Photography by Elisa Watson, styling by Kate Bradley (Kenko Kitchen) for Nourish Magazine July/August 2014.

Every 2 months I am going to feature another country and cuisine and post a recipe each week from that particular country/cuisine. First up is Korea! This is my more modern take on Korean food by taking on the Mexican fusion. These tacos are an absolute dream. 

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Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

For the pulled jackfruit “pork”
1 can jackfruit in brine (drained)
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup tamari
2 tablespoons coconut sugar
2 cloves garlic
1” knob ginger (grated)
1 tbsp minced chilli
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp kelp flakes
1 tbsp siracha

For the slaw
1 small cucumber
1/2 lime (juiced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 red onion (sliced thin)
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1 tsp mirin

+ optional kewpie mayo or vegan mayonnaise

To serve
8-10 small corn tortillas

Method
To start of the jackfruit we want to add all the ingredients into a small saucepan. Let sit over a very low heat for 2-3 hours. By this stage the jackfruit should have soaked up all the flavours and be easy to “pull” or shred with a fork. Set this aside.

To make the slaw simply cut the cucumber into half moons, squeeze on the lime juice and mix in with the minced garlic, sliced red onion, coriander and mirin.

To serve simply place some of the pulled jackfruit and slaw on each tortilla and enjoy!

Photography by Elisa Watson, Styling by Kate Bradley for Nourish Magazine May/June 2014.

I don't think this recipe needs much of an introduction. I first created this recipe for myself as I found rolling sushi to be tedious and messy when I didn't have a lot of time. Creating an open bowl instead of sushi rolls meant I could save time and avoid getting frustrated at my misshapen sushi. This recipe like most found on Kenkō, is quick to prepare, extremely easy and very nourishing. Try and make sure you use a biodynamic or organic tofu and edamame where possible to avoid harmful GMOs sneaking into your body and to make the meal even more nutritious. This bowl is super delicious and is perfect for lunch or just as a dinner for one.

This is another recipe from my May/June 2014 spread in Nourish Magazine. Available at Coles, Woolworths and news agencies across Australia!

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Make/Serves: 1

Ingredients
1/3 cup brown sushi rice
1 1/2 cups water
2 tsp tamari
1 tsp miso paste
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1/3 cup edamame
3 kale leaves (shredded)
1 carrot (julienned)
4-5 shiitake mushrooms (cut in quarters)
1 tbsp rice bran oil
100g marinated japanese tofu
1 tbsp shredded nori
1/2 avocado

Method
Start by bringing the water to the boil in a small saucepan. Add in your brown sushi rice and let cook for 15-20 minutes until tender. Once cooked, strain any excess liquid, mix in 1 tsp of the tamari, 1/2 tsp of the miso paste and the sesame seeds. Mix together and set aside.

Gently steam the edamame for 5 minutes and add in the kale leaves in the last minute. Place the edamame, carrots and kale in different areas of the bowl neatly.

In a small fry pan, cook the shiitake mushrooms in the remaining tamari, rice bran oil and 1/2 tsp miso paste. Once cooked, place in another segment of the bowl.

In the same fry pan throw in the diced tofu and let warm up. Once warmed through, place in another corner of the bowl.

Next just add in the rice to the remaining space in the bowl and top with the nori.

Serve with half an avocado and some extra tamari if desired.

Photography by Elisa Watson, Styling by Kate Bradley for Nourish Magazine May/June 2014.

There is nothing quite as satisfying as a delicious baked potato straight out of the oven. Even better for me, is a baked SWEET potato. Add in some delicious Mexican spiced tofu and black beans and you have got a ripper of a meal! This dish is perfect for after a workout with stacks of protein and healthy carbs. It's simple to make and if you have extra left over - just pop them in a container and your meal prep for the next day is done! Serve with a salad or on it's own, you won't be disappointed!

This is another recipe from my 'Good Food for Busy People' spread in the May/June 2014 issue of Nourish Magazine. Available from Coles, Woolworths and news agencies across Australia.

