These virtuous purplish fragrant boons epitomize the kind of nourishing food, my soul craves, when needing balance and restoration. It yields a fluffy sweet interior and offers a palatable exterior, rich in nutrients, fibre, and antioxidants. To incite the flavour, I opted for crunchy chickpeas for its applaudable spunk and vigorous versatility. Slapping a good dousing of tahini sauce, the kind where it is redolent of complete immersion, to deepen the flavour.
A perfect morsel for brunch or to complement any meat dish.
Meatless cooking need be anything but insipid. Classy plant-based food, eminent of a Mediterranean influence, lends a grasp of veggie devotion.
Roasting Sweet Potatoes in the oven lets the edges become crispy and caramelized. The interior is soft and tender yielding an incredible flavour. This makes an easy, healthy, and excellent side dish that will surely steal the show.
Roasting adds so much depth of flavour. The skin on a sweet potato is edible, its thick and fibrous texture, has got a lot of nutritional value and can be a time-saver to skip peeling.
There is a myriad of flavours that go well with roasted sweet potatoes, honey, and cinnamon for a sweet noshing. Ditching the honey and swapping the cinnamon with any of the below seasonings and spices delivers an epically delicious savoury meal.
- chili powder
- Sesame seeds, tahini
- cilantro
- coconut
- garlic
- ginger
- nutmeg
- rosemary
To roast sweet potatoes, it takes a few minutes to prepare the potatoes and about 40 minutes to roast. This leaves you with more free time to prepare the rest of your meal. That is, my scrumptious Lemony and Coriander Chickpeas with Tahini!
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Under cold running water, scrub the sweet potatoes clean. Poke holes into potatoes using a fork.
- Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet, slightly spaced apart to allow air to circulate, brush with some olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
- Roast sweet potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes, then flip them over and roast for another 20-25 minutes or until they are tender.
- Remove from oven and let them rest for several minutes before serving.
If you have never tried roasted sweet potatoes with chickpeas and tahini, then this recipe is for you!
This meal is bursting with flavour and is a huge must-try!
Rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre, chickpeas offers a variety of health benefits, such as improving digestion, aiding weight management, and reducing the risk of several diseases. Chickpeas are also fundamentally high in protein and makes for an excellent replacement for meat in vegetarian and vegan diets.
LEMONY CORIANDER CHICKPEAS & TAHINI
LEMONY CORIANDER CHICKPEAS & TAHINI
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas (rinsed & drained)
- Zest & juice of 2 lemons (about 4 tablespoons)
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- Freshly chopped coriander
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat oil and fry onions, cumin seeds and garlic until soft and translucent.
- Add in the chickpeas, salt, pepper, paprika, lemon juice and zest. Let simmer until chickpeas are tender and crisp.
Assemble:
- Cut slits across the sweet potatoes and drop spoonfuls of chickpeas. Generously drizzle tahini sauce and a good sprinkling of chopped coriander.
Tahini Dressing:
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup water
- Juice and zest of 1 lime
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Whisk the above ingredients into a smooth consistency. Set aside until needed.
What is food if not love
I often think of what it would be like if all foods were the same. It would be so mundane and depressing. But food has a mood. It shows how the cook feels about the people he/she is serving it too. It speaks through its flavour, it aroma and colour. Paz’s dishes does exactly that. It draws you in with its tantalising smell and entices you with its flavour so intoxicating you feel you just have to have more. When someone cooks with love you taste it in each bite. How someone can take the most simplest of ingredients and make it into a feast fit for a king is exactly how i would decribe Paz’s dishes. This book is not just for people wanting to explore new tastes and flavours but its a book that even the most accomplished chefs would benefit from. Cooking with love pure and simple mouthwatering every time.