As a dietitian and nutritionist myself, I’ve always been impressed by the energy and inspiration of Kate Freeman, Managing Director of the Healthy Eating Hub in Canberra.

She has gathered together a team of dietitians and nutritionists to offer a private practice that specialises in both individual consultations and hands on workshops.

So I was very much looking forward to my invitation to the the Yogurt Bar experimental session to see the Healthy Eating Hub for myself. And very impressive it is. In its Franklin home, the Hub has a great group kitchen space to help clients bring the theory of healthy eating to life.

The one hour session covers the basics of creating satisfying, nourishing snacks and then gets hands on as participants create their own yogurt based snack to enjoy together.

Kate explained that the best snacks are nourishing and use foods from the five food groups in creative and interesting ways.

They need to be big enough to satisfy but to leave you feeling comfortable and hungry at the next meal. They can be a great way to manage your appetite and stay in the not too hungry, not too full hunger awareness zone, if combined with smaller meals.

They combine protein from foods like yogurt with fibre from fruit, vegetables, legumes or wholegrains and some good fats from nuts, seeds or avocado.

So, to make a great yogurt parfait:

Step 1: Choose your Yogurt
Kate loves Country Valley Natural Yogurt ( a little tart for me but then, I’m a real sweet tooth).

Step 2: Add your fresh fruits

Step 3: Sprinkle some dried fruits, nuts, seeds, whatever you enjoy!

Step 4: Add a little fun, a few chocolate chips

Kate also showed us her favourite yogurt topper made with honey, coconut oil for flavour, rolled oats and pepitas, toasted in the oven.

It all came together very beautifully. Yogurt parfait – a wonderful example of healthy food made lovely and easy!

It very much reminded me of the #mybrekkiebowl launch where everyone created their own breakfast cereal bowl, adding fruits, vegetables, nut butters, fruits, yogurts, seeds and nuts!

There’s so many possibilities to make healthy food delicious and interesting!
The Healthy Eating Hub also offer a Salad Bar experience! Now that would be great – how to make satisfying, fun and sustaining salads! Great for summer eating.
By the way, if you missed the Her Canberra Healthy Eating Hub’s great post on Six Reasons why you shouldn’t diet over Christmas it’s a great read. I’m all for eating smaller portions of what you enjoy and not missing out on social opportunities (or great food).

It’s a Tuesday night, traditionally slow for Canberra restaurants, but Walter G’s is buzzing.

So pleased I arrived early to meet the team and discover what’s making Walter G’s such a success.

Vlatko’s my host and his pride and pleasure at being part of the energy of Walter G’s is engaging. He and owner Steve spent nearly a year developing the dream to create the freshest and most flavoursome pizzas in Canberra.

What sets Walter G’s apart is their clean eating, fresh approach – a commitment to hand cut, locally and ethically sourced ingredients, prepared from scratch each day.

The pineapple and is fresh and ham is carved from a boneless leg sourced from a local butcher along with the bacon and pepperoni  and chorizo sausage.

Clearly, they’ve discovered something their customers love!

The months spent trialling and tasting the menu have paid off. The most popular choices include the Walter’s Supreme and Meat Obsession.

Walter’s Supreme (13 inch) $23 with a tomato base, free range smoked leg ham, chorizo sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, Spanish onion, olives and mozzarella (also usually fresh capsicum and chunky cut pineapple but this one’s customised, and has extra spinach).

Interestingly the Vegan Supreme is also in the top three sellers, $26 (13 inch) with a tomato base, vegan ham, vegan pepperoni, mushrooms, roasted red capsicum, Spanish onion, olives, pineapple and vegan mozzarella cheese.

Yes, Walter G’s believes in greater variety and personalisation of pizza. So the menu offers a wholemeal spelt base, a grain free, nut base and an extremely popular gluten and soy free base that looked invitingly thin, crispy and delicious. The gluten free bases are specially sourced from interstate and there are strict processes in place to prevent cross-contamination of gluten free or vegan ingredients. Gloves are changed and trays and cutters are specially dedicated. Customers can have confidence in their gluten free or vegan choices.

There’s also great flexibility in pizza toppings and I saw plenty of customised orders being made during my visit.

Gluten free base, pesto, roasted capsicum, olives, baby spinach and vegan cheese – customised  for a gluten and lactose free pizza

Pizzas also come in 9 inch, 11 inch and 13 inch options.