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Serves 4

Ingredients
4 small sweet potatoes
1/2 red onion
1 chipotle chilli
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup chopped tin tomatoes
1/2 cup cooked black beans
175g firm organic tofu
1 cob organic corn

To serve
handful coriander
4 tbsp natural yoghurt

Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, season with a pinch of pink lake sea salt and Individually wrap each potato in foil. Place the sweet potatoes in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes until soft to touch.

Whilst the potatoes are in the oven, place the red onion, chillis, garlic, tomato paste, spices and tin tomatoes into a processor. Blitz until smooth.

In a small saucepan, place the black beans and corn (removed from cob). Crumble in the tofu and add in the salsa made in the processor. Let simmer over a low heat for 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and cut each potato open. Gently squeeze open the jackets and place some tofu/black bean filling in each potato.  If taking for lunch place into a container and enjoy later! 

Serve with coriander and yoghurt.

Photography by Elisa Watson, Styling by Kate Bradley for Nourish Magazine May/June 2014.

I think it's easy to see that I love soba. They are such a simple (and delicious) noodle which can create a fabulous dish in minutes. This is one of my ultimate favourite lunch time meals. It's super super quick to make and it not only is it delicious it's also got all my favourite elements: leafy greens, good fats, a fermented component and a little bit of protein.

This is a great dish to whip up before work or school when you know you have no time but don't want to have to have to buy some junk on your lunch break. Or when you come home and really don't feel like cooking, it is so quick you will hardly even notice you turned on the stove!

This recipe is part of my "Good Food for Busy People" spread in the May/June 2014 issue of Nourish Magazine. Available for purchase from Coles, Woolworths and news agencies. 

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Serves: 2

Ingredients
150g soba noodles
1/2 avocado
1 tbsp miso paste
1 tsp tamari
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 large kale leaves
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method
Cook the soba noodles in a pot of boiling water. Once tender drain noodles and run under cold water.

In a bowl mash the avocado and add in the miso paste. Mix together.

Add in the noodles with the tamari and sesame oil and mix until all noodles are coated.

Shred the kale leaves and then steam for 1 minute before adding into noodles. Mix in with the sesame seeds and place in two noodle boxes.

Photography by Elisa Watson, Styling by Kate Bradley for Nourish Magazine May/June 2014.

Melbourne is officially heading into the wintery weather. The mornings are cold, the days are overcast and rainy and the nights are even colder than the mornings. This weather for me means one thing, soup.

I find soups are perfect for winter. They are warming, they are nourishing and pack in a whole heap of vegetables. They are also nice and light for the evenings. Winter is the season that we tend to over indulge and hence a nice nourishing, nutrient packed soup at night will keep us from pigging out on stodgy foods and will instead keep us feeling good! So here is a delicious recipe for a Roasted Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup - always a go to on cold wintery nights.

This is another recipe in my 'Good Food for Busy People' recipe spread for May/June 2014 issue of Nourish Magazine. For the full spread check out Nourish Magazine in Coles, Woolworths and news agencies across Australia!

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Serves 4

Ingredients
1 brown onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 kent pumpkin
1 large sweet potato
3/4L vegetable stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

To serve
2 spring onions
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp olive oil

Method
Roughly chop pumpkin and sweet potato to large pieces. Leave the skins on. Roll in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slow cook in oven until flesh soft.

While pumpkin and sweet potato are cooking, slowly cook onion in olive oil until light caramel colour, add garlic and cook 5 mins.

Remove skin from pumpkin and sweet potato. Discard the skins. Place in blender (I use my Vitamix blender as it gets the soup extremely smooth!) with the onion, garlic and veggie stock and blend until smooth.

To serve, sprinkle with chopped spring onions, chilli, pepper to taste and a drizzle of olive oil.

Photography by Elisa Watson and styling by Kate Bradley for Nourish Magazine May/June 2014.

Sausage rolls are part of Australian culture. Whether it's eating one from the school canteen, having an amazing one made by your nan, smashing one at the footy or late at night after you've had too much to drink (normally from 7/11), it's always been there.

