Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

Salad! I was not expecting to get this excited about a salad, but here we are. I totally love this salad! I made it on a lazy Cup Day at home, and ate it joyfully for meals throughout the week. It happens to be gluten free, vegan, and full of fibre and vegetarian protein, but it certainly doesn't taste worthy or healthy, it just tastes great!

I got the idea from a salad box I bought for lunch from Lomah the other day. They did a mix of three salads for $9.95 - there was quinoa with almonds and orange cubes, soft roast pumpkin, a green bean and spinach mix, and loads of hummus. What was initially a sad-desk-salad actually turned out to be super delicious and joyful, hooray! The highlight, for me, were the crunchy almonds and sweet cubes of orange punctuating the quinoa, and I totally wanted to recreate something similar at home... perhaps with my beloved blood oranges, and perhaps in a very Insta-friendly platter kinda way. This salad is what I came up with.

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

There are a few bits and pieces to make but none of it is hard - cook some quinoa, toast some almonds, soak some raisins, roast some sweet potato, slice a couple of blood oranges, boil some green beans. I used a good quality bought hummus, but you could definitely make it from scratch if that floats your boat.

To assemble the salad, I started with some swirls of hummus on half the plate, drizzling it generously with extra virgin olive oil and za'atar.

Swirly hummus, olive oil, za'atar

I then piled the quinoa mixture on half the plate...

Swirly hummus, olive oil, za'atar, quinoa

... and then arranged the sweet potato cubes, green beans, and blood orange slices around. Ta-dah! Of course, if you're not "doing it for the Insta", you could simply stir all the elements together and serve with a scoop of hummus on top, but I actually really enjoy the process of putting together a pretty platter!

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

I love the idea of including this salad as one dish in a buffet-style lunch spread, say at a barbecue or a summer party. Pretty, colourful, healthy, and hits lots of dietary requirements! But in a less glamorous application, it makes an excellent meal prep as well, as the elements hold up quite well and don't go watery or soggy.

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

However you eat it, it tastes fantastic, and I hope you enjoy it!

Blood Orange, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 sweet potato
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 cup quinoa
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
The juice of 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
1/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup whole almonds
1 large handful green beans
200-250 grams hummus
1/2 teaspoon za'atar, or to taste
2 blood oranges (or regular oranges if not in season), peeled and sliced horizontally

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Peel the sweet potato and chop into 2-cm chunks. Place on a baking tray. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle over the cayenne and cumin. Stir to combine. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until cooked through and with some dark brown patches. Set aside.
Place the quinoa in a small saucepan. Pour 2 cups of water over. Place over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Clamp on a lid, turn the heat down to the minimum, and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked through. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Tip the quinoa into a large mixing bowl.
Add the red onion, lemon juice, and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and stir together with a fork.
Place the raisins in a bowl and cover with boiling water from a kettle. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so and then drain, and add to the quinoa.
Roughly chop the almonds and toast in a dry frying pan over medium heat or until lightly golden brown in parts and fragrant. Tip into the quinoa bowl and stir well.
Top and tail the green beans, and cook in salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Refresh in cold water and drain.
Get out a large serving platter. Spread the hummus in a swirly fashion over the plate. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with za'atar. Arrange the quinoa, green beans, and blood orange slices on the platter. (Alternatively, mix everything except the hummus and za'atar in a serving bowl, then top with za'atar and hummus to serve).
Serves 4 as a hearty meal, 8-12 as a side

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

Ingredients for Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

I also love the bright colours of the ingredients - I'm all about bringing summery brightness into my life through my cooking. Don't you feel cheered up just looking at all those vibrant colours?

The soup is based on a medley of vegetables - carrots, onion, celery, capsicum, tomatoes - spiced up with the warming flavours of garlic, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika and chipotle chilli. Vegetable stock is your liquid, and red lentils add body and protein. It's also easy and quite quick to cook, as the red lentils only take about twenty minutes. In fact, the trickiest part is chopping all the vegetables at the start, but after that you're really just chucking everything into a pot and stirring occasionally.

Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

Let's talk about the toppings! Fresh lime, fresh coriander, and avocado are a must. I also love a generous dollop of sour cream. (This of course de-veganises the soup; dairy avoiders and vegans replace the sour cream with your favourite non-dairy alternative, or simply leave it out). The last time I made this soup, I also made some chipotle tortilla chips in the air-fryer, and let me tell you, they were out of this world! Total game changer. I had some corn tortillas lying around, so while the soup was simmering, I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with chipotle seasoning. (Another chipotle-based product that's recently become available at my local supermarket! It's a mix of chipotle chilli powder, salt, sugar, and garlic powder. If you can't find it, I'd suggest using a mix of those component ingredients. Or even just salt! They'll still be good). I cut the tortillas into eight wedges each, and then cooked them in the air-fryer for five minutes at 180C. My experiment worked! They came out crispy and hot and so delicious. They were so fab on top of the soup as a crunchy kinda Mexi-crouton, but were also amazing dipped in guacamole as a snack. Give them a go!

The idea for the crispy tofu came from a place from which I never expected to find an authentic-tasting Chinese noodle dish: Pinch of Yum. Pinch of Yum is an American food blogger from Minnesota who is suuuuper popular on Pinterest, and who mixes in lots of wonderful personal posts amongst her bright and chirpy recipes. In her recipe for Spicy Sesame Zoodles with Crispy Tofu, she makes a big quantity of a Chinese-inspired chilli-sesame blender sauce, uses some of it to dress the noodles (well, zoodles in her case), and uses the rest of it to fry cubes of tofu until crunchy and caramelised. Such a genius idea! Flavour, texture and protein, all at once!

I added some shiitake mushrooms to my noodles, because I have a big container of dried shiitake in the pantry, and I wanted to add a vegetable component to the dish. (I guess they're technically a fungus, but "they provide many of the same nutritional attributes of vegetables" so are often considered a vegetable). I soaked them in some hot water to bring them back to springy life, and used some of the soaking water to thin out the noodle sauce. It was a good move, spreading super umami goodness throughout the whole dish!

Sesame Peanut Sauce

Tofu Cubes

Spicy Tofu Cubes

Tofu and Noodles

Cauliflower Rice Pulao

Hello hello! I am super excited about today's recipe - a wonderfully fragrant and vibrant Indian-style pulao, made with cauliflower instead of rice. I made it as part of an Indian themed meal prep, to accompany some curries, and was so blown away by the pulao that I thought it deserved its own post! It's so easy to make, super tasty, and for those of you who this concerns - low carb, gluten and grain free, vegetarian and vegan. Perhaps a good option if you're trying to even out the excesses of the easter period! (I'll be posting about the whole meal as a Meal Prep Monday soon - keep your eyes peeled!)

Crudité salad with chipotle hummus

Crudité salad with chipotle hummus

You could definitely make your own hummus, but I bought a pre-made, chipotle-flavoured one. (I'd never tried it before, but thankfully it was delicious!) If you can't find chipotle hummus, I'd suggest stirring some chipotle chilli sauce (or regular chilli sauce) through some plain hummus, or switching it up completely and picking another flavoured hummus. I'd never thought about it before, but when I went shopping for ingredients, there were literally dozens of different flavoured hummuses at the supermarket! I had no idea flavoured hummus was such a big thing.

I made five bowls - one for Sunday night, four for the week - but it's quite a light salad, so I think the amount of ingredients listed could make four bowls. Just trust your appetite.

Cruditeé salad with chipotle hummus

I absolutely loved this salad, and was excited about eating it every day throughout the week! The lightness of the salad was perfect for the warm weather (and my sedentary job - anything too carb heavy sends me straight to sleep!) There was a great combination of textures - the refreshing crunch of the carrot and cucumber, the juicy sweet cherry tomatoes, the mealy and hearty chickpeas, the creamy avocado, and the crunch from the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. And of course, these were all brought together by the spicy chipotle hummus. I don't think chipotle's quite as big here as in the States and Latin America, but I'm glad it's becoming more widespread. I adore the smoky heat it brings!

