Four Time Savvy, Belly Warming Recipes To Keep You Healthy (And Toned) This Winter

Four Time Savvy, Belly Warming Recipes To Keep You Healthy (And Toned) This Winter

Winter is almost here which means shorter days, colder nights and the serious need for comfort food…

At Fast Fuel we’re all about finding inventive, delicious and healthy ways to satisfy our cravings, and this winter we’re making it our mission to help keep your diet clean, your immune system in-tack and your body toned!

This week we thought we’d share some of our team’s favourite Low Gi, winter warming meals and recipes… with an added mushroom twist!

Why mushrooms? Well, besides the fact they’re ridiculously delicious, mushrooms are the way to boost your body’s health. In fact, mushrooms are:

  • A valuable source of Vitamin D, which is not found commonly in edible form. Vitamin D facilitates the absorption of nutrients in the body and helps metabolise calcium and phosphorous… which also are present in mushrooms!
  • Full of Ergothioneine, which is a powerful antioxidant and invaluable for immune support. As well as helping to eliminate free radicals in the body, mushrooms contain all natural antibiotics that resist microbial growth and fungal infections in the body. That they’re chock full of Vitamins A, B and C also contributes to their significant immunity boosting benefits.
  • Ph alkalising and have anti-inflammatory effects on the body. Thanks to their unique and complex makeup, the combination of vitamins, minerals and other compounds in mushrooms makes them the ultimate food source when it comes to antimicrobial, antiviral, antitumor, antiallergic, immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, antiatherogenic, hypoglycemic, and hepatoprotective activities.

So with that in mind, let’s check our four of the Fast Fuel team’s Low GI, mushroom powered, time savvy, tastebud rockin’ winter warming recipes!

Hearty Winter Buddha Bowl

Serves 2

Ingredients

Mushrooms – 2 cups (shiitake, brown, oyster, button – select your favourite!)

Chilli olive oil

Salt

Pumpkin Kent – 1 quarter (about 1 ½ cups chopped)

Paprika – 1 teaspoon

Sesame seeds – 1 tablespoon

Quinoa – 1 cup (cooked)

Kale – 1 cup roughly chopped

Spinach – 1 cup roughly chopped

Garlic – 1 clove thinly sliced

Broccolini – 1 bunch

Cauliflower – 1 quarter (about 1 ½ cup chopped)

Turmeric – 1 teaspoon

Tempeh (vegan / vegetarian option) OR Chicken Breast – 300g

Lemon – 1

Sunflower seeds – 2 tablespoon

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180℃. Line baking tray with baking paper. Slice pumpkin into 4 equal slices, leave skin on. Place on tray, sprinkle sesame seeds and paprika on top, and salt to taste. Bake for 25 min, or until cooked to preference.
  2. Line a separate baking tray with baking paper. On one side place roughly chopped mushrooms, drizzle with chilli olive oil and salt to taste. On the other side of the tray add chopped broccolini and cauliflower, sprinkle with turmeric and add a drizzle of chilli olive oil. Bake for 20 min, or until cooked to preference.
  3. Cook quinoa as per packet instructions and drain. In a wok over low heat, add garlic. Once browned, add kale and spinach. Saute until leaves wilted, add quinoa, quickly mix through and set aside.
  4. Squeeze juice of one lemon over preferred protein and grill.
  5. Roast sunflower seeds over high heat in small pan.
  6. Divide ingredients between two bowls. Top with sunflower seeds and serve.

No-Sheet Mushroom & Spinach Lasagne

Serves 6

Ingredients

Pumpkin Butternut – 1 whole, thinly sliced

Brown Onion – 1 medium roughly chopped

Garlic – 2 cloves, sliced thinly

Portobello Mushrooms – 300g, sliced thinly

Fresh Basil – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped

Fresh Oregano – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped

Fresh Parsley – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped

Fresh Sage – 1 tablespoon, finely chopped

Olive Oil

Flour – 2 tablespoons

Vegetable Stock – 2 and 2/3 cups (615ml)

Full Cream Milk – 3/4 cup (180ml)

Fresh Spinach – 3 cups, roughly chopped

Parmesan Cheese, Shaved – 2 cups

Salt and Pepper (To taste)

Method

  1. In large saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, saute until almost soft. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until mushrooms are cooked down.
  2. Slowly add flour, stirring constantly. Once all flour is added, begin slowly adding stock (about 1/4 cup at a time). Stir constantly. The mixture will thicken and flour will completely blend into the mix.
  3. Similarly add milk to the mixture, always stirring.
  4. Add basil, parsley, oregano and sage, salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat and leave mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally. The mixture will thicken a little more.
  5. After about 8 – 10 minutes add your spinach. Stir until wilted.
  6. Remove mixture from heat. Add 1/3 of parmesan to mixture, stir through until evenly combined.
  7. Line the bottom of a deep baking dish with 1/4 pumpkin slices. Cover with 1/4 of spinach and mushroom mixture and 1/4 of remaining parmesan. Add another layer of pumpkin slices on top until you run out of your ingredients, making sure your final layer is parmesan.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes, serve immediately.