However the sausage roll as we know it is not really a nourishing item nor is it a nutritious item, so I knew I had to set this right! This humble sausage roll is gluten free, vegan* and just as delicious as it's original counterpart!

This recipe is part of a quick lunches spread I contributed for the May/June 2014 issue of Nourish Magazine. To check out the full spread and more recipes you can pick up a copy from Coles, Woolworths and news agencies across Australia.

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Serves: 4-5

Ingredients
400g tin lentils
bay leaf
2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 tbsp rice bran oil
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
marjoram
parsley - 1/2 bunch fresh
1 brown onion (diced)
2 tbsp flax meal
6 tbsp water
1/2 c gluten free oats or flaked quinoa
1 faux beef stock cube
1 tbsp tomato paste
2-3 sheets gluten free puff pastry
2 tbsp seeds of choice
1 tbsp plant based milk *optional

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Place lentils, mushroom and bay leaf into food processor and pulse until mushrooms are chopped but not mushed. In a medium fry pan heat the 1 tbsp of rice bran oil and add in the onion. Once onions are translucent add in the the lentils and mushroom mix. Cook ingredients for a couple of minutes.

Add in the crushed garlic, herbs, flax meal, water, oats/quinoa flakes, faux beef stock cube and tomato paste. Stir ingredients in fry pan and let cook for 5 minutes then remove from heat.

Defrost the gluten free pastry sheets. Cut sheets into halves. In the middle of each pastry half, place in the mushroom/lentil mixture. Roll pastry on each side and place the fold at the bottom. Cut the sausage rolls into size of choice, brush with milk and sprinkle with seeds.

Place in oven for 20-30 minutes until pastry is golden and crunchy.

*Check packaging of gluten free pastry to make sure you get a vegan option.

It is that time of week once again where The Design Files have rolled out another one of my delicious and healthy recipes. This weeks edition is my Mexican Fiesta. Mexican food is one of those cuisines that gets every single tastebud going. I think it’s impossible to feel low when eating this food. When done right, it’s so vibrant, fresh and delicious.

I started off like many others, thinking that the food that comes with a fishbowl margarita and sombrero when it’s your birthday is the truly authentically Mexican cuisine. The same goes with the boxed Mexican taco kit you’ll find in your local supermarket – it looks legit, but is very far from the truth!  The real deal is far fresher, and oh so tasty.

This dish may have a lot of components, but each part is so quick to make.  From start to finish this dish be completed in an hour. The maize flour tortillas are a game changer, I simply can’t make mexican without these now. If I see a family member come home with the supermarket bought, wheat based, preservative-filled tortillas, I feel like I’m going to cry.  OK, that may be a little dramatic, but when you can make something so healthy, so fast that is next level tasty, why wouldn’t you?!  So please, if you’re going to make this dish, try your hardest to make the tortillas from scratch, or otherwise (as a last resort) try and find some good quality spelt flour or corn tortillas!  The dish won’t be the same without.
 
I really hope you guys like my take on this favourite as much as I do!

For the full post and recipe check The Design Files post here!
 

Recipe/Food Prep: Kate Bradley/Kenkō Kitchen
 Styling: Lucy Feagins/The Design Files
 Photography: Eve Wilson

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 Food Styling - Lucy Feagins/The Design Files, Photography - Eve Wilson

My brother is a great athlete and has always inspired me for how much commitment he has to his training - whether that be for hockey, for marathons, triathlons or even an iron man. He is a machine. 6 years ago, in what I thought at the time was the pinnacle of his athleticism he decided to become a vegetarian. A lot of people were sceptical of this, "but you need meat for protein!". Yes meat is high in protein, but so are vegetables. He then later gave up gluten, he very scarcely has fructose and has almost fully given up dairy. My brother stands today more muscular, fitter, stronger and healthier than he has ever been and each day he improves. Vegetables have been his main source of fuel for everything he has competed in - from his multiple iron man efforts, his marathons, triathlons and not to mention his daily runs, weight training sessions, spin training, swims. This is all on top of his hockey training!
 
