Roast Sweet Potato & Chickpea Salad, Balsamic & Honey Dressing

Roast Sweet Potato & Chickpea Salad, Balsamic & Honey Dressing
Bright and fresh,full of flavour and simple to do with typical store cupboard spices so no need to go running to the shops. It's good on it's own or as a side to a Roast or your favourite bites of a Barbeque. Serve it up with your choice of greens, I've used wild garlic with mine, Spinach, Broccoli or Kale go great with it as well and probably handier for most.
A simple dressing of Balsamic vinegar, Honey and Olive Oil brings rounds of the favours, a spoonful of Pomegranate Molasses if you have it will bring out an extra zing to the spices and sweetness of the roasted Sweet Potato. 

Ingredients
300g Sweet Potato peeled and diced - roughly 1cm cubes
100g Cooked Chickpeas (1/2 tin drained)
150g Cherry tomatoes, Halved, some for roasting and some left raw
1/2 Red Onion, Sliced some for roasting and some left raw
1/4 Lemon
1/2 Lime
20g Pumpkin Seeds
Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
Pinch of Chilli Flakes
25ml Vegetable Oil for roasting
20ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Dressing
Sea Salt / Cracked Black Pepper for seasoning.
Some Salad Leaves & Flowers if you have them, I've used Pea Shoots, Beetroot Leaves, Mint Leaves,Unopened Chive Flowers and Wild Garlic Flowers

Preheated oven 170℃

For the Dressing, 1 dessert spoon of Honey 1 Dessert Spoon of Balsamic Vinegar, 3 dessert Spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, pinch of sea-salt and cracked black pepper.

Getting it all together.
Put the sweet potato into a roasting tin or onto a baking sheet drizzle a little vegetable oil over just to coat them lightly season with sea-salt and pepper. Squeeze the quarter lemon over them and place into the oven on the middle shelf and roast approx 15 mins - they will have started to soften out and colour on their edges. Remove from the oven place on a flat heat proof surface, add the chickpeas, half of the tomatoes and red onion, sprinkle on the spices and pumpkin seeds, stir through to coat everything evenly. Return to the oven for a further 15 mins, your tomatoes will have softened out and the spices will have had enough heat to release their flavours and give a wonderful warmth and aroma in the kitchen.
Remove from the oven, add in the raw tomatoes and onion mix through with a spoon,check the seasoning give them a little drizzle of olive oil, spoon into a serving dish or straight onto your plates. Garnish with some leaves or herbs, mint and coriander go great with it and a squeeze of lime juice adds an extra pique. Happy cooking!

Pasta with Spinach, Feta Cheese, Walnuts and Tomatoes

 Pasta with Spinach, Feta Cheese, Walnuts and Tomatoes, 
Penne or Fusilli work great here, use whichever pasta you have in the cupboard.

Ingredients 1 portion
125g Pasta
250g Spinach wilted- & chopped
10g Garlic- chopped or pressed.
50g Semi-dried tomatoes - chopped
50g Walnuts - chopped
Pinch Ground Nutmeg
Sea Salt & Cracked Black Peppercorns
50gFeta Cheese
25ml Olive Oil

Method.
Cook your pasta as per the instructions on your packet, keep warm.
In a wide bottomed pan on a medium heat add the olive oil, chopped garlic and walnuts and let them fry a little stirring with a spoon, this softens out the garlic and brings extra nuttiness to the walnuts. Season with a pinch of Sea salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of cracked Black Peppercorns. Add the tomatoes and let the warmth get into them, next add the Pasta stir through to get the flavours coating the pasta, taste a piece of the pasta for seasoning adjust if necessary, now add the chopped spinach stir through again until it's warmed, we're nearly done
Spoon your pasta into a pasta bowl and crumble the Feta Cheese on top.
Warm under a grill to heat the cheese and your dish is ready to eat, enjoy!

Beetroot, Buckwheat 'Kasha' & Blueberries

Beetroot, Blueberries & Buckwheat 'Kasha'
 Light & refreshing with a great bursts of flavour

Buckwheat's one of those staple foods that let's you sit back and eat in a mindful manner, soft, nutty with a light bite, satisfying and nourishing full of good stuff.
Beetroot's a longtime favourite of mine I remember my mother growing it, the sweet earthy smell in the kitchen on it's long slow boil, then peeling off the soften skin in bowl of water, a little warmth left in the beetroot to infuse the vinegar.
The blueberries add a bit of bounce and sweetness, good for you too and work well   with the beetroot, buckwheat and acidic back notes.

For the Beetroot & Blueberry part.
250gm Cooked beetroot, diced 1/2 cm
150gm Blueberries
1 Dessert spoon of Honey or sugar
1 Dessert spoon of Cider Vinegar
Pinch of Sea Salt
Cracked Black Peppercorns
1 Dessert spoon of Vegetable /Rapeseed Oil.
Put the honey and vinegar into a pan on a low heat add 100gm of the blueberries and let them soften out a little to release some juices about 2 minutes add the diced beetroot seasonings and oil raise the heat a little to get the beetroot warmed  you'll get a little more liquid released from the berries so push the beetroot and blueberries to the edges of the pan and let the juices evaporate off and concentrate the flavours. That done add the rest of the blueberries just before serving stir them in, these will give a nice fresh berry pop in the salad.

For the Buckwheat, choose the roasted 'Kasha' type in the shops, Rinse 75gm of it in cold water, strain off the buckwheat put it in a wide bottom pot add 150ml boiling water bring to the boil reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 4 minutes, remove from the heat take lid off to release the steam add a pinch of salt and a dessert spoon of oil stir and put the lid back on.

Serves 4 as a snack lunch, try it with Greek Yoghurt, Feta cheese or Irish Goat's Cheese also Great along with some smoked or roasted meats.

#glutenfree #recipes #cook #cookathome #ireland🍀 #berries #fruit #salad #creative #dublinireland #summer #washyourhands #stayhome #healthyfood #vegetables