Pumpkin-licious dip

Over the last few years, pumpkin has become a regular component of our family meals. There is so much you can do with it - steam, boil, bake, roast. Each method brings out a different pumpkin characteristic - steaming keeps the water content as well as the nutrients, making it ideal to mash or puree, whereas roasting concentrates the flavours and the nutrients by removing some of the water content and caramelises some of the natural sugars.

Being pretty sweet, it's great for both savoury and sweet dishes; it works brilliantly with spices too, creating a sweet and spicy base for various Asian dishes. 

Generally, pumpkin and squash can be interchanged in recipes, although some varieties do have slightly different flavours and levels of sweetness. Depending on the time of year, supply in the shops may be limited to one type - often butternut squash over here in the UK - unless you can find a local farm that grows a wide variety and manages to store them well throughout the year. 

Pumpkins and squash are part of the same family of gourds, and of course are really 'gourd' for you!! Despite their sweet flavour, they are pretty low in carbohydrates, contain no fat or cholesterol and are packed full of fibre, vitamin A (it's back again!!), B vitamins, vitamin C and a little vitamin E. It also contains a pretty good whack of potassium and iron to complete the package. So, alongside sweet potatoes and tomatoes, pumpkin is great for maintaining eye and skin health, as well as fighting off signs of ageing and attacks by carcinogenic substances. Recent research also suggests two phytochemicals contained in pumpkin helps improve diabetes.

There are so many amazing pumpkin recipes - my favourites include my warming dairy free squash soup http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/warming-dairy-free-squash-soup.html, pumpkin scones and pumpkin and spinach curry. Seems like I have a lot of pumpkin posts to come! As yet, I haven't managed to create a good dairy free pumpkin pie recipe, although I'm sure it's possible.

One dish I have created is a Moroccan inspired pumpkin dip. Eating dairy free can create some lunchtime challenges; as much as I love it, there are only so many times in a week I can have a hummus and salad wrap for lunch. This dip is a fabulous alternative.
The sweetness of pumpkin works brilliantly with coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Using sesame seeds as the base continues with the Moroccan theme, as well as adding in a good dose of manganese, magnesium, calcium and amino acids. If sesame seeds are not your thing, try using cashew nuts instead - it needs something to give the dip some structure, as pumpkin by itself creates a slightly watery dish. 

Play around with the flavours, the spice amounts are just a guideline. Every time I make this, it's slightly different. What doesn't change is the overall yumminess of the dish - it is gorgeous! Serve in wraps, as a dip, with salad or just eat indulgently straight out the bowl with a spoon!!

Moroccan style pumpkin dip

1 medium sized pumpkin or squash

dash of olive oil

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

salt

1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, coriander and cumin

handful fresh coriander chopped

Heat the oven to 180oC. Chop the pumpkin or squash into slices, deseed but leave the skin on and place in a baking tray. Using your hands or a pastry brush, lightly cover the flesh with olive oil - you really don't need much. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or so, until the flesh is soft to touch but not over roasted - you may need to turn the heat down a little if you have a fan oven. Once done, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Place the sesame seeds (or nuts if using) into a blender and blitz until fine. You can roast them before hand if you like; this creates a richer, deeper flavour to the dip. Remove the skin from the roasted pumpkin and place the flesh into the blender with the ground sesame seeds. Blend again for a few seconds until loosely combined. Add the salt, spices and fresh coriander and blitz again until everything is well combined and smooth. Check the flavouring and add more spices if you need to. That's it - it's ready. Tip out into a dish and enjoy (this goes really well with the chickpea and sesame seed dippers - 

http://foodiesensitive.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/no-dairy-no-calcium.html)

Sweet potato and aubergine 'towers'

One of the great things things about eating a dairy free, plant based diet is the creative challenge. It's all too easy to get stuck in the pasta, curry or chilli rut - not that these aren't wonderful in themselves, but monotony sneaks in by stealth and dinner becomes dull. Perusing the vegetarian section in the supermarket sometimes provides inspiration, but as many of these contain milk or yeast derivatives and often a long list of additives and chemical sounding shenanigans, it's back to the kitchen for some fun experimenting.
I have to admit there have been some complete disasters, but occasionally, deliciousness abounds, and often it's due to the key ingredient. Currently, my favourite veggies are sweet potato and aubergine, for their versatility, amazing texture and taste and ultimately for their powerhouse of nutritional goodies!

