Recipes – Page 7 – MedshieldMOM

Roast Rainbow Carrots with Spicy Orange Hummus

This is a beautiful side dish or starter for a big family gathering or dinner party and it’s so easy to make, plant-based and allergen-friendly and healthy too!

Serve this dish as part of your harvest table or as a starter with toasted sliced pieces of pita, with torn sourdough or ciabatta.
Notes: this hummus is made without garlic, but you can either add ½ fresh clove into the hummus or roast a couple cloves (skin on) with the carrots and then squeeze these out and blend into the hummus mixture.

What You Need:

For the Carrots:
1kg of small to medium carrots, ends chopped off and peeled
Olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch chilli flakes
2 oranges, zested and juiced
2 tbsp honey

For the Spicy Orange Hummus:
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp tahini
½ tsp paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch sea salt

Garnish:
Olive oil
Paprika
Coriander or Italian parsley leaves

Method:

1/ Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2/ Place carrots in a baking-paper-lined and greased roasting tray with seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil. Shake to coat and place in the oven.
3/ In a small saucepan, place the orange juice (save 2 tbsp of the orange juice for the hummus and set aside) and honey. Heat until reduced and thickened.
4/ Remove the carrots from the oven, turn them and then drizzle with the orange sauce. Return to the oven and continue cooking until tender with touches of char or browning. Remove when ready and set aside.
5/ In the meantime, start the hummus by placing the hummus ingredients into a food processor with 2-3 tablespoons of water, the 2 tbsp of orange juice that you set aside and a pinch of orange zest. Blitz until smooth. Taste test to check seasoning. You may need to add a little more water.
6/ Smooth the hummus onto a platter or large plate. Place the carrots onto the hummus in a pattern of your choosing with any remaining sauces drizzled over. Sprinkle orange zest over and add garnishings as desired.

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Valentine’s Month Heart Healthy Spicy Tofu & Brown-Rice Stir-Fry

During the month of love, we’re bringing you heart-healthy workouts and recipes that are good for your ticker. This recipe is a great weeknight meal and leftovers make for a great desk lunch the next day.

Heart Healthy Info:
Including more wholegrains into your diet daily, such as brown rice, can decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease, especially when chosen over refined carbohydrates.
Soy products and edamame beans are rich in flavonoids that help to lower cholesterol levels and improve heart health. Other studies have shown that including soy protein in your daily diet improves blood lipids, reducing risk of cardiovascular disease.
Additionally, studies on garlic intake showcases a lowering of blood pressure.

What You Need

1 cup brown rice, cooked according to package instructions
Drizzle of olive oil
1 brown onion, sliced into thick slivers
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, sliced into 2cm pieces
Handful green beans, top and tailed and cut into thirds.
250g block firm tofu, sliced into 2cm cubes

Stir-fry sauce:
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 thumb of ginger, peeled and grated
1 red chilli, very finely chopped
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp water* to loosen

Optional toppings:
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 spring onions, finely sliced
¼ cup coriander leaves

Method

1/ Sauté the onion, peppers and beans together in a large wok in olive oil for 3-5 minutes until just cooked through. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, cook the tofu cubes until crispy on the edges.

2/ While cooking the tofu, whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside ready to use.

3/ Add the vegetables back into the pan with the tofu and add the stir-fry sauce and cook together for a further 2-3 minutes until fragrant and well combined.
4/ Serve vegetable and tofu mixture with brown rice.

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Valentine’s Month Heart Healthy Seed & Nut Bread Recipe

During the month of love, we’re bringing you heart-healthy workouts and recipes that are good for your ticker. Make this recipe on the weekend and enjoy homemade seed bread all week long! This recipe is both vegan and gluten-free.

Heart Healthy Info:

Including a variety of nuts and seeds into your meal plan can go a long way to living a healthier life.

Nuts are a good source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats which can help protect against heart disease. Research shows that incorporating a few servings of tree nuts into your diet can help protect against heart disease and that consuming nuts as a snack can help to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. (Nuts are high in calories, so be sure to check these amounts with a dietician if you are on a weight-loss or management programme).