Let's talk dietary characteristics! This salad is vegetarian, vegan, grain and gluten free, and low-carb. (Are chickpeas "carbs"? Even so, this salad is certainly lower in carbs than most of the standard takeaway options near my work). On the more positive side, it's full of good fats from the avocado and vegetarian protein and fibre from the chickpeas and hummus! Apart from enjoying the taste, I loved getting in so many fresh vegetables for my lunch - I felt very virtuous and it set me up for more healthy eating, woop woop.


Crudité Salad with Chipotle Hummus
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 x 60 gram bag mixed salad leaves
1 x 400 gram tin chickpeas
1 x 200 gram punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small cucumber, cut into small chunks
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1 x 200 gram container chipotle hummus (or hummus of choice)
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Salt, pepper, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, for dressing

Method
Divide the salad leaves between four serving bowls or containers.
Top with the chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, carrot, cucumber and avocado.
Squeeze generously with lemon juice, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. (Make sure you get the avocado slices well covered by the lemon juice).
Divide the chipotle hummus between the bowls.
Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.
Makes 4-5

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Green Vegetable Bowl with Falafel and Green Pea Tahini Sauce

Good morning! Meal Prep Monday for your enjoyment today! Today's meal is green, green, green: a green vegetable bowl with falafel and green pea tahini sauce. Can you feel the vitamins doing you good already?

This meal came about because I was really craving vegetables after a period of general overindulgence, and the realisation that I had all the ingredients for falafel in my pantry! Boom.

The base here is a whole lot of of green vegetables: a spiralized zucchini, plus blanched asparagus, green beans, peas and edamame. I dressed these lightly in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I really liked the combo, and think they'd make a great lunch base for all sorts of toppings.

Green vegetable bowl base

Green Vegetable Bowl Bases

So, falafel. I love eating falafel but have never thought to make them myself before. However, I was idly scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration, and recipes for them are actually quite achievable. I'll admit, I'd always thought they were made of some really obscure pulse (I have no idea why), but when I realised that they're usually made from chickpeas, it was on like Donkey Kong.

Trad recipes that I've seen instruct you to soak and cook the chickpeas first - I was lazy (efficient?) and used tinned. I blended them up with a mixture of different flavourings (garlic, spring onion, parsley, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander), plus a little bicarb, lemon juice and olive oil. Any falafel experts feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but for me, it's the cumin that makes them taste distinctly falafel-y.

Falafel ingredients

I deep fried these - I've seen recipes say you can bake them, which I'm sure would be easier and healthier, but, you know, live a little! (I was too lazy to soak chickpeas but mustered up the energy to deep-fry. You see where my priorities lie.)

IMPORTANT - fry one ball first to see if your mixture will hold together. If they start falling apart, you need to add more flour to the mixture. I learnt this the hard way, by frying six to start with, which collapsed into a soggy and oily (but still aromatic) mess. Booo! Ordinarily I would have given up, but they smelled so damn good that I couldn't waste the mixture. I ploughed ahead, adding more ingredients to my processor, and being generous with the flour. (I used chickpea flour, because I had it, and to keep with the chickpea theme. Bonus - extra protein and, if it bothers you, gluten free).

I know these look a bit rough and ramshackle, but boy-oh-boy they tasted good! So crunchy and fluffy and tasty. It was hard to save enough for my lunches - I wanted to eat them all!

Falafel!

Now, the sauce. I wanted to make a typical Ottolenghi-style green tahini sauce (tahini and herbs, plus garlic and olive oil and water), but I used up all my tahini making the sauce, and I accidentally watered it down too much. Whoops! I wasn't able to add any extra tahini back, so I thought I'd amp up the green vibe and try adding frozen peas to the sauce. A winning move! It thickened the sauce nicely, added a fresh sweetness, and it went super bright green! (I'm not sure if you need to cook frozen peas before you can eat them - I'm happy to eat them just defrosted, but if you're worried, then cook and cool them before adding to the sauce).

