Posts Tagged ‘Dairy-Free’

Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette

Posted 9 Jan, 2011 in Condiments [ 3 Comments ]

I’ve been a bit lazy over the last week and I’ve been buying my lunch every day. Lucky for me, there is a cool salad bar near my work where you can make your own salad with a selection of greens, veggies, and dressing. My favorite dressing from there is the basil and olive oil dressing.

This recipe for Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette is a take on Jamie Oliver’s recipe. It’s not quite the same as the dressing from the salad bar as it contains balsamic vinegar. The balsamic vinegar gives it a nice tang while the fresh basil adds a different layer of flavor.

So in my lunch box for tomorrow is a salad made of red capsicum, grated carrots, red onion, avocado, baby spinach leaves, leftover roast beef, and of course the Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette.

To save time, I always make two salads at a time so that I don’t have to make lunch the next day. If you layer the salad in the lunch container with the meat and vegetables at the bottom and the spinach greens on the top, the salad will stay fresh for 2 days. I take the avocado and the dressing separately and add them to the salad just before eating. I also got a cheap piece of roast beef from the butcher and slow roasted it this morning in the dutch oven to use as salad meat for the week.

A little bit of planning will save me $50 this week which is what I would have spent buying my lunch.

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Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 clove garlic
1 cup basil
6 tbs olive oil
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Process all ingredients in a food processor or blender.
Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Makes 1/3 cup.

Roasted Vegetables with Oven Baked Meatballs

Posted 21 Nov, 2010 in Main Course, Vegetables [ No Comments ]

I generally spend a bit of time on Sunday afternoons making bulk loads food as once Monday rolls around, I really don’t have a lot of time to cook. And given that all my meals are based on meat and vegetables, I need to be prepared. This week, I made a huge batch of roasted vegetables and a dozen meatballs. Both are highly versatile and I like to use them to make:

A salad with the roasted vegetables tossed through with salad greens and a nice vinaigrette.
Meatball and hard-boiled egg mashed up with a bit of olive oil and some fresh herbs.
Meatballs warmed up with some pasta sauce and served over the roasted vegetables (this is my favorite)
As an omelette filling.

Aside from the few strange looks I get from the people at my office, I’m getting used to having leftovers of meat and vegetables for breakfast. Lunch is more accepted but a meat and vegetables based breakfast is certainly different from the traditional breakfast of cereal and yogurt. But given that I feel so much better eating this way, I’m not taking too much notice that I am the odd one out at my work with my leftover dinners for breakfast and my snack of hard boiled eggs and carrot sticks.

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Roasted Vegetables

1 head of large broccoli, cut into florets.
1 eggplant cut into cubes
2 red onion sliced into crescents
6 garlic cloves unpeeled
3 sprigs of thyme
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients and roast at 175°C for 45 minutes.
Cool completely and store in the fridge.

Makes 4 servings.

Oven Baked Meatballs

1 kg ground beef
1 onion finely chopped
1 egg
1 tbs dried thyme
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients with your hand.
Roll into 12 evenly sized meatballs.
Bake on an oven tray for 40 minutes. The meatballs will be cooked through but the bottom side will be wet as it has been floating in its juices.
Drain the juices and transfer the meatballs upside down (wet side facing up) into a clean oven tray.
Place under the grill for 5 minutes to finish off.
Cool completely and store in the fridge.

Makes 12 meatballs.

Beef and Bacon Pies

Posted 14 Nov, 2010 in Main Course [ 5 Comments ]

I feel best on a diet of meat and vegetables. Over the last few months, my diet has been more coffee, alcohol, baked almond flour goods, and then meat and vegetables. With the holidays fast approaching, I really need to watch my diet or I know I will be completely burned out by Christmas.

The first step to this is that I stopped drinking coffee. I decided to do so because I was replacing breakfast with flat whites which is good for getting a kick start in the mornings, but not very good for my sleep. Since I stopped drinking coffee, I have been able to get a full 8-9 hours of sleep and I’m waking up without my alarm. This is even on the weekdays when I need to be up around 6:30AM. I feel a hundred times better and I’ve been so much more productive at work. It’s actually pretty amazing to feel so well rested.

So I’m now focusing on cutting every other crap from my diet except meat and vegetables. It will surely prove to be a challenge with the festive season just around the corner but still worth a go. I found this recipe in an old Dish magazine that I found when I was cleaning out my bookshelf. This recipe makes 12 half-cup sized portions which are great to have as breakfast on the go or with a large salad for lunch. Given that I have a crazy schedule during the week, having conveniently ready made foods is the best way for me to stick to a meat and vegetables diet.

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Beef and Bacon Pies

Recipe adapted from Dish magazine

6 slices of middle bacon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup parsley chopped
1 egg
750 grams beef mince
1 tbs curry paste (I used tandoori)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cut the bacon into halves so that you have 12 pieces.
Line the muffin tins with the bacon.
Cook the onion, garlic, and grated carrot in a skillet with butter until everything is cooked.
Add in the tomato paste and stir through. Take this mixture off heat and cool.
In another bowl, mix the beef, egg, parsley, curry paste. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the onion carrot mixture to the beef mixture. Mix well with hands.
Divide this mixture evenly in the bacon lined muffin tins.
Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until the juices run clear.
Remove from the muffin tins and flip onto a baking tray lined with baking paper so that the bacon side is shown on top. The pies should be easy to remove due to the juices from the beef mince.
Put under the grill for a further 5 minutes so that the bacon gets crisp.

Makes 12 pieces.

Posts Tagged ‘Dairy-Free’