Chia seeds, flaxseeds, and hemp seeds are all great sources of heart-healthy nutrients, including fibre and omega-3 fatty acids.
Hemp seeds are high in arginine, an amino acid associated with reduced blood levels of specific inflammatory markers. Chia seeds contain dietary fibres, antioxidants and omega‐3 fatty acids, which may help reduce blood pressure and blot clots and lower levels of bad cholesterol.

What You Need:

1 cup buckwheat flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp flaxseed flour (ground flaxseeds)

¼ cup each: almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, pine nuts (or 1 ½ cups of mixed seeds of your choice)

¼ cup dates (for a sweeter touch) or olives (for more savoury), chopped into small pieces

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp maple syrup (for vegan) or sweetener of choice

1 ½ cups water

2 tsp lemon juice

Method:

1/ Mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, pinch of salt and flaxseed flour. Roughly chop the almonds and macadamia nuts so that the pieces are similar to the size of the sunflower seeds. Add nuts and seeds to the flour.

2/ In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, maple syrup, water and lemon juice. Pour into the flour and seed mix and stir to combine. This gluten-free vegan recipe works better if the batter has time to rest before baking, so set aside for one hour, covered with a cloth.

3/ While your batter is resting, preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius and grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

4/ Bake for about an hour and test with a cake tester to ensure that your bread is baked through. Allow the bread to cool down completely in the tin before slicing.

Notes:

– You can replace pine nuts with another half cup of either pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

– You can replace the walnuts with pecans or almonds for macadamia nuts.

– The bread will last fresh for 2-3 days, but we recommend slicing and freezing the slices on day 2, if you would like the bread to last. Simply remove a slice and toast when ready.

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Valentine’s Month Heart Healthy Trout and Leafy Green Salad

During the month of love, we’re bringing you heart-healthy workouts and recipes that are good for your ticker. This recipe is a great weeknight meal because it’s quick and easy to prepare, but with some small additions can become a great date-night dish. This meal serves 2.

Heart Healthy Info:
Leafy greens are a good source of vitamin K, which helps to promote proper blood clotting and keeps your arteries healthy. They’re also high in nitrates which reduces blood pressure and improves the functioning of blood vessels. The American Heart Association states that including leafy greens into your diet regularly will lead to a lower risk of heart disease.

The Omega-3 fatty acids found in rainbow trout can play a role in protecting the body against developing heart disease and may even reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and arrhythmias.

What You Need:

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
2 x 120g lightly smoked rainbow trout portions
Zest and Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful baby spinach leaves
Handful watercress
Handful rocket (or another leafy green, such as lamb’s lettuce)
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, roughly sliced
Mange tout or sugar-snap peas, sliced lengthways
Make it fancy – add the following:
¼ cup grilled, pickled artichokes, sliced
¼ cup toasted pine nuts

Method:

1/ Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan set over medium-high heat. Add the trout portions skin side down (you want to get that skin to sizzle and become crispy). Squeeze a little of the lemon juice over the fish and then turn over after 3 minutes and cook briefly on the other side, for 1-2 minutes. (Cooking time will vary depending on how well you like your fish cooked.) Remove from the pan and set aside.

2/ Assemble the salad by placing all the ingredients into a bowl and tossing together with the lemon zest, remainder of the juice and 2-3 tbsp olive oil. Serve as desired.

Notes:
Instead of pan-frying trout portions, you could grill them over a fire or bake them in the oven.

Looking for another easy, low-carb weeknight recipe similar to this one? Try this broccoli and trout recipe.

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It’s Veganuary – try this high protein, low calorie whipped tofu spread!

High-protein, low-calorie whipped tofu recipe:

It’s Veganuary! And whether you’re looking for more plant-based options or a healthy recipe to shake up your meal, planning, we’ve got you covered! This whipped tofu recipe is great to use as a base for harvest bowls, to add into a stew or curry or to use as a spread.

There’s so much you can do with whipped tofu! And it’s a great way to add extra lean plant protein into your diet. Add it to sarmies, in wraps, use as a creamy addition to a harvest bowl or swirl it through your favourite hearty stews.
Getting the smooth consistency right will depend on your blender (high speed needed) and you might need to add more moisture (soya milk) or fat (extra virgin olive oil) to get the consistency just right.

