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.

asian fusion salad

Serves 4

Poppy cooks…

1. In a small pot bring to the boil
   3/4 cup quinoa in
   1.5 cups hot filtered water and simmer until liquid is absorbed.
   
   
2. In a salad bowl, place the quinoa with
   3/4 cup shelled edamame beans,
   red capsicum, diced,
   carrot, peeled into ribbons or grated,
   1 cup pineapple, cut into bite size pieces,
   1.5 cups purple cabbage, finely shredded and mix together.
   
   
3. In a small bowl, whisk together
   juice of 1/4 lime,
   1.5 tablespoons tamari sauce,
   tablespoon agave syrup and
   2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar.
   
   
4. Add dressing to salad and mix together.
   
   
5. Garnish with
   teaspoon sesame seeds.

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.

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.

caramelised onion + cauliflower

Serves 2-4

This dish goes really well with a good cut of fillet steak. If you aren't serving it with anything else except a protein, it is enough for 2 people; but as a side to accompany other dishes, it can serve 4. For a vegetarian or lighter option, try serving it with brown rice or quinoa.

Poppy cooks…

1. Cut
   cauliflower into florets and place on a baking tray.
   
   
2. Preheat oven to 210˚C.
   
   
3. Toss cauliflower with
   olive oil and
   celtic sea salt and cracked black pepper. Place in oven for 45 minutes.
   
   
4. Saute
   2 onions, sliced with
   1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar until caramelised.
   
   
5. Combine onion with cauliflower and serve.

fake fried rice with fake honey chicken

Serves 4

I was amazed when I first cooked this dish as it immediately reminded me of being a child because it tasted exactly like my mother's cooking. Without compromising on taste, this version of fried rice with sticky honey chicken is so much healthier than the traditional version - you have to try it to believe it!

Poppy cooks…

1. In a large pot combine
   1/4 cup apple cider vinegar,
   1/4 cup coconut amino sauce,
   2 cloves garlic, minced,
   1.5 teaspoons manuka honey,
   4 black peppercorns and
   2 bay leaves.
   
   
2. Add
   500g chicken thighs to the pot and add enough 
   chicken stock until the chicken is submerged. Place in the fridge to marinade for at least 3 hours.
   
   
3. Whilst the chicken is marinading, cook the fried rice. Begin by scrambling
   4 eggs with a pinch of
   celtic sea salt and pepper, then set aside.
   
   
4. In a wok or large frying pan on high heat, sauté an
   onion, diced,
   4 cloves garlic, minced and
   2 carrots, peeled and diced until onion is golden and carrots are softened, then set aside.
   
   
5. Pulse
   1/2 cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles rice. Then sauté in work with oil until the cauliflower browns slightly.
   
   
6. Add carrot mixture back into the wok, along with
   2 tablespoons coconut amino sauce and
   1/4 teaspoon tamari sauce.
   
   
7. Then add
   1/2 cup frozen peas and stir until peas are cooked, then set aside and keep warm while you cook the chicken.
   
   
8. Place the pot with the marinaded chicken on high heat to bring it to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot.
   
   
9. Reduce the remaining sauce until it forms a thick and sticky consistency, then add the chicken back in to heat up before serving.
   
   
10. Just before serving, combine the scrambled egg into the fried rice.

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.