Potato and Broccoli Falafel

August 29, 2021September 13, 2021 itsangieLeave a comment

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all having a great day.

Recently I was looking through some emails and I was intrigued by a range of falafel type foods. Apparently, falafel means ‘small ball-shaped peppers’ or ‘little balls’ and today’s recipe is inspired from the recipe book Persepolis: Vegetarian Recipes from Peckham, Persia and beyond. Although they don’t look or taste like traditional falafel balls, many of the components are still the same, for example chickpea flour, cumin and sesame seeds are used. I did have to adopt the recipe slightly because I didn’t have everything but its still the same vibe. These falafel would make great meat free burgers and are full of so much texture and flavour.

I made a quick salad using sliced red bell peppers, sliced cucumbers and grated carrot. I also made 2 flatbreads to stuff everything inside. Honestly, the falafel was quite filling and it would be perfect to eat one wrap as a light lunch as I was pretty full when eating the last half. This was a very enjoyable meal which I will definitely make again, hopefully with all of the correct ingredients. It still turned out really good but I can imagine the sweetness from sweet potatoes would make such a difference.

Recipe: Potato and broccoli falafel (makes 4)

Ingredients

2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

1/2 onion, finely diced

2 garlic, peeled

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp chickpea flour

Handful of broccoli, finely chopped

Method

Set the oven to gas mark 6 and place the potatoes, garlic and onion onto an oven tray. Drizzle over the oil and cook in the oven for roughly 20 minutes.
In the meantime, add the other ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
Once the potatoes are soft, add them to a blender along with the garlic and blend until just smooth, it gets quite sticky here.
Add the potato and garlic mixture to the bowl with the onions too and combine well with a spoon. The split the mixture into 4 equal sizes.
Wet hands and then shape the falafels into burger shapes and place each one on a lightly oil tray.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until fully cooked and slightly golden.
Assemble your other ingredients whilst the falafel is in the oven and enjoy.

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£1.00

_{*Recipe inspiration from Stylist website}

Pearl Barley with Sweet Potato, Kale and Broccoli

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 itsangie1 Comment

Hello Everyone, I hope your day has been well.

Today’s recipe was inspired by a pack of pearly barley I had in the cupboard for quite a while, but just couldn’t figure out what to make with it. I originally thought about cooking some type of soup but nothing was really making it stand out so I opted for a vegetable mixture instead. As you can see from the images, its about 5% grain and the rest in vegetables, just how I like it. I’ve noticed more recently that grains, specifically white rice, can be quite filling and make me feel bloated, so I try to eat less of it these days and it’s super processed and not the healthiest option. As this was my first time eating pearl barley, I’m not sure how I felt about it. I followed the packet instructions but I didn’t really like the chewiness of the grains, I’m not sure if it was over cooked or not cooked enough but the were almost bouncing with every bite. I’ll definitely try another recipe to if I like it with other foods but overall, this was a very hearty meal, filled with lots of great vegetables.

Recipe: Pearl Barley with veg (serves 1)

Ingredients

25g uncooked pearl barley

1 tsp oil

1/3 spring onion, finely sliced

1 small sweet potato, peeled, washed, cut into cubes

Handful of kale

Handful of broccoli, washed and cut

Sprinkle of garlic powder, paprika, chilli flakes, salt

100ml warm water

Method

Cook the pearl barley according to the packet instructions and set aside.
Prepare all of the vegetables and heat the oil in a deep pan, adding the spring onion once hot, cooking for only 2 minutes before adding the sweet potato, kale and broccoli.
Season the vegetables with your favourite herbs and spices, I used garlic powder, paprika, chilli flakes and salt. Pour in the water and mix everything together.
Leave to simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat until everything is fully cooked.
Turn the heat off then mix the pearl barley into the pan and leave for a few minutes before serving.

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Baked Sweet Potato

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 itsangieLeave a comment

Hello Everyone, I hope your day has been well and the weather is great for you today. We were having some really nice weather in the UK and sunshine always makes everything better.

Today I am sharing a recipe inspired by @calgaryavansino over on Instagram. I feel like the ingredients are very Mexican inspired and all of the flavours compliment each other so well. It is the perfect vegetarian burger and can be whipped up in no time. It’s nice and easy to make and the sweetness of the potatoes just tastes so good. I actually really like sweet potatoes but I feel like I don’t eat them enough so I was super happy when I found this recipe. I’ve changed it a little to suit me and what I had available at the time but the veggie concept is still there. Another thing I love about the recipe is how easily accessible the topping ingredients are as many of use will have sweetcorn, black beans and peas in the kitchen. You can also change up the quantities, depending on what you like.

