Nutritious recipes using natural ingredients to make delicious, healthy food.

1. GREEN GODDESS BOWL (VEGETARIAN)

A very healthy, well balanced one bowl meal. Use a wide, low bowl.

STEP ONE : Prepare the tofu.

Tofu marinade:

Quarter of a cup tamari or soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon minced garlic

450g organic firm tofu, cut into 1 inch by 1 inch squares, 1.5 cm thick

Method:

Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a bowl, then add the tofu and stir gently to coat. Leave for an hour if possible, at least 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Then arrange the tofu in one single layer on baking paper on a pizza tray or baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until underside of tofu is starting to brown, then flip and bake for another 12 minutes until just browned.

STEP TWO: Prepare Green Goddess dressing/sauce.

Ingredients for Dressing/sauce:

1 medium ripe avocado

Half a cup of plain Greek yoghurt

Fresh herbs, chopped finely – 3 tablespoons each of chives, basil, and parsley

1 teaspoon minced garlic

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or avocado oil)

4 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

salt and pepper

8 tablespoons water, or as needed

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend to mix, add water to get the desired consistency.

STEP THREE: cook the quinoa

Ingredients:

2 cups white quinoa

4 cups of water

Place in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until tender. Wait until nearly all the water has simmered away – then cover and steam with the lid on for about 5 minutes.

STEP FOUR: steam the broccoli and the asparagus.

Cut one head of broccoli into florets and trim the woody ends from the asparagus and steam until just tender.

STEP FIVE: Prepare the snow peas and bean sprouts and hemp seeds.

Slice the snow peas, and open a bag of bean sprouts.

STEP SIX: Prepare the Green Goddess bowls.

To serve, stir a heaped tablespoonful of the dressing into the quinoa, and divide among servings. Top with the tofu, broccoli, asparagus, snow peas and bean sprouts and drizzle with the Green Goddess dressing, and sprinkle with hemp seeds.

2. ASPARAGUS RISOTTO (VEGETARIAN)

Ingredients:

2 litres vegetable stock

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 large brown onions, diced finely

4 small bunches fresh asparagus, cut into 3cm pieces

2 x 200g sliced button mushrooms

1 heaped teaspoon minced garlic

salt and pepper

2 large lemons, zested and juiced

500g Arborio rice

2 cups grated parmesan cheese

Half a cup of fresh dill, finely chopped

METHOD:

1. In a very large frying pan or heavy based pot, add the olive oil using medium to high heat. Add the diced onion, asparagus, mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring as you go. Stir in the lemon juice and sauté for another few minutes. The asparagus will go bright green in colour. Transfer to a large bowl.
2. Add some more olive oil to the pan/pot, add the Arborio rive and stir for a few minutes. Pour in a cup of stock, and stir. Let the liquid absorb before adding another cup of stock; stir regularly as the stock absorbs. Keep adding stock and stirring until you have added the whole 2 litres and the rice is creamy. When it’s ready the stock should be mostly absorbed but the rice should be creamy.
3. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parmesan cheese (you can use more if you want a richer risotto). Gently stir the cooked vegetables into the risotto. Stir in the fresh dill and the lemon zest; serve into bowls and top with more fresh herbs and zest if you want to.