Asparagus, couscous and feta salad

Especially for #WellnessWednesday!

Trying my best to get into this healthy living thing again!  Sigh… undoing the ‘damage’ of the past year is taking much longer than I thought.  And yes, patience is apparently a virtue.  And yes, apparantly you need to have more than just 1 healthy meal once in a while. #Denial #TheStuggleIsReal

Lunches are normally okay, and then I fall off the wagon a bit in the evening.  Is that what they call ‘balance’?  I tried, okay!  🙂  #OneMealAtATime  Will not give up!  🙂

entire-kitchen

I ALWAYS go for quick and easy – prepared a batch of couscous Monday morning – a little too much, it was in fact enough for 3/4 people, so we may have another couscous salad for lunch tomorrow 😉

Anyway!  Here we go – no ‘real’ instructions needed, salads are easy like that 🙂

Serves 1

90g couscous prepared + 40g crumbed fat free feta

90g (or a bit more – don’t let asparagus go to waste, it is expensive enough as it is!) steamed fresh asparagus

100g mixed variety tomatoes (love the beautiful colours of these ones I got from Woolies)

Lettuce to serve

Salt and Pepper

You can of course just mix everything together, but I like the look of a ‘layered’ salad – first lettuce, then tomatoes, then couscous and feta mix, and top with steamed asparagus. Season to taste – I just drizzled it with a bit of garlic-infused olive oil.

And voila!

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“Creamy” Asparagus Soup with Smoked Chicken

I thought the temperatures were going to drop a bit, but no luck!  After all, I guess we are still smack bang in the middle of summer!  I am definitely a ‘winter’ person so I relish every minor drop in temperature!  LOL!  So yes, even if it is just wishful thinking – I love soup any day of the year!

This is a super quick soup – should not take your more than 25 minutes.  I’m also not a fan of ‘chunky’ soup, so I always liquidise my soup and I also don’t use ‘meat/bones’ to make my soup with.

I often make this soup, but most of the time I use cauliflower instead of asparagus.  I just happened to discover a tin of asparagus in my cupboard (like the ‘end of the month Salticrax) and I wasn’t too sure what to do with it!  🙂

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So, here goes:

50g chopped leeks

5 ml olive oil

2ml crushed garlic

200g baby potatoes, peeled and cubed (it cooks quicker that way)

300ml chicken stock

1 tin asparagus (230g drained)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

90g smoked chicken, sliced

Non-stick cooking spray

 

Woolies Coconut, Chilli, Lime and Black Sesame Seed Grind (optional)

 

Fry leeks in olive oil for about 3 minutes.  Add garlic, fry for another minute and add potatoes and chicken stock and boil until soft (add more stock if needed).  Add asparagus and while cooking for another few minutes, put the chicken in the oven (on a baking sheet with tin foil and treated with non-stick cooking spray).  Allow the chicken to heat through and crisp up a little bit.

Liquidise soup mixture.  Serve soup with Coconut, Chilli, Lime and Black Sesame Seed Grind.  If I can be honest, I personally this seasoning works a bit better with a cauliflower soup  – not sure I will use it with asparagus again – but it looked very pretty 🙂

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Spoon crispy smoked chicken on top and enjoy!

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Green Veggie Pilaf with Feta

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5ml lemon-infused olive oil

50g chopped onions

2 finely chopped garlic cloves (to taste)

50g zucchini ribbons

100g asparagus

100g frozen peas (I use Woolies’ minted peas – delish!) – cover with boiling water, no need to cook, this way the colour stays vibrant 🙂

140g cooked brown rice

Salt and Pepper to taste

30g crumbed low fat feta

1 lemon

Fry onions and garlic in olive oil.  Add cooked rice and fry for a minute or two.  Add zucchini ribbons, asparagus and season.  Lower heat and add 100ml water.  Cook for a few minutes, stir in peas and remove from heat.  1/2 the lemon and squeeze the fresh juice over the dish.  Cook slightly.  Top with feta and serve with lemon slices.

Serves 1:  2 CC, 1 Prot, 3 Veg, 1 Fat

Replace feta with chicken or pork for a “non-vegetarian” meal 🙂