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.

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.

egg + beetroot open sandwich

Serves 4

Whenever cooking with beetroot, I like to buy "Love Beets" beetroot which is already cooked and peeled into 250g portions. There are no preservatives, just 100% real beetroot, but it saves a lot of time and mess!

This recipe is great for lunch, or you can use smaller squares of toasted bread to make an interesting canapé when entertaining. You can even ditch the bread all together for a straight up salad.

Speaking of gluten free bread, my favourite so far is Lifestyle Bakery's Soft 'n Light Chia + Quinoa Bread - it is packed full of goodness and super tasty. As the name alludes to, it is light and fluffy unlike many other gluten free breads which are either really dense and strangely sweet in an attempt to disguise the bland taste with sweeteners.

Poppy cooks…

1. In a medium bowl, combine
   250g beetroot, cooked, peeled and diced,
   5 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped,
   zest of 1/2 an orange,
   1 teaspoon ground cumin,
   3 tablespoons Norganic mayonnaise,
   1 tablespoons coriander, chopped and
   1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt.
   
   
2. Serve on toasted
   gluten free bread.

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.

sausage, vegetable + bean stew

Serves 4

Poppy cooks...

1. Cook
   1 packet of sausages and set aside.
   
   
   
2. In a large pot, saute
   1 onion, diced in
   olive oil.
   
   
   
3. Add
   300g carrots, cut into bite sized pieces,
   300g potatoes, cut into bit sized pieces,
   1 tablespoon garlic, sliced,
   1 teaspoon cumin,
   1 400g tin of cannellini beans,
   500ml chicken stock,
   1 cup water and
   1 bay leaf; and bring to the boil.
   
   
   
4. Reduce to a simmer; then add
   2 cups pumpkin, cut into bite sized pieces,
   2 tablespoons parsley, chopped and sliced sausages.
   
   
   
5. Cook until vegetables are tender and season with
   black pepper.
   
   
   
6. Remove bay leaf before serving and garnish with extra parsley.

Notes
If you have a large dutch oven, you can cook the sausages in it and use it for the remainder of the recipe, which will incorporate the flavours from the cooked sausages into the dish. It also makes this a one-pot-wonder!