Green Pea Tahini Sauce

So that's it! All the green vegetables, vegan protein, gluten free, and so very delicious. I was happy eating these all week!

Falafel
Sarah's version of a classic recipe

Ingredients
1 x 400gram tin of chickpeas
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 clove of garlic
2 spring onions
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4-6 tablespoons chickpea flour

Method
Place all the ingredients (just 4 tablespoons of the chickpea flour to start with)into a food processor and whizz until combined. Heat 5 centimetres of olive oil in a small saucepan until it reaches 180C (a kitchen thermometre is handy here, or just test by frying a square of stale bread - it should take a minute to reach a golden brown colour).
Take a tablespoon of the falafel mixture and roll into a ball. Deep fry for 1-2 minutes a side, or until golden brown and crisp. If the falafel falls apart in the oil, it means your mixture isn't dry enough. Discard the test-falafel-mush, add the rest of the chickpea flour to the mixture and process to combine. Then fry tablespoons of the mixture in the hot oil, in batches. Drain on paper towel.

Green Pea and Tahini Sauce
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 tablespoon tahini
1/4 green chilli (deseeded if you like)
A generous squeeze of lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 spring onion
1/2 garlic clove
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons frozen peas (cooked, drained and cooled if you prefer; I'm happy to eat them raw)
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Place all ingredients into a blender and whizz to combine. Taste, and add more lemon juice / olive oil / salt / pepper if you like.

Green Vegetable Bowl
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 zucchini
1 handful green beans, topped and toiled
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 4-cm lengths
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen edamame
Extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
1 x quantity of Falafel (recipe above)
1 x quantity of Green Pea & Tahini Sauce (recipe above)

Method
Push the zucchini through a spiralizer. (Or grate or finely slice). Place into a sieve and set aside to drain while you prepare the rest of the bowl.
Bring a pot of salted water onto boil. Add the green beans, and cook for two minutes. Add the asparagus and cook for a further minute. Tip in the peas and edamame, allow to come back to the boil and cook for a further minute. Drain and rinse under cold water to arrest the cooking.
Combine the zucchini and cooked vegetables in a large bowl and dress with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
To assemble the bowls, divide the vegetables between four serving containers. Top with the green pea and tahini sauce and the falafel.
Makes 4

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Silken Tofu Rice Bowl

Hey hey! I am so happy to have a new Meal Prep Monday post for you today! I haven't been meal prepping much at all lately - my routine's pretty much gone out the window. As I keep telling you, I've been crazy busy at work, and also had a cold for a little while, plus there's been lots of general changes at work and at home! (It's finally started to calm down at work a little, but instead of getting back to the gym and getting on top of the chores, I've prioritised socialising with friends. I know, I'm a terrible person). I wish I could say that I've been revisiting old meal preps, or resorting to my basic tuna-salad-brown-rice combo, but really I've been buying lunch frequently, and occasionally bringing leftovers if we had any, (and in those cases, it's mainly been Sandra cooking).

However, I got organised last weekend, and I am super pleased with the Meal Prep that I made. We've got a silken tofu rice bowl, with marinated silken tofu, edamame, coleslaw, cucumber, pickled ginger and baby spinach, on a bed of brown rice and quinoa. Boom! Vegetarian! Vegan! Gluten free! High in fibre! Vegetarian protein! Lots of brightly coloured vegetables! Super nourishing and so tasty! We can do this!

I was inspired to make this meal prep from the Macro Bowl on the new Spring/Summer menu at Thr1ve (not sponsored). The other day I needed to buy a quick lunch to be inhaled, alone, at my desk. I wasn't feeling particularly enthused about lunch (I know, weird), there was nothing particular that I was craving, and just needed something to eat, so I figured it may as well be healthy. Well, I picked the Macro Bowl at Thrive (and it happened to come with a free ready-meal that day, wahey!), and I was surprised by just how good it was! It had a brown rice/quinoa base and lots of different vegetables, but the kicker for me was the tofu. The silken tofu came in a soy-based marinade, and it reminded me of my beloved Chinese silken tofu dishes (silken tofu with avocado; silken tofu with century egg) that I like to make for friends and family.