Aubergines have already had a mention on my blog; nutritionally they are packed full of anti-oxidants, vitamin C, potassium and folic acid. Sweet potatoes have all of these - and more!!
Sometimes, sweet potatoes and yams are confused as being the same thing but botanically they are different, although there are similarities. Yams have a pale flesh and come from Asia or Africa whereas sweet potatoes come from the Americas and have a bright orange flesh. It's the orange that makes them so fabulous as this contains beta-carotene - precursor to vitamin A and a powerful anti-oxidant that helps to protect the body from various cancers and acts as an anti-inflammatory. Join this up with the beneficial levels of vitamin C and E, sweet potatoes are great for your skin and eyes; vibrant skin and hair all at hand, packed into a odd looking tuber!
That's not all - sweet potatoes are also packed with potassium, fibre and B6, all necessary for a healthy heart, and have a low GI (glycemic index) so the sugars are in a complex form, taking a longer time to break down, helping you feel full longer and not get the quick sugar release you get with other root vegetables like potatoes. So perfect for diabetics or people battling blood sugar or weight issues.
There's a multitude of ways to serve sweet potatoes - boiled, mashed, in a soup, even in desserts and cakes. My favourite is to roast them. This concentrates the sweetness whilst keeping a bit of bite that enhances the texture of a dish - sometimes vegetarian food can be all a bit mushy! A good proportion of the nutrients are held in the skin, so it's best to cook with the skin on. If you can, buy organic and scrub really well.
Trying to be a bit fancy one day, I created these 'towers', layering up slices of roasted aubergine and sweet potato with wilted spinach, fresh tomato sauce and a sprinkle of pine nuts. A bit of work, especially if you have to make the tomato sauce from scratch but absolutely delicious; contrasting textures and beautiful flavours combine to create a flavour explosion! This really is more of a dish for special occasions, although you can simplify it by omitting some of the layers. You could even just serve sweet potato and aubergine stacked up with some sweet chilli sauce on the layers - simple and really tasty.
Sweet potato, aubergine and spinach towers.
Enough to serve 2
1 large, long sweet potato, not too fat
1 medium sized aubergine
olive oil
few handfuls of spinach, washed and torn into pieces
lemon juice
salt and pepper
handful of pine nuts
fresh tomato sauce
Heat the oven to 180oC. Slice your sweet potato and aubergine into circles 2 - 3 cms thick. Rub the olive oil over both sides of each slice and lay them out on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or so until they are cooked - the aubergine should be soft and creamy, the sweet potato soft but still holding firm. Don't let them over cook. Whilst these are roasting, heat a small pan and lightly brown the pine nuts. Tip them onto a plate to cool once done. Reheat your fresh tomato sauce (I'm going to add my favourite tomato sauce recipe soon), adding a little extra basil if you wish. Heat your small pan again, and add the spinach so it wilts and some of the water evaporates. Season with salt and pepper, add a squeeze of lemon if you wish (not too much otherwise it will be too wet).
Once the aubergine and sweet potato are ready, remove from the oven, but don't turn it off. Grab an oven-proof dish, and place a thin layer of tomato sauce in the centre. Place one slice of sweet potato on the sauce, then a slice of aubergine, a dollop of tomato sauce, a spoonful of spinach and sprinkle of pine nuts. Then add another slice of sweet potato and repeat the layering, ending with sweet potato (so you have 3 sweet potato slices to 2 aubergine). This is your stack. Repeat this to create as many stacks as you can from your slices. Pour over some more tomato sauce and return the stacks to the oven for 10 minutes or so to heat through, then serve with salad or veggies of your choice. Enjoy!

Simply Tasty Tomato Sauce

Tomatoes play a major role in my everyday food.  As creamy sauces are generally off the menu, tomato based ones are always the tasty option, and very easy to make. I've already posted about the nutritional wonders of tomatoes (see http://www.foodiesensitive.blogspot.in/2012/10/tasty-tomatoes.html); just to add that tomatoes are fabulous for your hair and skin, repairing sun damage and helping you look vibrant and younger, just like sweet potatoes!

Tomatoes are packed full of beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A. These protect your eyes, skin and hair and can help to reverse cell damage done by carcinogenic substances and toxins that come from our food and environment. Beta-carotenes are also anti-inflammatory and so can help reduce chronic pain caused by inflammatory conditions, although like aubergines, tomatoes are part of the nightshade family which some sensitive souls are allergic too. It seems in the world of food intolerance and allergies, anything and everything can cause problems for somebody, somewhere.
But for those who don't have a problem, tomatoes are amazing and really should be included as part of a plant based diet as often as possible.
The tomato sauce in Tomato Power is made by simply roasting fresh tomatoes with some garlic and olive oil, then blitzing them together to create a delicious, flavoursome sauce. Living in India, beautiful, fresh, vibrant tomatoes bursting with flavour were available all year round. Back in the UK, tomatoes are really seasonal and those available in the supermarkets tend to be lacking in lustre and taste. So tinned tomatoes are the only option, which is a shame as much of the wonderfully high potassium content is lost in the tinning process. However, adding in other fabulously nutrient-dense produces like celery, carrot, garlic and basil helps to counter balance some of these loses.
A word of warning if you're eating out and choose a tomato sauce based dish - check whether the chef has used butter instead of oil. As butter creates a richer flavour, it's more common than you think. I've left a restaurant many times thinking I've eaten a dairy free dish, only to be struck by a headache or migraine later on.
This sauce is really easy and the one I used for my sweet potato stack. Best cooked over a low heat, the flavours are intense and can by used as a sauce for pasta, vegetables, bakes etc or watered down with vegetable stock to make delicious soup. Make a large batch and freeze some, so you've always got a quick, easy dinner to hand.
Tasty tomato sauce