My favourite was the Wild Caught Garlic Prawn $25 (13 inch) with tomato base, Roma tomatoes, Australian wild caught prawns, roasted red  capsicum, shallots, feta cheese, topped with mozzarella and garnished with mixed herbs and lemon.

I asked the team for their favourites too. Henry’s top pick is the Pesto Chicken and he enjoys the simplicity of the Margherita. Vlatko loves the Meat Obsession, Peri  Beef and agrees with me on the Wild Caught Garlic Prawn. Monica is another Wild Caught Garlic Prawn fan, but also favours the Chicken Porto.

Chicken Porto (13 inch) $24 with tomato base, marinated free range chicken breast, Spanish onion, roasted red capsicum, caramelised onion, fresh capsicum

Lamb Baa Baa (13 inch) $23 with a tomato and garlic base, slow cooked grass fed lamb, Spanish onion, grilled eggplant, topped with mozzarella and garnished with rocket and garlic yogurt

Capricciosa (13 inch) $18 with tomato base, free range smoked ham, olives, mushrooms and mozzarella

Ham and Pineapple (13 inch) $19 with a tomato base, free range smoked leg ham, chunky cut pineapple and mozzarella

Veggie Patch (11 inch) $18 with tomato base, baby spinach, mushrooms, roasted red capsicum, grilled eggplant, cherry tomatoes, fresh buffalo cheese, mozzarella and pesto verdi

But it’s not just about the pizza! The Apple and Walnut Salad, $10 for a full box, has got to be one of the best salad sides I’ve ever had. It didn’t even make it home for the photoshoot.

Always made fresh to order, the salads are undressed with dressing on the side. (I love that thoughtfulness). While I’m sure the balsamic dressing Vlat offered me would have been great, I just think you shouldn’t mess with perfection! My salad was just the most wonderful balance of flavour and texture with fibre, protein and good fats – sweet freshly grated apple, mixed leaves, generous walnuts and delicious gorgonzola cheese. It’s a ‘must have’ with any order!

And then there is dessert. The decadent Nutella Pizza ($14 for 11 inch) is totally worth it!

A crisp, biscuity base with the ideal partnering of chocolate, fresh strawberries and banana. I couldn’t help but think, if I served a up slice of this with a dollop of whipped cream, I’d have friends for life!

But that’s not all. The ice-creams and sorbets are seriously good, and again, some of the best I’d ever had! My favourite was the Black Forest Sorbet, followed by the Vanilla Bean Ice-cream and then closely by the Coconut and Kaffir Lime Sorbet. Next I’d have to say the Salted Caramel Ice-cream and then the Death by Chocolate Ice-cream. But they were all very lovely and well-priced at $4.50 each.

Now to pull it all together!

Walter G’s has attractive eat-in tables constructed from recycled timber from the local hockey centre – thoughtfully large enough for groups.

Early on summer evenings, the outside tables make a good private area, that gives children a sense of freedom to move around. The car park is off road and quiet.

Children are actually well catered for as there’s a free organic apple juice offered with each Kids’ Pizza ($9 for 9 inch). By the way, $1 from each Kids’ Pizza is also donated to Camp Quality as the team are very impressed by their work for Canberra families.

Of course pizza needs wine and you are welcome to BYO without any corkage charge. (How good is that!)

If you happen to be on your own, there’s good bar seating that looks through the open windows over all the kitchen action.

Take-away orders were also running hot and that gave me another idea.

I have always loved the way you can posh up take-away at home for friends. Walter G’s is extra special because there’s no need to add anything at all (except perhaps that whipped cream for the Nutella Pizza! Sublime!).

Walter G’s will deliver to the inner north. Join the G’s Club on-line for free delivery!

So my recipe for a leisurely shared group Chef’s Tasting Menu (eat-in out of the box or take-away – maybe poshed up at home) for 8 would be:

Wine

Entrée:

Order one of the Appetizer Pizzas (11 inch $9) (1-2 per 8 people) while you ponder your mains – either the Olive and Feta Bread

Or the Pesto & Goat Cheese Bread (or one of each if you’re getting two).

All pizzas are all very helpfully cut into 8 slices.

Main:

Order two of the 13 inch Specialty Pizzas (2 per 8 people will be two slices each) –  consider the favourites mentioned so far, or check out one of Michelle’s Her Canberra picks.