Macro bowl at Thr1ve

So, with that idea as my starting point, I put together my own meal prep for the week. I threw this one together very easily - it looks fancy but is basically an assembly job, and all of the ingredients are available at my local supermarket. (Not all supermarkets stock edamame, but they're usually available at Asian grocers and sit perfectly and patiently in the freezer).

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Sweet potato and kale bowls with crisp harissa chickpeas and sesame dressing

Golden Butternut and Chickpea Stew, Quinoa and Yogurt

So hey guys, have we all noticed how cold it's gotten? Brrrr. The puffy jacket and scarf are coming out every day (the gloves would too, but I've forgotten where I kept them), we've got the electric blanket on (aaaah), and I'm downing endless cups of tea.

Naturally, with the colder weather, my meal preps need to do their part too. And with that in mind, let me present to you... my golden butternut and chickpea stew, served with quinoa and yogurt. This vaguely Middle-Eastern inspired stew is full of vegetables and vegetarian protein (chickpeas and red lentils), making it filling and comforting but not stodgy. A flavour base of harissa paste makes it wonderfully spicy. It's the culinary equivalent of an electric blanket. (I'm sitting underneath one as I type this post, and it's pretty darn great).

I improvised this stew - my starting point was half a butternut squash in the fridge, which I thought would make a great base for a warming, golden vegetable stew with some fiery harissa and nutty chickpeas. As I was cooking, I kept adding things that would increase the golden warmth factor - steeping saffron threads in the stock, adding minced ginger to the base of onions and garlic, lots of fragrant spices (turmeric! paprika! cinnamon!), red lentils, and when serving, a gorgeously golden green drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. And speaking of green, there's a little spinach thrown in there too, for good measure, plus a sprinkling of fresh coriander at the end.

I bought this harissa at a local deli, and I loved it! It can be hard to find a good harissa - the major supermarkets don't seem to stock it (not my local branches, anyway), and lots of gourmet shops seem to sell milder versions of harissa that are made of capsicums and tomatoes rather than chillies. Having said that, I have no idea what constitutes a "good" or "authentic" harissa, all I know is what I like - a really thick, almost dry, paste, with heaps of garlic and caraway. And of course it has to be really bloody hot.

Hells Breath harissa

Harissa

I've made harissa before, (Nigella's recipe, from How to Eat, is excellent), and it's well worth doing if you have the time. Funnily enough, five years ago, I wrote: "I can't justify spending $12 on a jar of expensive harissa from designer supermarkets, when it's so cheap to make at home". Hah! Clearly I've become quite the baller in the last five years.

I served the stew with quinoa, for extra protein and fibre. However, a buttered couscous would be an excellent accompaniment too, especially if studded with pomegranate seeds, barberries or sultanas, and sprinkled with pine nuts. For me, the Greek yogurt isn't an optional extra, but a mandatory addition - it's so creamy and cooling against the spicy stew. If you're feeling up for it, and like spice as much as I do, stir a little harissa through the yogurt - also delicious.

Let's talk dietary requirements! This recipe is vegetarian, gluten free, and easily veganisable if you substitute the Greek yogurt with your favourite vegan alternative. In the recipe, I specify chicken stock (again, more rich and golden than vegetable stock), but use a vegetable stock if you want to keep this vegetarian. And actually, I used Massel "chicken" stock powder, which, as it turns out, is vegan! So there you go.

I cannot overemphasise how much I loved this stew! My usual meal-preps make four servings; this one made eight, and I regretted nothing! I kept a big container of it in the fridge, and kept taking individual servings out of it. I had this for lunch at work every day, and often for dinner as well, and I was still looking forward to it by the last dinner. Obviously, you could just make this for dinner or for guests, and indeed, it'd be a great option if your friends have lots of dietary requirements. However, it was a particularly excellent meal prep. Apart from tasting fantastic and being healthy, it transported well and held up throughout the week.

