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!

Rovi, London

When we were in London at the end of last year, of course I had to fit in at least one Ottolenghi meal! I'm glad to say that it was lunch at his newest restaurant, Rovi.

Rovi
59 Wells St
London W1A 3AE
Ph: +44 20 3963 8270
Website

Ottolenghi's latest venture is a chic restaurant in Fitzrovia, that focuses on vegetables, grilling, ferments, and pickles. We were there on a Saturday for lunch - I had booked a couple of months in advance - and the restaurant was pleasantly busy.

We started with a couple of refreshing non-alcoholic drinks: a seasonal pressé for Sandra, and a "G & Teetotal" for me.

Seasonal Fruit Pressé - £6.5

The seasonal fruit pressé was a soda water served with fresh fruit juice - from memory it was clementine and raspberry - which you could mix as desired. The G & Teetotal was (obviously) a non-alcoholic take on a gin and tonic, a lightly sweetened citrusy fizzy number. We both appreciated the refreshing citrus flavours, and I liked that neither were too sweet. A great way to start a meal.

G & Teetotal - £5.5

Now, the food! We ordered four vegetable dishes between us (and a little bonus snacklet for me), which was a good amount. (We'd had a big breakfast so weren't overly hungry).

Tempura Stems and Herbs, Szechuan, mandarin and lime leaf vinegar - £7

The tempura stems and herbs reminded me of one of my favourite Thai dishes: deep fried battered water spinach. (Very moreish). Here, the crisply fried tempura herbs and stems were served with sour and numbing Szechuan peppercorns and a tangy mandarin and lime-leaf vinegar, which really livened up the tempura. Lovely!

Lobster crumpet with kumquat and chilli sauce £8 at Rovi

Lobster crumpet! How could I not! Rovi's take on the classic Chinese prawn toast consisted of a sturdy and doughy crumpet was topped with a generous dome of lobster meat and coated in sesame seeds and (I believe) ground up seaweed. It was a luscious treat, although I do think that the combo does work better with a light and fluffy white bread. It was also just slightly on the oily side, although the kumquat and chilli sauce definitely cut through the richness. (I do like that idea of pairing deep-fried items with a bright citrus dipping sauce...)

Grilled onions with whipped feta, sage and green gazpacho - £8.00

The grilled onions were a celebration of allium. I liked the varying textures and flavours of the onion varieties (check out those char marks!), but I loved the sage leaves and whipped feta, which tied all the elements together.

Hasselback kaffir beetroot with lime cream and herb salsa - £7.50

I normally think of "hasselback" as a mixture of crisp and soft, but the hasselback beetroots were lusciously soft all the way through. They were also very well flavoured, with an oily herby emulsion all over (and absorbed into) the beetroot. Kaffir was called out on the menu, but there were many flavours going on - like dill, chilli and (I think) fresh ginger. I also usually don't like beet leaves as they have quite a prominent earthy flavour, but here with the lime cream and herby salsa the earthiness was tempered.

Celeriac Shawarma, bkeila, fermented tomato - £14.50

Of course we had to get the famous celeriac shawarma. Inside the crisp and fluffy house made pita were six-hour slow cooked celeriac, bkelia spinach sauce, fried onion and a heavy dusting of fragrant dry spices (primarily turmeric that I could notice), but for me, the star of the show was that fermented tomato and chilli sauce. It was one of the best chilli sauces I've ever eaten, with a wonderful flavour and a lovely hum of heat. I would buy bottles of this sauce!

Vegetarian Stuffed Capsicums

Oh my goodness, we are just barrelling towards the end of the year! Just over three weeks until Christmas! I hope your preparations are all underway! We'll actually be travelling over Christmas, so we've already done our Christmas lunch with the family (plus the bonus Thanksgiving dinner I told you about last time). I absolutely adore festive eating, but it's around this time that I start to crave vegetables even more than usual.

This recipe for vegetarian stuffed capsicums was one I created for Prahran Market's A-Team last month, and I think is a perfect wholesome vegetarian meal. In the mystery bag were some lovely organic lemons from Gippsland, a gorgeously fragrant bulb of fennel, a block of smoked mozzarella, and the cutest little capsicums ever! When I saw these, I knew I had to make something that showed off their shape. No way was I going to chop them up!