What You Need:
– 1 block of firm tofu (300-350g)
– 2-3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
– ¼ to ½ cup Soya milk (or water)
– Zest and juice of a lemon
– Salt
– Black pepper

Method:

1/ Crumble the tofu into the high-quality food processor or blender. Add in ¼ cup of soya milk or water, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of zest and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Blitz together until well combined. Check the texture. If it’s still grainy, add 1 tsp oil and tsp water or soya milk and blend again. (Adding a little more until the texture is right for your taste).

2/ Taste is as important as texture. If you would like the whipped tofu to have more acidity, add more lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes: You can add herbs, roasted garlic (or garlic oil) to add more flavour to your whipped tofu.

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It’s Veganuary! Try this easy pasta salad recipe!

This recipe is so easy to make and keeps really well in the fridge so it’s an ideal back-to-work meal planning dish! You can switch out certain salad ingredients to make it fancy or simply change it up from week to week.

This pasta salad recipe combines fresh, vibrant ingredients that hold up well over time.

What You Need:

500g pasta, cooked according to package instructions (we recommend penne)
200-250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 cucumber, diced into 5mm cubes
1 red capsicum (red pepper), diced into 5mm cubes
100g pitted olives, halved (green or kalamata)
100g tofu feta* cubes see notes)
1 tbsp vegan basil pesto
3 tbsp olive oil
Method:

1/ Place cooled pasta into a large bowl. Add salad ingredients and mix together.

2/ Mix the basil pesto with the olive oil to loosen to create a dressing. Drizzle all over the pasta salad.

3/ Serve immediately or portion into containers and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Fancy additions:

½ cup sliced grilled, marinated artichokes
Fresh basil leaves for garnishing fresh
Toasted pine nuts
Notes:
Nowadays, you can find tofu feta at selected supermarkets. But if you’d like to make your own, it’s quite simple. Try this recipe: Use 1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed to release excess moisture with paper towels, then sliced into cubes. Make a simple marinade, including: ½ cup water, ½ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped), ½ tsp each: salt, black pepper and red chilli flakes. Place in a sealed container in a sealed container and in the fridge for 12 to 48 hours.

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How to make vegan “chicken” mayo sarmie with chickpeas

This is such an easy recipe to make and it will feed a crowd! Plus, most ingredients can be kept in your pantry. Keep this on hand for easy summer lunches.

What You Need:
1 x tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
¼ cup roasted seeds (sunflower or pumpkin), chopped
¼ small red onion, very finely chopped or 4 x spring onions very finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped herbs (parsely, basil, coriander – your choice)
3-4 tbsp vegan mayonnaise (or hummus for lower-calorie)
1 small avocado, chopped
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Pinch Salt
Pinch Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch chilli flakes
Bread of your choice: wholewheat, seed loaf, sourdough or rye

Method:
1/ Mash chickpeas with a fork until slightly smushed, but still a little chunky.
2/ Add the seeds, onion, herbs, mayo or hummus and avo. Mix altogether.
3/ Add lemon juice and seasoning to taste.
4/ Cut two slices of breads and either make open sandwiches or classic sarmies. Enjoy!

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Low-Calorie Side Dishes For The Festive Season

These three side dishes not only look great and taste delicious, but they’re low in calories and high in nutrients. Serve them up at holiday harvest tables or as part of your Christmas menu. Recipes are also air-fryer friendly.

Low-Calorie Side Dish 1: Grilled Lemony Broccoli

What You Need:

1 head of broccoli sliced into large chunks (or 400-500g) tenderstem broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red chilli flakes

Method:

1/ Place all the ingredients in a large ziplock and shake together to coat. Either grill in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 – 15 minutes or on the grill setting in the airfryer (but check contents to make sure edges don’t burn).

Low-Calorie Side Dish 2: Grilled Asparagus and Tomato

What You Need:
250g – 300g asparagus stems
250g – 300g baby tomatoes
¼ cup pine nuts
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For Garnishing:
1 tbsp nutritional yeast or 2 tbsp grated Parmesan (optional)
1/ Place all the ingredients in a large ziplock and shake together to coat. Either grill in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or on the grill setting in the airfryer (if using the air fryer, add pine nuts afterwards).
2/ Garnish with lemon zest and juice and sprinkle with nutritional yeast or Parmesan.
Zest and juice of half a lemon

Low-Calorie Side Dish 3: Roasted Lemony Fennel

What You Need:

3 – 4 large fennel bulbs, quartered, trimmed (reserve some of the fronds for garnishing)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 whole cloves garlic (optional)
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/ Place all the ingredients in a large ziplock and shake together to coat. Either grill in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or on the roast setting in the airfryer (cook until edges are golden and the centre is soft, but not falling apart).

