Crispy Skin Salmon with a Radish and Parmesan Salad

Spring Dinner Idea

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Ingredients 

As we always say, try and opt for as much organic produce as possible!

2 Salmon fillets

2-3 Radish heads plus leaves

Parmesan (we use Organic Dairy Farmers parmesan)

3 Parsnips (make sure they are small, if you can only find large parsnips then you only need one)

2 Carrots (medium)

Fresh Parsley (a few stems plus leaves)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (2 tbsp)

Coconut Oil (1 tsp)

Pepper

Himalayan Salt

*We also added some ByronBay sauerkraut. The Tasmanian seaweed flavour goes quite well with this dish!

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180 d/c

Meanwhile, wash your vegetables thoroughly. Slice through the parsnips and carrots length ways. We did this by slicing the parsnips in half, then in quarters. We had small parsnips therefore our long pieces were relatively fine

Repeat with the carrots. If your carrots are rather long, chop in half horizontally first then slice down length ways

On a tray, place your vegetables and 1 tbsp of olive oil, pepper, and salt and give them a good mix. Place them in the oven for around 25 minutes (this will vary depending on how thick your vegetables pieces are)

Wash your radish, then cut off the leaves. Finely chop the leaves with the parsley creating a green salad. Then slice through your radish making fine circles. Grab a peeler, and peel fine strips off the parmesan. Once you have these three components done, you can gently mix them all together in a small bowl with the remainder of olive oil

Check on the parsnip and carrots, if you can easily place a knife through them you know they’re nearly done. This gives you the all clear to start your salmon. On a fry pan add one teaspoon of coconut oil and wait until pan is hot. Then place your salmon fillets with skin side down. Salmon generally takes around 5 minutes on each side. However this will depend on the thickness of your salmon and how cooked you prefer it

Once ready, take out the vegetables from the oven, and place on two plates or on a sharing board. Repeat this with your radish salad

Bring the salmons to the table and voila you have yourself a nourishing meal to share with your loved one! (or ones)

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Spring Salad Series #6

Olive Oil Spelt Penne with Sautéed Greens 

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Who doesn’t love pasta? (no one…)

Spelt pasta teamed with organic greens and olive oil go perfectly together. This dish is super simple and takes only a few minutes to prepare, ideal for a mid week lunch or dinner

* Due to our gluten intolerance we tend to opt for spelt or buckwheat pasta as our bellies can tolerate these grains a lot better

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Ingredients

Organic Spelt Penne (enough to serve two)

One small organic broccoli head

Three large organic leaves of silver beet

Half a cup of frozen organic garden peas

One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Pepper (to taste)

Himalayan salt (to taste)

Fresh organic parsley (to garnish)

One heaped teaspoon of nutritional yeast

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Method

Put on a put of water with some himalayan salt and bring to a boil

Once boiling add the pasta, we usually cook our pasta for around 10 minutes however this will vary on the type of pasta and how cooked you like your pasta to be. We prefer it more on the al dente side!

Meanwhile, break the broccoli head and finely chop the silver beet leaves. In a large wok add these vegetables and the garden peas with a dash of water. Sauté for around 3 minutes, our until the frozen peas are no longer frozen

Once the pasta is ready, drain out the water and put the pasta back into the pot. Add the olive oil, pepper, salt and nutritional yeast and mix all together. Then you can add the vegetables and give it another good mix

Separate into two bowls and top with parsley. It really is as easy as that kids! A simple, satisfying and beautiful dish that can be enjoyed at any time of the day

Now were off to enjoy this spring sunshine, Ciao!

Atlantic Salmon, Roasted Vegetable, Grilled Eggplant and Charred Kale Salad

This dish was quite possibly one of the most satisfying meals we have made! (well most definitely in our top 5). It was rich in flavours and just really hit the spot. It doesn’t take much preparation so there are no excuses with this one!

We enjoyed this meal the day our mum came home from Europe. We spent the whole day chatting and catching up on the past two months. This dish with a glass of organic shiraz was the perfect end to the day

Enjoy this meal, and every other meal, with your loved ones. No one should ever eat alone

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Ingredients (Serves two as a main)

All our ingredients were organic. Try eat organic vegetables (especially leafy greens) where possible

– 1/2 a small eggplant

– 1/2 a sweet potato (or one small sweet potato)

– 2 handfuls of brussel sprouts

– 2 handfuls of curly kale (around three leaves)

– 2 wild salmon fillets

– 1/2 an avocado

– 2 tablespoons of pistachio kernels

– Sicilian olives (around six per person or how ever many you desire)

