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.

SWEET POTATO & GINGER SOUP

This is a very simple soup recipe that I made up on recent winter’s day. 

There are so many exciting ways to combine ingredients to make soup.  I find it is just best to play around with seasonal vegetables and whatever is left in your fridge at the end of the week.

This week I had a very sad looking bunch of flat leaf parsley so that is a feature in this soup.

This recipe is probably enough for three serves.  It takes just less than an hour to make from when you start to when you eat!

What you need:

• One sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
• One potato, wash and roughly chop (I tend to leave potato skins on unless there are some particularly funky bits)
• One leek
• Half a bunch of flat leaf parsley
• One centimetre of fresh ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
•  One teaspoon vegetable stock powder
• One tablespoon olive oil
•  salt & pepper to taste
• One teaspoon coriander powder
• Approximately four cups of water

How to make it:

There are lots of substitutes you can use (eg. garlic instead of ginger, coriander instead of parsley, onion instead of leek) but I quite like the ingredients I have chosen which is why I used them.  But it is really personal taste!

Sautee your leek and ginger in the hot olive oil in a saucepan.

When soft, add the chopped vegetables, coriander, stock powder, salt and pepper.  Give this a rough stir so it is combined.  Cover in water (about four cups). 

 

I like soup to be quite thick so I would suggest starting with 3 – 4 cups of water and add more if you need to.

Bring to the boil then reduce heat.  Simmer until vegetables are soft.

Add the chopped parsley right at the end and whizz everything together until the vegetables are smooth. You can add more water if you need to here (just make sure it is hot water).

Serve with crusty bread.  

Enjoy!