Experimenting and trying out new combinations with your greens can be a lot of fun! A few things I recommend is having variety, lots of different flavours and textures. Hummus is my number one go-to, having a batch in the fridge ready to go is so handy. It makes a great protein rich addition to salads, burgers, and basically any vegetable or chip you like.
Recently, my good friend Emily and I met up for an afternoon of study and cooked up this veggie feast, simply using all the fruits and veggies we had on hand. It was really simple, and absolutely delicious. It would make for a great family afternoon dinner or picnic. And this cooking method for the potatoes is insanely good!
Ingredients:
Roasted potatoes:
5 sweet potatoes/ potatoes (we used a mix of purple sweet potato, orange sweet potato, and dutch cream potatoes)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
Green salad:
1 avocado
2-3 cups green leafy vegetables (kale and baby spinach)
2 cups of other green vegetables (beans, snow peas, broccoli, asparagus, sprouts)
1 zucchini
½ cup olives
2 tbsp seeds (pepitas and sunflower seeds)
1/4 lemon
1 tsp olive oil
Hummus:
(or you can use a store bought variety- saves time and there are some pretty good quality ones in the supermarkets)
1 can chickpeas (rinsed, drained)
½ cup water
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
1 tsp cumin
1 garlic clove
Juice of 3/4 lemon (keep other ¼ for green salad, above)
Veggie sticks:
½ capsicum
1 carrot
½ cucumber
Fruit platter:
Any seasonal fruit – I always try to eat what’s in season, as it is better for the environment.
How to make:
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees fan forced. Wash the potatoes and make incisions across the potato, cutting approximately ¾ through each one with spaces cut about 2-3 mm apart. Place in a baking dish, drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle over the cumin. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make your hummus by adding all ingredients to a blender and blending until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate while you make the salad.
- The salad is really simple: cut up the green veggies such as beans, broccoli and snow peas. If using kale and asparagus, lightly sauté them in the olive oil. Spiralize the zucchini. Slice up the avocado (I made an avocado rose after watching a tutorial, purely for aesthetics) you could also mash it up if you prefer.
- Add each of these ingredients and any other greens veggies and olives to a big plate and sprinkle the seeds over the top. You can toss it all together or arrange them all in separate mounds. Squeeze over the lemon juice to finish.
- Cut up the veggie sticks into long thick sticks and place in a bowl.
- Wash, cut and arrange the seasonal fruit on another plate.
- Serve all dishes together for one big colourful, fibre-filled and nutritious meal.
My suggestion is to put the hummus over the salad, eat it with the warm crispy potatoes and wash it down with some Cocobella coconut water!
