Michelle Koen » snack

Holy Broccaumoli

Michelle — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:26:59 +0000

Holy broccaumole, I've been busy. Between powerlifting training, freelance design clients, helping out with the new local chapter of ANB and organising the reprint of Healthy Helpings (nearly sold out!); I haven't had time to scratch myself. Dishes have been piling up around my computer and creative moments in the kitchen have been way too few and far between. This little gem of a dish emerged late one Friday evening, when I was faced with the last remaining items from the previous Saturday's farmers market. A slightly too ripe avocado and some tired looking broccoli. My friend Jude had told me how she likes to make broccoli mash with avocado stirred through and I'd been meaning to try it for while. As I blended the avocado into the puréed broccoli my mind started to wander 'south of the border, down Mexico way'. I rescued the last few sprinkles of some spring onions and red capsicum from a container in the fridge and a teensy squeeze of a once loved lemon. Darn, that was a nice way to end a week! That was 3 weeks ago. Since then I've left avocados to ripen too long by the time I've remembered to buy broccoli, or been out of broccoli when I've had a nice new avocado. Good things come to those who wait, and finally I've had time to get back in the kitchen. A few planned tweaks for a bit more colour, and some creamy, zingy result.

Broccaumole

200g of broccoli florets (about 1 large bunch, stalk removed) cut into bite-sized pieces
1 clove (½ tsp) garlic, finely chopped
½ avocado
½ lime, juice only (2-3 tsp)
¼ red onion, finely diced
¼ red capsicum, finely diced
½ long red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
salt to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
Add the broccoli and once the water returns to a boil cook for 4 minutes, or until soft but still bright green.
Drain and rinse briefly under cold water. Place in a food processor along with the garlic and purée until mostly smooth.
Add the avocado and lime. Purée for until combined.
Stir through the onion, capsicum and chilli. Season with salt to taste.

Substitutes & Alternatives:

If you don't have food processor, a stick blender or potato masher could be used.

Preparation time: 11 minute(s) Cooking time: 4 minute(s)

Diet tags: Reduced carbohydrate, Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 2

Calories: 124

Fat: 8.9

Carbs: 2.3g

Fibre: 5.5g

Protein: 5.8

Cashew Finger Cookies

Michelle — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:55:39 +0000

Crispy, golden buttery cookies made from all natural ingredients; without the butter, sugar or flour. I've been playing around with a few little ideas for Christmas and asked what everyone was after over on my Facebook page. Shortbread was one suggestion. These aren't quite shortbread but they fill the house with the sweet smell of baking, all the same. Even better, because they don't contain any butter, they'll keep for much longer, making them the perfect sugar-free gift to tuck inside a Christmas card.

Cashew Finger Cookies

90g (¾ cup) cashews
2 egg whites, from fresh eggs
¼ tsp cream of tartare
⅓ cup sweetener (I used Natvia, you could use raw castor sugar, Splenda. Xylitol doesn't work in my experience)

Makes 12 cookies

Preheat an oven to 120ºC/250ºF. Line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper.
Place the cashews in a food processor or blender and grind to a powder. Set aside.
Place the egg whites and cream of tartare in a clean dry bowl. Whisk to form stiff peaks. Fold in the sweetener and the ground cashews.
Fit a 5mm nozzle to a piping bag. Fill with mixture. Pipe the mixture in 4cm/1.5in lengths onto the baking tray. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove once golden.
When you remove the the cookies from the oven, they will still be soft. Don't fret! Let them sit for about 20 minutes and they'll be beautifully crispy.

Quick Snack: Tuna Stuffed Capsicum

Michelle — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:11:23 +0000

For snacks I'm all about food you can eat one-handed. After all I'm eating 5–6 times a day. Inspired by my previous post on spicing up your tuna, I whipped this one together.

Capsicum stuffed with creamy mustard tuna

1 small green capsicum
1 x 90g can tuna in spring water
1 tablespoon fat-free natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon (or to taste) hot English mustard
Jalapeno peppers (optional)

Cut the top off the capsicum and make a slit down one side. Remove the seeds and membrane.
In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stuff the mixture inside the capsicum.
Wrap in foil for easy transportation

Substitutes & Alternatives:

Choose any of the other tuna fillings from the 'spice up your tuna' article for a bit of variety. For a hot meal, roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Preparation time: 3 minute(s)

Diet tags: Low calorie, Reduced fat, Reduced carbohydrate, High protein, Gluten free

