This recipe is not only lip smacking tasty, but it’s versatile enough to prepare for a family lunch, dinner, bbq or I used to roll it out when I ran my kids cooking classes, where even I was taken aback by the kids raving about how gorgeous the beans were ‘done this way’. One little girl looked at me accusingly and said suspiciously, “I don’t know how you’ve done it, but you’ve got me eating and liking broccoli.”So cute! Happy days!

I have to admit, we rarely eat tofu. I’m not a massive fan of it from a health perspective, but every now and then I like to change things up, so we went for an organic tofu (meaning not-GM). Tempeh would be a better choice,  as the process of fermenting reduces the anti-nutrients and creates a natural probiotic food. Using prawns is definitely my favourite!

But really, you can leave it out if you so desire, increase the seeds, add some cashews, or whatever you favourite protein may be.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Udon noodles
Salt
Sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds/sesame seeds
Coconut or rapadura sugar
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Tamari sauce
Sesame oil

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Asian-Style Vegetable and Noodle Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Noodle Salad
• 300 g broccoli cut into small florets
• 150 g green beans halved
• 270 g organic udon noodles or kelp noodles if gluten free
• Coconut oil
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon ginger grated
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 cake firm organic tofu sliced thickly (or fried tempeh, seared sliced beef, sliced chicken or pork)
• 1/4 cup sunflower/ pumpkin seeds/sesame seeds I used a mix
• Optional: seeds can be dry roasted on frying pan to create a depth of flavour
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Lemon or lime wedges for serving
• Dressing
• 1 teaspoon coconut or rapadura sugar dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 35 ml apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon tamari sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

• For noodle salad, boil a saucepan of water and blanche vegetables for 2 minutes. Drain, and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
• Cook noodles according to packet in same water (full of alkaline goodness left from the veggies, strain and leave to cool.
• In a frypan, sauté the onion in a little coconut oil for a few minutes, add garlic, ginger and salt and continue cooking until onion is soft. Pour mixture into a bowl. Add more coconut oil to the frying pan and fry tofu, beef, chicken, pork or prawns until cooked
• For the dressing, In a jar combine all the dressing ingredients and shake well. Taste for seasoning.
• In a large bowl combine all the components and toss with dressing (use as much or as little dressing as you prefer) and serve with lemon or lime wedges.

If you make this please take photos and send them to me, or if you share them on instagram remember to tag me.

Other recipes you might like are Spicy Pork and Vegetable Nasi Goreng and Homemade Miso Ramen. 

Enjoy!

Brenda x

Kale chips are a big hit with my kids and, evidently, their friends, who come around and hoover them down before returning home demanding their mums make them too.

The teacher at school has her doubts, however, explaining to the kids (who are starting to ask for kale chips to be packed in their lunch boxes) that chips are bad for your health. Good on the teacher, because eating conventional chips every day is clearly not good for your health, but kale on the other hand is an incredibly nutritious food.

Keeping up with the demand is the real struggle. Luckily, the kids enjoy helping me make these moorish, healthy snacks so we can have them in constant supply.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Coconut or olive oil
Himalayan rock salt

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Kale Chips

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale
• 2 tablespoons of coconut or olive oil
• Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees
• Place coconut oil into oven for 1 minute to melt
• Cut/pull kale off the stem & wash well
• Spin in a salad spinner to dry then place on tea towel to absorb any extra moisture
• Put coconut oil in a bowl and using your hands, circulate the kale in the oil until well covered
• Lay strips of kale onto large flat pan (I usually need 3 pans) and put in oven for approx 10-12 mins
• Check kale at 10 minutes to make sure they are becoming crispy and not turning brown
• Spin the tray around (to ensure even heating).
• Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt
• Don’t forget to make sure they are completely cool before storing in glass mason jars or plastic container

Why you should be eating kale?…

Kale is a dark leafy green (we all know we should be eating more of these), full of health benefits and nutrients. Like? Kale:

– is loaded with vitamins, especially vitamin A, but also vitamins C and K and folic acid;

– is rich in calcium, potassium, copper and iron. These nutrients are necessary for healthy bones, skin and eyes;

– contains important anti-oxidants such as carotenoids & flavonoids which can help to prevent cancer;

– is low in calories & high in fibre, so it’s great for digestion;

– is an anti-inflammatory food with lots of omega-3 fatty acids, which help to fight inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.

Kale is a very versatile plant that can be cooked in many ways, including steaming, stir-fries and salads … oh, and chips!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to pack your kids for lunch!

Other snack ideas you might like are Chewy Choc-Banana Biscuits and Raw Caramel Slice.

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