recipe book

Roasted Carrot and Kale Salad with Grilled Chicken and Lemon Dressing

Roasted Carrot Salad.jpg

Looking to mix up your chicken options? This recipe is a great mix of different textures, flavours and colours - and perfect for a summer BBQ or light lunch. Yes, it’s kale, but you could just as easily use a fresh spinach or lettuce base (skip the roasting!).

Use this recipe as a base and adapt to your own tastes - I adapted it myself from one featured in The Women’s Weekly’s ‘Almost Vegetarian’ book. Speaking of vegetarian, instead of chicken, you could easily substitute in some grilled tofu or haloumi, or roasted chickpeas for a meat-free meal.

You could also substitute some feta for the dressing if preferred.

It’s low-carb meal, but you could add in some cooked quinoa, brown rice or roast sweet potato to boost the carbohydrate content.

Serves 3-4

Preparation time – 5-10 minutes

Cooking time – 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bunch green curly kale

3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

500g Dutch baby carrots, trimmed and peeled

500g chicken breast fillets

½ small red onion, quartered

2tbsp sunflower seeds

Parsley to garnish

Lemon dressing:

4tbsp mayonnaise

2tbsp lemon juice

2tsp dijon mustard

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line 3 baking trays with paper.

Cut kale leaves from stems, discarding stems.  Spread kale over 2 trays and drizzle with 1 tbsp oil, and make space to place sunflower seeds at one end to roast with the kale.

Place carrots on the other baking tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Place carrots in the oven to roast for 30 minutes or until tender. 

Add kale to the oven for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time for the carrots, taking care to avoid leaves and sunflower seeds from burning. 

In the meantime, cut chicken fillets in half horizontally and cook the four thin fillets on a pre-heated and lightly oiled grill plate or fry-pan until browned and cooked through.  Slice thickly.

Make the lemon dressing while the roast vegetables and chicken are cooking by combining the mayonnaise, lemon juice and Dijon mustard.

To serve, place roasted kale and carrot on plates with quartered onion broken into pieces (you can roast the onion with the carrots, or include raw depending on preference).  Top with sliced chicken, sprinkle with sunflower seeds and parsley, and drizzle over dressing (or serve dressing in a small pot).

Quick and easy recipes - soup, salad and snacks

Image by Rosanna Faraci

No doubt about it, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on our lives and livelihoods. All of us have different experiences and have been effected in different ways. For many, it has provided an opportunity to consider our own health and well-being and take a closer look at our nutrition choices and habits. This has resulted in a significant increase in home-cooking (including a contagious interest in sourdough baking!) as well as cooking on a budget.

You may have already been searching your favourite recipe sites, or flicking through old recipe books for meal inspiration. If you are looking for more ideas, I have linked in below a few winter-friendly options that are quick and easy to make, and will help to keep your body and brain nourished and content.

These, along with other recipes, are here on my website, or if you are looking for more ideas you will find over 140 meal and snack ideas in Super Food for Performance - currently discounted.

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Pumpkin and Pinenut Spinach Salad
Yes, a salad for winter - you can serve it while the sweet potato is still warm. Great with lamb or chicken, or roast some chickpeas with the sweet potato for a vegetarian option.

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Dahl

Perfect for a warming lunch or savoury snack. High in fibre and a tasty way to eat lentils!

Image by Bec Doyle Photography

Image by Bec Doyle Photography

Salmon and Ricotta Frittata

Works well for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack - high in protein and a terrific source of calcium.

Image by Bec Doyle Photography

Image by Bec Doyle Photography

Mexican-Style Beef with Sweet Corn Salad

More salad! But you can serve it while the corn is still warm. Mix in some black beans for a plant-based lunch bowl on it’s own.

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Banana Bread

One of the most searched recipes right now - a great way to use up extra bananas, and lower in sugar and additives than the standard store-bought varieties.

Image by Bec Doyle Photography

Image by Bec Doyle Photography

Recovery Smoothie

A great recovery option post-training, especially with more of us training from home right now. Mix it up with your favourite fresh or frozen fruits.

Happy cooking and stay safe. I would love to see your creations, so if you post any of your cooking on your social media please tag me in - (these recipes or your own healthy favourites!). You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.