guacamole

 Poppy cooks...

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl add
   2 tablespoons onion, finely diced,
   1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt,
   2 tablespoons coriander leaves, minced; and mash together with a fork.
   
   
   
2. Add
   2 avocados to mixture and mash together.
   
   
   
3. Add
   1/2 lime, juiced and
   1 roma tomato, finely chopped; and stir together.
   

mexican bowl

Serves 4

This dish is so quick and easy, and can all be done using just one pan, so less washing up! Feel free to add jalapeños if you like extra heat, or to omit the chilli powder and cumin like I do when cooking this for my toddler. This is quite a light meal, so great for summer. If you would like to bulk it up, then you can try accompanying it with grilled meat, gluten free flat bread or some sweet potato chips.

Poppy cooks...

1. Heat
   1 tablespoon coconut oil in a large pan and saute
   2 garlic cloves, minced.
   
   
2. Add
   1.25 cups quinoa,
   tin diced tomatoes,
   1.25 cups vegetable stock,
   tin black beans, drained and rinsed,
   1.25 cups frozen peas*,
   1/2 teaspoon chilli powder (optional),
   1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional),
   celtic sea salt and cracker black pepper to taste; bringing to the boil and reducing to a simmer with a lid on until quinoa cooked.
   
   
3. Serve topped with
   avocado,
   lime wedge and
   coriander.
   

* The more traditional option here is corn, but we are currently eliminating corn from our diet for health reasons. Feel free to google the pros and cons of corn.

chocolate + avocado mousse cake

Serves 12

Poppy bakes…

1. Line a cake tin with baking paper.
   
   
2. Mix together
   1 cup gluten free self raising flour,
   3 tablespoons cacao powder and
   1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt.
   
   
3. Beat in
   2 eggs,
   4 tablespoons coconut oil,
   6 tablespoons maple syrup,
   3 tablespoons rice milk and
   teaspoon vanilla extract.
   
   
4. Pour into cake tin and bake at 185ºC for 25 minutes, then allow to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill.
   
   
5. Blend
   2 avocados,
   4 tablespoons cacao powder,
   1.5 tablespoons coconut cream,
   6 tablespoons coconut oil,
   4 tablespoons maple syrup and
   tablespoon vanilla extract.
   
   
6. Pour mousse on top of cold cake and set in the fridge.

buckwheat pasta with tomato + avocado pesto

Serves 3

This meal is perfect for when you want some comforting home-cooked food but don't have a lot of time. I usually whip this up in about 10 minutes and it is yum!

Poppy cooks…

1. Cook
   340g buckwheat pasta in accordance with packet instructions.
   
   
2. Blend
   avocado,
   1/2 cup semi sundried tomatoes,
   1/4 cup basil,
   2 garlic cloves,
   1.5 tablespoons lemon juice,
   1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt and
   1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes.
   
   
3. Once pasta is cooked, toss through pesto and serve!

sweet potato quinoa patties with avocado sauce

Serves 4

Poppy cooks…

1. Make avocado sauce by blending
   1 large avocado,
   1/4 cup olive oil,
   1/4 cup filtered water,
   couple sprigs of coriander,
   2 garlic cloves,
   juice of 1/2 lime and
   celtic sea salt, to taste then place in the fridge.
   
   
2. Boil
   1/2 cup quinoa in
   1 cup filtered water until all the water is absorbed and set aside.
   
   
3. Insert butterfly whisk into thermomix.
   
   
4. Place
   1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1cm pieces,
   pinch of celtic sea salt, and enough
   filtered water to cover the sweet potato and cook for 25 minutes/95ºC/speed 1, placing simmering basket instead of measuring cup onto mixing bowl lid.
   
   
5. Remove butterly whisk, drain water, insert measuring cup and mash for 30 seconds/speed 4.
   
   
6. In a mixing bowl, combine, cooked quinoa, mashed sweet potato,
   1/2 small red onion, diced,
   tin of black beans, drained,
   1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
   celtic sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
   
   
7. Form patties and bake in a 190ºC oven for 15 minutes.
   
   
8. Flip patties over and bake for a further 15 minutes.
   
   
9. Serve on a
   mesclun salad with the avocado sauce drizzled over the top.

sushi bowl with teriyaki chicken

Serves 5

Poppy cooks…

1. Boil
   1 cup quinoa in
   2 cups filtered water until all the water is absorbed, then set aside.
   
   
2. Blanche
   1 cup frozen edamame beans until done, then set aside.
   
   
3. Finely slice or chop in a thermomix
   1 cup carrot and
   1 cup purple cabbage, then set aside.
   
   
4. Prepare the dressing by whisking together
   1 tablespoon tahini,
   1 tablespoon filtered water,
   2 teaspoons tamari sauce,
   1/2 teaspoon olive oil,
   2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar,
   1/2 teaspoon honey,
   1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger, then set aside.
   