Mini Capsicums

My mother-in-law (now officially in law, woohoo!) in Germany often makes stuffed capsicums. (In a confusing turn of events, the German word for capsicums is "Paprika", and they're usually called "peppers" in the UK and the States). She stuffs them with a seasoned minced meat mixture and slowly cooks them in gravy. The lovely capsicum sweetness infuses the sauce and the meat, and it's really delicious. I wanted to echo her stuffed capsicums, but keep them both vegetarian and vegetable-filled.

I stuffed the peppers with a vaguely Tex-mex mix of rice, corn, beans and cheese, with some spring onion and parsley. I spiced the filling with a touch of cayenne and paprika (paprika the spice, not German capsicums...), and lots of salt and pepper. For extra nutritional benefits you could use brown rice or quinoa, but I'm a fan of good old plain white rice.

Rice stuffing

I cooked them in a simple tomato ragu - the type of sauce you'd use for pasta. You know the drill, cook some onion and garlic in olive oil, add tinned tomatoes and herbs, and simmer until thickened. I love this type of sauce, and I cook it all the time. Bonus: vegetables that don't feel vegetable-y, do you catch my drift?

Tomato sauce

So! You pop the little stuffed capsicums into the sauce and let them cook slowly in the oven. (Depending on the size of your capsicums you may have leftover rice stuffing - either spoon it around the capsicums into the sauce, or simply serve separately later).

Ready for the oven

The little capsicums will slowly soften in the heat of the oven, losing that intense freshness and cooking down into mellow sweetness.

Stuffed Capsicums

I really enjoyed this meal - it's approachable, healthy, comforting, and delicious - everything you want! Serve as it is or with a crisp green salad on the side.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Stuffed Capsicums
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
5 mini-capsicums
For the sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 x 400 gram tin crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
For the filling
1/4 cup rice
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 spring onion
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish
1 x 125 gram tin corn kernels
1 x 125 gram tin red kidney beans
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Wash the mini capsicums, slice the lid off (but don't discard!) Pull out the seeds and membranes and discard. If the capsicums don't sit upright, slice a bit off the bottom to give it a flat base.
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a pan with a lid that can go from stove to oven (like a dutch oven, heh). Finely chop the onion and cook for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the crushed tomatoes, half-fill the empty tin with water, swill it around and add it to the pot. Add the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Season generously with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and set aside.
To make the filling, place the rice and vegetable stock in a small saucepan, bring to the boil, then clamp on a lid, turn the heat down to lowest and cook for 15 minutes. Take off the heat, remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Allow to cool sightly and turn the rice out into a mixing bowl.
Chop the spring onion and parsley and add to the rice. Add the corn, beans, cheese, paprika and cayenne pepper. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix to combine.
Spoon the mixture into the capsicums (don't overfill), and arrange the capsicums into the sauce. Place the lid on each capsicum, and place the lid on the pot. If you have extra rice mixture you can spoon it around the capsicums into the sauce, or serve separately later.
Bake for 50 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and bake for a further 10 minutes.
Garnish with extra flat-leaf parsley.
Serve with salad and bread.
Serves 3-4

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

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

Eggplant Parm

I made this dish when we had friends over on Easter Monday and it went down a treat.

My crispy eggplant parmigiana is basically a mash-up of the traditional Italian and American versions of this great dish. The Italian parmigiana di melanzane is a baked dish made up of layers of fried eggplant slices, tomato sugo, cheese, and breadcrumbs. (See my eggplant and zucchini parmigiana recipe for an example). In the American version, eggplant slices are crumbed and fried before being layered with the sauce and cheese. Both have their charms, but I really wanted to emphasise the crispiness factor of the crumbed eggplant. I also liked the idea that all the components would be served in the centre of the table, and that people could make up their own plates with as much or as little of each component as they liked.

The mozzarella balls and basil pesto are both store-bought (although obviously make your own pesto if you prefer), and the tomato sauce is a simple pasta-type sauce. You sauté some onions, add some tinned tomatoes, and cook until thick. Ordinarily I'd add a few shredded basil leaves as well, but it always seems like such a waste to buy a whole bunch just to use a few leaves, and then have the rest of the bunch wilt, depressingly, in my fridge. Basil pesto provides the same green peppery freshness, but without the wastage. (I adore pesto and am always happy to have a jar on the go). The tricolore effect of the red-white-and-green is also very pleasing to my eye!

