Roasted carrots, chickpeas and cauliflower with yoghurt-tahini sauce

More cauliflower. I fancied roasting some chickpeas, and roasting carrots with coriander and spices. They all got roasted together and it was very very good.

Roast:
5 large carrots, scrubbed and top-and-tailed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbsp paprika
1-2 tsp sumac
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1-2 tsp nigella seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
salt+pepper
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
about 1 cup cooked chickpeas

Sauce:
4 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 230C. Put the carrots in a large baking tin along with all of the spices and seeds, salt and pepper and the olive oil (be generous with these - remember the cauliflower and chickpeas will be added partway through and they want to be coated with goodness too). Mix well and put in the oven for 10-15 min. Take out and mix in the cauliflower and the chickpeas. Put back in the oven and roast for another 20-30 min, until everything is tender and starting to crisp. While it's roasting make the sauce just by mixing together the yoghurt, tahini and lemon. Serve together.


Both roast and sauce are definite make-agains. S particularly loved the roasted chickpeas.

Spiced okara and red lentil dip

I made more tofu, partly because I wanted to see if I could do a better job / get a more stand-up texture, partly because I kind of wanted more okara to play with - the cornbread I made with the last lot was so, surprisingly delicious...

I used part of the okara for this dip - it's a variation on the red lentil dip I've made many times.

1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup okara
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 clove garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp ground ginger
~ 1 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Put lentils, okara and water in a small pan, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for ~ 10 min, then turn off the heat and leave pan covered for ~15 min. Add the remaining ingredients and blend to a paste.

The rest of the filo: sweet potato, chickpea, kale and almond filo parcel

It can be a little challenging thinking of something that feels fancy and festive enough for Christmas, still a little traditional, but vegetarian and appetising to us. I was considering making something with filo pastry (we had some in the freezer), but then realised I had way too many things I wanted to make, and actually, since I had the filo defrosted for making mince pies, it made more sense to make this on Christmas Eve. So I did. It started with sweet potato, kale and almonds, then I added a bunch of stuff and spices and ended up with something kind of Middle Eastern in flavour. 

(makes 2 medium parcels)
(move the filo from freezer to fridge to defrost 3-24 hours in advance)

4 sweet potatoes
1 cup chickpeas, defrosted
~4 medium kale leaves
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
~2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp golden raisins
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil
half a package of thickish filo (#7 - #10) = ~10-12 sheets (used rest of package for mince pies)

Heat the oven to 375F. Put the sweet potatoes on a lightly greased baking sheet and put in the oven for ~30 min, until tender. When ready, remove, let cool until you can handle them and then peel.

Meanwhile, defrost the chickpeas and mash them roughly with a fork. Wash and chop the kale and steam it until just tender, along with the spring onions. Toast the almonds, tip into a bowl, then toast the coriander and cumin seeds. Let cool a little, then tip into a grinder and grind to powder.

Put the peeled sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash lightly with a fork. Add the mashed chickpeas, steamed kale and spring onions, almonds, all the spices, raisins and parsley. Mix, taste and season with salt and pepper.

Take the first sheet of filo and lay it on a baking tray. Grease lightly with olive oil, then put the next sheet on top. Keep going until you have laid out six sheets (or half the total number you have, some number between four and six). Squish half the filling mix into a fat sausage shape along one of the short sides of the filo pile, then roll up around it, tucking in the short ends as you go. Repeat with the other six sheets of filo. Brush the tops with more olive oil, cut slashes on top, then bake for 30-40 min, until hot and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool a little before eating.

Roast parsnips and sweet potato with mustard and maple

A simple update of a Delia recipe. With the last of the Spring (ie sweetest) parsnips. The Summer (weekly) CSA has started so I felt the need to empty the fridge out before the green deluge begins...

