Six of my favourite healthy, wholesome recipes
/A lot of people ask me for my recipes on my instagram, as I always post my food on my page and on my stories which you can find here @tashlankester. Pls follow me thanks so much I try to post as much daily #healthspo as possible, mixed in with lifestyle because I am all about balance and health without the restriction.
A new thing I am going to be introducing to my instagram page is a weekly recipe post with all of the nutritional value included, e.g. macros and calorie content. This is because just purely out of interest and to be in a teeny calorie deficit, I am tracking my food at the moment. I am just going to try it out for a few weeks and see what my general levels are and if they are on point. So far they have been. Anyway, this is an unrelated ramble to this actual post.
I wanted to give some mid-week motivation in terms of some healthy, simple recipes I have created that are so easy to follow and the food tastes amazing. I know mid week can be when we fall off the wagon slightly with the diet because tiredness kicks in, we have been good so far, feel like we can treat ourselves etc. I probably have at least one of these meals every single day, they are such staples for me.
Everyone is different, what I may like you may not like, but the biggest piece of advice I can give when it comes to healthy eating is to stick with what you enjoy! There is so many different options out there and you can experiment. Mushrooms are a big feature for me at the moment, and I have recently started experimenting with eggplant, because I just love them. It’s all about trying and testing until you find what works for you. And keep incorporating the healthy foods you love that get you excited about your meals. If you don’t like something, simply don’t eat it. I guarantee there is going to be at least one vegetable out there that you love! And please try these out, that veggie may just be included below! I won’t be offended if you don’t like them, but I find that hard to believe because they all taste so damn good. So I hope you enjoy, and please don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you do any recreation!
Avocado Pesto Chicken Salad (serves 3)
This is the perfect, go to salad packed with all of the essential nutrients, it is low in calories and will keep you full for a long time because of the healthy fat sources.
I like to prep a big batch of this ahead of time and then I can quickly grab it when I’m on the go as it is amazing served cold too!
Ingredients:
- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 zucchini
- 3 cups spinach
- ½ butternut squash
- 1 sweet potato cubed
Sauce:
- 1 cup basil
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ lemon squeezed
- ½ cup almond meal
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ an avocado
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Place cubed pumpkin and sweet potato onto a baking tray and drizzle with an oil of your choice (I like to use coconut oil). Cook for around 15-20 minutes each side, until crispy
- Finely slice the chicken breast, bell peppers and zucchini, add them all into a pan and cook in oil of your choice. For more flavour you can add in diced ginger and some lime juice (but it isn’t necessary if you are short on time as the sauce is flavoursome).
- Add all of the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend.
- Once the chicken and veggies are cooked through, stir in the sauce on a low heat, as extra virgin olive oil loses its nutrients if it burns and it burns easily.
- Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!
- Side note: I do not cook with salt or pepper, as I eat a LOT (I know it’s bad but I pick my battles) of salt, so I just add it at the end before I eat it, I feel like if I add it to the cooking I can’t taste it and I’ll just add extra anyway.
Salmon Breakfast Bowl (serves 2)
90% of the time, this will be my first big meal of the day, as it is high in healthy fats and protein which I find is good for my skin health. It also keeps me full for so long and aids my digestion for the rest of the day, as well as reduces bloating!
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets
- 4-6 chestnut mushrooms peeled
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 thumb ginger
- 1-2 cups chopped asparagus
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 2 cups spinach
- 2 eggs
- 1 avocado
Directions:
- Mince the garlic and dice the ginger, place in a pan on a low heat. For this dish I like to cook with a teaspoon of grass-fed ghee.
- Then chop up the mushrooms, asparagus and green beans and add to the pan.
- Once these are slightly cooked add in the salmon fillets and cook for a few minutes on each side. (I like my salmon quite crispy/burned so I tend to break it apart as it is cooking and stir it through with the veggies, it cooks a lot more in smaller pieces, but this is optional).