– 2 cloves of garlic

– Parsley (to garnish)

– Extra virgin olive oil

– 1 teaspoon of coconut oil

– Himalayan salt and pepper

– 1 teaspoon of ground sage

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Method (you will need an oven, grill, fry pan and wok)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius

Wash all vegetables thoroughly

Roughly chop sweet potato and keep brussel sprouts whole. Place them on a tray with the garlic cloves (you can keep the cloves whole or chop them roughly)

Drizzle your vegetables with one tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with pepper and salt. Massage the oil into the vegetables and place in the oven to roast for around 30-40 minutes

Once your vegetables have been in the oven for 15-20 minutes, turn on your grill and slice 1/2 the eggplant in half again, making two quarters. Make a few slits in the eggplant (not on the skin side) and massage around one tablespoon (or slightly less) of olive oil, pepper, salt and ground sage all over and in between the slits of the eggplant. Place under the grill with the skin side facing down. The eggplant will take around 15 minutes (may take longer depending on how high you put your grill on – keep your eye on them)

Check your vegetables, if you can easily place a knife through the sweet potato thats the sign that you can start your salmon fillets!

On a fry pan, place the coconut oil and wait until the pan heats up. Then place your salmon fillets with a drizzle of lemon and pepper. Salmon usually takes around 5 minutes each side, however this will depend on your frypan and how cooked you like your fish

Slice 1/2 your avocado in half again, making two quarters. We then decided to grill our avocado for a few minutes (feel free to keep your avocado fresh – grilled and fresh avocado taste quite different and can change the taste of your dish. With this in mind, grilled avocado went perfectly with this dish)

Once your fish is nearly ready (or ready), roughly chop the kale and place on a wok with a dash of water. Sauté the kale for only 3 minutes

Now you will be ready to start serving. So! First place your sautéed kale on two plates. Then top with your sweet potato and brussel sprouts. Grab your eggplant and chop into thick chunks then place on plates. Grab your avocado and either slice or leave whole and place on plates. Grab your salmon fillets and roughly chop into thick chunks… then guess what… place them on the plates

Add your olives and pistachio kernels

Garnish with some fresh parsley!

Spring Salad Series #5

SPRING SALAD SERIES

Roasted Vegetables and Poached Chicken on a bed of herbs and Kamala Olives

This salad is pretty simple but it incorporates basically all of our favourite foods so we’re pretty excited to share it with you guys! Who doesn’t love garlic-y roasted veggies, tender poached chicken, herbs, avocado, olives and olive oil?! We absolutely love all of these ingredients and make a version of this salad often at home. Grilled salmon or finely sliced lamb backstrap or even a nice eye fillet steak goes wonderfully.

It’s one of our staple dishes so make it with love and enjoy with close friends and family

Ingredients Opt for organic ingredients if possible

– 2 small to medium potatoes

– 1 fennel bulb

– 2 to 4 carrots

– 1 beetroot

– 1 leek

– 3 cups of finely chopped herbs and greens of choice. We used parsley, fennel leaves, rosemary, chives and spinach 

– 10 pitted Kamala Olives

– 2 organic chicken breasts

– Half an avocado

– 2 tbsp of Olive oil (the the dressing and for the roasting)

– 2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

– 1 teaspoon of cumin

– Himalayan salt

– Pepper

Method

1. Set your oven to about 175 degrees Celsius.

2. Cup on all your root veggies into generous sized chunks. Scatter onto an oven tray and drizzle with olive oil, himalayan salt, pepper and cumin. We also added a few  rosemary sprigs, a few a couple of cloves of garlic (leave the outer skin on) and some thyme from the garden.

3. Once oven is ready, place your veggies in. They will take about half an hour to get nicely roasted and golden. Thats you’re prep for your roasted veggies done, now you can work on your greens. You really can use any herbs that you may have on hand for this salad. We have heaps of parsley, chives, fennel leaves, spinach and rosemary so we roughly cut them all up and scattered them onto two plates.

4. As your veggies are roasting, bring a saucepan of water to the boil. As you are waiting for the water to boil, slice your two chicken breasts into about 2 centimetre pieces. You should be able to cut about 4 to 5 pieces per breast.

5. When the water is boiling, add your chicken. The pieces will be readily poached when they sort of start to float to the top. Around 5 to 10 minutes (its a bit of a guessing game to be honest! so keep checking them – you don’t want to ‘over poach’ them as that will make them dry and chewy!)

