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Sydney Dietitian & Nutritionist

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Want to know what a dietitian eats? Here it is.

Healthy food doesn't need to be boring - I'm all about quick and simple food which tastes delicious and just happens to be healthy too!

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Miso Roasted Eggplant with Tahini Dressing

A super easy starter or side, these miso roasted mini eggplants are taken to a whole new level by a delicious tahini dressing.

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Miso Roasted Eggplant

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 4 as a side

Ingredients

  • 6 long miniature/baby eggplants, halved
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons miso
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
  • 2 tablespoon parsley or coriander, roughly chopped 
  • 1/4 cup natural yoghurt
  • 1 tablespoon tahini

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C
  • Lay eggplant halves in a baking tray and drizzle over olive oil
  • In a small bowl, mix together miso, sugar, vinegar and water 
  • Spread miso mixture over cut side of eggplant halves and roast for 15-20 minutes or until deep golden and slightly caramelised
  • To make the dressing, mix tahini and yoghurt with 2-3 tablespoons water until smooth 
  • Drizzle tahini dressing over eggplant, sprinkle with sesame seeds and parsley or coriander and serve

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Quick Potato and Chickpea Curry

A delicious vegetarian option, you can have this quick potato and chickpea curry on the table in around 15 minutes.Quick potato and chickpea curry If you love the idea of making curry from scratch but don’t love the idea of spending hours in the kitchen, this recipe is for you. All you need are a few basic herbs and spices and about 15 minutes and you’re done!

And if you’re not convinced about the idea of a curry without meat, this one might just change your mind – chickpeas are really hearty as well as being a good source of protein and iron so you won’t miss the meat at all!  Serve it with some brown or basmati rice, quinoa or even just on it’s own.

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Quick Potato and Chickpea Curry

Yield 4 serves

Ingredients

  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon chilli powder
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 1 tin light coconut milk
  • 1 cup frozen peas

Instructions

  • Place potato in a small bowl, cover, and microwave on high for 5 minutes or until soft.
  • Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes until soft.
  • Add spices and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
  • Stir through tomato paste, then add chickpeas, potato, stock, coconut milk and peas. Simmer for 4-5 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Serve over steamed brown or basmati rice, topped with fresh coriander leaves.

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Healthy Sweet Potato Fries

A delicious snack or sophisticated side, these healthy sweet potato fries are so simple to make and waaay healthier than the regular version! We all know that sweet potatoes are good for us (fibre, low GI carbs, vitamin A, antioxidants etc etc), but sweet potato fries? Not so much. Thanks to being deep fried and usually accompanied by some kind of high fat, salt laden dipping sauce, they go straight into the ‘sometimes food’ category 🙁

But don’t despair sweet potato fry lovers, I’ve got a healthy version for you that is just as good (maybe even better*)! Tossed in extra virgin olive oil and lightly spiced before being baked and topped with goat’s cheese, these fries aren’t just a whole lot tastier than your usual sweet potato fry, they also totally belong in the ‘everyday food’ category!

*I’d say definitely better

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Healthy Sweet Potato Fries

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 4 serves

Ingredients

  • 4 small sweet potatoes (or 2 large), peeled and sliced into 1cm wide chips
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch chilli flakes
  • Pinch of salt
  • 50g goat's cheese 
  • 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped 

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 200C. 
  • Put sweet potato into a large bowl and pour over oil. Sprinkle over spices and salt and toss well to coat evenly. 
  • Transfer to a large oven tray and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 
  • Sprinkle with goats cheese and bake for a further 3-4 minutes until cheese is soft. 
  • Top with parsley and serve.

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Cashew and Cranberry Truffles

These Cashew and Cranberry Truffles make a great Christmas gift and taste so good you’d never know they were healthy!The perfect Christmas treat full of oats, nuts and dried fruit, these Cashew and Cranberry Truffles taste so good you'd never know they were healthy!

Christmas is a time for a little indulgence, right? And while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of plum pudding or a mince pie to get you feeling festive, we all know that indulging too much can leave us feeling pretty average when the 1st of January rolls around.

These Cashew and Cranberry Truffles provide the perfect compromise –  festive and indulgent, while also being good for you. They make great presents too – lets face it, most people don’t really want to be given another box of chocolates or miniature plum pudding at Christmas, but these are a gift they’ll actually thank you for!