- Once this is all cooked through, transfer to a plate and fry the eggs with the leftover ghee in the pan.
- Transfer the eggs to the plate and then add the spinach and avocado on the side, drizzle with a bit of lemon or lime juice and hemp oil for extra flavour.
Minced Turkey Rice Bowl (serves 4)
A new favourite of mine, it’s so yummy and so simple! Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated, you just need to make sure most of your plate is made up of a variety of your micronutrients (the veggies), try to add a dark leafy green as the base of every dish, this is a great source of fibre and creates volume to the meal, meaning you will be eating less, but more slowly and with a larger volume – so you will stay fuller for longer.
Ingredients:
- 400g minced turkey breast
- 1 cup wild rice
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 red onion
- 4 chestnut mushrooms
- 2 cups kale
- 1 large handful of basil leaves
Tomato sauce:
- ½ cup almond meal
- 1 can peeled chopped tomatoes in juice
- Tomato puree (make sure to get one that is 100% tomato, no other added ingredients)
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup hemp oil
- ½ zucchini
Directions:
- Boil the rice as instructed
- Mince the garlic and dice the red onion, add to a pan with a teaspoon of ghee. Stir on low heat.
- Add in mushrooms sliced, followed by the chopped kale.
- Then add in the turkey mince and cook until golden brown.
- Blend all of the tomato sauce ingredients together, add to the turkey mixture right at the end on a low heat as to not burn the hemp oil.
- Then add the rice into the mixture
- Optional: if you are looking for a lower carb option, you could do half cauliflower rice or full cauliflower rice. I like to do this by grating the head of 1 whole cauliflower and cooking it in a pan with coconut oil first, until it becomes crispy. Also try replacing the turkey mince for grass fed beef mince if that is more to your taste.
Creamy Chicken Pesto “pasta” (serves 2)
My all-time favourite I have to say. I am such a pesto fan; it tastes amazing and it is a great way to get your micronutrients in. this is a great dinner party serve. Its healthy, easy to make and oh so tasty! Tried and tested on friends and family and it gets a huge thumbs up.
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 cup buckwheat pasta (optional)
- 2 zucchinis (4 zucchinis if you are not using pasta
- 2 carrots
- 4 chestnut mushrooms
- 2 cups spinach
- Homemade pesto sauce (recipe above)
Directions:
- Cook pasta as instructed
- Peel carrots and then use peeler to create ribbons of zucchini and the carrots
- In a pan, add in sliced mushrooms and diced chicken, cooked in a teaspoon of coconut oil
- Once the chicken is cooked through, add in the pasta and pesto sauce, stir through and then add the ribboned carrots and zucchinis and stir.
- Dress with lemon juice, hemp oil and some basil leaves. You can also add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for a ‘cheesy’ flavour.
For those with a bit of a sweet tooth…
Protein balls with a Tash twist (paleo, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free)
Ingredients:
- 6 dates
- 4 tsps. coconut sugar
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup buckwheat flakes
- 2 servings vegan protein powder
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- ¼ cup of water
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Maple syrup (optional)
Directions:
- Blend the dates and water together
- Mix together all of the dry ingredients, then add in the wet ingredients and stir together. Keep an eye on the consistency, if it is too dry slowly add more water until you can easily roll the mix into balls without them separating. If it is sticking to your hands too much, you have added too much water, and maybe just eat it as like a cake batter instead lol.
Spirulina Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients:
- 1 serving of vegan protein powder
- 1 banana
- A handful of frozen berries
- 1 tbsp. coconut yoghurt
- 1 serving or spirulina
- 1 tsp. cacao powder
- 1 tsp. chia seeds
- 1 tsp. hemp seeds
- 1 tbsp. buckwheat flakes
- 1 tsp. peanut butter
Directions:
- Blend together the protein powder, banana, spirulina, cacao with ¼ cup of almond milk or water
- Add the rest of the ingredients as toppings and enjoy