Recipe: Healthy Vietnamese Bun Cha Salad (Gluten Free!)

Let's get one thing straight; I'm not Vietnamese. I've never lived in Vietnam or any Asian countries - and I've only ever travelled to one Asian country. 

But I do live in a multicultural country and I do love Vietnamese food. Thus, when a reader sent me an email about my Easy Vietnamese Meatballs Recipe telling me that I needed to use them to make bun cha, I knew I had to try it. 

I set about googling and found that Bún chả is a Vietnamese dish of grilled pork and noodles that is thought to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam. The pork is commonly served as meatballs or meat patties on top of a place of white rice noodles and fresh herbs with a side of dipping sauce. 

Whilst that sounds delicious enough, I'm ALL about the veggies - so I thought this would be the perfect dish to turn into a salad; and thus my bun cha salad recipe was born!

Combining fresh herbs, veggies, meatballs and an easy homemade sauce, this recipe is simple, delicious and SO full of flavour.

The meatballs can be made in big batches, cooked and frozen so you can make this at any time - just take some meatballs out of the freezer, reheat them while you're making your salad and you're good to go!

Simple, healthy and delicious! It's also a great make ahead recipe and can easily be taken to work or school - just separate the salad, dressing and meatballs and put them all together when you're ready to eat.

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Easy Vietnamese Inspired Meatballs (Pork, Beef or Chicken!)

Okay, so you're going to have to bear with me a little on this recipe...

You see, I am not vietnamese... nor do I know if these even come close to Vietnamese meatballs as I've never eaten meatballs in Vietnam... or even been to Vietnam (but you can guarantee if I did go to Vietnam, I'd wake up each morning and say "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!"... but, I digress...). 

So we're just going to go with Vietnamese inspired meatballs... okay? 

But the name really isn't important... what is important here is that they taste good... and ohhhhhhhhhhhh how they do. 

I'm not much of a meat eater, but these meatballs I will happily devour because they're so full of flavour. 

We've taken to making them in huge batches (just double or triple the recipe) to cook and freeze so we always have an easy protein option on hand. 

They're so good that even my fussy parents will happily devour them and they've been a hit with kids too - meaning it's a recipe the whole family will love. 

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Vegan Cheesy Chickpea Bites (Grain Free)

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I love creating new recipes. Coming up with ideas, combining flavours, experimenting in the kitchen - it's one of my favourite things to do.... but there's a problem.

A big problem.... 

I have to come up with a name. 

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Not just for the blog, I have to come up with a name for my husband too...

Well not actually for my husband... he has a name... but I have to come up with a name for my creation so my husband will eat them.

And when it came to this recipe? My friends, I was seriously stumped. When Jesse first asked me what they were I said "er, yum" - only to have him say "but what are they?".

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To be honest, other than delicious I don't really know! These are a cross between a cheesy falafel and a meatless meatball. They're jam packed with good stuff but taste seriously delicious too. 

Best of all? They are seriously easy to make. Just like my Healthy Homemade Baked Falafel Recipe they don't require any soaking, chickpea cooking or chilling - just mix, roll and bake!

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Healthy Meatballs in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce

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We have a problem with just's in our family. 

Nope, not justice... not actions that are fair... just justs. 

Say whaaaaaaat, you say? Well, you see, when Jesse decides he wants to make something new, it has to be just this or just that. It could be just like so-and-so used to make it or just like you can buy at some shop/restaurant/cafe he visited, sometimes it's just a certain food on it's own and other times it's anything but just. 

Like these meatballs. 

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You see, this meatball combination was thrown together one night when I'd made a huge batch of meatballs. I'd told Jesse we were having meatballs for dinner and that's when the dreaded just came out. 

"Okay, as long as it's not just meatballs"

So I made a sauce and the rest was history. Now this dish is one of our favourites. It's simple but oh so delicious and whilst it's not going to win any awards to its looks, it'll certainly win hearts with its tastes. Best of all? You can use any kind of meatball - beef, chicken, turkey, pork - whatever!

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Asian Inspired Honey Glazed Meatballs

I was reading this article a few days ago which mentioned that the average person cooks an average of nine different meals on rotation every single week. They stick to their nine favourite recipes and cook them over and over and over again. 

Whilst I totally understand having your favourite recipes; I am someone who gets seriously bored with the same old same old - and Jesse does too. 

You see, we both came from households where we ate the same kind of thing over and over again. In my house it was spaghetti bolognaise, stir fry, beef stroganoff, curry and sometimes Mum changed things up and made something she saw in a Super Food Ideas magazine she picked up at the supermarket. 

I put the article into the back of my mind until I was at the supermarket with Mum and heard her bellyaching once again that she was bored with cooking dinner and the study popped into my mind once again. We live in a world where we have hectic lifestyles, fussy kids (or partners!), long days and limited time in the kitchen - but that doesn't mean we have to put up with boring dinners! 

That's why I've decided to set a new challenge for myself; to come up with as many delicious dinner recipes as possible this year to inspire you to get out of the "nine recipe rut", as we're calling it, and make dinner a little bit more fun this year. As well as being fun, we want to make sure it's healthy too - and easy as well. 