They contain no added sugar (although for the sake of full disclosure, dried cranberries do have some sugar added!) and are full of oats, nuts and dried fruit so they have plenty of protein to fill you up, some low GI carbs to keep blood sugar levels steady and plenty of vitamins and minerals. And as an added bonus they look like cute little snowballs!

1 vote

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Cashew & Cranberry Truffles

Prep

Total

Yield 12 Truffles

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup cashews
  • 1 cup cranberries 
  • 2/3 cup desiccated coconut
  • 2 teaspoons lemon rind, finely grated
  • 1/2 cup skim milk powder
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut, extra

Instructions

  • Process oats, cashews, cranberries, coconut and lemon rind in a food processor until fine.
  • Add skim milk powder and water and process until mixture comes together in a ball (add a little more water if you need to). 
  • Spread extra coconut over a large plate. Roll mixture into balls just slightly smaller than a golf ball, then roll in coconut. 
  • Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes or until firm. 

Notes

 

The addition of skim milk powder helps to increase the protein content without using protein powder and gives the truffles a really nice sweet and creamy flavour without adding sugar. You can leave it out if you prefer but I do think they're much more delicious if you include it.

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Salmon, Asparagus and Pea Frittata

There are many things to love about frittata, which is why it makes an appearance on our dinner table at least once a week! This salmon, asparagus and pea frittata is a favourite.  

This incredibly quick and easy oven baked Salmon, Asparagus and Pea Frittata recipe makes a delicious and simple weeknight dinner or weekend lunch.

Things I love about frittata:

  1. It’s the one thing that I always have the ingredients for (eggs, yoghurt and some sort of vegetable).
  2. It’s so easy, you can mix it up in 5 minutes, pop it in the oven and dinners done.
  3. The way it puffs up when it cooks, kind of like a souffle (always makes me feel very chef-like).
  4. It’s a great way to use up leftover bits and pieces lying around in the fridge – veggies, cheese, fish or chicken, etc etc.
  5. There are no rules when it comes to fillings so you can be as creative as you like (within reason!).
  6. It’s full of healthy stuff – plenty of protein from the eggs and yoghurt and lots of veggies. You can bump up the carbs too by adding in potato, sweet potato or corn or serve it with some sourdough or wholemeal bread for a totally balanced meal. It also goes really well with a salad if you want to up the veg even more.

Another thing to love about this salmon, asparagus and pea frittata is that unlike other frittata recipes, it’s cooked entirely in the oven. This means there’s no standing over the stove wondering if it’s burning on the bottom even though it’s still all runny on top, and then putting it under the grill only to burn the top and then find it’s not remotely cooked in the middle 🙁  Just pop it in the oven and forget about it for 15 minutes, then wonder at the golden brown, puffed up beauty before you!

This incredibly quick and easy oven baked Salmon, Asparagus and Pea Frittata recipe makes a delicious and simple weeknight dinner or weekend lunch.

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Salmon, Asparagus & Pea Frittata

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 2-4

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
  • 50g smoked salmon, roughly chopped
  • 4 asparagus spears, sliced into 2cm pieces
  • 1/3 cup frozen peas

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C
  • Place eggs and yoghurt in a bowl and beat until well combined using a fork or whisk. 
  • Stir through other ingredients.
  • Spray a medium sized baking dish or oven proof frying pan with oil and pour in egg mixture. 
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and just cooked through. 
  • Serve with salad or crusty wholemeal or sourdough bread. 

By 2 Comments

Super Healthy Apricot Cookies (with a surprise ingredient)

Super healthy apricot cookies with a surprising (and very healthy) secret ingredient! And the secret ingredient is…..chickpeas!

They’re high in protein and fibre, a good source of iron and have plenty of healthy low GI carbohydrates –  almost as close as you can get to a perfect food! And while they might seem like a bit of an odd ingredient to base a cookie recipe on, they work surprisingly well, giving them a delicious dense and nutty texture.