Ready to take to work

Winter? We got this.

Golden Butternut and Chickpea Stew
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
500 millilitres chicken stock (or stock of your choice)
1 pinch saffron
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 small knob of ginger (2-3 cm piece), peeled and minced
1 heaped teaspoon harissa paste (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
1/2 cup red lentils
1 x 400 gram tin chopped tomatoes
1 x 400 gram tin chickpeas
60 grams baby spinach leaves
Extra virgin olive oil and chopped fresh coriander, to garnish
Greek yogurt and cooked quinoa, to serve

Method
Heat the chicken stock and add the saffron. Set aside and allow to infuse.
Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large casserole. Add the onion, garlic and ginger. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the onion is softened.
Add the harissa and spices, and stir to mix.
Add the butternut squash and lentils, stirring to coat them in the delicious oily spices.
Add the stock and chopped tomatoes. Stir to combine.
Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until the lentils and pumpkin are almost cooked.
Add the chickpeas and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Add the spinach leaves, and stir until the spinach is wilted.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and chopped fresh coriander before serving.
Serve with Greek yogurt and cooked quinoa.
Serves 8

Green rice bowl!

Good morning to you all! New meal prep Monday post for you today! We've got a vegan green rice burrito bowl. It's spicy green rice, frijoles negros, roast sweet potato and pumpkin, zucchini and carrot noodles, tahini sauce, boiled broccoli and sliced avocado.

The basis of this meal is a fab herby green rice, which I found on the blog Cookie and Kate. Rather than cooking the brown rice in plain water, it's cooked in a pungent mixture of spinach, coriander, jalapeño, onion and garlic.

Green rice

I love how ludicrously green the cooking water becomes.

Green rice cooking

Ta-dah! Brown rice can be bland, so this is a great way of infusing the rice with lots of flavour. What a great idea!

Green burrito rice

The components

For the other ingredients, I went with a vaguely Mexican theme - good old frijoles negros, sliced avocado, and spicy roast sweet potato and pumpkin. And I added some boiled broccoli and spiralised zucchini and carrots, because vegetables. And some tahini sauce, because everything is better with tahini!

We'd actually been to the market that day with a friend of ours who wanted to start meal prepping too, and we bought heaps of vegetables to cook together! (Her meal prep included grilled teriyaki chicken, Chinese broccoli, pickled ginger, pickled cucumber, zoodles, some of the roast sweet potatoes/pumpkin, pickled ginger, and plain brown rice).

Vegan Green Rice Burrito Bowls

As I was putting the bowls together, I realised that this was an accidentally vegan meal. With heaps of different vegetables (are we doing the 10-a-day thing?), fibre-filled brown rice, protein from the black beans, and healthy avocado fats, all in the one easy-to-eat bowl!
Roast Sweet Potato and Pumpkin
Preheat the oven to 220C. Peel a small sweet potato and cut into 2-cm chunks. Peel a similar sized piece of pumpkin and cut into the 2-cm chunks. Place the pieces into a baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with cumin seeds, paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Stir to coat the vegetable pieces evenly. Bake for 15 minutes or until soften and lightly browned.

Tahini Sauce
Mix together 2 tablespoons tahini, 1 pinch of sugar, 1 pinch salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Frijoles Negros (Black Beans)
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small saucepan. Add 1 diced onion and 1 minced clove of garlic. Cook until softened, approx. 5 minutes. Tip in one 400g tin of black beans (liquid and all) and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until heated through. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper and a small handful chopped fresh coriander and stir through.

Zucchini & Carrot Noodles
Wash 1 small zucchini and trim the edges. Peel 1 small carrot. Put through a spiralizer. (Alternatively, grate the zucchini and carrot, put them through a mandolin or just julienne them finely with a sharp knife).