tofu + mango salsa

Serves 4

Poppy cooks…

1. Cook
   1 cup basmati rice in a rice cooker.
   
   
2. In the meantime, make the optional sauce first by whisking together
   tablespoon tahini,
   tablespoon apple cider vinegar,
   tablespoon tamari sauce,
   tablespoon olive oil,
   teaspoon agave syrup and
   wedge of lime, juiced, then set aside.
   
   
3. Saute
   2 cups green cabbage, finely sliced in
   olive oil seasoned with
   celtic sea salt and cracked black pepper.
   
   
4. Add rice, toss together and serve onto plates.
   
   
5. To make tofu marinade, in a large mixing bowl dissolve
   4 teaspoons cornflour in
   2 tablespoon olive oil and
   2 tablespoon tamari sauce.
   
   
6. Add
   2 packets firm tofu, diced to marinade, tossing to coat, then cook in a frying pan until the tofu is slightly crispy and the marinade is sticky and reduced.
   
   
7. While the tofu is cooking, prepare the mango salsa by combining
   2 mangos, finely diced,
   red capsicum, finely diced,
   1/2 bunch chives, chopped,
   handful coriander, chopped and
   1/4 lime, juiced. Serve salsa on top of cabbage rice.
   
   
8. When tofu is cooked, place on top of salsa, drizzle sauce over each dish and garnish with
   fried shallots.

lentil ragu with cauliflower mash

Serves 4

Poppy cooks...

1. The day before you make this dish, soak
   1/2 cup puy lentils in
   filtered water.
   
   
2. Add to a pan
   onion, finely diced,
   carrot, finely diced,
   celery stick, finely diced,
   2 garlic cloves, minced,
   2 sprigs thyme,
   sprig rosemary,
   bay leaf with
   olive oil on medium heat.
   
   
3. Once the onion is translucent, add drained lentils and
   3 tablespoons tomato paste, cooking for 10 minutes.
   
   
4. Add
   tin crushed tomato,
   1.5 cups filtered water,
   1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt,
   cracked black pepper, to taste,
   1/4 teaspoon nutmeg,
   pinch of cinnamon, turning heat down and simmering (if ragu looks dry, add more filtered water at any point).
   
   
5. In a large pot, saute
   2 garlic cloves, sliced in
   3 tablespoons olive oil and
   sprig thyme.
   
   
6. Add
   cauliflower, cut into small florets coating in oil for 5 minutes then add
   1/2 cup filtered water and put a lid on pot until cauliflower is soft (add more filtered water if needed at any point).
   
   
7. Add
   1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar to ragu and stir.
   
   
8. Put cauliflower in thermomix with
   1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt and blend on speed 5, scraping bowl down and mixing as necessary to get an even consistency.
   
   
9. Serve
   handful rocket onto each plate, cauliflower mash next to that, then spoon ragu on top, and finish with
   flax seed oil, drizzled and
   cracked black pepper.

roast potatoes

Poppy bakes...

1. Preheat oven to 190ºC.
   
   
2. Add
   1.5kg Royal Blue potatoes, peeled, chopped, rinsed to a large saucepan.
   
   
3. Cover with
   filtered water and
   pinch of celtic sea salt; and parboil for 8 minutes.
   
   
4. Drain into a colander to steam dry for 3 minutes.
   
   
5. Shake colander to fluff up potatoes and place on a baking tray.
   
   
6. Drizzle
   coconut oil over and season with 
   celtic sea salt and cracked black pepper, toss to coat and roast for 30 minutes. (You can pause before roasting and pop in fridge until ready to cook).
   
   
7. Using a potato masher, squash each potato.
   
   
8. In a small bowl stir together
   3 tablespoons coconut oil,
   bulb of garlic, smashed,
   splash of red wine vinegar and
   bunch of rosemary and pour over potatoes, putting back in the oven for another 40 minutes.

oat + goji berry pikelets/pancakes

Makes 24 pikelets, 7 medium pancakes for stacking or 2 large pancakes

This is a great breakfast or snack for adults and kids alike that is easily frozen. It reminds me of hot cross buns - yummmmmmm.

Poppy cooks...

1. In a mixing bowl stir together
   1 cup quick cooking rolled oats*,
   1 cup oat milk,
   1 egg and
   1/4 cup maple syrup.
   