Beef & Mushroom Ragu with Pea Mash

Serves 4

Ingredients

Chuck Beef, lean – 500g, diced

Button Mushrooms – 300g, roughly chopped

Garlic – 2 cloves, thinly sliced

Celery – 3 stems, roughly chopped

Sugo Sauce – 400g

Water – 2/3 cup (240mls)

Red Wine – 1/2 cup (125mls)

Fresh Thyme – 1 teaspoon, roughly chopped

Bay Leaf – 1

Brown Onion – 1 roughly chopped

Pumpkin Kent – 1/3 (about 2 cups chopped)

Peas – 3 cusps

Dukkah – 2 tablespoons

Green Beans – 400g, top and tailed

Method

  1. Slice pumpkin (skin on) and bake at 180℃ for 30 minutes, or until pumpkin is soft.
  2. Heat up a large saucepan with one tablespoon olive oil. Sweat off your onion, garlic and celery.
  3. Turn pan up to high and place beef in pan, brown off. Add in your mushrooms, thyme and bay leafs.
  4. Deglaze with red wine, simmer until half the liquid is reduced, add in your sugo sauce and water, simmer until beef is cooked and tender.
  5. Steam beans for 1 ½ minutes.
  6. Steam peas for 2 minutes or until soft, blend and salt to taste.
  7. Divide between for plates and serve.

Vegan Mushroom Alfredo

We saw this recipe posted by Elsa’s Wholesome Life and couldn’t get enough of it! This awesome vegan alfredo is packed full of nutrients, is insanely delicious and takes two seconds to make!

Check out some of her wicked recipes via her blog, or buy Elsa’s Vegan Cookbook for over 100 of her original vegan creations.

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients

Creamy Sauce

Olive Oil – ½ tablespoons

Brown Onion – diced

Garlic Cloves – 2 diced

Mixed Mushrooms – 2 cups, roughly chopped (Any variety, e.g. shiitake, enoki, shimeji, brown, cup)

Soy Milk – 3/4 cup (180mls)

Nutritional Yeast Flakes – 2-3 tablespoon

Raw Cashews – 1/4 cup

Sea Salt – 1/2 teaspoon

Black Pepper – 1 teaspoon

Noodles

3-4 medium sized zucchinis

Other

Mixed Mushrooms – 2 cup sliced (Any variety, e.g. shiitake, enoki, shimeji, brown, cup)

Red Onion – 1/2 sliced into thin rings

Garlic – 1 clove finely sliced

Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon

Sea Salt – pinch

Fresh Parsley – 1/4 cup finely diced

Black Pepper – to taste

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, fan forced. Heat a pan to medium- high heat. Add the 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan with the brown onion. Fry to 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until golden.
  2. Add the garlic and fry for a further 1 minute, stirring.
  3. Add the roughly chopped mushrooms to the pan and fry for 3 minutes or until softened and golden. Remove pan from heat.
  4. Add the fried mixture to a blender/food processor with the soy milk, yeast flakes, cashews, salt and pepper. Blend all ingredients until smooth.
  5. Re-heat the fry pan to medium heat, add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, red onion, garlic and mushrooms. Fry for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. transfer the onion, garlic and mushrooms to a lined baking tray. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and place in the oven to bake for 10 minutes or until crispy.
  6. Spiralize the zucchini’s to create the low carbohydrate pasta!
  7. To re-heat the pasta sauce for serving, transfer to a pot over medium heat, stir until steaming, remove from heat.
  8. Heat the fry pan to medium heat and add the spiralized zucchinis to the pan, toss over the heat for 45 seconds to lightly soften, remove from heat.
  9. Pour the creamy pasta sauce over the ‘pasta’ and mix sauce through.
  10. Serve ‘pasta’ into bowls, remove baked mushrooms, onion and garlic from oven and sprinkle over bowls. Top with parsley and extra pepper if desired.
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