Gluten-Free Chicken Schnitzel

This is another recipe that I developed for my detox clients.

I love to eat food that is healthy but doesn’t feel like it! Comfort food is the best!

It gives me the greatest pleasure to sit down with friends and family to a meal that feels indulgent and naughty but is actually full of hidden veggies, healthy and guilt free!

My Gluten Free Chicken Schnitzel is one of those meals that tastes too good to be healthy.

I’d go so far as to say that it might just rival the traditional schnitzel. I don’t follow a 100% gluten free diet, but I do try to minimise my gluten intake and I believe that even non-coeliacs should try to be aware of how much gluten they are consuming. I think we eat too much gluten and that is why so many of us are suddenly finding ourselves intolerant.

Recipes like this help us to reduce our gluten intake while still enjoying delicious food.

So here it is, my Gluten Free Chicken Schnitzel

Ingredients

•   2 chicken breasts
•   1 egg, beaten
•   1/2 cup macadamia meal (made by processing whole macadamias)
•   ¼ pumpkin, chopped
•   Rocket, cucumber, red onion, capsicum for side salad

Method

1.       Place pumpkin on oven tray and roast for 20-30 minutes until soft (approx 180 degrees).

2.       Spread the macadamia meal on a shallow bowl or plate

3.       Dip the chicken in the egg and then roll in the nut meal

4.       Place the schnitzel on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 7-10 minutes each side until cooked through

5.       Chop up salad ingredients and arrange on plate

Serve and enjoy!

Gluten Free Pesto chicken Pasta

I invented this one for my Burton Health Cleanse participants. Its dairy free, gluten free, quick to make, delicious and super healthy!

I use a Betti Bossi Veggie Twister to make my noodles but you can also do it with a julienne peeler, grater or normal veggie peeler for thick ribbons.

Ingredients:

•  1 large chicken breast
•   2 zucchinis
•   ½ bunch basil leaves
•   ¼ cup olive oil
•   ¼ cup pine nuts or almonds
•   1 clove garlic

Method:

1.       Place chicken in a pot of simmering water, simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat, cover and sit for 20mins

2.       Process/blitz basil, pine nuts, garlic and oil to make your pesto

3.       Make noodles out of raw zucchini using veggie twister, grater or julienne peeler

4.       Fry noodles in small amount of oil approx 2 mins

5.       Remove chicken from water and slice

6.       Mix sauce though noodles and allow to heat through, mix chicken through or place on top

7.       Can serve with a little goats feta if desired.

Honey Soy Salmon with Vegetable Noodles

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Laura

This is a detox friendly dish for anyone on one of the Burton Health Cleanse programs but is delicious at any time 

Ingredients

• 1 leek sliced
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 2 salmon steaks

Sauce:

• 4 tbs tamari
• 1 tbs honey
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/4 lemon juice

Method

Place leek in an oven proof dish, lie salmon on top and drizzle sauce over leaving about a tablespoon behind. Cover with foil and bake in oven on 180 for 15mins.

Meanwhile use the Betti Bossy Veggie Twister to make zucchini and sweet potato noodles. Alternatively grate or julienne.

Heat a wok or large frying pan, spray lightly with olive oil, cook sweet potato on med heat tossing occasionally.  When 5mins cooking time left on salmon add zucchini noodles and a little more olive oil spray.

Serve and drizzle with remaining sauce.

Serves 2
Enjoy!

Warm Quinoa Salad

This is a great easy midweek dish, left over chicken could be used if you have any hanging about in the fridge.Quinoa pronounced keen-wah, is a complete protein, packed full of macronutrients such as zinc, magnesium and iron. It’s wheat and gluten free so it’s a great alternative to couscous and it tastes great! Before cooking quinoa it is important to rinse it well, this will remove the saponin from the quinoa.

Ingredients

•   1 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cups gluten free chicken stock (no nasties)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons macadamia oil (or olive oil)
•  ½ cup pepitas
•  Juice of 1 lemon
•   ½ cup basil pesto
•   1 bunch broccolini, trimmed
•   Fresh basil leaves

Method

1.       Place chicken breasts in a saucepan of simmering water for 5 minutes, cover and remove from heat, stand for 20 minutes until cooked through, remove from liquid.

2.       Meanwhile, place quinoa in a saucepan with the stock and bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and stand, covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

3.       Steam or blanch your broccolini.

4.       Shred the chicken and toss with the lemon juice and oil, then add all other ingredients and toss until well combined.

Serve and enjoy!

Quinoa and sweet potato balls

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Laura

These balls are great with zucchini pasta for a main meal or with tzatziki for a snack. The quinoa and almonds make them high in protein so a great vegetarian dish and carnivores won’t even notice that the meat is missing!

Ingredients

•  1 sweet potato

•  1 cup quinoa (uncooked)

•   ½  bunch basil

•   1 cup raw almonds

•   1 clove garlic

•   ½ tablespoon coconut flour

•   ½ teaspoon salt

•   Olive oil

Method

1.       Peel sweet potato, cut into 4, place on a lined baking tray and bake at 180 for 30 mins, turning once. Set aside to cool.