   
2. Stir through
   1/2 cup gluten free plain flour,
   2 teaspoons baking powder,
   1 teaspoon cinnamon.
   
   
3. Stir through
   1/2 cup goji berries (or sultans if you prefer).
   
   
4. In a pan, with a little
   coconut oil, pour batter to whatever size pancakes/pikelets you want. I find 1 tablespoon is a good pikelet size and 3 tablespoons is a good pancake size. Flip them over when the first side is cooked and they are firm enough to flip. Remove once second side is cooked. (Note: these pancakes look much darker than "normal" pancakes but they actually taste better when they are darker in my opinion).

Serving suggestion:

Make 2 large adult sized pancakes with this mixture (or 2 large with about 4 pikelets if you are a 2+1 family like we used to be), topped with coconut yoghurt, seasonal fruit, maple syrup or my favourite, I will heat some frozen berries in a pot slightly to defrost and warm them. Now that we are a family of 5, I double this recipe for breakfast and use leftovers in the kids lunchboxes through the week (if we are lucky enough to have any leftovers).

Some other options I have tried and tested is replacing the cinnamon with vanilla protein powder (great for my growing toddler and during pregnancy), or replacing the cinnamon with açai powder to supercharge these healthy pancakes!

Order:

I'm in the throws of figuring out an online store, but you can now buy this pancake mixture ready to cook for $16, pick up from the Perth city area. Leave a comment or send a private message to my Facebook or instagram accounts to order xx

* When I write quick cooking rolled oats, I'm referring to the whole grain oat that is essentially the same as rolled oats but rolled thinner and cut finer so is a more suitable texture for this recipe.

baked apples

Serves 2

Poppy bakes...

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
   
   
2. Combine
   1 tablespoon sultanas,
   1 tablespoon activated buckwheat,
   1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,
   1.5 teaspoon coconut oil and
   1.5 teaspoon maple syrup.
   
   
3. Core
   2 pink lady apples, set on baking paper, fill with above mixture, wrap paper around apple and twist in a knot at the top.
   
   
4. Bake for 1 hour or until soft.
   
   
5. Serve on their own or with
   coconut ice cream.

salmon + potato rosti

Makes 24

Another great recipe for kids and adults!

Poppy cooks...

1. In a non-stick frying pan with
   coconut oil, saute
   onion, finely diced and
   2 purple/red potatoes, grated with excess moisture squeezed out, and then allow to cool in a mixing bowl.
   
   
2. While the above is cooling, make the optional avocado sauce by blending
   avocado,
   1/8 cup olive oil,
   1/4 cup filtered water,
   couple sprigs of coriander, finely chopped,
   1/2 lime, juiced and
   celtic sea salt, to taste. I then pour it into a squeeze bottle and place in the fridge.
   
   
3. Returning to the rosti, combine potato mixture with
   200g tin salmon,
   1 egg and
   2 tablespoons gluten free plain flour.
   
   
4. Press into patties of your preferred size (I use a cookie cutter to get all of them to be the exact same time) and fry in batches with a little
   coconut oil
   until golden.
   
   
5. To serve, I squeeze a dollop of the avocado sauce onto each rosti.

moroccan roast salad

Serves 2

Poppy cooks...

1. Preheat oven to 190ºC.
   
   
2. Place
   5 carrots, sliced into discs,
   1.5 tablespoons raw honey,
   1 tablespoon olive oil and
   pinch of celtic sea salt on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly caramelised.
   
   
3. In a freezer bag marinade chicken by combining
   500g chicken tenderloins,
   2 teaspoons ground sweet paprika,
   2 teaspoons ground coriander,
   2 teaspoons olive oil and
   pinch of celtic sea salt + cracked black pepper.
   
   
4. While carrots are still baking, make salsa verde by blending
   handful parsley,
   1/4 lemon, juiced,
   1.5 tablespoons olive oil,
   1.5 tablespoons filtered water,
   pinch of celtic sea salt + cracked black pepper in a small blender to ensure a smooth consistency.
   
5. Once the carrots are cooked, combine with
   two large handfuls of spinach,
   2 sprigs of parsley, minced,
   1/4 lemon, juiced.
   
   
6. Pan fry chicken until cooked, adding a little olive oil if necessary.
   
   
7. Serve carrot salad, place sliced or shredded chicken on top, then sprinkle
   2 teaspoons currants and
   2 teaspoons pepitas over each serve and drizzle with salsa verde.