Couscous and sweet potato salad

So I thought it was time I posted a recipe that wasn’t cake!

It has finally warmed up in Melbourne, which means salad is a perfect option for a warm balmy night!

I made this recipe up as I went, just using what I had in the fridge.  You can easily substitute sweet potato for pumpkin and swap or leave out any of the vegetables I have used.  It might also be nice with a half a red onion finely diced through it.  You could have less couscous and more spinach if you like and it would be delicious with grilled zucchini too! Anyway, below is what I used and how I made mine.  It is really easy and quite a fast dish to prepare.

What you need

1 cup couscous

olive oil

1 handful of currants

cumin

turmeric

1 sweet potato

1 small head of broccoli

1 handful of string beans

1 handful of parsley, chopped

1 handful of sliced almonds

1 tin of sweet corn

1 handful of baby spinach

1 lemon

salt and pepper

How to make it

I started with a sweet potato.  Peeled and chopped into small square pieces.  I pre-cooked this by steaming it until just soft (approximately 15 minutes) and then put it in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.  If you have more time you can cook it in the oven without part cooking it, but it will take at least an hour.

While the sweet potato is cooking, you can prepare the other ingredients.  I used a small broccoli, chopped and steamed and a handful of string beans, chopped and steamed.  These can be steamed together and when cooked, set aside to cool.

To make the couscous I just drizzled olive oil over a cup of couscous, added salt and pepper, a sprinkle of turmeric and the same of cumin.  Pour a cup of boiling water on it and set aside until the couscous absorbs all of the water (I always refer to the instructions on the box but for couscous it is equal parts water to couscous).  I usually cover mine with a tea towel while it is absorbing the water.  Leave for about 5 minutes and then stir/fluff-up with a fork.  I also added a good handful of currants and stirred these in. 

When the sweet potato is almost cooked (you just want it to start getting a bit of crispy-ness) you might like to sprinkle some pine nuts or sliced almonds over it and let these cook for about 5 minutes while the sweet potato finishes cooking.

When everything is ready and cooled, mix it all together. I added some sweet corn and a handful of raw baby spinach (because I love sweet corn and I had a little spinach in the fridge).

You could store the salad in the fridge covered until you are ready to serve it. 

Before you serve the salad, drizzle it with olive oil and the juice of one lemon and garnish with fresh parsley and cracked pepper.  Serve with plain Greek yoghurt and avocado if you like.  Enjoy!!

This is a great salad for lunches, on its own or as an accompaniment.  This recipe made quite a bit and I would say, if serving as a meal on its own it would easily serve 4 – 5 people.

RASPBERRY & VANILLA COCONUT ICE

I made this and gave it to friends for Christmas.  It was a pretty treat to make and share and although I have made coconut ice before, it made a real difference to the flavour adding the raspberries!  

It would be great for a party or baby shower too!  It is quite sweet so I would suggest cutting the pieces into bite size… see what you think though! 

Oh and this is a Donna Hay recipe, taken from the December 2013 edition of Donna Hay Magazine.

What you need

1.28kg icing sugar (I told you it was sweet!)

6 cups (480g) desiccated coconut

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1½ cups (460g) sweetened condensed milk (I recommend adding about ¼ cup extra to the vanilla mix so maybe have 1¾ cups at hand)

1 cup (140g) frozen raspberries, thawed

a few drops of red food colouring

How to make it

Lightly grease and/or line a slice tray with baking paper (20cm x 30cm x 3.5cm).

Place half of the sugar, half of the coconut and the vanilla in a large bowl.  Add 1¼ cups (I recommend adding 1½ cups) of the sweetened condensed milk and mix well to combine.  The mixture will be quite compact.  

Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface (or you can turn it onto a piece of baking paper).  Knead until smooth.  Press evenly into the base of the prepared slice tray.

Place the remaining sugar and coconut in a large bowl.  Add the raspberries and food colouring and, using your fingers, rub the mixture until the raspberries are well combined.  Add the remaining sweetened condensed milk and mix to combine.  You will notice this raspberry mixture is quite a bit more sticky than the vanilla mixture.  Don’t worry though!

The recipe says to turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead until combined.  I just did this in the bowl as I was worried about the food colouring on the bench!  When combined, press the raspberry mixture into the slice tin on top of the vanilla mixture.  Smooth it out until it is evenly covering the vanilla layer.

Cover with glad wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for 3 – 4 hours or overnight.  

When you are ready to cut it, simply turn the slice out onto a bread board and cut it into squares.

    

GINGERBREAD MEN

This is one of many festive posts I will publish over the next few weeks (mostly recipes I expect), with a very special post to come next week!

This recipe is from Donna Hay’s Christmas edition magazine (December 2013).  It is very easy and has a great flavour. I think this would be a fun one to make with children and you can use all sorts of cookie shapes.  Of course you can also have fun decorating the biscuits with icing and lollies. 

My end product was quite crunchy so if you prefer your gingerbread soft, perhaps roll the dough thicker.

What you need

125g unsalted butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

2/3 cup golden syrup

2 ½ cups plain flour, sifted

2 tsp ground ginger (I like ginger so I ‘heaped’ these)

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

How to make it

Preheat oven to 160°

Place the butter and brown sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.  This takes around 8mins or so.

Add golden syrup, flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda.  Beat together until the mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough.

Roll the dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper.  I would also give the paper a light dusting with flour before you role it out.  This will prevent the dough from sticking to the paper.  Roll out the dough to 4mm thick and place in the refrigerator for 30mins.

Remove the dough and take one of the sheets of paper off.  Using cookie cutters, cut out the gingerbread and place on a lined baking tray.

Continue to roll the dough out and cut the shapes until all the dough is used.  I needed to use a bit of plain flour to stop the dough from becoming too sticky.  Just dust the bench top /paper before you roll.

Cook the gingerbread until just browned.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

Enjoy!

If using a small cookie cutter you should get about 30 – 40 small biscuits out of this recipe.