Roasted curried buddha bowl, a whole bowl of good

ROASTED BUDDHA BOWL

This is genuinely the prettiest savory dish I have ever made, it looks like pure health and beauty, fuck that it is health and beauty. A bowl of lightly spiced roasted veg tables and chickpeas with grilled mango and coconut and tahini dressing. I normally cut out most oil in my recipe however I have invested here in coconut oil. At health food stores it is expensive but at your local Asian market i got a bottle for 99p. Coconut oil is one of the best sources of heart-healthy medium-chain fatty acids, notably lauric acid which helps boost your immune system. It is white and solid at room temperature so is great replacement to butter in baking and melts when heated so good for roasting and frying. So here is me investing in my families immune system and heart.

The other great things about this recipe is the amount of fiber, minerals and vitamins you get from all the veggies and chickpeas. I've talked about how great chickpeas are for protien and how cauliflower is fiber awesome before AND how sweet potato is low GI, and all they are all in this bowl of goodness. The spices as well are metabolism boosters and the tahini dressing is full of vitamin B and E, magnesium, iron and calcium due to the tahini. This is just a bowl packed with good. My family loved it so much they didn't leave any for my dad who was out so I had to make more.. I hope you like it as much.


Ingredients (meant to serve 3)

Bowl
1 large sweet potato
1 large purple potato
2 medium onions
2 medium carrots
1 yellow bell pepper
1 mango
1/4 of a medium cauliflower
3 tbsp of coconut oil
3 tsp of your favourite cuury powder
1/2 tsp of cinnamon and the same of cayenne
1 tsp of ground ginger and  the same of coriander
1 large garlic clove crushed
1cm knob of ginger crushed
bunch of fresh coriander
1 tbsp of agave
salt and pepper

Dressing 
1 tbsp agave
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp light coconut milk
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tsp sesame seed oil 
salt and pepper

- Mix together melted coconut oil, curry powder, crushed garlic and ginger, coriander, cayenne, cinnamon, ground ginger and a large pinch of salt and pepper together in a small bowl, set aside.
-Roughly chop all your veggies in to small chuncks, all roughly the same size so they cook evenly. Toss in the coconut oil and spice mix, reserving tbsp for the chickpeas, and use your hand to massage the spices into the veg (work for that flavour baby).

- Drain the chickepeas and pat them dry. Toss in reserved spice mix.

-Place chickpeas in one tray, the veggies in another and put in a 190 oven. I also put the purple potatoes on another tray to stop the purple color rubbing off of the other veggies.

Babies pre-oven so golden

Lovely lovely lovely

- Check every 5-10 mins to make sure your nut burning your creation. The chickpeas (as they are smallest) will be done first, when they are golden and crunchy remove and toss in a pinch of salt, pepper and a tbsp of agave.





- While the veggies are cooking make your dressing and prepare your mango. Add too a jar all your dressing ingredients. Place the lid back on and shake till all the components have emulsified. Season to taste.

The dressing

- Peel your mango and cut into chunky strips. Cook on one side on a very hot lightly oiled griddle pan. When the mango has nice dark sear lines on one side, gently remove and set aside.
- When the veggies are done remove from oven and place in a bowl with the chickpeas, mango and roughly chopped fresh coriander. Gently toss like it was a salad.

- Serve with your dressing. You can also serve it with crushed plantain chips (for extra crunch), dried apricots and fruit (for a little sweetness) and mango chutney (for a tangy touch)  

VIOLAAAA

Sugar Free Jam

I love jam
I don't love the amount of sugar in it. In Hartley's Strawberry Jam there is 61g of sugar in 100g of Jam. Not to mention they add Gelling agent, Sodium Citrates and Glucose fructose syrup. That's less then 40% fruit in your fruit jam...
So for others who still want there sweet fruity jam but don't all that sugar, here is a sugar free jam that is more exiting then your bog standard strawberry.
The secret to thickening the fruit with out the gelling agent and sugar is chia seeds. This ancient seed dates back to Aztec times and they are full of the good stuff, Omega 3, dietary fiber, calcium, iron, protein, potassium not to mention loads of antioxidants. Seriously they are insanely good for you. The other awesome thing about chia seeds is that when they are submerged into a liquid they create a gel that thickens the liquid they are in. Boom we have an all natural, healthy gelling agent. Hozaaa jam time. 

Magical seeds

Mango, Apple, Pear and Ginger Chia Seed Jam,

Ingredients
Half a medium mango
1 pear
1 eating apple
1 tsp of minced ginger
1 lemon (un-waxed)
1 tbsp of Honey, or liquid sweetner (to taste)

1 tbsp of sweetener (to taste)
3 tbsp of water (ish)
2 tbsp of Chia Seeds

- Roughly dice mango, apple and pear and put in a medium heavy bottomed pan. Add ginger, honey and sweetener. Get your lemon and with a peeler, peal 3 strips of peal and add to pot. Slice open your lemon and add a tbsp of the juice.
- Add your 3 tbsp of water and turn the heat on. You may need to add less or more water depending on how juicy your fruit is.
 -Stir your fruit mixture over a medium heat until all the fruit has broken down.  Then remove from heat and take out the lemon peal. I didn't wait for it to cool before a blitzed it (cause i live my life on the edge) but if you don't like hot fruit puree in your eye leave to cool then blitz.
-Taste, this is your change to add more sweetener/ginger/acidity. Each jam at this stage will be slightly different as fruits vary in sweetness and acidity as they ripen so taste and change if need be.
-Place pureed mixture back on a low heat and had your chia seeds stir for about a minuet and remove from heat. Leave to cool and but in tubs. This mixture keeps for about 1/2 weeks in the fridge.

I put them in little tubs.. They're so cute, like little baby jams