Order one salad per two people $10-$11 – I can’t recommend the Apple and Walnut more highly, but I’d love to try the Caesar or Mediterranean Salads that are packed full of tasty ingredients.

Dessert:

Order a dessert pizza $14 (1-2 per 8 people) – the Nutella Pizza is a sure bet, but I’d also  love to try the Banana Custard Pizza.

Order one ice-cream or sorbet per person $4.50

Or serve a mix!

Yes! Two desserts – this is a degustation – and they are so, so good!

Enjoy!!

Walter G’s is open 7 days from 4:30pm.

Easy to get to in Challis Street Dickson, the parking is close and free after 5:30pm.

On this, my first visit, I was a guest of Walter G’s on behalf of the AGFG team.

 

 

 

This week I felt very privileged to gain an insight into what makes a Foodish experience so special!
Alaine’s passion to connect people with food and each other is both impressive and inspiring.

She has chosen the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets as the home for her purpose built kitchen.

It is designed to give guests the optimal hands-on experience. Creating beautiful food using carefully explained simple techniques, guests learn to bring out the best in the locally sourced, high quality produce.

Alaine has combined practicality with a relaxed dining space in which to enjoy the created dishes in the company of fellow cooking companions.

And she has gathered together some of her food loving friends to help her bring her vision to life.

Offering a variety of events and classes for groups and individuals, it is a wonderful opportunity to learn and meet new people or enjoy old friends by booking a class and relaxed meal together.

Workplaces also use Foodish for team cooking events and it would be an excellent Christmas party activity. Canberra Cooking Circles had a fabulous time there earlier this year using bush tucker ingredients, with Narelle Happ.

Everything is done is great style. From the nibbles and drinks to welcome guests, to the table setting and serving ware with which to enjoy the finished meal.

On the evening Alaine invited me to Foodish, she had designed a Spanish Tapas meal. So Sangria was the natural way to begin.

Alaine then ran us through the fresh produce and other ingredients we would need to create our dishes.

As we worked in pairs to cook two tapas each.  Alaine kept us to time in true Masterchef style, ready for the 7pm service.

I was so impressed by the simplicity of the recipes. Every step is well explained – what to do and why.
Alaine and Mary were close at hand to help if needed, but they also let us find our own way. Standards are high but expectations accommodate learners. When I over-roasted the asparagus (despite clear recipe instructions that they only needed a few minutes but instead I struck up a conversation) I had no need to feel bad.

I learnt that tapas are amazing. They truly are, as Alaine said – great ingredients, minimally worked that speak for themselves.

And what a feast we created in a mere hour as we sipped our sangria.

It was lovely to work with Megan from The Girl has Sparke . We were responsible for the Asparagus wrapped in Serrano ham (Esparragos en jamon) – a dish of simply roasted fresh aparagus drizzled with olive oil and seasoned before wrapping once cool – easy!!

We were also tasked with the Mussels in white wine sauce – again, a simple dish that started with sauteed onion and garlic and was flavoured with white wine, bay leaves and lemon juice.

Another equally simple dish was based on red and green peppers charred over the gas flame, diced with onion and tomato, and drizzled with olive oil and vinegar.

The lamb meatballs with saffron almond sauce (Albondigas), were at least as good as those I enjoyed at Movida de Tapas.

A Squid, chorizo and chickpea braise was again simply prepared with sautéed onion and garlic then flavoured with wine, tomatoes and Essential Ingredients Pimenton which Alaine told us can transform simple fresh ingredients.

The Prawns in garlic sauce (Gambas ajilo) also made use of the pimenton and was almost the ultimate 4 ingredient recipe.

The final tapas to complete the menu were a very delicious Spanish potato omelette (Tortilla a la espanola)

….and mushrooms sautéed in garlic and parsley (Champinones salteados).

It all came together beautifully and we sat down to enjoy the fruit of our labours, savouring our creations and chatting about food! How good is that!

I am so inspired to keep exploring new ways to do tapas! So simple, so good!

I couldn’t help thinking how much fun it would be to bring back a bunch of 12 friends and do tapas together. What a great way to spend an evening!

And a wonderful way to relax after a week of work. A great Christmas gift idea!

Foodish – passionately Connecting through cooking!