Recipe: Baked sweet potato (serves 1)

Ingredients

2 small sweet potatoes, washed and gently scrubbed

Drizzle of oil

Pinch of salt

Handful of sweetcorn

1/4 tin black beans

50g crushed green peas

1 tsp chilli garlic sauce

Pinch of salt

1 tsp lime juice

1/4 diced onion)

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
Rinse and gently scrub the potatoes, place on a oven tray, spray each potato twice with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover the tray with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and put back into the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Cook the peas and crush with a fork then mix in the chilli garlic sauce, salt, lime juice and onion. Leave to marinate for a few minutes.
Bring a small pot of water to a gentle simmer and cook the corn and beans for 5 minutes until cooked through and drain off the liquid.
Once the potatoes are cooked, carefully slice them in half and top with the corn, black beans and crushed peas, drizzle with a little lemon juice and serve.

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Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry

July 28, 2021July 28, 2021 itsangieLeave a comment

Hi Everyone, I hope you’ve had a great day.

This recipe is great and can be eaten alone, with a side of rice or even homemade bread that can be dipped into the sauce. It is very nourishing and hearty but still great for this time of the year when the weather is cool and you fancy something hot. It’s nice and easy to prepare with minimal preparation. I’m cooking with a great range of vegetables; broccoli, garden peas, sweet potatoes and lentils but you could easily substitute them with your favourite vegetables. I always enjoy cooking with sweet potatoes because they offer such a delicious flavour that really compliments the curry paste used in this recipe. Sweet potatoes are also a great source of fibre which aid in the healthy digestive system, not only that, but cooking sweet potatoes is known to increase their vitamin C content.

Recipe: Sweet potato and lentil curry (serves 1)

Ingredients

1/2 tsp oil

1/3 small onion, finely diced

1/2 tbsp curry paste

Pinch of turmeric

30g lentils, soaked overnight in water

300ml stock

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes

Handful of broccoli florets

50g garden peas

Method

Heat the oil in a pan, once hot, add the onion and cook for a few minutes until soft.
Next, mix in the curry paste, turmeric, lentils and stock. Cook for 10 minutes on a low simmer.
After that, add the sweet potato and broccoli.
Cook for a further 5 minutes before adding the garden peas. Give it a final stir and leave on a low heat for a further 5 minutes and serve.

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_{^{*Nutrition information sourced through Google Scholar.}}

Sweet Potato and Lentil Empanadas

July 12, 2021July 12, 2021 itsangie3 Comments

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by my blog.

This recipe is a healthy, delicious vegetarian empanada. I’ve used sweet potato which are quite a versatile ingredient in cooking, I’ve grated it for this recipe to achieve a smooth mashed consistency without it being boiled and loosing all of its nutritional content. I really enjoyed eating these empanadas because the ingredients all compliment each other well and the pastry was smooth with each bite.

Recipe: Sweet potato and lentil empanadas (makes 6)

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil, for frying

1/4 onion, finely diced

1 large sweet potato, grated

65g lentils, cooked

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

Pinch of chilli flakes

Pinch of salt

Sprinkle of thyme

1/2 tsp brown sugar

Splash of water

Use my empanada recipe here <<

Use my kale pesto recipe here <<

Method

Prepare all of the ingredients and heat the oil in a frying pan.
Once hot and the onion and cover with a lid for 3 minutes on a low heat, this will soften the onions without burning them.
Next, mix in the sweet potato along with the spices and add a splash of water so it doesn’t dry out.
Cover with the lid again and allow the sweet potato to fully cook for 10-12 minutes.
After that, add the lentils and cook for a further 2 minutes and stir.
Leave the sweet potato mixture to cool down. In the meantime, preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and lightly oil a baking tray.
Roll out the empanada pastry and cut out the pastry using a medium sized bowl.
Spoon some of the sweet potato mixture onto the pastry and top with a little of the kale pesto.
Fold the other half of the pastry over and crimp the edges using your fingers all the way round.
Repeat the above 2 steps until all of the mixture is used up and place each one on the prepared tray. Leftover pastry can be put in the freezer for another time.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes and serve.