6. Your veggies and chicken should be done around the same time. Distribute the veggies evenly onto the two plates (with the already made greens) and top with your nicely poached chicken.

7. Now for the finishing touches. Add around 5 olives to each plate, plus a quarter of an avocado. We like to create an ‘avo slide’ by finely slicing the avocado and melding it into the shape of a ‘slide’ Refer to the photos

8. We keep our salad dressings simple with just olive oil, apple cider vinegar, himalayan salt and pepper.

9. Eat

M + S xx

Spring Salad Series #1

Sautéed Greens with crispy skin Salmon. 

Spring is all about spending time with family and friends on weekends, cooking and eating in the garden. It’s about frolicking amongst the freshly blossomed flowers and drinking rose in the sunshine. It’s also the perfect time to prep yourself for summer. By this we mean, starting to cook with lighter, fresher and more vibrant foods.

How wonderful is spring?

We definitely love it so we thought what a better way of celebrating then introducing a new spring salad every week to share with you all. Salads make up about 2 to 3 of our meals everyday, so you know, we kind of know how to make a bloody good one. 

This recipe is a staple in our diet as we make it on a regular basis. Salmon is one of our favourite foods, and who doesn’t love green veggies?  Oh and cheese is also a winner.

Make this salad and enjoy it with your family outside in the sunshine. We would absolutely love to hear any feedback from you so please don’t be a stranger!

Ingredients 

*Try to opt for organic vegetables if possible. Spring is for detoxing the system so reducing your chemical intake is ideal. 

– 1 broccoli head (and stem)

– 2 handfuls of brussel sprouts

– 1 cup of frozen peas

– 1 leek

– 1 zucchini (ribbons)

– 1/2 an avocado

– 2 Atlantic Salmon fillets with the skin on

– 2 slices of cheddar cheese (optional)

– 1 table spoon of apple cider vinegar

– 1 Lemon

– 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil

– 1 teaspoon of coconut oil

– Pepper and salt to taste

Method

1. Thoroughly wash all vegetables before roughly chopping. Chop all vegetables except the zucchini as you will need to use a peeler to obtain the ‘ribbon effect’.

2. Once vegetables are prepared, heat your coconut oil in a wok and sauté the leek until slightly brown and tender. Meanwhile, squeeze half of your lemon onto the salmon with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Once leek is ready, add the remaining vegetables with a dash of water and apple cider vinegar (sauté for a maximum of five minutes as green vegetables should not be cooked for too long as they loose their nutritional value)

4. As your vegetables are cooking, heat up a another pan with some coconut oil for your salmon fillets. Salmon should take about 4 minutes each side depending on how you like it.

5. Once the fish and vegetables are cooked, distribute the greens onto two plates. Top with the salmon, avocado and the cheddar.

6. Finally, a dash of olive oil, some pepper, a tad of apple cider vinegar and parsley (if you have it) will top this dish off perfectly.

Cauliflower Couscous with Lentils and Spiced Quark

Winter Warmer Series 

Ingredients: Serves two as a main with leftovers!

– 1/2 a head of organic cauliflower

– 1 head of organic broccoli

– 1/2 a cup of organic peas

– Four stems of organic black kale

– 1 cup of organic lentils

– 1 teaspoon of coconut oil

– 1 teaspoon of cumin

– 1 teaspoon of turmeric

– 1 tablespoon of raw buckwheat

– Spiced Quark (refer below for recipe)

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Method:

1) Wash hands and vegetables

2) Place one cup of lentils with three cups of water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn down heat and allow lentils to simmer with lid on. Keep an eye on the lentils, adding small dashes of water if needed

3) Meanwhile, break apart the cauliflower and place into a food processor. You want the cauliflower to resemble ‘rice’

4) In a large saucepan or wok place the cauliflower with a teaspoon of cumin and a teaspoon of turmeric. Sauté the cauliflower for a few minutes and then turn down the heat and place the lid on

4) Cut up the kale leaves into smaller segments (also cutting and using the stems – no wasting food!) and break apart broccoli head

5) In another large saucepan or wok with one teaspoon of coconut oil, sauté the kale with the broccoli and peas. We like to salute our greens with bone broth that we pre make and leave in the freezer. Adding a dash of water will also work. Sauté for a few minutes then turn down the heat and place the lid on

6) In a small pan, lightly toast the raw buckwheat until golden

7) Grab a large mixing bowl. Combine 1 cup of cauliflower rice, the sautéed greens and around 2/3 cup of lentils. Mix all ingredients well. Feel free to add more cauliflower rice or lentils if you wish, there will be leftovers in the pan!

