Quick Lunches: Salad

What do you usually have for lunch?

I'm quite partial to a lunchtime salad, it's my favourite way of using up left over meat from the previous night's dinner or getting rid of those annoying bits and pieces lying around in the fridge. Also because I'm lazy and salads are easy.

Here are some I've made recently....get yourself a cup of tea, there are lots of pictures!

Grilled chicken breast (marinated in paprika, honey and lemon) with parsley, dill, chives, capsicum, avocado and tomato.

Shredded chicken, asparagus, salad leaves, tomato, red onion, goat's cheese and guacamole.

Sliced kangaroo fillet, baby spinach, red capsicum, basil, coriander, pepitas, pine nuts and cherry tomato with a tahini and maple 'mayo'.

Lettuce, apple, peach, parsely pepitas and quinoa.

Lamb kofta, quinoa, red onion, parsley, cherry tomato and sweet potato crisps.

Honey mustard glazed chicken with watercress.

Watercress, goat's cheese and pine nut.

Chicken, pasta, chives, watercress and pine nut with mustard mayo.

Donna Hay's Thai Beef Salad (recipe here)

Lettuce, cucumber, avocado and red capsicum.

Lettuce, dill, asparagus, cherry tomato, avocado, walnut and goat's cheese.

Roast beef, red onion, cherry tomato, lettuce and pine nut with a maple mustard dressing.

Roast beef, coriander, lettuce, red onion and avocado.

Chorizo, asparagus, cherry tomato, parsley and quinoa.

Zucchini 'spaghetti', chicken, rocket, avocado and pesto.

Smoked salmon, fig, lettuce, red onion, pear, avocado and hazelnuts. 

Quinoa Crusted Chicken

Are you a quinoa fan? I am. It's quite a nifty little seed, high in protein, fibre, iron and lots of other good stuff. I usually buy the seeds for salads and the flakes to wizz into flour, however it came to my attention recently that the flakes also make a rather good substitution for breadcrumbs. Naturally chicken schnitzel was on the cards...because, let's be honest who can resist a good schnitty!

So here is my recipe for quinoa crusted chicken, it's gluten/wheat free, clean, kind of paleo (if you dabble in the odd pseudo-grain) and most importantly, crunchy!! While nothing can ever trump the traditional crumbed schnitz I think this is a pretty good alternative if you're into the whole gluten free thing or simply enjoy trying something different.

Here's what you need (this will give you 6 medium sized schnitzels)...

3 chicken breasts (preferably free-range)
2 cups quinoa flakes
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 eggs beaten
2 tbs fresh thyme leaves
zest of 1 lemon, grated
1 large garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper
Coconut oil for frying (or olive if you prefer)


- Give each chicken breast a good bash with a meat tenderiser then cut in half so you have 6 pieces. Dredge each piece in buckwheat flour until lightly coated.

- Combine quinoa flakes, thyme, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper in a large dish. 

- Dip each piece of chicken in egg and then in quinoa mixture. Make sure each schnitzel is evenly coated in quinoa (gently shake off excess) to ensure a nice crunchy crust. They should look like this.

- Heat oil and fry over medium heat (if the pan is too hot they will burn on the outside before chicken is cooked through so keep an eye on the heat). 

I served mine with a simple garden salad of lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, blood orange and pear. A quick, healthy and tasty dinner!