Calories: 126

Fat: 1.5g

Protein: 21.6g

Kangaroo, fennel and caraway burgers

Michelle — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:31:36 +0000

Kangaroo is lean, good for the environment, dirt cheap and one of the richest natural sources of CLA. All very good reasons to get it into you. Kangaroo burgers are my regular afternoon snack along with different coloured peppers, they're something I can eat sitting at my desk, one handed. The addition of the fennel and caraway means that the strong gamy flavour some people don't like is made a bit more like the sweetness of good lamb

: Kangaroo, fennel and carraway burger

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2kg kangaroo steak mince*
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoons natural sea salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

Place the onion and garlic in a food processor or finely chop.
If using a food processor switch to the plastic blade and add remaining ingredients. Process until the mixture is fully combined and the meat becomes a bit more sticky. This kneading is the trick to getting your burgers to bind without extra fillers.
If you are working by hand mix the mixture thoroughly. Divide the mixture into quarters and place one quarter in a smaller mixing bowl. Form into a ball and repeatedly 'slap' the mixture against the edge of the bowl. This slapping is the trick to getting your burgers to bind without extra fillers.
Form into 110g patties and grill on the barbecue or spread evenly across trays and bake for about 20 minutes at 180ºC

Serves: 20

*If you're like me and can't stand the gristly bits in the supermarket kangaroo mince, ask your butcher to mince some kangaroo steak. It's slightly more expensive but much tastier. Alternatively make your own steak mince from kangaroo steak. Simply dice it then pulse it in a food processor using the metal blade.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) Cooking time: 10-20 minute(s)

Diet tags: Low calorie, Reduced fat, Reduced carbohydrate, High protein, Gluten free

Calories: 107

Fat: 1.4

Protein: 22

Stuffed eggs with avocado and wasabi or hummus

Michelle — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 02:12:22 +0000

Finding healthy finger food to take to summer parties can be a struggle. Vegetable sticks can only go so far and are generally left sitting limp at the end of the party. However, these stuffed eggs disappearlike they are going out of fashion. If you keep hard boiled eggs in your fridge for snacks, and if you don't, you should, these recipes area breeze. The first filling is a traditional hummus recipe, a great stand by for any occasion if you have tinned chickpeas in the pantry. While the second filling is the true star of the show. Avocado and wasabi 'cream' and was deemed 'better than mayonnaise' . Ingredients

12 hard boiled eggs (see note)

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tahini (Sesame paste)
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a pinch salt
1-2 tablespoon water
a pinch of sumac

1 ripe avocado
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste
a pinch of salt
a pinch of smokey Spanish paprika or chipotle powder

Remove the shells from the eggs and slice in halve. Scoop out the yolks from the eggs, setting aside 4 for the avocado cream. Discard, store or feed to your pets the remaining yolks. To make the hummus filling combine the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, oil and salt in a food processor and blend to a paste. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to make a thick creamy paste consistency. To make the wasabi avocado filling.Take the reserved yolks and place them in a food processor with the avocado, lime juice, wasabi paste and salt. Blend until smooth. Add a small splash of water if the mixture feels a little thick. Use a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle to fill each of the halved yolks. Sprinkle sumac over the hummus filled eggs and paparika or chipotle powder over the avocado filled ones. Note: How to hard boil an egg Place the eggs in a saucepan just big enough for the eggs to cover the bottom with room for one of two more eggs. Cover with cold water to double the height of the eggs and bring to the boil, uncovered. As soon as the eggs come to the boil, place a lid on the pan and remove it from the heat. Stand for about 15 minutes and then rinse under cold water. Having your eggs cold before peeling them will make it much easier to remove the shell.

The Vegie Challenge: Popcorn and chips

Michelle — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:11:26 +0000

Crunchy, smokey and salty food is addictive. Who can resist after a few nibbles? I know kids can't. I've seen them in the snack food isles at the supermarket, begging for chips. I wouldn't be suprised if these tasty Kale Chips and Cauliflower Popcorn don't elicit the exact same respnse. I polished both off in under 5 minutes! Parmesan Kale Chips and Pizza flavoured Cauli-Pop

1 bunch kale (either curly or flat), cut into chip sized pieces
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into popcorn size peices
10g finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
1.5 teaspoons dried oregan0
1 teaspoon smokey paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
a big pinch salt
a splash of olive oil
extra Parmesan, grated (optional)

Preheat your oven to 160ºC/320ºF Combine the cheese, herbs, spices and salt in a small bowl. Place the cauliflower in one bowl along with half the cheesy spice mix and toss to coat. Combine the Kale, olive oil and cheesy spice mix and massage the leaves. Place each mixture on a seperate baking sheet making sure nothing is overlapping. Bake the kale chips for about 15 minutes or until crisp. Bake the caulflower for about 30 minutes. For crunchier pop-corn cook the cauliflower at your oven's lowest temperature for 8 hr's with the door slightly ajar.