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

Sweet, salty and smokey roasted Chickpea snack

Sweet, salty and smokey

Snacking has a notorious reputation for being fatty, high calorie and convenient. Even the 'healthy bag of nuts' option are often roasted in salt and fat with added preservatives. But lets face it snacking is not just a pleasure it is essential sometimes; It picks you up in a long active day, keeps you motivated in long periods of study and after work out snack are vital to repair muscles. So what you got to do is snack right!

Personally I think homemade snacks are the best, you know exactly whats in it, you can make large batches and store them making them cheaper and you can adjust the taste to exactly how you like it. Here i have come up with a snack that is a crazy crunchy creation- sweet, salty and smokey roasted chickpeas with apricots.

These have no added oil or sugar and are packed with protein, iron and fiber. The taste is inspired from Moroccan dishes where dried apricots and salty smokey savory flavors are often combined to amazing effect. The chickpeas do not taste like a tagine however but still pretty darn tasty and satisfying.

Sweet, Salty and Smokey Chickpea Snack

Ingerdiants
1/3 cup chickpeas
3 table spoons maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of reduced sodium salt
1 garlic clove crushed
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper (1 tsp if you like it hotter)
1/4 tsp cinnamon 
Freshly cracked black pepper
4 dried apricots

-Drain and rinse chickpeas and place in a clean tea towel. Fold the tea towel in half and rub the chickpeas around to losen their outer skins.
- Peal your chickpeas (this takes a while but worth it, trust)

- Lay on a baking tray and put in a 180 degree oven for 5-8 mins. I would advise you line your tray with tin foil as it makes cleaning up much easier, however we didn't seem to think foil was a useful thing to have on the shopping list this week..

- While the chickpeas are in the oven, mix the remain ingredients in the bottom of a medium mixing bowl. Taste, you may like it hotter, more salty, more Cinnamon just make sure its a punchy flavour as it will get milder when cooked.
-Remove the chickpeas from the oven and add to mixing bowl, toss in your sweet, salty, smokey mixture. Then place back on tray and bake till the chickpeas are crunchy, about 10-15 mins (they catch easily keep an eye on them) 
- When crunchy and done place in a clean mixing bowl and leave to cool. While they cool chop up you dried apricots and mix in with you chickpeas. Store in an air tight container once fully cooled ready when you need a good healthy snack. Bravisimo!