mini veg frittatas

I recently rediscovered my food processor, and I have to admit, I'm in love.

It can slice, grate, chop... tuck me in bed at night. Ha! Ok, not quite. But it does a lot and what is there not to love about that.

So what to do about my new found love? Get slicing and grating, of course!

Mini veg frittatas
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 brown onion, grated
3 eggs
25g cheese (parmesan, cheddar, ricotta... whatever suits you)
Optional - I added chilli, but you can add herbs instead, just something for a touch more flavour

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a 6 hole muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Cook grated carrot, zucchini and onion (and optional chilli/herbs) in a fry pan for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables soften. (Note - you might want to add some water to assist this process)
3. Lightly whisk three eggs in a bowl and add cooked vegetables.
4. Divide egg and veg mixture evenly between paper cases and sprinkle cheese on top.
5. Bake in oven for approximately 10-15 minutes.

You can serve immediately, keep as a great snack or even a quick breakfast. And you don't need to stick to the recipe, you can use any mix of veggies! (Although I personally love the texture of the shredded carrot and zucchini.)

I used cheddar and chilli in this batch, so each mini frittatas was approx 70 calories.

- Dani

a good (re)start

Well, it has been a good start to the week, particularly on the health front. I have been eating clean, healthy food, without over indulging. Surprise, surprise... planning/being prepared seems to be a key element in this success.

Warm chicken quinoa salad with chilli zucchini and garlic broccoli (I just use whatever greens I have in the house at the time) has to be one of my all time favourite meals. (Thanks Heidi! Get the recipe here.)

Even something as simple a freshly chopped pineapple for breakfast, has helped me feel healthier and energised. (And feeling more energised is big thing for me.)

Dan has also been putting his inner chef to work and created a delicious, mostly healthy, Caesar salad.

After my recent hiatus at the gym, I can't believe that I am actually smashing out gym sessions. My overall endurance has definitely decreased, but my strength and my determination don't seem to have dwindled. I even managed a personal best on the rowing ergo yesterday.

But all is not perfect. I had a can of Coke Zero yesterday and after my gym session on Monday night I had the appetite of an animal preparing for hibernation. Though I still managed to eat decent food, it was a much larger meal than I should've eaten.

As previously mentioned, I am currently researching why people overeat and choose the 'wrong' food.

In particular, I am always baffled as to why I crave pizza when I know I enjoy eating a roast veg salad more. It doesn't seem to matter how much beautiful, healthy, fresh food I prepare, I still crave junk food. And I'm sure I am not alone in this.

Regardless, there is no magic pill that will change my attitude towards food - and even if there was, I wouldn't want to take it - I am determined to make these changes on my own. I just need a way to ensure I keep on making these changes. Hmm, if only it was that easy.

- Dani

green smoothie

Being lactose intolerant and having a less-than-positive attitude toward bananas, I often struggle with breakfast smoothies. For anyone partaking in the 12wbt at the moment, you would know that Banana Smoothies are part of the nutrition plan next week. So I've been searching for an alternative.

Today I decided to test out a green smoothie, which is based on Angela's (from Oh She Glows) Green Monster recipe.

Serves 2-3 (approx 45-65 calories per serve)

1 cup baby spinach

1 gala apple (or any sweet apple) 

1 continental cucumber

Juice from 1 lemon 

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

Maple syrup, to taste (I used approx 1 tablespoon)

Handful ice cubes

1. Peel cucumber. Roughly chop cucumber and apple.

2. Put spinach, apple, cucumber, lemon juice and ginger in a food processor or good quality blender. Blend on high until smooth.

3. Put mixture into a blender (if you haven't already) with ice and maple syrup.

4. Pour and serve!

The verdict: I was pleasantly surprised. I really like the idea of this recipe, but think it could do with some tweaking (e.g., I would definitely consider adding a second apple next time). 

Also, I personally found that my blender wasn't able create a smooth mixture on its own, so I had to use the food processor and then the blender. But just do what works best with the appliances you have.

Have a great weekend!

- Dani

miso salmon

I have always loved food but I haven't always appreciated it. I do now! So I'm going to share one of my favourite recipes with you - miso salmon.

Firstly, in case you don't know, miso is a Japanese paste made from soybeans. You can find varieties of it in Asian supermarkets, but even your local Coles/Woolworths will have miso sachets (for miso soup).

Secondly, I'm not sure of the exact origin of this recipe. I'm pretty sure my mum took it from a cookbook, but I'm not sure which one. (FYI my mum is an amazing cook.)

And finally, my friends who do not like fish, or dislike salmon in particular, love this dish. Even kids eat it - it helps if you mix the salmon with small bowl of rice. So hopefully you'll like it too!

Though this recipe is very quick to make, you do need to prepare and marinate the fish at least 2 hours before you want to eat. I find it easiest to make the marinade the night before and marinate the fish for 24 hours.

Marinade ingredients

Marinade whisked and cooling

Salmon bathing in miso marinade

Salmon (after marinating for 24 hours) on a wire rack lined with foil

The end product - delicious!

Miso salmon and Asian greens

Serves 10 (approx 285 calories per serve)

Ingredients

1kg salmon fillet(s)

1/3 cup mirin

1 tbs reduced salt soy sauce

2 tsp caster sugar

1/3 cup miso paste/instant miso soup

3-4 bunches of your favourite Asian greens (or any greens really)

Optional calorie boost - brown rice or udon noodles

Method
1. Place soy, mirin and sugar in a small pan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Add miso and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat, transfer to a shallow bowl to cool completely.
2. When cool, add fish and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for at 2 hours (or overnight).
3. Heat a grill to high and line a wire rack with foil. Place fish on the rack discarding the marinade and grill for 5 minutes or until golden and caramelised. Cooking fish like this on the rack brings it closer to the grill and allow heat to circulate.
Note - If you like your salmon cooked well throughout (which most non-fish eaters seem to prefer), you might need to leave it in for an additional minute or two depending on your grill.
4. Steam your greens while the fish is in the grill. (I happened to have an abundance of asparagus in the house but I would normally serve up gai lan and/or broccolini.) Plate up and serve!

This serves a lot of people (10!) and so is great for entertaining or large families, but if you are solo (or duo) you might want to reduce quantities. In my photos I had 200g salmon fillet (for two people) but I didn't reduce the marinade quantities (as I find it harder to get the right consistency - maybe I just need a smaller pan). Since the excess marinade is discarded, this shouldn't have much impact on the calorie count.

- Dani