And it’s not just chickpeas that these cookies have going for them, they’re also full of fruit and nuts and sweetened with just a little bit of honey. They make great for a healthy after school snack for kids  – in fact, they’re so healthy they could even have them for breakfast! Super Healthy Apricot Cookies - so nutritious you could even have them for breakfast! Super Healthy Apricot Cookies - so nutritious you could even have them for breakfast! Ingredients (makes about 12)
1 cup tinned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • Process all ingredients in a food processor until mixture comes together in a ball (don’t worry if it’s still a bit chunky).
  • Line a large oven tray with baking paper. Roll mixture into balls just slightly smaller than a golf ball and place on tray, then flatten slightly with the back of a fork.
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
  • Store in an air tight container.

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Roasted Cauliflower, Quinoa & Almond Salad

This super healthy and hearty roasted cauliflower, quinoa and almond salad is perfect on it’s own and also makes an impressive looking side for lamb or chicken.This super healthy and hearty roasted cauliflower, quinoa and almond salad is perfect on its own or as a side for lamb or chicken.The best salads are the ones that have a combination of different tastes, textures and colours – and this cauliflower, quinoa and almond salad has exactly that. It combines one of the best salad ingredients around – roasted cauliflower – with red quinoa for a beautiful colour contrast, almonds for a bit of crunch, currants for sweetness and parsley for a bit of extra colour and herby goodness, all brought together with a delicious lemon maple dressing.

This salad also nails it from a nutrition perspective – its got protein from the quinoa, chickpeas and almonds, good carbs from the quinoa (yep, it’s high in protein AND carbs!) and healthy fats from the nuts and extra virgin olive oil.

It’s filling enough to make a meal on its own but also goes really well with lamb or chicken skewers (oh, and it makes for some seriously good lunch leftovers too 🙂

This super healthy and hearty roasted cauliflower, quinoa and almond salad is perfect on its own or as a side for lamb or chicken.This super healthy and hearty roasted cauliflower, quinoa and almond salad is perfect on its own or as a side for lamb or chicken.Ingredients (serves 4):
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 cup red quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup slivered or flaked almonds
1/2 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup currants
1 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 200°C.
  • Spread cauliflower florets over a large tray and spray lightly with olive oil spray. Roast for 15-20 minutes until beginning to brown. Add almonds and roast for a further 3-5 minutes until almonds are lightly browned (keep a close eye on it as the nuts will burn very quickly).
  • Meanwhile, place quinoa in a medium saucepan along with 2 cups water. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed.
  • To make dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
  • Transfer quinoa to a large bowl and gently stir through roasted cauliflower and almonds, chickpeas, currants and parsley. Pour over dressing and toss through.

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Salmon and Chilli Patties

Even at the busiest of times, when trips to the supermarket are few and far between, I almost always have tinned salmon, breadcrumbs and chilli flakes in the pantry and some eggs in the fridge, which together make up the essential ingredients for one of my all-time most reliable pantry meals –  salmon and chilli patties.

They’re not just one of the quickest and easiest standbys around, they almost couldn’t be healthier with lots of omega-3 fats, wholegrains, low GI carbs and some veg thrown in there too. Serve them as they are with a salad or pop them in a wholemeal burger bun with some lettuce, tomato and whatever other fillings you fancy.salmon and chilli patties, the ultimate pantry meal! Ingredients (Serves 4):
400g tin salmon, skin and large bones removed
3/4 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
1/2 onion, finely diced
125g tin sweetcorn, drained
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Method:

  • Place salmon in a large bowl and mash well. Add all other ingredients except oil and mix until well combined.
  • Using wet hands, shape mixture into 8 patties.
  • Heat oil in a large frypan and fry patties for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
  • Serve with finely sliced chilli, fresh coriander and salad.

salmon and chilli patties, the ultimate pantry meal!

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3 Ingredient Salted Peanut Caramel Bliss Balls

Recipes don’t get much easier than this – just three ingredients and a quick blast in the food processor and you’re done! These are a great snack to take to work or a sweet treat after dinner – you can even make a big batch and freeze them for super time-saving efficiency.

While they don’t actually contain caramel, the combination of peanuts and dates gives them a delicious caramel flavour and the peanuts add the perfect amount of saltiness to balance the sweetness. So good!

Ingredients (makes about 10)
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup dates
2 tbsp water

Method:

  • Place peanuts, oats and dates into food processor and process until finely chopped.
  • Add water gradually and continue to process until mixture comes together in a ball. Add a little more water if necessary.
  • Roll into balls and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until firm.

