Tank-Style Raw Energy Salad

Aargh! It's been so long since I last did a proper blog post! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you won't be feeling quite so abandoned, but in terms of blog posts I've had a bit of an inspiration block for the last month or so. It's not that I haven't been making and eating any good food, but none of it seemed very blog-worthy.

However, I have been doing some inspiration gathering (looking at food blogs seems to help the creative food-juices flow) and I have a list of recipes that I want to work on over the next few months. This recipe is the start.

I really enjoy tank food. I know that the dressings are probably full of sugar, but in general they are at least a healthier grab and go option than most other fast food places. In particular, I really like their Raw Energy Salad/ Wraps. This salad is jam-packed full of wholesome ingredients including leafy salad greens, beetroot and quinoa.

While I am a foodie, I am also very budget conscious, so while Tank is great, paying $10 or so for a salad just isn't my thing. So i did what I love doing and got in the kitchen to recreate it. Now I haven't had these salads side by side to compare, but I do think that I have got something pretty close and just as delicious.

I also really enjoyed making this salad as I got to play with my relatively new food processor and its shredding attachment. This attachment is definitely my new best salad-making friend as it can julienne all of the vegetables I need for several salads in about 30 seconds! I shredded mt carrots and beetroot up on the Sunday and put them in separate glad containers, and then during the week all I had to do was throw together the salad ingredients. A food processor can be quite a costly investment, but I definitely think that you could use a normal grater and still enjoy this salad.

Easy, healthy and delicious.

Enjoy xx

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
3 large beetroot
3 carrots
4 cups leafy salad greens
1/2 cups almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut

4 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp runny honey

Place quinoa in a saucepan and cover with water until it sits about 2cm above the quinoa. Bring to the boil, then simmer for around 10-15 minutes or until water has evaporated and quinoa is cooked.

Peel the carrots and beetroot. Using a food processor with a shredder attachment, or if you don't have one a grater, shred the carrots and beetroot. Roughly chop the almonds, or place in a bag and hit with a rolling pin until the almonds are roughly broken up.

In a large bowl, toss together the salad greens, almonds, coconut, quinoa, beetroot and carrot. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, balsamic vinegar and honey. Drizzle over the salad and toss.

Then sit down and enjoy!

Black Rice and Chickpea Salad

I'm heading up to Auckland to try to find somewhere for me and the boyfriend to live next year so this will just be a short post today.

I popped into an Asian food store the other week as I wanted to grab some sushi rice and seasoning. As I was wandering round (which I love doing in foreign food stores) I spied some black rice. I remembered reading somewhere that black rice has a great nutrition profile, so I thought that I would grab some to make myself some lunches for the week. This salad was my first go using black rice and I absolutely loved it. It has a lovely nutty flavour, with a slightly chewier texture than white rice. Black rice is also full of amino acids and antioxidants from the black colour.

When it cooks up it turns more of a purplish colour, and as you can see in the photo, it does turn other things a bit purple too. This salad is bulked out with chickpeas, avocado, red capsicum, celery and baby spinach, making for a perfect take-to-work lunch.

Ingredients
1 cup black rice (sometimes also called forbidden rice)
2 cups water
1 red capsicum
1 avocado
2 stalks celery
2-3 spring onions
400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or you can use any dressing that you like)
Few large handfuls of baby spinach to serve

In a pot place the rice and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook the rice for around 20 minutes or until almost all of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

In the mean time dice the red capsicum and avocado. Slice the celery and spring onions thinly.

Once rice is ready add the apple cider vinegar or dressing, vegetables and chickpeas and mix well.

Serve on top of baby spinach.

Pear, walnut and blue cheese salad

We are getting chilly here in Dunedin!! I suppose that it is now June and we are nearing the shortest day of the year but I think I forget just how bitter Southern winter days can be. It also doesn't help that my best friend is currently sunbathing in the Greek Islands, so I keep seeing pictures of clear blue skies and picturesque white-washed walls. Oh that and my grandparents have just jetted off to Rarotonga. I suppose all a girl can do in these sorts of situations is dream of beautiful warm weather and eat some delicious warming food.

Oh and keep warm by going shopping. I do love winter fashions.