One dish that my brother does well is mushrooms. He has mastered how to cook this beautiful food. Mushrooms are a good source of protein, as well as containing vitamins C, D, B6 and B12 and minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium and selenium. I think all vegetarians will agree mushrooms are one of our forms of 'meat'. This dish was inspired by my brothers love for big mushrooms, and was created for when we both gave up gluten - but didn't want to give up the burger. Because you have to be crazy if you don't love a good burger! Using two mushrooms as a bun works on so many levels and just seems right. This is good option for those who are looking to lose but don't want to give up burgers, and for the gluten intolerant.

Ingredients
serves 4
 
For the burger
8 large flat mushrooms
1 tin chickpeas
1 large sweet potato
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
pinch chilli flakes
salt
pepper
 
polenta/maize flour to roll in
 
 For the guacamole
1 cup edamame
1 avocado
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp chopped coriander
juice 1 lime
1 tbsp olive/coconut oil
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt

First things first. Steam your sweet potato and once softened place in a mixing bowl with your tin of chickpeas (drained and rinsed of course!). Next, get mashing. You still want it to be quite chunky however so don't make it super smooth!! Then add your sesame seeds, spices and chilli and mix it all up. Don't be put off by the fact the mixture is still kind of like mashed potato consistency (as essentially it is). Add in your salt and pepper to taste. Play around with the spices - your taste buds may like more or less of one or the other so it's all about tasting as you go!
 
When you're ready, grab handfuls of the mixture and pat it into a ball. Roll gently in either polenta or maize flour and place in a fry pan with a dash of oil. 
You have to be kind of careful when flipping these babies - don't be alarm if they squish a bit! The mixture will make around 8 patties - so you can either make yourselves two burgers each (just double the mushrooms needed), or what I like to do is just have an extra patty on the side of my burger.
 
Whilst you're cooking your patties, in another fry pan, fry up your mushrooms again, in a bit of oil until cooked. If you don't have two fry pans - try cooking up your patties first and place them in the oven on around 150-180 degrees to stay warm. Alternatively you can just cook your mushrooms in the oven around 180 with a drizzle of oil - or even have them raw! 

For the guacamole - place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth!
 
Next all we have to do is assemble. Place one mushroom on your plate - put on your patty, some guacamole and snow pea shoots. I also like to put on a hot sauce with mine and some goats cheese and place your secondary mushroom on top.
 
Enjoy!

Photography by Elisa Watson.

This is by far my favourite, easy salad. It takes no time to prepare, it's vibrant and it's delicious. A lot of people shrug salads off as being boring or not being filling and as the Simpsons saying goes - "you don't make friends with salad". This one slaps all those comments in the face. It is a meal in itself, it is so versatile and you feel so good eating it.
 
Ingredients
 
1/2 cauliflower
1/2 big sweet potato
1/4 pumpkin
2 fresh beetroots
1/2 bunch kale
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt and pepper
3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
drizzle olive oil
1/4 cup goats cheese (or cashew cheese for the vegans)
1/4 cup sprouts
1/4 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

For this salad it's very simple. First thing you want to do is cut up your vegetables into good bite size pieces (not too small as they do shrink when roasted).   Place vegetables in mixing bowl (bar beetroot and kale) and coat with toss with spices and coconut oil until everything is covered. Place vegetables on roasting tray and  then add beetroot to the bowl, cover beetroot with all the remaining spices and oil left in the bowl and then place on tray with the rest of the vegetables. We do these separate as otherwise all the vegetables end up purple!
 
Bake vegetables for approx. 20-30mins until soft inside but crunchy on the outside. They may need a quick turn half way through.
 
Whilst vegetables are baking, chop up kale, place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Massage the leaves of the kale until all are covered with the olive oil. Once vegetables are done place in bowl with the kale and lightly toss - being careful not to mush the sweet potato and pumpkin.
 
Top salad with crumbled goats cheese, salad sprouts and chopped walnuts and you're ready to serve. Ooooh gurl.

Photography by Elisa Watson.