4 medium parsnips, trimmed and scrubbed
1 large sweet potato, trimmed and scrubbed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sumac
salt+pepper
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp olive oil

Heat oven to 450F. Chop the parsnips and sweet potato (leave peel on) into chunky sticks (~2 cm across / 8 cm long). Put the vegetable pieces in a bowl and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, sumac, salt and pepper. Transfer the veg to a large baking tray (with edges). Put in the oven and roast for 30-40 min, until the vegetables are tender all the way through and lightly browned. Mix 1 tsp olive oil, maple syrup and olive oil, then distribute over the top of the roasted veg. Eat warm or cold.

Carrot, orange, sumac and olive rolls

I hadn't made any bread in a while, not sure why, it's been Winter and a good time for hanging out in the kitchen and baking. Anyway, I saw this recipe (with additional fancying-up here), and thought it was time to make bread. I decided to go for the rolls with olive and sumac.

175g carrot
150ml warm water
100ml orange juice, at room temperature
7g sachet fast-action yeast (used 2 tsp)
25ml olive oil, plus more for kneading
450g strong white flour
50g wholemeal or spelt flour
2 tsp salt
250g dry pitted black olives, roughly chopped (if making rolls)
2 tsp sumac (if making rolls)
50g black or white sesame seeds, plus extra to finish

Peel and grate your carrots and put them in a mixing bowl. Add the warm water and orange juice.

Stir in the yeast, leave 5 min til dissolved, then add the oil, flours, salt and seeds (also sumac and olives if making rolls) and mix well to a firm-ish dough. You can add slightly more flour or water according to your preference, but use the amounts here as a starting point. Leave the dough covered for 10 minutes.

Gently knead the dough for 10 sec or so, then leave in the bowl, covered, for about an hour / until risen by half.

To make a loaf: Take a large loaf tin and line the base and sides with nonstick baking paper. Dust a surface with flour, then pat the dough into an oblong. Roll the dough tightly like a scroll, squeeze the ends together as you pick it up and lower it, seam-side down, into the tin. Cover and leave for about an hour. Heat oven to 200C//400F. Lightly wet the top of the dough, then sprinkle it thickly with sesame seeds. Cut a deep slash down the middle and bake for about 50 minutes. Remove the loaf from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Or, to make rolls: divide into a dozen 100g pieces for large rolls (or 75g for 16 medium-sized ones), shape into balls with a little flour and leave to rise on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Leave to rise for about an hour, or until risen by at least half. Heat oven to 180C/350F. Before baking, brush the top of each roll with water and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Using a pair of scissors, or a small serrated knife, snip or slash the top of each roll. Bake for about 25 minutes for soft rolls, or up to 35 minutes for crustier ones. They freeze well and can be reheated direct from frozen in a hot oven.


I liked these, but they didn't rise very well (time for new yeast?), and I found the olive taste overpowering - perhaps next time stick to the version without olives?

Kale salad, v. 2 (coconut, sesame and lime)

Alvin gave us another bunch of kale.  I was pretty excited about kale salad after the one I made the other day: it seemed like there was a lot of potential.  I used sufficient salt and oil to soften it (ie slightly more than before), and was thinking kale and coconut would be good together.  I wanted everything I added to stick to the kale, so each bowlful and mouthful would be complete, avoiding the problem of all the additions dropping to the bottom and leaving the kale up top on its own.

1 bunch (purple) kale
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tahini
juice of 1/2 a lime (perhaps a little more, depending on consistency)
2 tbsp dried shredded coconut
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 marigold flowers (with multiple layers of petals, optional)
1 tsp sumac

Wash the kale, shake or pat dry, tear into pieces and put it in a bowl.  Add the salt and coconut oil and massage with hands until everything is coated.  Leave for about an hour, until reasonably wilted.  Meanwhile mix the tahini and lime juice in a small bowl until it is a creamy texture (add a little more lime juice if it doesn't go smooth).  Also dry fry the shredded coconut and sesame seeds in a frying pan until lightly browned and fragrant.  When ready, add the tahini-lime mixture to the kale and toss until everything is evenly coated.  Add the toasted coconut and sesame seeds, marigold petals (take care not to add any seeds by accident), and sumac, toss and serve.  It will keep well for up to a week in the fridge.


