Recipe | Simple Spicy Vegetables in Honey Soy

After a fairly crazy weekend of birthday and Australia Day celebrations I found my nutrition levels to be fairly lacking. During the week I like to chill out and restore my body to a more healthy state and in addition to my daily seed-based breakfasts and salads for lunch I try to avoid heavy carbohydrate-based meals in the evening. This is one of this weeks detox meals full of vitamins but also flavour and different textures. Feel free to change up the vegetables with your favourites. 

Ingredients

broccoli, separated from head

mushrooms, halved

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2tsp hot chilli paste

1/4 light soy sauce

1tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 180°. Prepare baking dish with baking paper.

In a medium mixing bowl mix garlic, chilli, soy sauce and honey together vigorously. Set aside. 

Bring a small to medium pot of water to the boil. Place broccoli and mushrooms in boiling water momentarily; until the green becomes much brighter. This process is called blanching and normally happens in under a minute. You wouldn't normally do this to mushrooms but I find it gently breaks through the skin which allows the marinade to soak through better.

Drain vegetables and add to marinade. Toss throughly and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Move vegetables from marinade into prepared baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes. 

Serve and enjoy!

If you have any healthy fulfilling snacks, feel free to recommend them in the comments.

Erin xx

Recipe | Kale Chips

Hi lovelies! Continuing on from Erin's previous post on how to cook edamame, I thought I'd show you my experiments with kale chips. Initially these were a bit of an experiment as I wasn't sure I would enjoy these chips that much. However several empty bowls later I can confirm that these are just as addictive as everyone says they are.

Recipe | Cayenne Chicken and Salsa

I have been becoming rather obsessed with the concept of salsas as sides lately and have been experimenting with many different variations. This recipe includes a very traditional salsa but traditional does not imply it is any less amazing. The cayenne pepper I used in my version of this recipe was incredibly hot so the tomato and avocado act as a delicious cooling agent. 

Ingedients
2 chicken breasts, halved
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp sea salt
1 cup uncooked quinoa 
2 tomatoes, roughly diced 
1 avocado, roughly diced
1 red onion, roughly diced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
sea salt and cracked pepper
sour cream

In a bowl, coat each piece of chicken in 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper and 1 tsp of sea salt. Cook the chicken in a large fry pan with a small coating of vegetable/sunflower/rice bran oil until cooking the whole way through.

Pour the quinoa in a small saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water. Place over a low heat and cover until the water has been absorbed into the quinoa. Take off the heat once cooked. 

Meanwhile, in a bowl, coat the diced red onion in the lemon and line juice and let is soak for 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked. Add the remaining tomato and avocado and mix through. Season with salt and pepper.

The chicken and quinoa should be cooked by now. To serve, place a spoonful of quinoa as a bed in the centre of the plate followed by one half chicken breast. Spoon over some of the salsa with a dollop of sour cream on the side. Again, season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve and enjoy! Tara and I found this to quite a hot dish so feel free to change the quantities of cayenne pepper you use. I loved the flavour and will probably the use the same amount again and continue to use a lot of sour cream. My preferred brand of sour cream is actually the one by Weight Watchers - it tastes the same has a lot less fat than other brands.  

Erin xx

Scent | Paco Rabanne '1 Million'

Hi lovelies! It probably is no surprise, but I am not the girliest of girls. Recently I have been on the hunt for a new perfume, and disappointed by the floral, sugary offerings in the ladies' section I turned to the colognes. 

Recipe | Green Chicken Curry with Hokkien Noodles

In the last year or so my tolerance my chili and spice has increased immensely. Additions of intensely hot chili to my meals has become a slight obsession. I'm currently living and sharing meals with family who do no appreciate such hectic spice (understandably) and so whenever I get the chance I go a bit nuts. This was a curry I created when my mum was up visiting recently. It's fairly simple and can be altered with whatever meat, and vegetables and noodles that you prefer.