Crafty Meals – easy recipes for healthy meals

Smoked Trout with Bean Soup
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
800 grams of tinned 3 or 4 bean mix, drained and rinsed.
400 gram tin of diced tomatoes.
400 grams chat potatoes, quartered.
300 grams smoked trout, deboned and skin removed.
150 grams green beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm lengths.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
1 red onion, finely diced.
1 red capsicum, diced.
1.5 litres of vegetable stock.

Method
Heat oil in a heavy based pan over medium heat.
Add the onion and capsicum, cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, stock and potatoes.
Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
Cook for 5-1o minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Stir in bean mix and green beans, cook for further 3-4 minutes.

Serving
Flake the trout with a fork, divide between bowls and gently ladle soup over the top.
Serve with good crusty toasted sourdough bread.

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Warmed Chicken and Lentil Salad
Serves 4
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
750 grams chicken breast, trimmed of sinew, cut into strips.
800 grams tinned lentils, drained and rinsed.
100 grams baby spinach leaves.
3 cloves garlic, crushed.
1 cup natural yoghurt.
1 large brown onion, finely diced.
1 lebanese cucumber, peeled, deseeded and grated.
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar.
1 tablespoon peanut oil.

Method
Combine 1 crushed clove of garlic, cucumber and natural yoghurt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Heat 1/2 the oil in a non stick pan over medium heat.
Add onion and cook for 3 minutes.
Add 2 cloves of garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add vinegar and lentils and cook to heat lentils, about 3 minutes.
Add spinach, remove from heat and remove to a bowl.
Heat remaining oil over high heat.
Add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until done.
Remove to another bowl and cover whie standing for 5 minutes.
Toss chicken into the lentils and mix well.

Serving
Spoon into bowls and dollop some of the yoghurt mix to the side.

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Healthy Nut Bars
Makes about 24 serves.
Prep time : 25 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1 cup puffed rice or rolled oats.
1/2 cup sesame seeds.
1/2 cup toasted shredded or flaked coconut.
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts.
1/2 cup diced dried apricots.
1/2 cup diced dried figs or and dates.
1/2 cup almond slithers toasted.
1/2 cup pepitas toasted.
1/3-1/2 cup LSA (ground linseed, sunflower seed, almonds).
1 cup golden syrup .
1/2 cup honey.
1/2 cup tahini (optional).
Optional Chocolate Coating
200g 80% dark couverture chocolate, grated into smaller pieces.
400 g 80% dark couverture chocolate.

Method
Lightly warm all the ingredients.
Mix all other ingredients together in a bowl except the honey, golden syrup, tahini and the LSA.
Add the honey, syrup, tahini and mix well together.
Add 1/3 cup of the LSA and as much more to 1/2 cup as required to bind the mixture together.
Spread onto a tray lined with baking paper.
Spread evenly and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

Serving
Cut into snack size pieces, if desired add the optional chocolate coating.
Optional Chocolate Coating
This recipe require that the chocolate is temepered.
Melt 400g chocolate in a bowl over a water bath until the temperature of the chocolate mass is about 43C – it will feel slightly hotter than your skin.
Remove from water bath & fold in the 200g grated chocolate which should lower temp to 35C as it melts.
The chocolate is now tempered and ready to use.
(There is a 2-3 degree C window of variation working with chocolate.)

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Sweet Chili Drumsticks
Serves 4
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 40 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
12 drumsticks.
1/2 cup light soy sauce.
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce.
1 tablespoon grated ginger.
2 cloves of garlic, crushed.
Olive oil spray.

Method
Combine soy, sweet chili, garlic and ginger in a bowl.
Add the chicken and mix to coat, cover and refrigerate overnight, or 4 hours minimum. Mix occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Place chicken on a wire rack over a baking paper line baking tray. Spray rack lightly with the oil.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the juices running after a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the drumstick are clear.

Serving
Serve over rice noodles tossed through 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of soy after they have been cooked and drained.

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Walnut and Date Loaf
Makes 8 generous slices
Prep time : minutes
Cooking time : minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped.
1 cup of boiling water.
1 1/4 cups plain flour.
3/4 cup traditional rolled oats.
1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped.
1/2 cup brown sugar.
2 tablespoons maple syrup.
1 teaspoon bicarb soda.

Method
In a heatproof bowl, steep the dates in boiling water and maple syrup, stand for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease a 9 x 19cm loaf pan and line with baking paper, allowing an overhang to make removing the loaf easier.
Sift flour and bicarb soda together in a bowl.
Add walnuts, oats and sugar and mix to combine.
Add the dates and syrup water, mix to combine without over working the batter.
Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until done.
Loaf is cooked when a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Serving
Cut thick slices and spread with cream cheese.

