Lemon Salmon Salad...

I keep banging on about how simple and quick it is to eat well so I'm going to keep throwing meal ideas up here... I'm not a chef, nor a food photographer so don't expect wonders.. but you'll always get really healthy, tasty suggestions that aren't expensive or difficult to prepare... 

Salads are always great to prepare in a hurry, and I always try to vary them a little so I don't get bored....(I get bored easily!)

• 1 cooked salmon darne, roughly chopped
• 100g spinach
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced
• 2 tbsp cottage cheese (full fat obviously..)
• 2 tbsp scallions, chopped
• 1/4 lemon 
• flaked almonds

Start by mixing cottage cheese with lemon juice and chopped scallions. 

Toss the remaining ingredients in the cottage cheese dressing. 

Serve immediately topped with a tablespoon of flaked almonds. 

Like I said... quick & easy... why overcomplicate it? It takes less than 5 minutes to throw this protein packed salad together, and it's so simple anyone could make it :) 

Dairy free pesto

As much as I try not to over-think my nutrition (it's easy to obsess), I'm always mindful of little things that may be hindering my progress, or potentially damaging my health. Store bought condiments can contain all sorts of ingredients we wouldn't expect to find in them, and since I do my best to avoid sugar and artificial preservatives, I usually make my own... just to be sure... (this isn't obsessing alright??!!)

I've said before that I've nothing really against dairy, but I don't make a habit of including it in my diet simply because I feel better without it. I don't think pesto lacks flavour by omitting it, so I always go dairy free. I've raved about the benefits of spinach before, so won't bore you again!

I use walnuts instead of pine nuts since they have so many excellent health benefits. They're a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids, making them a brilliant anti inflammatory food. If you have any sort of autoimmune disorder like eczema, psoriasis, arthritis or multiple sclerosis, you should be including walnuts in your diet....even if you don't, include them anyway because they're great for heart, hair and skin health :)  

You could use a mortar and pestle for this, but honestly a food processor is the way to go here. 

• 100g baby leaf spinach
• 4 garlic cloves
• 75g walnuts
• 1 tsp almond butter
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• pinch of sea salt
• 75ml walnut oil 

Add all ingredients except walnut oil to food processor and blitz until well combined. 

Drizzle walnut oil in slowly with the processor still running. Don't add all the oil in one go, or it won't mix evenly and you'll be left with a green oily mess. Be patient and just add a little at a time. 

Once you have added all the oil, your pesto is ready to use. 

If you don't use a lot of pesto in cooking, you can freeze it in an ice cube tray and just pop out a cube whenever you need some fresh pesto. It will taste far superior to store bought pesto, and only takes 5 minutes to prepare. 

In general, it's not the little things like condiments that are wrecking our progress, but still it's good to know exactly what you're eating so I do like to make it myself. 

Out of curiosity, and pure nerdiness (that is totally a word!) I took a look at the ingredient list for Sacla Classic Basil Pesto which seems to be stocked in most supermarkets.  And we have...glucose, 'flavourings'... what sort of flavourings? Not sure I want to be eating unidentified 'flavourings' to be honest... oh and we have potato flakes...that's not one I'd have guessed was in there. My point is, we can go to all the effort of omitting dairy, wheat or sugar etc from our diets, but they can creep in where we least expect it. It's not the end of the world, and no it's not likely to kill you... but if you're concerned about where your food comes from, you might want to think again before buying condiments. 

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..