I hope some of these take your fancy!

NB. Some of these don’t need directions. Just toss the ingredients together!

TOMATO & BEAN SALAD

Ingredients:
Punnet tomatoes
Lebanese cucumber
Shallots
Tin chickpeas
Tin bean mix
Fresh mint
Sesame seeds

ROAST MOROCCAN CARROTS (excellent hot or cold!)

Ingredients:
1kg Carrots
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
Lemon, juiced
A pinch of Cumin, Paprika, Cinnamon, & Cayenne Pepper
Tbsp honey
Olive oil
Rosemary, sprig
Freshly chopped coriander, basil, & parsley

Directions:
Slice the carrots into chips.
Combine garlic, lemon juice, honey, & spices.
Toss the carrots in the marinade, until coated.
Line a tray with baking paper, and spread carrots in tray.
Drizzle olive oil, and add rosemary.
Roast approx. 45mins, moderate oven.
Once served, top with fresh basil, coriander, & parsley.

SPICY BASIL & TOMATO SALAD

Ingredients:
3 punnets different tomatoes
(Go for variety of colour!)
2 or 3 large Tomatoes, roughly chopped
Half a fresh chilli, finely sliced
Half a garlic clove, crushed
Drizzle balsamic
Drizzle olive oil
Salt & pepper
Fresh basil

CRYSTAL’S QUINOA & CRAISIN SALAD

Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
3/4 cup craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup mixed seeds (chia, sunflower, pumpkin)

Directions:
Rinse 1 cup Quinoa in water.
Place Quinoa in medium size saucepan with 1 1/4 cups boiling water.
Cover & simmer on very low heat for 12 mins.
At about 8 mins in, throw in craisins. The steam will soften & expand them!
Let the mix stand, covered, for about another 5mins after removing from stove.
Dry roast the almonds & seeds. Throw in after final step… Enjoy!!!

ROCKET, PEAR, & PARMESAN

Ingredients:
Fresh rocket
Pear, thinly sliced
Parmesan, thinly sliced
Walnuts (optional)
Drizzle balsamic
Drizzle olive oil
Salt & pepper

PESTO CAULIFLOWER SALAD

Ingredients:
2 cups raw cauliflower, chopped
1 cup raisins
Pine nuts, handful
Pesto (fresh basil, half cup grated Parmesan, handful pine nuts, half garlic clove)

Directions:
Add a splash of olive oil to a pan, and sauté cauliflower.
Make Pesto: Combine basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil, and garlic in food processor. Blend to a smooth paste.
Also add raisins and pine nuts to the pan, with cauliflower.
Remove cauliflower, transfer to a bowl and cool.
Stir in pesto, and serve.

JESS’ TANDOORI CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients:
3 Skinless Chicken Breasts
Tandoori Seasoning
2 Lebanese cucumbers
Tin Chickpeas
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1/4 Spanish onion, diced
Handful fresh mint
300-500gm Cous Cous, as required.

Directions:

1. Brown the chicken in a pan, sprinkled with Tandoori seasoning.
Once cooked through, set aside and chop into bite-sized cubes.

2. Combine cous cous with several cups boiling water. Simmer on low heat for
3-5mins. Set aside and cover with tea towel, 5-10mins.

3. Chop cucumber, onion, mint and tomatoes.

4. Combine chopped salad items, tandoori chicken pieces, and cous cous.
Stir through and serve! Too easy.

ROAST VEG & FETA SALAD

Ingredients:
Beetroot, Parsnip, Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Carrots
Low fat feta cheese
Fresh rosemary
Almonds
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Chop vegetables into small cubes.
Place vegies on roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat.
Sprinkle salt & pepper, and fresh rosemary.
Roast in oven for 15mins, turn vegies, and roast for another 15mins.
Using a large pan, toast the almonds.
Remove tray from oven and place vegetables in a serving dish.
Once vegies have cooled, add feta and almonds.