 

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One Tray Mediterranean Lamb & Halloumi

One Tray Mediterranean Lamb & Halloumi I love a one tray meal, there’s something so satisfyingly efficient about just being able to throw everything onto a pan, put it in the oven and then have dinner ready and waiting for you not long afterwards.

This One Tray Mediterranean Lamb & Halloumi is made even more satisfying by the fact that it includes six different types of vegetables – which not only makes it super healthy and nutritious with lots of different vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, but it also means that it looks beautiful thanks to all the different colours. And just when you thought it couldn’t get much better, there’s halloumi!

The combination of lamb, vegetables and halloumi provides a perfectly balanced meal with plenty of protein, fibre, low GI carbs, and some calcium too (something which many of us don’t get enough of!). Oh, and it tastes amazing! One Tray Mediterranean Lamb & Halloumi Ingredients (serves 2):
4 lamb chops or cutlets
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 small sweet potato, sliced into wedges (with skin on)
1 zucchini, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced into wedges
1 cob sweet corn, cut into 5 slices
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 capsicum (any colour), sliced
50g halloumi, cut into 1cm slices
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
2 small wholemeal pita breads, to serve (optional)

Yoghurt Sauce 
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp finely chopped mint
Pinch of salt

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 200°C.
  • Arrange lamb cutlets, vegetables and halloumi onto a large oiled oven tray.
  • Sprinkle with mixed herbs and season with salt and pepper.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes until lamb is well cooked, vegetables are soft and halloumi is lightly browned.
  • Meanwhile, make yoghurt sauce by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl.
  • Divide lamb, vegetables and halloumi between two plates, top with yoghurt sauce and serve with pita bread.

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Choc Banana Pancakes

healthy choc banana pancakes There’s nothing better than pancakes on Easter morning, and of course it’s not Easter without chocolate – so chocolate pancakes seem to make perfect sense!

But because you’ll no doubt be eating plenty of chocolate for the rest of the day, why not get off to a good start with these deliciously chocolatey but surprisingly healthy flourless Choc Banana Pancakes?  They have no added sugar, are full of protein and fibre and they’re super easy to make, so there’s plenty of time left for Easter egg hunts!healthy chocolate banana pancakes Ingredients (serves 2):
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup rolled oats
3 eggs
2 tbsp cocoa

To serve:
Banana slices
Strawberries
Maple syrup or honey (optional)

Method: 

  • Place bananas in a large bowl and mash well. Stir through cocoa and eggs, then rolled oats until all ingredients are well combined.
  • Spray a large frying pan with olive oil spray and heat over medium heat. Spoon 1/3 cupfuls of mixture into frying pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until bubbles form on surface. Gently flip over and cook for a further minute on other side.
  • Serve with sliced strawberries or bananas and a little maple syrup or honey.

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Fig, Goat’s Cheese & Candied Walnut Salad

It’s no secret that I love a good salad. Not just because they’re healthy, but because you get to mix a whole lot of different flavours, textures and colours into one meal. Plus they’re fun to make as you can basically just throw in whatever you like and see how it goes. But I do usually follow some basic rules when creating salad recipes –  to me, great salads are all about contrasting textures and flavours; like soft and crunchy, sweet and salty.

This salad is a perfect example. The sweet figs and orange, crunchy candied walnuts go perfectly with the soft and salty goat’s cheese – and as an added bonus it looks beautiful too!

The candied walnuts require a little extra effort, but trust me, it’s totally worth it (if you can stop yourself from eating them all before they make it into the salad!).Ingredients (serves 2):
2 tsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
3 large handfuls baby spinach leaves
4 figs cut into quarters
1 orange, peeled and cut into segments with pith removed (optional)
50g goat’s cheese

Dressing:
2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp seeded mustard

Method:

  • To make the candied walnuts, heat a small fry pan over medium heat. Add butter, sugar and walnuts and stir constantly for around 5 minutes or until walnuts are toasted and well coated with sugar mixture (the butter and sugar may form clumps to start with but just keep stirring). Allow to cool.
  • Place spinach leaves in a large bowl, gently toss through figs, orange segments, goat’s cheese and 2 tbsp of the candied walnuts.
  • Stir dressing ingredients together in a small bowl or jug. Drizzle over salad and serve.

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