8) Place onto two plates and top each with one generous tablespoon of spiced quark and one teaspoon of toasted buckwheat!

Enjoy!

M + S

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Spiced Quark 

You can buy Quark at any grocer or healthful store. We use biodynamic/organic Swiss style cottage cheese quark from B.-d.Farm Paris Creek

– 2 heaped tablespoons of cottage cheese quark

– A pinch of pepper and himalayan salt

– 1 teaspoon of ground cumin

– 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric

– 1 teaspoon of organic tahini

– Water (this will depend on the consistency you want – we added around 3 tablespoons)

– In a small mixing bowl, combine spices with quark and mix gently

Winter Sweet Potato and Sardine Salad

WINTER SALAD SERIES

Oven baked Sweet Potato on a bed of sautéed Brussel sprouts and Sustainable Sardines. Topped with sunflower seed pesto, black olives, goats feta and fresh parsley

Much of our inspiration behind our cooking is from Jacqueline Alwill and her ‘Brown Paper Bag Blog’. Her beautifully presented meals and recipes have an abundance of nutrients, incorporating all major food groups. She includes red and white meat, cheese and eggs within her recipes, demonstrating a balanced and sensible approach to wellness. We very much admire her cooking and frequently check her blog for updates – the recipe for the pesto that we’re about to post is adapted from her page.

Ingredients: Serves two as a main

-1/2 a small to medium sweet potato. Finely sliced lengthways

– 2 cups of brussel sprouts. Cut in half

– 1/4 cup of green peas (we use organic frozen)

– 1 tin of sustainable sardines in olive oil

– 1/4 goats feta

– 1/2 cup of black olives

– 1/4-1/3 cup of Pesto (Click here for Brown Paper Bag recipe)

– Fresh Parsley

-Pepper to taste

– Himalayan salt to taste

Method

This recipe is very basic! It’ll take you around 20 minutes to prepare so very convenient for a mid week meal 

1. Place your finely sliced sweet potato on a tray. Brush with a tad of olive oil, salt and pepper. Back in oven set at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.

2. Whilst sweet potato is in the oven, sauté your brussel sprouts and peas in a wok on high heat in a bit of coconut oil (or water). Keep sautéing till the brussels begin to soften and possibly turn a little brown at the edges. Once ready mix through the black olives and  evenly distribute onto two plates.

3. The sweet potato should be ready now, remove from oven and delicately layer onto the greens.

4. With your tinned sardines, evenly halve and coarsely break over the potato.

5. Top with the pesto, goats feta and fresh parsley

6. A dash of olive oil and you’re good to go!

Cacao Bliss Balls

So, we’ve joined the bliss ball club. It’s pretty awesome. 

We definitely love our snacks, I mean who doesn’t? The idea that some people go hours and hours between each meal without a nibble or a graze just baffles us. Snacks provide your body with energy to continuously burn, allowing your metabolism to remain active and alert. They stabilise your blood sugar levels and prevent that 3 pm mind fog. Adding protein to your snacks and some healthy fats also keeps you sustained throughout the day, preventing over-eating at meal times. 

We joined the snack club years ago, but we are only recent members of the bliss ball club.

 You should join the club too.

Bliss Balls 

1 cup of dates (pitted)

1/2 cup of rolled oats

1/2 cup of desiccated coconut

1 tbsp of cacao (or more if you’re a choccie fan!)

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

A pinch of himalayan salt

1 tbsp of chia seeds or flax seeds

2-3 tbsp of coconut oil

**If you’re a protein powder kinda gal/guy, feel free to add a scoop to give these babies an added protein punch. We personally don’t use protein powder but if you do, try adding it in and let us know how it goes!

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend till the desired consistency. You may need to add some water as you want the mixture to stick well together. 

Once blended, roll into balls and coat with more coconut or more cacao! Pop in the fridge to let them set a bit. We usually leave them in the fridge over night before grabbing one to munch on. 

So delicious as a mid morning snack, 3 pm pick-me-up or an after dinner treat. Go on, jump on the bliss ball bandwagon and give them a go! 

Twins xx

Pumpkin, Turmeric and Leek soup

Nothing warms your belly quite like a big bowl of pumpkin goodness.

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Our version of the typical ‘mums homemade pumpkin soup’ has added immune boosting properties with the addition of turmeric and ginger. Super nourishing and warming on a chilly night. We love to get a little over board with our toppings, adding avocado, wilted kale, cheese,  extra spice, fresh herbs and sometimes some protein like poached chicken. The options are endless!