Vegetables:
Whatever variety you like!
My favourites are: Parsnip, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato,
Carrots, Beetroot, Zucchini, Spanish onion, Garlic.
Fresh Rosemary
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Dough:
1.5 cup Wholemeal Self Raising Flour
Half cup of water
Extra flour for dusting

Sauce:
400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes
Bunch of Basil
Half Garlic Clove
Red Wine Vinegar

Topping:
125g ball of Mozzarella
Shaved Parmesan Cheese
Half a fresh red chilli
Pine Nuts

DIRECTIONS

1) Roast Veg
Heat oven to approx 210 (aka HOT!). Chop a mixture of your favourite veges into bite-sized cubes and wedges. (Root vegetables are best!). Transfer to a roasting dish and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss together to coat, and arrange a few springs of rosemary around the tray.  Then pop in the oven for 10-15mins. Whilst cooking, prepare dough, and sauce.

TIP: Use whole bulbs of garlic, with skin on – delicious roasted!
Just slice the top off the bulb, and place top down in the oil, so that the cloves can soak it up.

2) Dough
Add SR Flour, water, oil, salt & pepper to your food processor/ blender. Use the regular chopping blade to mix. Whizz for less than a minute, until it forms a gluggy ball. Spoon dough onto a floured surface (bench top), then sprinkle more flour over the dough. Roll out with floured rolling pin, til dough is approx 8mm thick.

To lift, fold in the left and right ends, then top and bottom, to form a parcel. Transfer to pan and unfold. Push dough around to cover pan.

Rinse food processor to make sauce!

3) Sauce
Of course you can use a jar… but fresh is SO much healthier and tastier!

Using the food processor again, add the tin chopped tomatoes, a few handfuls of basil, half garlic clove, a drizzle of red wine vinegar, a dash of olive oil, and pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. Tip the sauce over the pizza, and spread around evenly.

If you haven’t already… take the veges out of oven, and set aside.

4) Topping
Break off chunks of mozzarella and distribute around pizza. Layer with roast vegetables, and finally cover with shaved Parmesan, finely diced chilli, & pine nuts.

Bake on top shelf of oven for 8-10mins. Then check, cut, turn, possibly cook for another 5mins – depending on your oven. Cook to your perfection!

Slice and serve with a rocket salad and a glass of red. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Process the vegetables through a juicer. The fiber will separate into one container, while the fresh juice collects in another. Pour the juice into a large glass and drink! Notice how the lemon really cuts out the “green” taste that most people try avoid.

Great for building strong immune systems!!

Tomato Sauce:
1 Supersized jar of Bolognaise sauce
¾ Cup of salt reduced tomato soup canned
250g Ricotta cheese
Dried mixed herbs
¾ Cup red lentils – rinsed 3 times
½ Cup chia seeds
1 Tbsp dried chilli flakes – to taste
2 Tbsp molasses
Little bit salt & pepper

White Sauce:
1 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 Cups low fat milk (approx.)
½ Cup finely grated Grana Padano cheese
1 Tsp paprika
Little bit salt & pepper

Vegetables:
2 handfuls finely sliced sweet potato
2 Handfuls Pumpkin finely sliced
3 Portabello mushrooms finely sliced
4 handfuls spinach – plus a squeeze of lemon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients for the tomato sauce.

2. White sauce: In a saucepan low heat, melt butter add flour and cook for approximately 2 minutes (enough to cook the flour, quickly add the milk in two batches and whisk well each time. Add the grated cheese and paprika and salt and pepper.

3. Spread the tomato sauce in the base of a large lasagne tray. Add 1 layer of lasagne sheets.

4. On top, layer white sauce, sweet potato, tomato sauce, and lasagne sheets.

5. Repeat with white sauce, mushroom, tomato sauce, and lasagne sheets.

6. Next repeat with tomato sauce, spinach leaves layer – ¼ cup ricotta cheese crumbled – squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper.

7. Finish the final layer with lasagne sheet, white sauce, pumpkin, tomato sauce, and one last layer of lasagne sheets.

8. Cover the lasagne with tomato sauce and the last of the white sauce. Sprinkle with extra cheese.

9. Push down lightly to compress the layers. Around the sides of the dish where there are some gaps, pour in the orange juice.