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Baked Pasta with Vegetables
Makes 8 serves
Prep time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 35-40 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
400 grams dry pasta, penne, spirali, large macaroni, elbows etc.
2 large leeks, washed halved and white part thickly sliced.
1/2 bunch English spinach, washed and stems discarded. Roughly chop leaves.
1 zucchini, diced.
1 carrot, peeled and diced.
3 sticks of celery, diced.
150 grams green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 cm lengths.
400 grams button mushrooms, diced.
1 red capsicum, deseeded and diced.
700 grams of tomato pasta sauce. Shop bought, or use our italian pasta sauce recipe.
3 cups grated tasty cheese.
2 tablespoons olive oil.

Method
Bring a large salted pot of water to the boil. Cook pasta as per pasta instructions, drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180C
Meanwhile, in a large wok, heat the oil over medium heat.
Add leeks and mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes.
Add carrot, celery, capsicum and green beans, cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add pasta sauce, stir through to heat.
Grease a large baking dish, about 5 litre capacity.
Add the zucchini and spinach to the wok, stir through until the spinach has wilted.
Add the pasta to the wok and mix into the sauce.
Transfer wok contents to the baking dish, top with cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is golden brown.

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Almond and Blueberry Pancakes
Makes approx 12 pancakes
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 15-20 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
2 cups of self raising flour.
1/4 cup almond meal.
1 1/2 cups of milk.
2 tablespoons sugar.
1 egg, beaten.
1 teaspoon vanilla essence.
150 grams frozen blueberries.
40 grams softened butter.

Method
Sift flour, almond meal and sugar into a bowl.
Make a well in the middle, add vanilla, egg and milk and mix with a metal spoon until just combined.
Fold in half the blueberries and allow to stand for 20 minutes.
Heat a non stick pan over medium heat.
Melt a little of the butter in the pan, pour in 1/4 cups of the batter mixture at a time.
Cook until bubbles begin to form in the batter, flip and cook for another minute.
Remove to a temperate oven until all are cooked.

Serving
Make untidy stacks of 3 pancakes, dollop with whipped cream, sprinkle with berries then dust with icing sugar.

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Tangy Lemon Slice
Makes 15 pieces
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 10 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
200 grams plain sweet biscuits.
100 grams of butter.
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk.
1 cup dessicated coconut.
Grated rind of 1 lemon.
2 cups of icing sugar mix.
40 grams of softened butter.
2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Method
Grease and line a 15 x 25 cm pan.
In a sucepan over low heat, melt 100 grams of butter in the condensed milk, stir until combined.
In a food processor, blitz the biscuits until they are fine crumbs.
In a bowl, mix the crumbs with the condensed milk mix and press into aneven thickness layer in the greased pan.
Refrigerate until solid, about 2 hours.
Combine the 40 grams of softened butter, icing sugar mix and lemon juice in a bowl.
Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Use a spatula to evenly spread the icing evenly over the set slice.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until icing is set.
Cut into 15 pieces.

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Steak and Mushroom Pie
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 80 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1.2 kilograms of chuck steak, gravy beef or any other stewing cuts.
400 grams button mushrooms, quartered.
1 large brown onion, diced.
2 cloves of garlic, crushed.
1 teaspoon dried thyme.
1 teaspoon dried oregano.
1 1/2 cups beef stock.
1/2 cup of plain flour.
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce.
2 tablespoons of tomato paste.
1 large sheet ready rolled shortcrust pastry (enough to line your pie dish with pastry, you may need to use and join 2 smaller sheets).
4 sheets ready rolled filo pastry.
1 egg, beaten.
2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Method
Heat half the oil in a heavy based pan over medium heat.
Place beef and flour into a bag and toss beef until well coated.
Remove beef and shake off excess flour.
Cook half the beef, frying unti browned.
Remove and repeat with remaining beef.
Remove all beef and any juices to a bowl.
Heat remaining oil and cook onion for 2 minutes.
Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Return beef and any juice to the pan.
Add herbs, stock, worcester and tomato paste.
Bring to the boil, the reduce to a gentle simmer.
Add mushrooms and then cook uncovered for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool.
Meanwhile preheat an oven to 200C.
Grease a 1 litre capacity pie dish and line with the shortcrust pastry.
Spoon filling into the pie.
Brush edges of shortcrust with the egg then arrange filo sheets to cover, minimising overhang.
Trim flush with edge of dish, seal using a fork to press the pastries together.
Brush the top of the filo with the egg mix.
Cut a cross in the top of the pie to allow moisture to escape.
Bake for 45 minutes until puffed and golden.

Serving
Allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

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