This is an easy side dish or afternoon snack that is crisp, fruity, spicy, and smokey.
1 lb of green beans, 1/4 tsp aleppo pepper, pinch of maldon salt, and 2 tbsps of smoked olive oil.
Prepare your beans by cutting off the ends. Steam green beans about 5 minutes.
Once you place them in a bowl add the aleppo pepper, salt, and olive oil.
If you want more heat, then you can add more aleppo or black pepper.
Preheat the oven to 425º.
Drain a can of chickpeas and rinse. Then dry them with paper towel. Toss the chickpeas in olive oil, a pinch of kosher salt, and a tsp of curry powder. Spread the chickpeas out on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Stir them at the halfway mark.
They are crunchy and delicious.
This is a great side dish. It has a lovely balance of earthy mushrooms, aromatic garlic, and sweet sharp white balsamic vinegar.
I use 4 mushrooms per person. However, you may want to make more!
Ingredients
Mushrooms - just the caps ( 4 per person)
White balsamic
Garlic - minced fresh or The Spice Trader Minced Garlic
Directions
Clean the mushroom caps and marinate in white balsamic and garlic for 30 minutes. Turn them half way through. Use enough garlic to sprinkles all the mushroom and enough balsamic to have caps sitting in the liquid.
Heat a saute pan with oil, and place the mushroom in the pan. Once the mushroom have browned ( stir to make sure they don't burn) add the rest of the marinade to the pan and cook it down. It will get darker and coat the mushrooms.
Add salt and pepper.
Kale Salad with Baharat-Roasted Chickpeas and Creamy Tahini Dressing
Chickpeas:
1 1/2 cups chickpeas
1 tablespoon baharat
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Salad:
1 bunch of kale, washed and finely chopped
1 large beet, grated
1 large carrot, grated
A generous handful of pumpkin seeds
Dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
2 teaspoons honey (or maple syrup, if vegan)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Generous pinch of salt
Water, enough to thin the dressing to the desired consistency
Directions:
Heat the oven to 450C.
Prepare the chickpeas by tossing them in a large bowl with baharat, sugar, salt and coat with olive oil. Spread them onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes until crispy. While the chickpeas cook, you can prepare the rest of the salad.
In a small bowl, mix together the tahini, honey, lemon and salt, tasting and adjusting according to your preferences. Add enough water to thin the tahini, until you feel it has reached the consistency you desire. Generally, adding 3 or 4 tablespoons seems to be enough.
Toss the kale, grated beets and carrot in a large bowl. Add the cooked chickpeas and pumpkin seeds, drizzle with tahini dressing. Toss and serve!
Simple Vegan, Bread-free Quinoa Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup lentils (yellow or green)
1 1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups (approx) vegetarian broth, or half a vegetarian bouillon cube
1 yellow onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 tablespoons Spice Trader stuffing mix
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Prepare the quinoa and lentils according to cooking directions, using vegetarian broth instead of water, or 1/2 bouillon cube dissolved in water to add extra flavour. Preheat the oven to 350 C.
Finely dice the onion, carrots and celery stalks. Saute them in olive oil until lightly golden brown. Add the stuffing spice and cook on a low heat for 5-10 minutes.
Add the cooked lentils and quinoa, stirring to combine with vegetable mix. With a fork or a potato masher, gently mash some of the lentils to achieve a softer consistency. This will make them easier to form into balls.
At this point, you can serve the stuffing as is, or form it into balls to bake in the oven.
Prepare a baking sheet for the oven. Allow the stuffing mixture to cool a bit to avoid burning your hands.
Firmly press the stuffing into balls in the palms of your hands. If you feel the consistency isn't soft enough to do this, add a little more water or broth and continue to mash the lentils. Place the prepared stuffing balls on the sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes in the heated oven.
Serve warm and enjoy!
Ingredients
4 brussels sprouts per person - with the leaves pulled off.
This recipe is for 4 people
1 onions chopped
1 cove of garlic chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil ( or butter)
1 Tbsp smoked sweet paprika
1.5 tsp orange marmalade
3 Tbsp red or white wine
pinch of salt and black pepper to taste.
Directions
Put the olive oil in a sautee pan and heat it on low heat.
Add the garlic and let it cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Then add the onion and do the same. Add the smoked paprika and stir it all around. Turn up the heat and let the mixture cook for around 10 minutes. The add the marmalade and let it melt into the onion and garlic mixture.
Add the brussels sprout leaves and stir everything together. Let the mixture cook, while stirring for around 5 - 10 minutes. Add the wine , cover the pan and put the heat on low. Stirring occasionally until the leaves have cooked and the wine has evaporated.
Take it off the heat and add the salt and pepper to taste.
RECIPE
Red Lentils with Paprika and Adjwain
(4 Servings)
Delicious red lentils! Great on their own, or as a wonderful side dish
Ingredients:
6 tbsp ghee, butter, or oil (divided into 4 tbsp/2 tbsp)
2 large onions, roughly chopped
1 three inch piece of ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp adjwain
2 tbsp paprika (divided in half)
2 tbsp sweet or hot smoked paprika (divided in half)
2 cups red lentils
5 cups water
Salt to taste (about 1tsp)
Method:
RECIPE
Baingan (Eggplant) Chutney
Add this flavourful chutney to any meal for some extra yum!
Ingredients:
1 medium bharta baingan or large aubergine
1 tbsp chopped onion
2 garlic cloves- made into paste with ginger
1/2 piece of ginger- made into paste with garlic
1/4 tsp adjwain
1/4 tsp sanaam red chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Method:
Peaches and pineapples are both delicious when grilled.
The pineapple should be sliced and cored and then you can add whatever spices you want! You can even grill them plain and enjoy them as an accompaniment to chicken or pork or fish. They are also good on skewers. I find a sprinkle of chili powder or curry is delectable.
Peaches can be halved or sliced and put on skewers. You can try them plain or with honey and garam masala. Some people enjoy them with a pinch of sanaam chili powder or chili flakes to balance the sweetness of the fruit.