YMCA Healthy Living Magazine, powered by n4 food and health SPRING 2019 | Page 17

KATE WENGIER Kate is the founder of Foost, which is the creator of Positive Food Education - inspiring healthier families by creating happier family mealtimes. Empowering children to become colourful and adventurous eaters. www.foost.com.au WONDERFUL SPRING RECIPES HOMEMADE BAKED BEANS Serves: 4 | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 40 minutes Baked beans on toast is a famous family favourite. Here’s how you can make and enjoy baked beans from scratch, without having to worry about the high salt content of the tinned variety. You can enjoy it as part of breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack. Ingredients 2 cups dried cannellini or borlotti beans OR 2 x 400g cans of salt-reduced cannellini or borlotti beans 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion finely diced 1 clove garlic, crushed (or one teaspoon crushed garlic) 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 x 400g cans tinned, crushed tomatoes (no added salt) 1 teaspoon mixed herbs (dried or fresh) 1 tablespoon no added salt tomato paste Pinch of salt Directions 1 Prepare dry beans as per packet instructions or if using canned beans, drain and rinse under cold water. 2 Heat olive oil in a large frypan then fry onion and garlic on medium heat for 5 minutes until softened. 3 Add sugar and stir, cook for 2 minutes. 4 Add tinned tomatoes, herbs, tomato paste, salt and beans. 5 Mix and cook for a further 30 minutes. 6 Serve on roasted sweet potatoes, rice or toast with a side salad. Notes: You can easily add in extra vegetables, for example, we like to add freshly diced tomatoes or red capsicum or zucchini (after step 4). Spice your beans up by adding some chilli or black pepper to taste. These beans can be frozen for future meals or snacks. CHICKEN VIETNAMESE PHO Serves: 4 | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 20 minutes Ingredients: 500ml salt-reduced chicken stock (see Tip) 1.5L water 1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, peeled 10cm-piece ginger, peeled, sliced 2 star anise 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 teaspoon salt-reduced soy sauce 2 teaspoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons lime juice 4 x 100-120g lean chicken breast fillets 2 bunches bok choy, roughly chopped 150g rice noodles 150g bean shoots ½ cup Vietnamese mint leaves ½ cup coriander leaves 2 spring onions, chopped 2 teaspoons sliced red chilli 4 lemon wedges Method 1 Combine stock, water, onion, garlic, ginger, star anise, black peppercorns, soy sauce and fish sauce in a large saucepan over medium- high heat. Cover and bring to the boil. Add chicken breast and simmer for 15-17 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. For the last 3 minutes of cooking, add bok choy. 2 Remove garlic, peppercorns, star anise and ginger and discard. Transfer chicken to a plate, and shred when cooled. 3 Prepare noodles according to packet instructions. Drain. 4 Divide chicken, noodles, bok choy and stock between 4 bowls. Top each bowl with bean shoots, Vietnamese mint, coriander, spring onion, chilli and a lemon wedge. Tip: For a healthier alternative to store-bought stock, use our homemade chicken stock recipe instead. This recipe can also be made with green prawns, tofu or sliced beef. Chicken Vietnamese Pho recipe and image reproduced with permission from the Heart Foundation website. ©2018 National Heart Foundation of Australia. For more healthy recipes visit www. heartfoundation.org.au/recipes or speak to the Heart Foundation’s Helpline on 13 11 12. SPRING 2019 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE 17