Like most of our recipes, this soup is easy to throw together – all you need are a few staple spices like turmeric and cumin, herbs like parsley and thyme and veggies.

** Also, the small side bowl in the above image is a sneak peak of our pumpkin and sweet potato curry. The recipe for this little gem will be up on the blog soon!

Ingredients 

– 3/4 of a large butternut pumpkin

– 1 Leek

– 2 small carrots

– 750 ml of water (1 Litre if you want a ‘thinner’ consistency)

Use a homemade vegetable stock if you have that on hand, if not water is fine! (we used water)

– 2 garlic cloves

– 1 small/medium brown onion

– 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger

– 1 tbsp of ground turmeric or grated fresh turmeric root

– 1 tsp of ground cumin

– 1 Bay Leaf

– 1 quarter of a cup of finely chopped fresh herbs (thyme, sage and parsley)

– Half a tsp of cayenne pepper

– Pepper to taste

– Himalayan Salt to taste

Toppings: Avocado, wilted kale, parsley and bocconcini cheese. We also added a ‘Moroccan souk’ spice that we purchased from a spice shop in the city. You can just finish with either dusting some more turmeric or quickly whipping up your own dukkah. 

Method

1. Heat your pot with some coconut oil and start by sautéing your onion, garlic and ginger. Heat till onion browns (be careful not to burn it)

2. Add a dash of water and all your spices and keep sautéing for a couple of minutes to create a paste like consistency.

3. Next add your Leek – sauté for a few minutes before adding your pumpkin and carrots.

4. Cook the veggies in the pot for about 10 minutes, making sure to continue stirring so that the onion doesn’t brown.

5. Add your water, himalayan salt and bay leaf and bring the pot to a boil.

6. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer for about half an hour (the longer the better).

7. Turn off the heat and blend your mixture with a hand blender.

8. Voila! You have made pumpkin soup, easy hey?

9. Top with your favourites. We mixed through some wilted kale, avocado, bocconcini cheese (we also love haloumi in soup) and parsley

10. EAT

M + S xx

‘Creamy’ Mushroom and Poached Chicken Spelt Pasta

As we are now in Autumn.. pasta dishes are going to be enjoyed on a more regular basis, therefore we will be posting some super easy sauce and pasta combos to get rid of those boring pasta dishes that everyones used to having! This is our take on ‘Creamy’ Mushroom and Chicken Pasta.

We always try and cook with 100% organic ingredients.

Ingredients: Serves TWO as a main

Organic Spelt Penne Pasta (around 1 cup uncooked) – We use spelt as we are able to tolerate this grain best (gluten intolerance issues… don’t ask)

Two  Organic small Chicken Breasts

Mushrooms (as many as you can get your hands on) – We used flat, button and shiitake

One Organic Broccoli head

One small Organic Zucchini

Fresh Organic Spinach (One handful)

Fresh Ricotta (3 tablespoons)

One Onion Shallot

One clove of Garlic

White Wine

Fresh Basil 

Pepper (to taste)

Himalayan Salt (to taste)

Coconut oil (one heaped teaspoon)

Method:

1) Cut up chicken breasts into small cubed pieces

2) Wash all the vegetables ‘obsessively’ well!

3) Chop up mushrooms and zucchini into quarterly pieces.

4) Break apart broccoli head and use your hands to break (‘shred’) into smaller pieces

5) Finely shop the onion, garlic and two basil leaves

6) With the coconut oil, place onion, garlic and basil onto a large deep frying pan

7) Sauté until golden and add a splash of white wine

8) Combine the mushrooms, zucchini and ‘shredded’ broccoli to the pan and salute until golden

9) Add a few more dashes of white wine and three tablespoons of ricotta

10) Mix well, turn down the heat and simmer with lid on. Keep as eye on the sauce and If you find it becomes a little dry add a few splashes of water

11) Pop two pots of water (one for the pasta and one for the chicken) on the stove and bring both to boil

12) Once pots are boiling, add the chicken and poach for around 4-6 minutes (this will vary on how large the chicken pieces are). Add the pasta to the other pot and cook for around 10 mins or less. We like our pasta ‘al dente‘ thus we leave it coking for less time.

13) Back to the sauce, add some seasoning (pepper and salt to taste).

14) Once pasta and chicken are ready, combine all to the creamy mushrooms pan and mix well.

15) Last ingredient to add is the fresh spinach

15)  Now its ready to serve! Top with some fresh basil and a little more seasoning and voila!

** Tip; Best enjoyed with a glass of red wine… Just saying

xxxxx Twins