1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
2 large stick celery
1 -2 cloves garlic (depending on size/taste)
olive oil
400g tin chopped tomatoes
handful basil leaves
salt and pepper
Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Heat a glug of olive oil on a gentle heat, and lightly saute the onion until it begins to soften, the add the celery and carrot. Continue cooking on a low heat for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, keeping the heat low, and cook for a few minutes, making sure it doesn't burn. Add the tinned tomatoes, stir well and simmer until everything feels soft and well cooked. Turn off the heat and add the torn basil leaves and season to taste (not much salt as the tinned tomatoes are already a little salty). Cool a little then use a blender to blitz it to a smooth sauce. Use straight away, or reheat when ready - and enjoy!!!

Quinoa - being celebrated all year!

Did you know that quinoa (pronounced 'keen-waa' although I still think 'quin-noah' in my head!) is such a superfood that it even has it's own year? The United Nations has decided that 2013 is the International Year of Quinoa, a celebration of the Andean people who have preserved traditional ways of cultivating this nutritious grain as well as it's potential for alleviating poverty and food insecurity - not bad for such a tiny grain!

Quinoa has been the 'in' grain with the dieting fashionista for some time now, often used for gourmet markets only. But as more becomes known about the great nutritional properties of this unusual grain, it's popularity is increasing and becoming more mainstream.
Although I'm calling it a grain, Quinoa is not actually a true cereal but more related to beets and spinach; the 'grain' is the plants seed. The leaves can also be eaten as a green, although these are not readily available on the international market. Nutritionally, quinoa really is a powerhouse of goodies, with fantastic levels of manganese, magnesium, iron, potassium and calcium. It's high in fibre and low in fat and cholesterol. But what makes quinoa even better is that is the protein content; it is one of the few plant-based sources of complete amino acids as well as being gluten free.
As well as eating as a whole seed, quinoa can be ground into a flour and used to make bread, cakes, pasta, dumplings - the list continues. It's great as a salad base, added to stews and soups and apparently can be used to brew beer!
Being suitable for practically any type of diet (it's even considered kosher) or allergy, demand has been increasing, and therefore so has the price. This means that indigenous populations are finding it hard to buy (the price has tripled since 2006!), but equally farmers are able to make livable income which has a knock on effect, expanding the economy as a whole. Trials are underway elsewhere in the world to see if quinoa can be grown in different climates; after all, potatoes were once the staple of the Andean population, maybe quinoa can be too.
In my opinion, quinoa definitely has a place in a plant based wholefood diet. There are of course ecological aspects to take into consideration - air miles, farmer welfare etc - but when compared to the environmental impact of the meat and dairy industry, they just don't equate.
I love quinoa as a salad base; this one is called Sarah's salad, after my lovely friend who first introduced it to me. It's simple to make and packed with nutritional goodies. This recipe makes a big bowl - it stays fresh in the fridge for a few days but it's easy to half if you don't want to eat it every night.  Enjoy!
Sarah's Quinoa Salad

200g quinoa
4 grated carrots
couple of handfuls of chopped fresh herbs - parsley, mint or coriander
2 tbspns mixed seeds
2 tbspns flaked almonds
2 tbspns raisins or sultanas, soaked in boiling water
50mls of fresh orange juice
good glug of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
First, cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions - I tend to do 3x weight of quinoa i.e.: 600mls in this case. Simmer for 15 minutes or so until the water has been absorbed and the grain soft but with a little 'bite'. Drain any remaining cooking liquid and leave in the pan with the lid on to steam for a few minutes. Empty out into your serving bowl to cool off.
Meanwhile, grate the carrots, lightly toast the seeds, and soak the raisins or sultana for a few minutes so they plump up all fat and juicy. Once the seeds and quinoa are cool, drain the raisins and mix all the ingredients together, adding olive oil and seasoning to taste.