Paleo recipes: Monday to Friday

Enjoy these recipes from Paleo: Monday to Friday (a diet so good you can take the weekends off) released February 2016.

Grilled salmon salad

Orange and salmon are a lovely combination.

10 asparagus spears, trimmed

2 x 170g salmon fillets

60ml olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

120g salad leaves

120g kalamata olives, sliced in half

1 orange, peeled and segmented

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

for the orange vinaigrette

1 large orange

2 teaspoons finely chopped

shallots

1 teaspoon agave or honey

2 teaspoons seasoned rice

vinegar

120ml sunflower oil

2 teaspoons extra-virgin

olive oil

1/4 teaspoon orange oil (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground

black pepper

1. First make the vinaigrette: Zest the orange and squeeze the juice into a small bowl. Add the zest, shallots, agave and rice vinegar to the orange juice and whisk together. Slowly, in a steady stream, add the sunflower oil and extravirgin olive oil while constantly whisking, until combined. Add the salt, pepper and orange oil.

2. Preheat the grill to high. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the asparagus for 30 seconds, then drain and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process, and set aside.

3. Rub the salmon fillets all over with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season lightly. Place under the grill for 5-10 minutes on each side, or until done to your liking. Set aside.

4. Place the salad greens, olives, oranges, onions and half of the vinaigrette in a large bowl and toss to combine.

5.Toss the asparagus in the remaining oil and season lightly, then place under the hot grill for about 3 minutes until lightly charred.

6. Divide the salad mixture between two plates, place the asparagus and salmon on top and drizzle the remaining dressing over the salmon. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Beef burger in an aubergine (eggplant) bun

You do need a knife and fork to eat this but it has really has a nice texture and a much better alternative than eating the burger on its own.

1 aubergine, cut into 4 slices

olive oil, for frying

red onion, thinly sliced

1 little gem lettuce

1 tablespoon homemade

ketchup

For the burgers

450g lean beef mince

1 egg

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon chopped

fresh parsley

For the guacamole

1 avocado

juice of 1 lime

a handful of coriander

1 red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1. Place all the burger ingredients in a large bowl and mix together with your hands, then shape into four quarter-pounder burgers.

2. Heat a little oil in a non-stick pan and fry the burgers on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking. (Alternatively, oven cook them for 20-25 minutes in a 200°C oven, but don't forget to flip them half way through.)

3. Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a second non-stick pan and fry the aubergine slices over a medium to high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side.

4. Place all the guacamole ingredients in a bowl and mash everything together with a fork.

5. Stack the burgers on an aubergine slice and layer up with salad, red onion, guacamole and tomato ketchup.

Tip: When cooking burgers, try to resist flipping too often. It is tempting but they can fall apart if you do.

Serves 4

Banana soufflé

The more you whisk the eggs, the higher the soufflés rise in the oven…

2 ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

6 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. Mash the bananas with the vanilla in a bowl, then add the maple syrup and mix in well.

3. Separate the eggs and, using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the yolks to the banana mix and stir well. Gently fold in the 2 mixtures together and divide between 4–6 silicone ramekin dishes (if not using silicone, oil very lightly).

4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until well risen. Serve immediately.

Tip: Make sure you whisk your eggs in a very clean mixing bowl. I always rinse with boiling water and dry with a clean tea towel to ensure it's completely free from grease.

Serves 4–6

This is an edited extract from Paleo Monday to Friday, Daniel Green, Published by Simon and Schuster, Feb 2016, RRP $35.