This came out well: everything stuck to the kale successfully, there was the right amount of dressing, and it tasted interesting.  It was very pretty too, with the dark curls of the kale, light-brown shavings of coconut, and bright red and orange marigold petals.  S liked the 'salty and sour' (he's really into pickles right now).

Salad: kale, chickpeas, onion, sumac

Still largely apathetic about cooking much, due to the heat and also an abundance of tasty fresh veg that needs nothing more than a wash and a chop to make it good (Alvin is bringing me excess from his CSA every week and won't take no for an answer!).  I did manage to switch on the oven for a few minutes on Friday night to make some muffins to take to M's for brunch on Saturday, but that's been about it.

While I was in the kitchen that night I also made this kale salad: I'd been thinking about making something different with kale - I always end up either making kale chips, sauteeing it with garlic, or just adding it to stew or curry.  I remembered a tasty kale salad I tried from the Boston Veg Food Fest last year, and with the aforementioned heat-induced apathy the idea of not cooking the kale at all seemed good.  A quick Google immediately threw out a recipe that seemed to be exactly what I wanted: kale with sumac (one of my current favourite spices) and chickpeas (my alltime favourite bean), plus a few other things that sounded like a great combination.

1 bunch (about 1 lb) kale, tough inner stems discarded, leaves roughly torn
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp dried ground sumac
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp lemon juice (or cider vinegar)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
equivalent of 1 tin of cooked chickpeas or white beans, defrosted
pepper

Put prepped kale leaves in a large bowl. Add olive oil and salt and rub and toss with your hands until all the kale is coated. Rest at room temperature until kale is lightly wilted, about 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge).

Meanwhile, put the prepared onions in a medium bowl and cover with cold water.   Rest for 15 minutes. Rinse in several changes of water then pat dry. Sprinkle with sumac and sesame seeds, and salt if desired.

Mix lemon juice or vinegar, garlic and mustard in a small bowl.  When the kale is ready, put everything together in a large bowl, toss and season.


In all, this was a great experiment.  The kale was super tasty and green, and went well with the onions.  The kale was just softened enough to be good - I wondered if I might have added a little more oil to make it a little easier to bite.  And the soaking of the onions in water seemed to negate their pungency - I was initially wondering if the raw onions and garlic might generate the old everything-tasting-of-allium-for-a-day-after-eating problem, but actually it was totally fine.

Another good point about this salad is that it really does keep overnight / for days, in fact I thought it was better the next day as the kale had softened a little more.  Which was especially lucky in this instance, as S was going to make pretzels to take to R's party but discovered at the crucial moment that he had no sodium hydroxide at home - this salad, which I had made the night before and discovered there was rather a lot of - stepped in and saved the day (ie we took it to the party instead, and S stopped into work on the way home from the party and then finished off the pretzels the next day - very good they were too - leaving them shaped overnight caused no problems).

Kale and peanuts

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 in piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp raw peanuts, roughly chopped 
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 large bunch kale, washed and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter, mixed with 1 tsp tamarind paste and thinned with water to a sauce-y consistency

Heat the oil in a large, high sided frying pan.  Add the onion and saute, covered, til softened and starting to brown, adding the ginger and garlic part way through.  Remove the lid and add the peanuts, cook for a few min more til they start to brown.  Then add the cumin, chilli and sumac and cook for a minute or so, until they become fragrant.  Add the kale and cover again.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the kale is wilted.  Remove the lid and take off the heat, then add the peanut butter-tamarind mixture and mix it all up.


I ate this with some freekeh, which is this green wheat stuff I just bought at the Armenian store.  It looked similar to bulghur wheat, so I boiled it in water as I would for bulghur.  It is good, texture like bulghur, taste a bit more green.  I also bought some carob molasses and a loquat, both new to me and both pretty tasty.

Roasted cauliflower with spices and seeds

1 cauliflower
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp paprika
good grinding of salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425F.  Rub a baking tin with olive oil.  Cut the cauliflower into smallish pieces.  Sprinkle with paprika, sumac, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and salt+pepper.  Bake for 20-30 min, until the cauliflower is cooked through and browned/charred in places.

Yum.