   
5. Grill
   500g chicken tenderloins seasoned with
   celtic sea salt and
   cracked black pepper being careful not to overcook.
   
   
6. Shred chicken.
   
   
7. In a saucepan combine
   1/4 cup coconut amino sauce,
   1/4 cup manuka honey,
   1.5 tablespoons orange juice,
   1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar,
   1 teaspoon arrowroot flour,
   2 teaspoons grated ginger,
   garlic clove, minced,
   2 teaspoons olive oil and
   small pinch of chilli flakes over medium heat until it begins to boil, about 2-3 minutes.
   
   
8. Return shredded chicken to the pan with sauce and toss to coat chicken.
   
   
9. Assemble bowls by either combing or layering quinoa, carrot, purple cabbage, shelled edamame,
   avocado, diced, teriyaki chicken and tahini dressing.
   
   
10. Garnish with
    black and white sesame seeds and
    shredded seaweed.

avocado hummus

Serves 2

Poppy cooks…

1. Blend together
   1/3 can chickpeas, drained,
   avocado,
   2 tablespoons olive oil,
   2 teaspoons tahini,
   1/4 lime, juiced,
   clove garlic,
   pinch of celtic sea salt and cracked black pepper and
   pinch of ground cumin for 3 minutes on speed 3 if you have a Thermomix.

smashed cannellini bean, cucumber + avocado open sandwich

Serves 1

Poppy cooks…

1. In a small mixing bowl add
   1/2 tin of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained,
   tablespoon olive oil,
   squeeze of lemon juice,
   pinch of celtic sea salt + crack black pepper and mash together with a fork.
   
   
2. Spread some
   nuttelex on
   2 slices of gluten-free toasted bread, and then cover with the smashed bean mixture.
   
   
3. Top with
   1/2 avocado, sliced or chopped and
   1/2 lebanese cucumber, sliced or chopped.

prawn summer salad

Serves 4

Poppy cooks…

1. Dice
   300g sweet potato and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with
   olive oil  and season with
   celtic sea salt + cracked black pepper and roast in a 180ºC oven for 30 minutes.
   
2. On a serving platter or divided amongst 4 dinner plates, place
   2 cups iceberg lettuce, sliced,
   mango, diced,
   100g snow peas, sliced diagonally,
   1/2 cup red cabbage, sliced,
   avocado, diced and roasted sweet potato.
   
3. In a frying plan combine
   1 tablespoon olive oil,
   2 teaspoon lime juice,
   red chilli, finely chopped,
   bunch coriander, chopped,
   300g prawns, deveined and cook until the prawn flesh is no longer translucent.
   
4. Serve the prawns on top of the salad.

cherry ripe tart

Serves 12

This raw tart is so easy to make and is super healthy. You can use both cherries or raspberries - or a mixture of both - though I prefer just frozen raspberries. Even if you use just raspberries, it still tastes like a Cherry Ripe! If you want to make it even more chocolate-ee, add 1 tablespoon of cacao powder to the base mixture when combining the ingredients in the food processor.

Poppy bakes…

1. Soak
   13 medjool dates in warm water for at least half an hour.
   
   
2. Pit the dates, then combine in a food processor with
   2 cups desiccated coconut.
   
   
3. Press the mixture into a 25cm tart dish and place in the freezer to set.
   
   
4. For the filling, in a food processor, combine
   2 avocados,
   7 tablespoons cacao powder,
   6 tablespoons coconut oil and
   2 cups of medjool dates, pitted.
   
   
5. Add
   2 cups of cherries / raspberries (fresh or frozen) to the filling mixture. Blend for as long as you like, dependent on how chunky or smooth you want the filling mixture to be.
   