10. Leave in oven for 45 minutes. Enjoy with glass of red wine and some laid back music of your choice- the group UB40 is good.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place chicken, chorizo, lemon, olives, garlic, chicken stock and butter in a baking dish. Mix together, then sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients
1 cup Quinoa
3/4 cup craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup mixed seeds (chia, sunflower, pumpkin)

Method
Rinse 1 cup Quinoa in water.
Place rinsed Quinoa in medium size saucepan with 1 1/4 cups boiling water.
Cover & simmer on very low heat for 12 mins.
At about 8 mins in, throw in craisins. The steam will soften & expand them!
Let the mix stand, covered, for about another 5mins after removing from stove.
Dry roast the almonds & seeds. Throw in after final step… Enjoy!!!

Directions:

Prepare asparagus by snapping off tough ends. Cut remaining stalks into shorts lengths of around 5cm each. Fry in olive oil until slightly browned. Add crushed garlic and fry for further minute. Add a couple of handfuls of washed and chopped spinach leaves and fry until wilted. Add finely chopped skin of 1/2 small preserved lemon and juice of 1/2 lemon. Season with pepper only. Cook pasta and drain. Mix pasta with sauce in the frying pan, adding an extra dash of olive oil. Serve with either freshly grated parmesan cheese or crumbled feta.

Beans
Onion
Red capsicum
Garlic
Coriander seeds
Cumin
Cayenne or chilli powder
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
Fresh tomatoes or tinned tomatoes
Fresh coriander

Guacamole
Avacado
Lime juice
Salt & pepper
Fresh coriander

Salsa
Red onion
Tomato
Coriander
Salt & pepper

Directions

Fry chopped onion with finely diced red capsicum for a couple of minutes. Add a small amount of crushed garlic and pinches of ground coriander seed, cumin and cayenne or chilli powder. Fry a further minute or two. Add a drained can of black beans another of kidney beans. Add diced fresh tomatoes or half a can of chopped tomatoes and let simmer until the ingredients come together and the mixture thickens (while this is happening, you can crack a couple of eggs over the top to poach if you desire). Add a handful of chopped, fresh coriander at the end and stir.

Buy freshly made soft tortillas or burritos from the Spanish grocer on Johnson St down the road from the gym. Heat these by dry frying them for a few minutes each side on a cast iron or non-stick fry pan.

Spoon some beans onto the centre of the tortilla. Add spoonfuls of guacamole, salsa, grated cheese, sour cream, jalapeno peppers, chilli sauce and poached egg if you fancy. Fold the bottom of the tortilla over towards the middle, followed by the two sides, to make a pocket that is open at the top and hopefully holds your ingredients inside.

1 Cup Fish Sauce (Golden Boy Brand is a good one)
1 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
Small Bunch Coriander finely chopped
1 Lemon Grass Stalk very finely sliced
3 or 4 Lime Leaves finely chopped
4 to 6 Hot Red Chillies finely chopped (if you don’t want it too hot remove some of the seeds)
4 Garlic Cloves crushed.

Mix together, note this dressing can be kept in a fridge in an air tight jar for several months.

Lamb Fillets

Depending on size, 2 to 3 Lamb Fillets per person. Note remove the white coloured sinew before cooking to stop the fillets curling, your butcher may do this for you. Pan fry, grill or BBQ the Lamb Fillets until medium (pink inside)

Rocket Salad

Mix some Rocket, a few Coriander leaves, some finely sliced red Capsicum some Cherry tomatoes halved and some finely sliced Lebanese Cucumber.

Place the lamb fillets on some salad, spoon over the Spicy Thai dressing add some cracked black pepper and season to taste then enjoy .

Directions:

Juice all of the above, then add this to a blender with one banana, 2 heaped teaspoons of vital greens and some filtered water.

I blend, drink, and it just sets up my day. The alkalinity helps me reduce the acidity of my blood from my morning training session and the mix of nutrients provides the fuel to help me recover.

About Kristian:

Kristian Manietta is a triathlon coach, a triathlete, husband, father and budding author. To learn more about Kristian or either of his two amazing & successful businesses, go to:

http://www.trispecific.com/about/

http://www.tptherapy.com

http://twitter.com/kmanietta