Spring is finally here! With the warmer weather, a new season of fruits and vegetables will appear at fresh food markets and produce shelves.
Yet many of us cling tightly to our barbecues and bacon, and the myth that meals can't be healthy without meat is hard to bust.
If you're a regular meat eater and you're always choosing meat as your main, you may be missing out on other vital nutrients found in fruits and veggies.
Fresh plant foods are essential building blocks for long-term health, but statistics show only one in five Australians are eating enough vegetables and fruits.
So we encourage you to have a break from meat this Meat Free Week, and enjoy the delicious colours, flavours, vitamins and minerals springtime fruits and vegetables have to offer.
+ Triple A salad - Avocado, Apricot, Asparagus
Serves 4
Tip – both apricots and avocados need to be firm to the touch with just a little give under a very gentle squeeze. Choose the thinner asparagus stalks with closed tips; they are tender and easier to chew
Ingredients
- 600 grams of firm tofu cut into thin strips, thoroughly mixed through with one tablespoon of olive oil and crushed garlic (three cloves) marinated over the day in fridge
- 1 whole avocado cut into slivers
- 100 grams of apricots stones removed and cut into slivers
- 1 bunch of fresh asparagus (blanched for 3 minutes in boiled water, removed and drained)
- 1 butter lettuce washed and chopped
- 50 grams of sunflower seeds (nice if you toast gently in 150C oven for 8-10 minutes before adding to salad)
Dressing Ingredients
- One teaspoon of seeded mustard
- 25 mls of olive oil
- 25 mls of lemon juice
Method
- Combine all the salad vegetables together in a large bowl
- Spray tofu with coconut oil or olive oil and pan fry until golden
- Add to the salad vegetables and dressing and toss through
- Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top to dress
- Serve immediately
+ Ripe Roma Bruschetta
Makes 2 serves
Ingredients
- 7 slices of semi sun dried tomatoes
- 4 roma tomatoes
- ¼ cup of finely chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic glaze
- 2 cloves of peeled and finely chopped garlic
- Pinch of sea salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- Wholemeal wholegrain seeded small baguette or loaf
Method
- Cut the baguette in half lengthways then in half sideways so you have 4 pieces of bread
- With a pair of kitchen scissors chop the semi sun dried tomatoes into slivers and place in a bowl
- Roughly chop tomatoes into 2cms chunks and add to the bowl with the finely chopped fresh basil, finely chopped garlic, ¼ cup of olive oil and mix thoroughly
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes for the flavour to infuse through the mixture
- Toast bread and top with the tomato mixture
- Serve warm with a drizzle of balsamic glaze
+ Spring Fruit & Vegetables
| Fruits | Vegetables | |
| Bananas | Artichoke | Mushrooms |
| Blood oranges | Asparagus | Snow peas |
| Cherries | Avocado | Sugar snap peas |
| Cumquat | Beansprouts | Rhubarb |
| Grapefruit | Beetroot | Silverbeet |
| Melon (Honeydew & Water) | Broad beans | Spinach |
| Lemons | Broccoli | Tomato |
| Loquat | Brussel Sprouts | Zucchini |
| Lychee | Cabbage | |
| Mandarins | Carrot | |
| Oranges (Naval, Seville & Valencia) | Cauliflower | |
| Papaya | Cucumber | |
| Pineapple | Fennel | |
| Tangelo | Leeks | |