My first post for 2014. Proof that I have well and truly been in laid-back holiday mode. Yesterday I even fielded a couple of phone calls and text messages asking if everything was alright as I hadn’t posted for a while. No rest for the wicked or gluttonous it seems.

Back in Sydney after an extended New Year  break, it’s time to redress all those excesses of a very sociable and pleasurable festive season. It’s true, as planned,  I reverted to a 6-1 fast day format for Christmas week, but will confess I  blithely and conveniently carried that schedule over to the following week. Was one day of restricting my eating to just 500 calories enough to undo the damage of the feast?  Probably not.  I vaguely remember hearing that the average Australian consumes an additional 500 calories a day over the Christmas – New Year break. Enough said. That’s  well and truly too much food for thought, no other impetus required to get back on the programme. Happy and satiated, thankfully without having to loosen my belt buckle. The key to a successful eating plan? As Oscar Wilde would say, “everything in moderation, including moderation”.

So this week we are kick starting 2014  by eating clean. With an emphasis on seasonal, whole food.  So very easy to achieve considering we returned home with the boot of our car  laden with the bounty of my father’s summer garden. I’m adapting recipes to use what is seasonally available. It’s all about whole food, no preservatives, no artificial colouring and flavourings.

Yesterday we transformed armload’s of spinach, chard, rocket,  mint and parsley into  Spinach, Cheese and Herb Phylo Pastry Triangles. Today I’m roasting trays of garden fresh beets and carrots for a deliciously healthy salad. Finely diced they will be tossed with puy lentils, shredded peppery rocket, tangy crumbled feta and a  lemon and mustard vinaigrette. An incredibly  colourful and flavourful plate of food that’s surprisingly filling and very, very good for you for just 286 calories a serve. For the ravenously hungry, this salad goes down a treat with a roast leg of lamb. It’s well worth noting for the record though, that each medium sized slice of roast lamb accounts for an additional 75 calories.

Roasted Beetroot and Carrot Salad With Puy Lentils, Rocket and Feta
Makes about 6 cups (286 calories per cup)

Ingredients

For The Lentils
1 cup French puy lentils or Australian blue lentils (678 calories)
1 garlic clove (4 calories)
1 small sprig rosemary (2 calories)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (0 calories)

For The Roasted Beetroot
4 medium-sized beetroot (140 calories)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil (60 calories)
1 tablespoon  balsamic vinegar (12 calories)
4 cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled (16 calories)
2 small sprigs rosemary (4 calories)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For The Roasted Carrots
12 baby carrots (48 calories)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil (60 calories)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For The Dressing
4 cloves roasted garlic, removed from the roasted beetroot, garlic squeezed out of skins and mashed with a fork (16 calories – already counted from roasted beetroot)
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (24 calories)
2 small golden shallots, about 2 tablespoons finely diced (14 calories)
finely grated zest and juice of one lemon (12 calories)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (12 calories)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (360 calories)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup rocket, shredded (6 calories)
100g feta cheese, crumbled (264 calories)

Method

To Roast Beetroot
PREHEAT oven to 200 C.
WIPE or scrub beetroot clean. Place on a large piece of foil; drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
SCATTER over garlic cloves, rosemary and salt and pepper.
WRAP foil around beetroot to form a neat packet. Roast in middle of oven until tender, about an 1 hour depending on the size of the beetroot. Test by piercing the largest beetroot with a knife. If it enters easily, it’s ready.
UNWRAP  and let sit until cool enough to handle. Save roasted garlic cloves for dressing. Use your hands or a paring knife to peel skin, then finely dice beetroot. iSet aside.

To Roast Carrots
MEANWHILE prepare the carrots for roasting. They will require less time in the oven than the beetroot.
WIPE or scrub carrots  clean. Place on a large piece of foil; drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
WRAP foil around carrots to form a neat packet. Roast in middle of oven until tender, about 1/2 an hour.
UNWRAP  and let sit until cool enough to handle.  Use a paring knife to peel skin, then finely dice. Set aside.

To Prepare The Lentils
PLACE  the lentils in a medium saucepan with 2 1/2 cups water, bicarbonate of soda, rosemary and garlic. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until just tender and retaining some bite. Remove garlic and rosemary. Drain. Set aside.

To Prepare The Dressing
PLACE the lemon zest, shallots and roasted, mashed garlic cloves into a screw top jar.
ADD the lemon juice, mustard , balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
SECURE the lid and shake the jar vigorously to emulsify.
SEASON to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside.

To Assemble The Salad
PLACE cooked lentils into a large mixing bowl. Add diced beetroot and carrots and prepared dressing.
TOSS well to combine. Season to taste.
COVER and allow to sit for 30 minutes before serving to allow flavours to meld.
JUST before serving, toss through the shredded rocket and generously scatter crumbled feta cheese over the salad.