The Corkless Mind

Tag: Cauliflower

  • Roast cauliflower and quinoa salad

    Roast cauliflower and quinoa salad

    This gorgeous warming salad is inspired and adapted by a recipe from the Gourmet Traveller Australia. As said in my previous post, I’m finding more ways to (excuse the pun) spice up my vegetables and make it into a main dish that is both filling and delicious. Thought I would share a little piece of news with you, I have recently started working for a recipe sharing site called Cookpad, I am expanding their reach to South Africa as their online community manager.They are very successful in Japan, Indonesia, the U.K and the U.S to name but a few. I am very excited to begin this journey to help grow their platform and reach in S.A and I can only hope that this is just the beginning of a fruitful and exciting journey with Cookpad! So if you are an avid home-cook based in South Africa, visit the site and sign up if you love sharing your recipes. Please follow this link if you are interested: https://cookpad.com/za

    A belated happy Mother’s Day to all the rockstar moms! I spent the day with my mom and family, and what a beautiful day it was! Seems that winter is unfortunately on hold for Cape Town at the moment with unusually warm weather in May and not a drop of rain in sight for the parched province.

    This recipe can be made ahead of time and as a great idea can be packed in for lunch to take to work. I usually boil quinoa for my partner and slow roast tomatoes with garlic, with a mix of baby spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds and some canned tuna or leftover chicken works just as well with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It makes me so happy that I can make him something nourishing and uplifting for him to take to work.



    Roast cauliflower and quinoa salad with a yoghurt dressing: 



    Ingredients:
    300g sliced cauliflower florets

    1 tsp cumin seeds

    1 tsp fennel seeds

    1tsp ground cumin

    1tsp turmeric

    A pinch of sea salt

    1 tbsp olive oil

    1 cup of quinoa ( I used red and white)

    1 cup of vegetable stock

    100g baby spinach leaves

    50g almonds

    50g sunflower seeds
    For the dressing: 


    180ml plain double cream yoghurt

    Zest and juice of half a lemon

    1 garlic clove crushed

    Drizzle of olive oil.
    Method:
    Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. In a dry pan, toast the raw quinoa for 1-2 minutes on a medium to high heat. Remove and transfer to a small saucepan

    With the stock and bring to a simmer for 25 minutes until all liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is light and fluffy. Set aside to cool.

    Toast the spices, sans the turmeric in a dry pan for 30-40 seconds. Add to a pestle and mortar, adding the turmeric then grind. In a roasting dish, add the cauliflower, toasted spices and drizzle of olive oil, roast for 15 minutes until golden and crisp. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, mix together the crushed garlic, lemon juice and zest along with the olive oil.

    To assemble, in a bowl or plate, add the baby spinach, the quinoa, the roasted spiced cauliflower, almonds, sunflower seeds and a drizzle of olive oil and a lashing of dressing over the salad.

    Enjoy! 🙂

  • Egyptian dukkah roasted veg.

    Egyptian dukkah roasted veg.

    The advent of a new year brings in the possibility of change, renewal and hope. I’m not on a diet of any sort nor am I going vegan/vegetarian (and no I am not swooping my day job to become a philosopher) But I’m trying to incorporate more vegetables/plants in my lifestyle. I adore Egyptian dukkah, it has the perfect balance of spice and nuttiness to spruce up any one-pan roast, salad or roast vegetables. 

    I made  Egyptian dukkah roasted cauliflower florets and chickpeas with a creamy avocado and yoghurt dressing, served with crunchy radishes, fragrant mint and sweet pomegranate rubies. The recipe is from Donna Hay.What I love about this dish is that it’s everything but boring, the roasted cauliflower florets, lends a nuttiness to the dish together with the crunchy chickpeas which takes the texture of the dish to another level. The creamy avocado and yoghurt dressing is the perfect addition to the dish, it adds freshness and texture too. 

    The carrots were roasted in the oven drizzled with locally sourced honey, cumin seeds, olive oil and of course the dukkah, next time I’ll add some orange zest and juice to the dish to give it that extra zest. I roasted the rainbow carrots for 20 minutes on 180 degrees C. Sprinkled with more dukkah and made a dressing of two tablespoons of Greek yoghurt, one tablespoon of tahini, one tablespoon of lemon juice, olive oil(about half a tablespoon) and salt to taste. 

    I drizzled this gorgeous dressing over the carrots to serve with a few pomegranate rubies and a few sprigs of mint to garnish. Inspired by the above roasted cauliflower and chickpeas recipe from Donna Hay, I developed the roasted carrot recipe with the same flavours in mind. There are so many other vegetables you could use and make it your own with your own twist. More importantly have fun! 

    Happy feasting! 

    Dominique x