? It is undoubtedly my favourite time of the year, for so many reasons, but mostly for the warming hearty food.

68729247_10162059490260557_7897040433102979072_n (1)There are many variations of Japanese ramen, using a different base for your broth, they pretty much all start out with a stock of some kind, usually pork. I used a mushroom stock for mine as I wanted a vegetarian version. I made a mushroom stock using dried mushrooms soaked in boiling water and opted for a Shoyu or ‘Soy Sauce’ flavoured ramen. The depth of flavour from the mushrooms is incredible.

You really can throw this together in just 15 minutes, and it’s so versatile, you can swap out your base broth and toppings depending on what you have in. You can use miso instead of soy, or teriyaki if you have it. In terms of toppings, pak choi, spring onion, bean sprouts and water chestnuts are all great. The best part for me is the boiled egg, when it soaks in the salty broth it’s just delicious.

Ingredients

  • 50g Shiitake mushrooms
  • 50g Exotic mushroons
  • 40g dried mushrooms, such as porcini
  • 100ml light soy sauce
  • 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 1 small piece of ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1 stalk of pak choi
  • 2 spring onions, finely sliced
  • 1 red chilli, finely sliced
  • Small bunch coriander, finely chopped
  • 1 nest of wholewheat egg noodles
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Method

  1. Soak the dried mushrooms in 500ml of boiling water for 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, boil one medium egg. Six minutes is perfect for that still slightly gooey yolk. When your egg has only 2 minutes left, set a steamer on top of the saucepan and pop in your pak choi.
  3. Add the soaked mushrooms in their stock to a pan, add the fresh mushrooms, the soy, rice wine vinegar and the noodles.
  4. Add the garlic and ginger and a twist or two of freshly cracked black pepper.
  5. Leave the broth to simmer on a very low heat until the noodles are just cooked.
  6. Meanwhile peal the egg, cut in half and place in a deep serving bowl with the pak choi.
  7. Remove the noodles from the broth and place in the bowl, pour the hot broth and mushrooms into the bowl.
  8. Garnish with spring onion, chilli, coriander and sesame seeds.

Tex Mex Chicken Salad

| nicoleskitchendiary

Happy new year y’all. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas. If it was anything like mine I’m sure you’ll have consumed far too much alcohol, turkey and chocolate, the same as every year, no doubt.

And in the same vein, the same as every January, I have a hankering for healthy food. I wanted to share with you my favorite salad recipe. I had a count up and I posted seven different versions of this recipe on my Instagram last year. SEVEN! So you know it’s been road tested and fine tuned to ensure maximum deliciousness.

It’s a combination of delicious Mexican flavours, and it has everything – chicken, spices, avocado (who doesn’t love it?) and a bit of punch and zing from the lime and fresh coriander. If you love Tex Mex food this will be right up your street. It’s even better washed down with Corona, but if you’re being healthy (new year, new you) perhaps not. This is sure to brighten up your January! Here’s to a happy and healthy 2019.

IMG_3625

This recipe serves two hungry people.

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp Cajun spice
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 200g sweetcorn, drained and rinsed
  • Half a red onion, finely sliced
  • 3 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp of natural yoghurt
  • 140g bag of baby leaf salad
  • I lime, sliced into wedges
  • 1 Avocado, sliced
  • Small handful of salted tortilla chips
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions:

  1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees (180 fan).
  2. Place the chicken on a sheet pan that has been lined with parchment paper, rub the chicken with the spices and season well. Place in the oven to cook for 25 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, wash the salad and place into a large salad bowl, top with the sliced avocado, sprinkle on the sweetcorn and the sliced red onion.
  4. Top with tortilla chips and chopped coriander.
  5. Remove the chicken from the oven, slice and place on top of the salad.
  6. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime and a dollop of natural yoghurt.