   
6. Spoon the filling mixture in to the base and set in the freezer.
   
7. You can garnish with extra cherries / raspberries, and be sure to store in the freezer until ready to eat.

strawberry + avocado salad

Serves 4

Poppy cooks…

1. To make the dressing, in a small pot combine
   125g strawberries, chopped,
   1/4 teaspoon coconut sugar,
   small pinch of celtic sea salt and
   1/2 teaspoon filtered water on low heat until the strawberries soften and release their juices.
   
2. Use a stick blender to liquify the mixture.
   
   
3. Stir through
   2 teaspoons olive oil,
   1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and
   1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds, and then place in the fridge to cool.
   
   
4. In a salad bowl, add
   bag of mesclun,
   avocado, peeled and cut into chunks and
   125g strawberries, cut into chunks.
   
   
5. When ready to serve, drizzle strawberry dressing over the salad.

vegan tortillas

Serves 12

Poppy cooks...

1. Cook
   1/4 cup red quinoa in
   3/4 cup hot filtered water and set aside.
   
   
2. In a large saucepan cook
   onion, diced and
   sweet potato, diced in
   olive oil until sweet potatoes are tender.
   
   
3. Add
   2 cloves garlic, minced and saute for 30 seconds.
   
   
4. Add cooked quinoa and cook for 5 minutes (don't worry if the quinoa gets crispy).
   
   
5. Add
   3/4 cup hot filtered water,
   410g tin diced tomato,
   1/4 teaspoon chilli powder,
   1 teaspoon smoked paprika,
   1 teaspoon ground cumin,
   1 teaspoon coconut sugar, and
   1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper bringing to the boil then reducing to a simmer for 5-10 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
   
   
6. Remove from the heat and stir through
   400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed,
   1/4 cup coriander, chopped and
   juice of 1 lime.
   
   
7. To make the salsa, combine in a mixing bowl
   arils from 1 pomegranate,
   1/2 cup dried cranberries and
   zest and juice of 1 lime.
   
   
8. In a non-stock frying pan, heat up
   12 white corn tortillas as per packet instructions.
   
   
9. To assemble, spoon quinoa mixture down the centre of a tortilla, top with
   avocado, diced and finish with the salsa.

vegan nachos

Serves 4

Poppy cooks…

1. Saute
   onion, diced and 
   3 cloves garlic, minced, in
   olive oil until golden.
   
   
2. Add and stir for 5 minutes
   410g tinned diced tomato,
   1/2 cup (160g) organic tomato paste (make sure there is no added sugar),
   2 tablespoons coconut sugar,
   1/4 teaspoon ground chilli (feel free to add more to suit your taste),
   1 teaspoon ground cumin,
   1 teaspoon ground coriander,
   1 teaspoon dried oregano,
   1 teaspoon smoked paprika and
   celtic sea salt, to taste.
   
   
3. Add and stir for 2 minutes 
   2 tins of red kidney beans (make sure there is no added sugar), drained and rinsed.
   
   
4. Serve with 
   organic blue maize tortilla chips ( I love the ones by RW Garcia) or corn chips.
   
   
5. Top with chopped
   avocado or guacamole.

avocado + egg crispibreads

Per serve

Ingredients

Orgran Multigrain Crispibread with Quinoa

egg, boiled and chopped

1/4 avocado, diced

cracked black pepper

Method

The method is, there is no real method! Just pile the ingredients on the Crispibread for a quick snack. Obviously, this is more a concept than a recipe - so feel free to use toasted gluten-free bread, corn crackers, rice crackers or any other type of base. You can smash the avocado instead of dicing it, and add any ingredients you have to hand. I quite like adding dried cranberries for a sweeter version.

salmon with a summer salsa

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/4 red onion, finely diced

green chilli, seeds removed and finely diced

red capsicum, finely diced

mango, cubed

avocado, cubed

lemon juice

4 potatoes, cubed

hot filtered water

celtic sea salt

nuttelex

4 salmon fillets

Method

1. Toss red onion, chilli, capsicum, mango, avocado and a squeeze of lemon juice together in a salad bowl and set aside
2. In a pot, add potato with enough water to immerse potato. Cook until tender, drain and mash
3. Add nuttelex and salt to mashed potatoes to taste
4. Cook salmon skin side down first until crispy, then turn over until cooked through
5. Divide mashed potato amongst serving plates, place salmon fillets on top followed by salsa. Garnish with micro herbs

Notes
This is a perfect dish for the warmer months. For a lighter meal, you can omit the mashed potato. Another alternative is to swap the mashed potato for mashed cauliflower.