2/ Squeeze out the soft roasted garlic and spread it on the base of a platter. Top with fennel bulbs and garnish with chopped fresh fronds.

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Fluffy Gluten-Free Flapjacks For The Holidays

These puffy little flapjacks are perfect for tummies sensitive to gluten and you can add berries or bananas to the mixture to amp up the nutrients and taste factor. This recipe is also dairy-free and can be made vegan.

These flapjacks will be a hit around the breakfast table – for those intolerant to gluten or not. They are puffy, soft and tasty and make for a great addition to the holiday brunch or breakfast rotation.

This recipe includes a small dosage of a sweetener of your choice, but you can also opt to leave it out or add 1 small mashed banana instead.

Holiday hack? Prep the mixture the night before so that it’s ready to go first thing in the morning!

What You Need:
1-2 tbsp maple syrup or honey (optional)
2 tbsp vegetable oil (like avocado oil)
1 XL egg or 1 x flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp water)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 tsp xanthum gum (if your flour does not include it)
1 tbsp baking powder
Pinch of salt (optional)
¾ – 1 cup oat milk
½ cup fruit of your choice (blueberries, chopped strawberries, banana)

Method:

1/ Whisk together the syrup, oil, egg and vanilla essence until well combined.
2/ Slowly add the dry ingredients and then add the milk until smooth. Stri in your fruit.
3/ Allow the mixture to stand for at least five minutes and then set your non-stick pan over a medium heat. (You shouldn’t need to add oil with your non-stick pan, but you could add a light coat of coconut baking spray).
4/ Spoon out rounds of batter and flip once bubbles appear and it’s browned on the underside.
5/ Serve with toppings of your choice, such as a berry compote, maple syrup, nut butter, more fresh fruit or even eat just as it is!

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Healthy Christmas Menu Hacks

Have festive season fun and indulgence while maintaining a healthy lifestyle with these healthy Christmas menu hacks.

Whether you’re on a weight-management programme or you’re just keen to eat healthier – or stay eating healthy – this festive season, we have some healthy Christmas menu hacks for you and the whole family!

Christmas menus are often seen as super indulgent and can often lead to “food comas”, indigestion, hangovers and more. But with these hacks, you can feel celebratory while feeling good too. Here are our healthy Christmas menu hacks.

Always have jugs of water on the table. Sparkling water with fruit decor can feel “fancy” or a beautifully prepared water jug with cucumber, mint and strawberries not only looks festive, but tastes great too.
For every glass of wine, have a glass of water. This subtle “rule” allows you to still have the wine you want, but ensures you’re hydrated along the way.
In South Africa Christmas is at the height of summer and while traditional Christmas meals are heavy – think roasts and gravy – they were designed for the West’s cold Christmases. When planning your table, add more light dishes: salads, consomme (cold soup), fresh herbs and flavours. Try this festive strawberry salad recipe.
Christmas tables often also include bread. Instead of butter, add some healthy spreads to the table, like hummus or baba ganoush. Check out these three ways to pimp your hummus, here.
Have you heard of the “meat sweats”? Christmas tables can be laden with three to four different kinds of meat. For a healthier, lighter lunch that’s just as fancy, swap out meat for fish. Think: whole trout on the braai, salmon gravlax or even shellfish, like prawns or mussels. Add a vegetarian “main” into the mix too, like a butternut and spinach wellington, a nut roast or a vegetarian lasagne.
When it comes to dessert, instead of heavy puddings, make fun ice lollies! Get the kids involved the day before and blitz watermelon into a juice or make your own flavours with fruits like kiwi and basil or strawberry and basil. These will go down a hit and are a nice light, fresh way to end a meal on a hot summer’s day.

For more healthy recipes, click here. Looking for more plant-based meal swaps and ideas? Click here.

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