Chorizo & Sweet Potato Hash...

I don't really think of food in terms of breakfast, lunch or dinner... I'm more concerned about the quality of the meal, how it fits in with my goals & if it tastes good... This dish however, is amazing for breakfast, everything from the smell of bacon & chorizo wafting through the house, to the eggs baked on top (I LOVE eggs with a runny centre!!).. If you're finding it boring eating bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, this is a great alternative. It'd make a great dinner too though!

As much as I love baking, I love savoury dishes like this. There are no rules, and you can substitute or add ingredients depending on your taste preferences or whatever you have in the fridge and it'll still taste great. I posted a photo of this last week on the Facebook page, but I think regardless of the simplicity of the recipe it's important to post them on GLBTK so nobody misses a recipe. After all, the page is all about demonstrating how easy & quick it is to eat well.

• 150g sweet potato, cubed
• 50g chorizo, chopped
• 2 smoked bacon medallions, chopped 
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 large portobello mushroom, sliced
• 5 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 100g spinach
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 4 tbsp passata/chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 200d. 

Start by chopping all the ingredients to small pieces that will cook quickly. 

In an oven safe skillet, cook the sweet potato for 2-3 minutes in a little coconut oil until slightly softened. 

Add the chorizo & bacon and cook quickly.

Add the onion, mushroom and tomatoes, cooking until just softened. 

Next add the spinach, tomato purée, passata and spices of choice. Cook quickly for approx 2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. 

Finally crack 2 eggs on top of the mixture. Place pan in the preheated oven for 3-4 minutes until the eggs are cooked but the yolks are still soft. 

Serve immediately. 

Meatloaf with extra meat...

I've only had meatloaf once...it doesn't stir up happy memories! It was dry, tasteless and contained unidentifiable minced meat. You'd wonder why I decided to make it since I clearly hated it first time round.. Well, magic did not happen in the canteen when I was in boarding school, so I try not to let it impair my judgement too much.

I like the idea of meat loaf since it's one of those dishes that any leftovers will be great cold as a high protein snack on the go. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I had to make posh meatloaf...but don't worry, there has been no scrimping on the meat content... A lot of meat loaf recipes use flour or breadcrumbs as a binder, but since I exclude grains from my diet, I just left it out. You could add in some almond flour if you feel the meatloaf is a little sticky. 

Meatloaf: 

1lb minced pork

1lb minced turkey 

1 red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

100g oyster mushrooms

2 eggs

100g Boyne Valley Blue (unpasteurised blue goats cheese) If you're strictly Paleo, just leave this out. 

100g spinach leaves

1 small tin organic tomato paste

8 thick cut smoked pieces of bacon

basil, oregano, sea salt, pepper

Start by sweating onion, garlic, mushrooms and herbs in a dry wok. There's no need to add oil, as the natural juices will keep them moist. Cook for 5 mins, tossing regularly. 

Add in 4tbsp of organic tomato paste, and mix to combine.

Next add minced meat to large bowl with the above seasoning mix, and 2 eggs.

 Mix until well combined. 

At this stage, you can pop the meat mixture into a loaf tin, top with some tomato paste and bacon, and cook for 45 minutes... OR......

Spread meat into a square about 1 inch thick onto a piece of tin foil.

Top with spinach leaves and 3/4 of the blue goats cheese. 

Next, take the edge of the tin foil closest to you, and lifting gently, roll into a roulade. This is actually really easy, you just need to lift the tin foil slowly, and the meat will fall into this shape naturally. 

Transfer to a pyrex baking dish. 

Coat the outside with the remaining tomato paste and crumbled blue cheese. 

Next wrap the meatloaf in bacon, overlapping at the edges. 

Cover loosely with tin foil, and bake for 40 minutes. 

Remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes until the bacon is nicely browned and crispy.

This isn't like the meatloaf I remember from school, it's full of flavour, and really moist. Whether you bake it in a loaf tin, without the blue cheese and spinach, or you make it into slightly fancier roulade, I've no doubt you'll love how simple this is to make.

Cut into slices and serve with lots of fresh salad.

Leftovers are great eaten cold or warm, and this will also freeze great as a healthy dinner back up for busy days..