I am still on a bit of a break from uni at the moment working on my dissertation so it is easy to snuggle up on the sofa with a cup of tea and do some research. Today Mum had the day off work so we went out for lunch up to Coffee Culture in Roslyn. For anyone who lives in Dunedin or is visiting you should definitely check it out! They have converted an old fire station which has some amazing views out over the city, the food was tasty and importantly the coffee was excellent.

Speaking of warming foods, winter isn't exactly what I would consider salad time of year, but in my opinion it just means that you need to change up the type of salads you have. Pear, walnut and blue cheese isn't exactly a ground breaking combination, but they go so well together that I thought I would share my version of this winter favourite. The delicious pan-fried pears help to warm it up a little, while the raspberry vinaigrette adds a lovely tang.

I'll add a wee note that I used Raspberry Vinegar in my dressing. This is a little bit of an investment type vinegar as it is more difficult to find and a little more expensive, but I absolutely love it!! It really does make a great alternative to apple cider vinegar. I haven't tried it, but if you don't want to go out and find raspberry vinegar, apple cider vinegar should work in the dressing.

Ingredients
2 pears, cored and slice thinly
Approx. 1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup shelled walnuts, roughly chopped (or put in a snaplock bag and give them a bash with a rolling pin Jamie Oliver style)
Approx. 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (just use however much you like really)
Couple big handfuls mixed salad greens

3 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
Grinding of salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a pan and lay the pear slices flat. Pan fry for around 4-5 minutes or until golden and then flip over. Fry the other side for a following 3-4 minutes adding a little more butter if needed. You may need to do this in 2 batches.

In a jar, shake together the dressing ingredients (vinegar, honey, oil and salt and pepper) until well combined.

On a large serving plate (or bowl if you prefer), spread out the salad greens. Drizzle with some of the dressing and toss a little to coat. Sprinkle over the blue cheese, add the cooked pear and then sprinkle over the walnuts.

Voila!

Store the remaining dressing to enjoy over the rest of the week. Just give it a bit of a shake up before you use it.

Watermelon Feta and Avocado Salad

It's one week today until my sister's wedding!! I have had another dress fitting for my bridesmaid's dress and am getting pretty excited now. Unfortunately over night I seem to have come down with a bit of a cold, although better now than next week. So right now I am nursing my cold while watching Pride and Prejudice. I also made myself some homemade electrolyte drink that is all natural and full of Vitamin C. Once I have perfected the mix I might post a recipe up later in the week.

It is also just over a week until uni starts and I get properly stuck into my honours year. I am predicting that I am going to be pretty busy this year, so proper nutrition, exercise and sleep is going to be more important than ever. My goals are lots of water, lots and lots of greens, not too much sugar and in bed by 10.30pm at the latest (but we will see how this goes). The gym at uni is also free for students so I may as well start making the most of it for stress relief.

On to this week's recipe. This was one of those shot in the dark type concotions. I pulled a whole heap of stuff out of the vegetable drawer in the hope of getting some inspiration for a salad and this recipe came to mind. It makes a really refreshing summer salad, with saltiness from the feta and a little sweetness from the dressing. I will definitely be making this again.

Ingredients
3-4 large handfuls mixed salad leaves
1 cup watermelon, chopped
50g feta cheese, roughly chopped or crumbled
1/2 avocado, cubed

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
Pinch sea salt

In a small bowl of jug whisk the dressing ingredients: Balsamic, olive oil, honey and salt.

On a platter or in a salad bowl, layer half of the salad leaves, watermelon, feta and avocado and pour over half of the dressing. Continue to layer the rest of the salad ingredients and pour over the rest of the dressing.

Serve immediately

Carrot Cashew and Coconut Salad

This will just be a short post today as i am starting a new summer job today so don't have a lot of time. Today's recipe is one of my favourite salads. It's very quick and easy and everytime I take it somewhere everyone loves it.

Ingredients
4 large carrots
Tin of mandarin segments, drained or 2 oranges peeled and segmented
2 spring onions finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
Large handful shredded coconut
1/4 cup toasted cashew nuts
French dressing

1. Grate the carrot.
2. Toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

It's that easy