So I don’t know about you, but whenever I am on the hunt for new ‘healthy’ meal ideas, all I can really find is boring, bland, and completely unappealing ‘diet food’. Not my cup of tea! I don’t know why people think that stripping fat and sugar means stripping any and all flavour. It really doesn’t have to. If you start with whole fresh ingredients and spend a little longer on seasonings and sauces, diet food need not leave you with “kale face”.

My blog is not a ‘health’ blog by any stretch of the imagination. It is however, an accurate representation of the sort of stuff I eat on a day to day basis, and so, people always ask how I keep the weight off considering I eat so much. Now while this has made me realise that my gluttonous reputation clearly precedes me, it also made me realise that I actually eat really well and in moderation, and that following some crazy diet when I am not blogging, is just not necessary.

Now having absolutely no expertise in the field, my theory is, extreme diets are hard to stick to and aren’t really good for you, moderation in all things is key, and that if you are making things yourself, from whole, fresh ingredients, you are most of the way there. The thing about my simple theory is, a saddening number of people, for whatever reason, are not most of the way there and simply don’t know where to start.

One day I was in the supermarket picking up some spaghetti for a puttanesca I was making that evening. Just next to the dried pasta is the jarred pasta sauce selection. Perusing the shelves and shelves of premade pasta sauce was a older mother and adult daughter. The daughter was just about to pick up a jar when her mother suggested that they simply make it themselves. With a very confused face the daughter looked at her mum and said “What do you mean ‘make it’? How?”. The shock and confusion then went from the adult daughters face, straight to mine! Being passionate about food and cooking, this was one of the saddest things I had ever heard.

I believe that education is the key to getting people healthier and happier. Giving people the tools to make healthier decisions and be able to prepare healthy meals themselves can be the difference between losing weight, and keeping it off. Health and Wellness Retreat Chi of Life is a fantastic program here in Queensland that provides health and wellness education. With a focus on food, the successful program helps participants to create healthy life changes and provides the tools and training to carry it on for a lifetime. Visit at Chi of Life. 

Smokey Steak Tacos

 

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Serves 2

Author: Eatin' Mess

Ingredients

• 4 small corn tortillas - you can make these yourself using this recipeor you could also have this as a salad and just leave out the tortilla
• 1 piece of lean steak - I used a rib fillet on the bone however you can use whatever cut you like
• ¼ head cauliflower, finely chopped in a food processor
• 1 avocado, cubed
• ½ cup corn - fresh or frozen, never canned, full of sugar
• 3 radishes, sliced
• ½ cup coriander, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup of crumbly feta, crumbled up about as finely as the cauliflower
• Juice of ½ lime
• 2 tbs olive oil

Lime Cumin Creme

• ¼ cup natural yoghurt
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• Juice of ½ a lime

Chipotle Tomato Salsa

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 tbs chipotle chilli paste
• 1 tbs olive oil
• ½ tsp salt

Pickled Red Onion

• ¼ red onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbs white vinegar
• 1 tbs water
• 1 tbs white sugar

Instructions

1. The first thing to do is roast your tomatoes. Cut in half horizontally place on a baking tray and roast for 25 minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool, add to a food precessor along with the chipotle, oil and salt. Blitz until smooth. Set aside.
2. Next get your meat out of the fridge, rub with 1 tbs of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Leave out to get up to room temperature.
3. Next, start your pickled onion. Mix the water, vinegar and sugar in a bowl until dissolved. Add the onions and leave for at least 15 minutes.
4. For the lime cumin cream, mix all ingredients together and set aside.
5. Grill your steak on a BBQ or griddle pan, cook to you liking but I strong recommend medium rare. Once cooked, place on a board, loosely wrap with foil and set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
6. While your meat is resting, combine the cauliflower, corn, radishes, coriander, avocado and feta in a large bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, juice of half a lime and a pinch of salt. Gently toss to combine.
7. Once your salad is done, slice your meat, grill on BBQ or warm in a pan the tortillas, then you are ready to go.
8. Pile your taco with goodness and enjoy!!!

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