These dinner recipes are all designed to be super easy to make (because I too have a crazy schedule and limited time to cook dinner!), healthy and adaptable to suit a variety of food needs. So why don't you take the #SILDinnerChallenge with me? Let's shake things up and enjoy delicious dinners once again! Most of these recipes will also be made in smaller portions (usually 1 or 2) so they can be multiplied to feed a crowd or enjoyed alone!

But first, let me share the recipe with you! >>

Recipe: Italian Style Herb and Parmesan Baked Meatballs

So, I've realised that I have a habit of making up names for everything - especially food. You see, I have an incredibly fussy husband who judges food based on its name. 

If you tell him you're making alfredo, for example, it better taste exactly like the first alfredo he can remember tastes like or "it's just not right". He also thinks he's a bit of a chef, so when I tell him the ingredients that make up a meal he'll say "hmmm... I don't think that's going to work" - but if I leave that part out, give it a random name from the depths of my brain and then serve it up to him, he'll eat it all up and then rave about it for the next week. 

It's how we got the names for some of our favourite dinners - but a lot of the time I'm not too sure how true to their names they actually are, so we have conversations like; "Tonight we're having korean beef" "Korean beef? How do korean's eat beef?" "Well... er... like this, it's yum - just try it!" or "What do you call these?" "Italian meatballs.... they're good!" "Italian? mm, okay sounds good" 

But regardless of what you call them, these meatballs are all sorts of delicious. Flavoured with garlic, fresh herbs and melted parmesan cheese, they're so tasty that you can eat them on their own - or serve them with a sauce of your choice either by themselves or on top of pasta for a full meal.

But let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Healthy Greek Style Chicken (or turkey) Baked Meatballs

I feel like I must have a thing with ugly food at the moment. First this Healthy Roasted Vegetable Soup Recipe and now meatballs..... I mean, there's not really anything attractive about a meatball, is there? 

I almost wasn't going to share this recipe as I wasn't happy with the pictures, however, when I realised I've been making this recipe at least once a week for the last two months, I knew I had to share it with you ASAP. 

Whilst these meatballs may not be pretty and they may not be fancy - they're stupidly, ridiculously delicious. 

Regardless of whether you make them with chicken breast mince or turkey breast mince, these meatballs are jam packed with flavour whilst also being gluten free, low fat, high protein, low carb and even paleo/grain free - so what more could you want?!

I've been eating them with EVERYTHING! On top of brown rice and lentils with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, on their own as a snack, with soup, on top of spaghetti (allllllllll covereeeeeeeeeeeed with cheeeeeeeeeeeseeeee - name that song), in sandwiches - you name it. I'm obsessed and can't stop making them - and I bet you'll find yourself in the same situation!

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Baked Quinoa Meatballs

I am constantly trying new recipes. I mean, really, if a week has passed and I've not tried a single new recipe you either need to call me an ambulance or grab me the closest pillow and bed because I must be seriously sleep deprived.

It's probably a good thing I'm a food blogger - that means my love of trying out new things and coming up with new recipes at least has a purpose ;) 

These meatballs came out from a random thought I had whilst at the grocery store. I saw turkey mince and chicken mince and was thinking about creating another healthy meatball recipe - but I thought I'd switch things up and try something new. 

Whilst traditional meatballs use breadcrumbs to bind them - I was going to turn traditional on its head and use quinoa instead. And oh did they work. The quinoa adds the perfect texture - they're no longer boring old meatballs, they're little balls bites of goodness. 

Best of all? They're freezer friendly! We make up a big batch and store them in the freezer in a big zip lock bag - then just get as many out as we need for a meal. You can use them however you please; a healthier version of a meatball sub, in pasta dishes (we've used them in both creamy and tomato based sauces), on their own or with your favourite dipping sauce. 

The possibilities are endless and the recipe is soooooooooo easy! 

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Recipe: Healthy Baked Pesto Meatballs

I'm not the world's greatest meat fan by any means... I don't mind eating it, but it has to be with something - you'll never find me chowing down on a big steak or piece of chicken because it doesn't interest me in the slightest. 

That said, these Pesto Meatballs certainly changed my mind about meat. These babies are delicious - and Jesse was shocked to see me eating them on their own because it's something I normally would not do. They're so full of flavour and they even have some hidden veggies ;) 

They're little bite sized balls of flavour and perfect for parties, snacks or for using in pasta or on rice. We made a quick little sauce by melting some cream cheese, adding garlic, herbs and a sprinkle or parmesan cheese and then mixing through the meatballs. Peeeeerrrrrrrfect. 

We've made this recipe using both chicken mince and turkey mince, however, we've yet to try it with beef or pork mince - but I'm sure they would work too! Just add a little more pesto so the meat doesn't drown out the flavour.

As well as having hidden veggies, this recipe is much better for you because they meatballs are also baked! There's no need to fry them in oil and get covered in oil splatters and there's no constant turning in a pan!

But let me give you the recipe for these meatballs! >>