Here are some delicious, healthy recipes from The BTG staff, members, family
and friends to help you add some flavour to your new, healthier lifestyle.
If you would like to contribute a recipe, please
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Find Your New Favourite Recipe
Meatloaf Muffins
A handy way to meal-prep your protein portions for an On-Protocol week on The Balanced Burn, or for everyday eating! They taste equally good both reheated or cold, so they are a really low-fuss option for taking to work for lunch, and pack about 30 grams of protein per serving with less than 7 grams of fat and 5 grams of net carbs.
Guilt-Free Caesar-Style Dressing
Craving a Caesar salad but want to stay On-Protocol? This lightened-up Caesar dressing is the perfect way to indulge without compromise. Creamy and flavourful, this dressing pairs beautifully with a chicken or prawn Caesar salad, delivering all the satisfaction you love while keeping your meals lean and clean.
With only 13 calories per 2-tablespoon serving, it’s a fantastic option for your favorite greens or as a zesty dip for vegetables. It may not be the heavy, classic Caesar of your dreams, but it’s a guilt-free way to elevate your meals and hit your daily nutritional targets. Prep a batch to keep your salads exciting all week long—because delicious doesn’t have to mean off-track.
Guilt-Free Ranch-Style Dressing
Looking for a guilt-free way to enjoy creamy Ranch dressing without derailing your diet?
This low-calorie alternative is the perfect dip for veggies or dressing for salads, delivering a burst of flavour and a satisfying texture to liven up your meals. While it’s not an exact match for the rich, indulgent original, this recipe is a fantastic way to stay On-Protocol and hit your daily servings of vegetables with ease.
Whether you're meal-prepping for the week or just need a quick, healthy accompaniment to your favorite greens, this dressing has your back—no compromise necessary!
I’m still tweaking the recipe to really dial in the flavour, but it’s quite tasty as-is.
Braised Beef and Vegetables
Inspired by the flavours of Boeuf Bourguignon but tweaked slightly, this recipe is one of the more popular ones I make around our household when made in its regular form using red wine as the liquid, but even using only beef broth it is delicious!
Carrot Soup (AKA Potage Crécy)
Adapted from James Peterson’s excellent book, “Splendid Soups”, this is one of our household’s favourite soups.
It’s quite a versatile base soup that allows for some very easy to implement flavour variations with different spices added when cooking, or garnishes or stir-ins when serving.
While the rice or potatoes included in the recipe may preclude it from being a good fit for On-Protocol weeks in The Balanced Burn, it is a great option for Maintenance and everyday eating as a starter or as part of your meal alongside some lean protein and other sides.
Minty Chia and Berries Yogurt Bowl
This is one of my go-to breakfast options. While it does require a tiny bit of forethought to soak the chia seeds a night ahead, it’s dead simple and easy to portion out ahead of time.
Tex-Mex Shredded Beef and Master Stock
I’ve had a few requests for this recipe when clients have come into the house and smelled it cooking, so here it is!
The beef is poached in a flavourful stock until fork-tender, and then shredded for use in whatever dish you like - tacos or taco salad, burritos, nachos…it works well for all of them. It’s really simple to prepare, and can be ready in about an hour. The secret to the outstanding flavour is to make it repeatedly using the same master stock.
Sourdough Discard Biscuits
WOW - these were good! Best biscuits I’ve ever made, uses up some sourdough starter discard, and super easy as well.
Be warned, though - these are delicious for a once-in-a-while treat, but they have a LOT of butter in them, so shouldn’t be a regular feature. You will want them to be though…LOL!
This recipe is adapted from this one from King Arthur Baking Company, but modified to be proportional to the amount of discard sourdough starter you have on hand, and with some additional notes on the method I used.
Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
This is one of the most popular meals I make for larger family gatherings or social events, and is inspired by my Italian-Quebecois stepmother’s legendary pasta feasts.
The ingredients are relatively simple and inexpensive, and the process is pretty easy as well…or at least not very technical - there is a bit of work involved!
This makes a LOT of food (25-30 meatballs), so definitely share it with friends and family!
Sourdough Ligurian-Style Focaccia
Inspired by the foccaccia made in Liguria by Samin Nosrat in Netflix’s “Salt Fat Acid Heat” (based on Nosrat’s book by the same name), this version is made using my trusty sourdough starter rather than packaged yeast.
Sourdough Sandwich Buns
Here’s the recipe for the sourdough sandwich buns I make for my family. Recipe makes 12 buns.
Lentil, Quinoa & Greens Soup
This recipe is a hybrid of a few different ones from across the internet, and can be made vegan or dairy-free by substituting coconut oil or vegetable oil for the ghee / clarified butter and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Packed with protein from the quinoa and lentils, and very tasty with a little spicy kick from curry powder and chili flakes, this soup is a definite winner! Even got the stamp of approval from my usually pretty picky eater, Kira. :)
Sourdough Starter
After watching the Netflix 4-part series "Cooked", based on the book by Michael Pollan of the same name, I got the itch to try making long-fermented sourdough bread to provide my girls with a healthier option for their school sandwiches (here's a good article that lays out the basics of why long-fermented sourdough is healthier, and here's another talking a bit about artisan breads, bakeries and sourdough benefits as well). The only ingredients in the bread I make now are water, flour, and salt.
Anyway, long story short, after playing around with a couple of different sets of instructions on how to get your own starter going, I settled on this method for starting and maintaining the starter (also known as "levain"), and have successfully done this for a couple of years now.
Keema (Indian Spiced Ground Meat)
I've had a few requests for the recipe for the keema that has become a staple of my lunches at work, and it's super simple, so I wanted to share it here.
Hearty Braised Greens
Hearty Braised Greens - get your chard and kale on with this delicious side dish. Pairs really well with grilled/roasted meats for a Mediterranean flavour, and packs a ton of nutrition into a smallish serving on the plate.