Now, let's talk about the crispy eggplant. I like to use a variety of eggplants (some round, some slender Lebanese ones) and slice them differently to get a variety of shapes so they look pretty on the platter. These pretty slices are crumbed and fried just like a schnitzel. I've always loved schnitzels - they were one of the first things I taught myself to cook (as an intrepid eight-year old, standing on a rickety stool next to the stove), and ever since German Sandra came into my life twelve (!) years ago, I have been inspired to continuously lift my schnitzel game.

Crumbed eggplant slices

Let me share some schnitzel tips with you. (I've shared some of these previously, but they're good tips and bear repeating). First up, good seasoning - salt, pepper, and cayenne in the flour; oregano and dijon mustard in the egg; and lots of grated parmesan in the crumb mixture. You wanna get the flavour all the way through.

When dipping the slices into the flour / egg / breadcrumbs, use one hand for the dry dipping, and one hand for the wet dipping. This will help avoid the dreaded schnitzel fingers.

Next up, you want to make sure the slices get crispy, and stay that way. Let your crumbed slices dry on a wire rack before frying. Make sure you use a good layer of oil, deep enough so the eggplant slices will be able float in the oil - "Sie müssen im Fett schwimmen!". And make sure the oil is hot before adding your eggplant slices, so that they start cooking straight away and don't just sit there absorbing cold oil. The slices should sizzle as soon as they hit the oil. (I like to test with some breadcrumbs first). Finally, once the slices are cooked, place them on a wire rack to drain in a low oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. Letting them sit on a wire rack, instead of a plate or paper towel, prevents steam from building up and stops them from going soggy.

That's a lot of tips. I guess I'm just deeply committed to the idea of your eggplant parmigiana being the best it can be. I believe in you.

Because this was a big quantity, I had two frying pans on the go. Efficiency!

Frying Eggplant

Once they're all cooked, you arrange the eggplant on a big platter with the pesto and cheese, and let everyone dig in!

Ready to eat!

Eggplant Parm

I served the eggplant parm with a green salad and some cheesy garlic bread. The green salad was a simple mix of baby rocket and baby spinach leaves, dressed in balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, with toasted pine nuts and shaved Parmesan. And the bread. The bread! I did Nigella's chilli cheese garlic bread, which comes from her latest book, At My Table. I've made it a bunch of times and it is and is so damn good! You must.

Enjoy!

Crispy Eggplant Parmigiana
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
For the sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion
2 x 400 gram tins crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
For the eggplant
3 large eggplants
1 cup plain flour
1 pinch cayenne pepper
3 eggs
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
Olive oil, for frying (lots)
To serve
120 grams fresh mozzarella balls
Basil pesto
Flat-leaf parsley

Method
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Peel and finely chop the onion and add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened. Add the crushed tomatoes and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf to serve.
To make the eggplant, trim the eggplants and slice into 1-cm thick slices. Set out three shallow bowls.
In the first bowl, place the flour and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper.
In the second bowl, beat the eggs with the dijon mustard and oregano.
In the third bowl, mix the breadcrumbs and grated parmesan.
Dip each slice of eggplant into the flour mixture, followed by the egg mixture, followed by the crumb mixture. Place on a rack while you crumb the remaining eggplant slices. (Tip: have one "dry" hand and one "wet" hand to avoid schnitzel-fingers).
Heat 1 cm of olive oil in a frying pan. Once shimmering, fry the eggplant slices in batches for a few minutes on either side until golden brown and cooked through.
Keep the cooked eggplant slices warm in a low oven (75C) while you cook the remaining slices. If you have a wire rack that can go in the oven, use it! This will help keep the eggplant crisp.
To serve, arrange the cooked eggplant slices on a platter. Break up the mozzarella balls and arrange among the slices. Finely chop the parsley and sprinkle it over. Serve with basil pesto and the tomato sauce on the side.
Serves 5-6, depending on what sides you serve it with

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

Other eggplanty and parmy goodness from the archives:

• Eggplant and Zucchini Parmigiana
• Imam Baildi
• Chicken Parma and Fast Fries
• Eggplant Parmigiana Focaccia Sandwich