The No.1 Way to Simplify Your Meals

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] T[/dropcap]his doesn’t happen very often, but let me tell you about a time I had to break my word. In public.

It all started back in 2010…

It had been about 9 months since I’d left the corporate world to turn my blog into a business. I had just finished writing my book ‘5 Ingredients 10 Minutes’ and with all the recipe testing and photography pretty much everything I was eating contained 5 ingredients.

As I shared at the time, night after night my Irishman and I were blown away by how good my simple 5-Ingredients recipes tasted.

And so I made the ‘5 Ingredients’ pledge. To only ever cook recipes with 5 ingredients. That’s it.

Fast forward two years and you can see from this post, I went public with my decision to break my pledge.

Why?

Was it because the meal weren’t tasty enough? Was I getting bored with the constraint? Was I missing the ‘variety’ of larger ingredient recipes?

No. No. AND No!

If anything we were eating better than ever.

The problem was I got sick of counting.

And stressing about an extra ingredient here and there. Which kinda defeated the point of making life easier.

The other problem was it’s hard to find other recipes out there with so few ingredients. So it pretty much ruled out cooking from my cookbooks, magazines and fave food blogs – something I love to do.

But recently, when I was following one of my Soupstones Meal Plans as part of a dinner challenge, I was again reminded of my pledge. And all the joys that come from cooking simply.

Especially now I have a 2 year old in the house.

So what’s the number 1. way to simplify your meals?

You’ve probably guessed it…

Keep the number of ingredients to a minimum.

I like 5 but you don’t necessarily need to stick to a certain number.

As one of my students said,
“I can’t believe that cooking with so few ingredients could be so tasty… and easy!”

Want more simplicity?

If you’re interested in learning how to simplify not just recipes, but the whole of your life, then I recommend checking out A Simple Year.

It’s a 12 month program which focuses on simplifying different areas of your life each month. If you join us I’ll show you even more ways to simplify not only recipes but your kitchen and your approach to healthy eating.

For more details, go to:
www.simpleyear.co

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Fish Wraps with Limey Avocado

While a more complicated guacamole can be nice, I just adore the simple freshness of creamy avocado with lashings of lime juice. So good here with fish but feel free to use the limey avocado anywhere you’d normally use guac.

This is definitely one of those recipes that even I thought… might need something else. But trust me, with the crunch of the lettuce and zestiness of the lime contrasting the rich salmon… It’s soo good just as it is.

enough for: 2
takes: 15 minutes
450g (1lb) salmon or other fish fillets, sliced into bite sized pieces
2 medium avocadoes
2 limes
2 green onions (shallots / scallions), finely sliced (optional)
iceberg lettuce leaves or tortillas to wrap

1. Heat a medium frying pan on a medium high heat. Add a little oil, season the fish with salt and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until the fish is cooked to your liking.

2. While the fish is cooking, halve both avocados and discard the seeds. Scoop out the avocado flesh and place in a medium bowl. If there are any brownish bits, remove them.

3. Mash avocado with a fork and stir in the juice of one lime. Season with salt and taste. Add more lime juice and salt as needed. When you’re happy, stir in the green onion (if using).

4. If using lettuce, wash and break into individual leaves. If using tortillas, wrap and warm them in the oven.

5. To serve divide fish between 2 plates. Pop avocado mix into two small bowls and give one per person. Serve lettuce leaves or tortillas in the middle and let each person make their own wraps.

Variations

hot! – add a little chilli to the avocado or serve with chilli oil or your favourite hot sauce at the table.

vegetarian / vegan – soften an onion and then add a drained can (or home cooked) black beans or lentils. Cook on a medium heat until beans are hot then season with a half teaspoon of ground cumin and salt, if needed. Finish with a drizzle of peppery extra virgin olive oil. Use the bean mix instead of the fish.

more veg – serve the wraps with chopped crunchy veg like carrots, snow peas, red capsicum (bell peppers). Or toss in some corn kernels to warm with the fish. Also see ideas in the herby section.

herby – serve with chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), mint or both.

no avocado – mix the zest and juice of a lime into your fave mayo and use as the sauce.

carnivore – replace fish with steaks or pork fillet. Or even chicken thigh or breast fillets.

Have fun in the kitchen!

With love,
Jules x

ps. This is the 6th and final year we’ll be running ‘A Simple Year’.

It’s something I’m really proud to be a part of not only sharing my expertise but also learning from the other contributors.

I love how there’s a different focus each month to keep me on track without feeling overwhelmed.

To find out more:
Click Here

NOTE: The ‘early bird’ discount (Save $100) ends November 14th.

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Tags: simplicity