Adam has a very physically intense day and he does a paramedic shift every Friday night.
We needed to come up with a lunchbox packed with food that was filling and energy dense.
We developed a protein-loaded couscous salad, brownies made with butterbeans and fruit sticks.
I just love couscous and think this salad is yummy.
The prickly pear was so tasty and combined well with my favourite fruits pineapple and kiwi fruit.
The brownies were moist and tasted a little different from normal brownies. Are these healthy ones?
Makes 16
1 x 410g butter beans, well drained
60ml milk
250ml unsweetened pie apples
15ml vanilla essence
200ml cake flour
10ml baking powder
3ml salt
125ml cocoa powder, sifted
3 eggs
250ml sugar
In a food processor bowl, combine beans, milk, pie apples and vanilla essence. Process. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and process until smooth. Add eggs and sugar. Mix until just blended.
Spray a 20cm pan with non-stick cooking spray and line the base.
Pour mixture into pan and bake at 180 °C for 45-50 minutes. It's a sticky mixture and may require more baking time. If mixture bounces back when lightly touched, brownies are ready.
Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack and cutting into 16 blocks.
Makes 12
250ml flour
5ml dry mustard powder
375ml grated cheddar cheese
1 can of tuna in brine, drained and flaked
1 bunch spring onions, white part only finely chopped
60ml oil
250ml milk
3 eggs
salt and black pepper to taste
Place the flour, mustard powder, cheese, tuna and spring onions in a bowl and mix well.
Mix together the oil, milk and eggs and add to the dry ingredients.
Add salt and pepper.
Spoon into 12 greased muffin tins and bake at 180 °?C for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold.
I am used to a packed lunch every day but it is really boring. It's usually a brown bread cheese and tomato sandwich. I'm not a great fan of meat. I don't like buying lunch and prefer bringing my own from home.
Susan indicated she did not enjoy meat but loved tuna. We took a can of tuna and turned it into a tasty tartlet an easy recipe with no pastry.
Accompanied by a salad it makes a balanced meal.
A tip is to pack the dressing separately so the salad is not soggy.
The carrot muffin is packed with healthy ingredients but without all the kilojoules.
I loved the tuna tartlets; they were so tasty and easy to eat.
I don't like vegetables but the salad was a good way of getting me to eat more vegetables.
The muffins were my favourite so big and filling. I could eat half and save the other half for later. They will be really good with coffee.
Enough for 2-3 lunchboxes
30ml olive oil
1 red onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
375ml couscous
375ml hot chicken stock
80ml raisins
50g flaked almonds, toasted
80ml chopped coriander
80ml chopped mint
4 chicken breasts, seasoned and fried or poached and cut into cubes
100ml olive oil
50ml lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a saucepan and fry onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat, stir in the couscous and the chicken stock. Cover with lid and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and transfer to a mixing bowl. Allow to cool completely and stir in the raisins, almonds, coriander, mint and chicken.
Combine the oil and lemon juice and mix well. Add to the salad and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Makes 2
3 prickly pears, peeled and cut into thick slices
1 pineapple, peeled and cut into thick slices
2 kiwi fruit, peeled and cut into slices
2 wooden kebab sticks
Thread alternate fruit slices on to a stick. Cover and chill before packing in the lunchbox.
Makes 12
200g Nutty Wheat flour
250g cake flour
15ml baking powder
5ml ground cinnamon
3ml ground nutmeg
3ml mixed spice
110g sticky brown sugar
150ml olive oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
350g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
50g pecan pieces
125g raisins
30g desiccated coconut
1 small can crushed pineapple in natural juice
Glace icing:
250ml icing sugar, sifted
little warm water
squeeze of lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Add remaining ingredients up to and including the pineapple with juice. It should be a sticky mixture so add a little water if necessary.
Divide between the muffin pans and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden brown.
For the icing, combine the icing sugar with a little warm water and lemon juice until you have a fairly runny icing. Drizzle over the muffins.
Enough for two salads
150g baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
125ml baby tomatoes
1 packet baby corn cut into 1cm pieces
1 red onion, finely sliced
50g black olives
125ml sugar snap peas cut into 1cm pieces
Dressing:
80ml olive oil
40ml lemon juice
15ml runny honey
50ml fresh mint finely chopped
Mix all the ingredients for the salad and pack into a lunchbox.
Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a small container. Just before eating, pour over salad.