Some of you may not realise I have a face book page called '' realfoodnow '' I post all sorts of things on this page. This week I posted a video clip on chickens being injected to make them look '' good for your $'' this method is being used in New Zealand, I also posted a Ted Talk on nutrient and why we have some many people with depression and ADHD, I post photo's of all sorts and information on my cooking classes. If you click ''like'' on that page you will get up dates when I post them and I would love you to ''share'' any thing I post that you love. Thank you, I really appreciate it when people to that.

I am having about 20 around for dinner tonight and I have slow roasted, 2 legs of lamb for 5 hours. They are mostly young people that can't afford to eat meat a lot, because their rents are so high (thats the sacrifice for living in Queenstown )

Recipe is under red meat - Slow Cooked Spice Leg of lamb. I love cooking lamb this way because I can just walk away and leave it on low for 5 hours. So to go with the lamb I don't want the usual roasted vegetables or mashed potatoes.

So a salad, here we come -

I call this a Wild Salad, because it just came to mind when I tasted it. ( now that was easy )

This salad is exploding with colour, flavour and nutrients. ( photo did not do it justices )

In my freezer - I am not showing off here, but If I did not have these ingredients, cooked and stored in my freezer in small bags, I would not be so creative with my cooking. Seriously - my freezer is my inspiration. I have - chickpeas, black beans, brown beans, brown lentils, puy lentils, white beans, black rice and brown rice. All ready to throw into a pot and make some magic.

Remember - Forget about the saying - ''You are what you eat'' ''No'' ''No'' its -

''YOU ARE WHAT YOU ABSORB ''

If young people today could hop into their mouths and slide down there throats, into there stomach and see where their food is going and what is being absorbed, surely they would just eat whole foods without the other rubbish. Need to see a cartoon of this.

So here is the most important information you need to know about what I have just cooked.

Rice, Quinoa - should be soaked in water for at least 8 hours before cooking, this neutralises the phytic acid, enabling the nutrients to be absorbed. By not doing this digestive problems can occur. Your rice will then take less time to cook and you need less water.

Black rice - high in Iron, Vitamin E and antioxidants, more so than blue berries.

Quinoa - great source of Manganese, Phosphorus, Copper, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc and protein.

Black Beans - great source of Folate, Copper, Manganese, Vitamin B1, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Protein and Iron. Best to buy dried beans, Soak lots of cold water over night and drain. Place in a large pot and cover with water, simmer for 50 minutes until tender, drain. You can now cool and freeze in small bags.

Roasted Beetroot - lower your blood pressure quickly, helps fight inflammation, protects internal organs and improve vascular risk, high immune - boosting Vitamin C, fibre, essential minerals, potassium and manganese which is good for your bones, liver, kidneys and pancreas. Purifies your blood and your liver.

Red onions - the flavonoids in a red onion tend to be more in the outer layers, so don't over peel. Flavonoids are best known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory health benefits as well as the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Broccoli - are you low in Vitamin D - Broccoli has very high amounts of Vitamin K and A which will then help with the rebuild of Vitamin D. Try not to over cook it, a little bit of crunch is better than a mushy broccoli.

Wild Salad Recipe

Serves 4

1 cup black rice - soaked over night, then drain

1/2 cup quinoa - soaked over night, then drain ( it really only needs a few hours, it just easy to do this at night.)

2 beetroot - peeled and cut into small cubes - this needs to be roasted and can be done a day or two before. When you have your oven on for something else. See not below on how I do it.

1 red capsicum- cut into small cubes

1 small head broccoli - cut into small pieces

1 red onion - cut into small cubes

bunch spinach - sliced - to be eaten raw

Tomato's - cut into small cubes

Dressing

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp rice malt syrup - no fructose or you can use honey

1/4 tsp sea salt

Method

1 - Cook black rice - 11/2 cups of water,(you need less water if you have soaked it, otherwise you need 2 cups water ) Simmer with the lid on, on low temperature for 35 minutes. Cool.

2 - Place quinoa in a pot with 1 cup water, simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes on low temperature with the lid on.

3 - Place the beetroot on tin foil, sprinkle with olive oil and sea salt. Cover with tin foil and bake until tender at 200c.

4 - Cook broccoli until just tender, drain and run cold water over to stop the cooking.

5 - Mix all the dressing ingredients in a jug.

6 - In a large bowl mix all the rice, quinoa and vegetables.

7 - Pour over some of the dressing. Taste and add more if it needs. Keep the rest of the dressing for another day.