Red lentils and sweet potato ‘humus’

· Lunch recipe, Snack recipe · 4 Comments

This time, guys, I hit the jackpot! Since I started making this delicious and gorgeous looking spread, we can’t have enough of it. Everyone loves it! No matter how bigger batch I’ll make it will be gone within hours. I serve it at parties and it’s a great success. Serve it as a dip with lots of fresh cut veg or as a spread/ filling for wraps and sandwiches, with lots of green leaves and sprouts of all kind.

 

Humus with a twist

Humus with a twist

Red lentils and sweet potato ‘humus’recipe:
1 cup red lentils
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 cups water
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from one lemon
1 tsp each cumin and turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste

Place lentils, sweet potato and water in a saucepan, bring to the boil, cover and cook till both lentils and sweet potato are totally soft and all the water have absorbed. Let it cool a little, add the rest of the ingredients and, using a hand blender, blend to a smooth consistency. To serve, transfer to a flat bowl, flatten the spread a little and drizzle with some extra olive oil. Garnish with some chopped fresh herbs, like coriander or parsley and some chili flake if you like. Serve it with crudités and crackers to dip. It’s nice to eat it fresh and warm but it keeps in the fridge for a week.

Pumpkin Burgers with spicy mango salsa

· Main course recipe · Leave a Comment

If you are still wondering what to do with all that gorgeous pumpkins that are out there on the market now here is another creative idea. From my experience, shaping vegetables into burgers makes them much more popular by both adults and children. And the fragrant, spicy mango salsa is to die for!

I found out that in a shape of a burger even the hard core picky eaters are happy to eat vegetables.

I found out that in a shape of a burger even the hard core picky eaters are happy to eat vegetables.

And here is the recipe:
Makes 6 to 8 burgers, depend on the size
For the burgers:
1 smallish pumpkin (round 700g net weight)
2 organic free range eggs
A bunch of fresh coriander and basil each, finely chopped
1 tsp red curry paste (optional)
1 tsp Himalayan (or other) salt
3 tbsp chickpea flour
Coconut oil for frying

For the mango salsa:
1 very ripe mango, peeled, stone removed and sliced
1 red chili pepper
1 garlic clove
1 cm thick slice of ginger
3 tbsp desiccated coconut
Juice from 1 lime
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:
Grate the pumpkin (use food processor if you have), coarsely and transfer to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix/ knead to a sticky mixture. Creat burger like patties and fry them in coconut oil in a covered non-stick pan till both sides are golden brown.
Wile the burgers are cooking, place all the sauce ingredients in a food processor container or blender and whiz to a smooth consistency.
Serve the burgers hot with a generous dollop of the mango sauce.

Tip: if you are using an organic pumpkin then leave the skin on.

Stuffed cabbage with roast butternut squash and chickpeas

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Autumn time is pumpkin time! And who doesn’t love them. In my kitchen we eat them in soups, stews, salads and even cakes and smoothies!
This time I decided to take it to the next level. Out of all the varieties, butternut squash is my favorite and here is what I made out of it this time:
I peeled and deseeded one small butternut squash, cut it into cubes, about 2cm, and lay them on a backing tray.

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I Drizzled some olive oil, seasoned with smoked salt and pepper and sprinkled some Italian herb mix.
Then they went into the oven at 200 degrees for about 35-40 minutes till the squash was soft and caramelized.

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Into a bowl went my roasted squash, a can of chickpeas (220gr) with: one chopped large clove of garlic, 1/2 tsp smoked salt, 1 tsp paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)

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I used a potato masher to puree the squash and chickpeas together and added some more olive oil. Feel free to add some fresh chopped herbs like parsley of coriander. Now my filling was ready.

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I used for this recipe Jersey Wakefield cabbage but white or green (savoy) works great as well. You have to remove the hard center of the cabbage and lightly steam it so you can remove the leaves easily.
Now I laid a leaf of cabbage on my work surface , placed a spoonful of filling into the middle and wrapped it into a bundle by folding the sides and then rolling the whole thing. Repeat till you finish your filling.

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I placed all cabbage wraps, seam side down, in a shallow pan, tucked in few celery stalks and garlic cloves, drizzled some olive oil and started cooking on low medium heat to brown them from all sides.

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I poured one cup of tomato passata over, seasoned with some more salt and pepper and cooked, with a lid on, for about half an hour.
Adjust seasoning, turn off heat and drizzle with some fresh virgin olive before serving.

stuffed cabage