2.       Rinse quinoa then place in saucepan with 1.5 cups water. Bring to boil then simmer with lid on for 10 minutes, return to strainer and drain out excess water (push quinoa with back of spoon to get water out).

3.       In your blender, blend the almonds then add the quinoa, sweet potato, garlic, salt, basil, coconut flour and olive oil until all combined.

4.       Form into golf ball sized balls (approx. 16 balls) and place on lined baking tray, drizzle with olive oil.

5.       Bake on 180 for 25 minutes, turning twice.

Serve with raw zucchini pasta (use a grater or peeler to make your pasta), tzatziki, lemon juice and olive oil for a meal or, dip into tzatziki at a party or picnic. Enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

The weather has turned a bit chilly, grey and rainy in Sydney today and it’s making me fancy soup!

This recipe came from my friend Kristen and the first time I made it I had to keep texting photos to her because it just felt too easy! If you like pumpkin soup then you should really give this one a go. Roasting the veggies gives it such a rich and delicious flavour.

Ingredients

  1 butternut pumpkin, roughly chopped

  1 onion, whole

  ½ bulb garlic

  Approx 500ml chicken or vegetable stock

  Black pepper

Method

1.       Preheat oven to 180

2.       Place pumpkin, onion and garlic on oven tray (skins on)

3.       Roast vegetables until soft, approx 45mins

4.       Remove from oven, scoop pumpkin out of skin and squeeze onion and garlic out of their skins (use tongs, not your hands!).

5.       Blend or stick mix the vegetables together with chicken stock until you have your preferred consistency

6.       Add black pepper to taste

7.       Heat in saucepan and serve

A note about stock:

I often have homemade chicken stock in my freezer but if you need to use a bought stock try to go for one with as few nasty ingredients as possible and a low salt option. A good rule is to look at the ingredients list and choose the one with the least ingredients and the least numbers and names you can’t pronounce (additives, preservatives, MSG etc).

Lime and chilli chicken stir-fry

This week I have been craving a spicy stir-fry. No need to dial take-away this one is super easy.

Ingredients:

·         2 chicken breasts, sliced

·         ½ brown onion sliced

·         ½ small red chilli

·         1.5 tablespoons sesame oil

·         150g bean sprouts

·         2 cloves of garlic, crushed

·         1.5 teaspoons grated ginger

·         90g snow peas

·         100g sliced red capsicum

·         100g shitake mushrooms

·         2/3 cup flaked almonds

·         Juice of 1 lime

Method:

1.       Sauté onion and garlic then add chicken and chilli until chicken is cooked through

2.       Add vegetables and cook for 2 to 3 minutes

3.       Add most of the almonds and stir through then drizzle over lime juice and sesame oil.

4.       Serve with cauliflower rice, brown or basmati rice and sprinkle remaining almonds on top.

Veggie Soup

Winter is the perfect time to make big batches of soup. If you’re a little over salads and craving something warm and satisfying at lunch you can make a batch of this veggie soup and take a portion to work each day.

This soup has quite a few ingredients as I tried to make it as nutrient dense and souper immune boosting as possible! You can pretty much add or subtract whatever veggies you like/don’t like. 

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced

• 5 cloves garlic, crushed

• ½ teaspoon fresh turmeric, grated

• ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

• 1 small chilli, finely chopped

• 5 shitake mushrooms, sliced

• 2 celery stalks and leaves, chopped

• 1 zucchini, chopped

• 1.5 large red capsicums, chopped

• 2 large carrots, diced

• 800g chopped tomatoes (fresh or jar)

• 400g lima beans, soaked overnight (or tinned)

• 400g brown lentils, soaked in warm water overnight (or tinned)

• 3 handfuls green beans, chopped

• 500ml vegetable stock (homemade or additive free)

• 500ml miso soup (from miso paste)

• 150 g baby spinach

• black pepper

• Parsley

Method:

1.       Sauté the onion and garlic in a large saucepan until soft add turmeric then carrot to soften followed by celery, zucchini, chilli and capsicum and cook for 2 minutes.

2.       Transfer to preheated saucepan

3.       Add the tomato, ginger, beans, lentils, shitake, stock and miso. Simmer over a gentle heat for 20 minutes.

4.       Add green beans, parsley, celery leaves and spinach right at the end. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Vegetarian Cauliflower Curry

I love this curry. It’s very easy to prepare and I use it as my mid-week fall back if I need something quick to make after work.

I serve it with brown rice, which combined with the chickpeas, provides all of the amino acids to make a complete protein so this is an ideal vegetarian meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1.5 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

• 1.5 teaspoons cumin

• 2 teaspoon turmeric

• 2 teaspoons curry powder

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets

• 800g of tomatoes (In jar or tin)

• 1 cup frozen baby peas

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1⁄2 cup coconut milk

• 1 Lime

Method:
1. Heat oil in large pan and sauté onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add spices and sauté for one minute.

2. Add cauliflower to pan and combine. Then add tomatoes and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer until the cauliflower is tender.

3. Add the peas, chickpeas and coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes.

4. Serve on brown rice and squeeze ¼ fresh lime juice over the top.