This product talk is brought to you by Nuffnang and Mission Foods
I am a food voyeur; free time disappears in an Instagram-fueled haze and the first thing I look at when I open the Sunday paper is “My Day on a Plate”. Before I had to go cold-turkey on Donna Hay magazines (they take up two shelves of my ‘cookbooks’ bookshelf), I used to flick straight to the section where contributors are asked about their food habits. One of the questions was ‘Ingredients always in your shopping trolley…’ The answers are always things like organic cold pressed olive oil and single origin coffee beans. I like to imagine how mine will read when I become a contributor (#dreambig) – “organic edible flowers, fair-trade chai ice cream, fresh porcini mushrooms and truffled brie”. In reality though my trolley is all about greek yoghurt, baby spinach, sparkling mineral water and Mission wraps (oh, and whatever ice cream is on special) – and I’m OK with that.
I first discovered Mission wraps years back when a work colleague produced a perfect lime green disc from her lunchbox and proceeded to fill it with salad. Up until that point the only wraps I had tried tended to dry out almost immediately and crack as soon as you tried to roll them. The Mission wraps, my colleague assured me, were different, they were lovely and soft and stayed fresh for ages. They have remained a staple for me ever since, and I am still a huge fan of those green wraps (no artificial colours or flavours, naturally coloured with spinach).
When I was asked to try out two new varieties of wraps – Red Quinoa and Chia – I was super keen. I love a good superfood and here were a couple of options in wrap form.
The new wraps are a slightly smaller size which is perfect for little tummies or big tummies that are watching their carb intake 🙂 What I loved about both of these new varieties was how yummy they are toasted – packed with seeds that give a lovely nutty flavour. They don’t contain any artificial flavours or colours and are a source of fibre. Plus those seeds (yes apparently quinoa is a seed, Google tells me) are also a good source of protein, and in the case of chia, some omega 3 fatty acids. The constant battle to get more omega 3 fatty acids in my diet inspired me to develop a bit of a recipe for….
Quinoa Fish Tacos
I love a crunchy fish taco but am always looking for ways to make them a bit healthier – I can (and do) eat far too many of those fried taco shells. I decided to try using the quinoa wraps to make a healthier, more filling option and it went down a treat, even with My Love (who is a die-hard corn chip fan).
I was reading about Peruvian cuisine a few weeks back, where quinoa is one of the staple foods, and was delighted to find out that it has a significant Asian influence – possibly one of the first real ‘fusion’ cuisines. I am a fusion junkie and regularly play about with crazy mixtures of ingredients in my recipes. This little nugget gave me the confidence to dabble with a mixture of Mexican and Asian flavours in my taco. To up the omega 3, I used salmon, my favourite fish.
This recipe is as simple as rubbing salmon with a spice mix, slicing up some salad and then popping the fish and the wraps in the oven to bake.
A little note on making taco shells out of wraps – it really is as easy as draping the wraps over your oven rack. Depending on what side of the taco fence you sit on you can either drape your wraps over two bars for flat-bottoms or one for narrower shells (which I find easier to get my mouth around, compulsive over-filler here 🙂 ). If you do go the narrower option, make sure you pop something in the pouch after removing from the oven because they close as they crisp up. I always have corks lying about (for obvious reasons #winegeek) so they work a treat, but spoons work well too.
- 4 Mission Red Quinoa wraps
- 300g of skinless boneless salmon fillets
- 2 pinches smoked paprika
- 2 pinches Mexican chilli spice powder
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 lime
- 1/2 mango
- 1 1/2 cups shredded wombok
- 1 shallot
- 1 Tbsp fresh coriander
- 1 tsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Preheat oven to 180C
- Rub the salmon with paprika, mexican chilli powder and olive oil
- Bake the salmon for 12-15 minutes (depending on how rare you like it)
- Meanwhile juice half a lime and cut the other half into wedges for serving
- Chop avocado and mango
- Finely chop wombok, shallot and coriander and toss together in a bowl with kecap manis, 2 tsp of lime juice and 1 tsp olive oil
- When the fish is cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil to rest.
- Place wraps over the oven rack and bake until lightly browned about 8 minutes.
- Remove wraps from oven and hold pockets apart with cork/spoons (they will crisp up as they cool)
- Place fish, cabbage mixture , avocado, mango, lime wedges and wraps on a serving dish and dig in.
Just as I was about to hit ‘publish’ on this post, I whipped up this Easy Cheesy Chia Quesadilla (because I love a spot of consonance) because the chia wraps deserved a mention too.
A fancy cooked breakfast in less than 10 minutes is always a winner, plus you get a serve of veggies and omega 3 (from the chia) to start your day with.
- 2 Mission Chia wraps
- 1 egg
- 1/3 can red kidney beans (about 100g)
- 1 tablespoon salsa
- Small handful of baby spinach leaves
- 1/3 shallot
- 2 Tablespoons grated cheese
- Avocado, extra salsa and smoked paprika to serve
- Preheat sandwich toaster (or you can do this on a frying pan)
- Roughly mash red kidney beans in a bowl and stir through salsa
- Finely chop shallot
- Layer one wrap with 1 Tbsp of cheese, spinach, bean mixture, shallot and top with cheese. Place the second wrap on top and place in sandwich toaster
- Meanwhile fry the egg.
- Serve quesadilla topped with the egg, slices of avocado, extra salsa and a dusting of smoked paprika
If you are keen to try these new varieties, they are available in Woolworths and independent supermarkets. You can check out more information on the range from Mission Foods here.
What are some ingredients always in your shopping trolley?
Disclosure: I received products from Mission Foods for the purposes of this review. All opinions and ideas remain my own
That quesadilla looks great! I think it might be a weekend brunch this long weekend!
Thanks Moni 🙂 Send me a pic (or tag me) if you do make ’em
Oh these look so good! I love quesadilla’s but have only ever tried chicken and black bean ones before at a restaurant called Giraffe, so I will have to try this at some point! – Tasha
Chicken and black bean do sound good! These are just so easy and quick, in danger of becoming a staple.
Quick, easy and tasty…this is my kind of food. Looks yummo 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Both of these dishes sound super yummy, my honey loves Mexican food so I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to try! Thanks for sharing x
Thank you sweet. I love a tasty, quick, healthy meal 🙂
love this fusion meal! We are having friends for lunch today and doing soft tacos, wish I had seen this earlier so I could have added quinoa to our tacos. So healthy!