Beetroot, walnut & dill salad

Last night was the first of my winter dining events at Golden Dawn. It was glorious. Wonderful people, exquisite food and beautiful music. There was a cosy sense of community with guests happily sharing food and chatting with strangers. It looked and felt exactly as I'd pictured it in my head. I'll share some pictures at the end of this post.

Today I woke up feeling like I'm coming down with something. A sore throat and head-achey. The busy weekend might be catching up with me. I wanted something for lunch that would feel nourishing but still super tasty. A winter salad of beetroot, toasted cumin seeds, walnuts and dill was what I came up with. 

It came together really quickly and was delicious. I love dill and it's perfect in this salad but if you don't have any on hand, a big handful of parsley would work well.

Beetroot, dill & walnut salad

2 medium / large beetroot peeled and grated

1/4 cup of walnuts roughly chopped

handful dill chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp tahini

juice of one lemon

pinch of sea salt

Place your cumin seeds in a frying pan over a medium heat and lightly toast. They're done when they start to get fragrant.

Place your cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle and bash roughly.

Place all your ingredients (except a little of the dill) in a bowl and combine. Stir well to ensure all the salad is dressed evenly.

Sprinkle the remainder of the dill on top just before serving.

Serve immediately or will last 24 hours covered in the fridge.

Tamarind, coconut & kale lentils

I try to always have a couple of portions of this dish in my freezer. It's super tasty, inexpensive and totally satisfying on a chilly night. I just recently discovered tamarind and it's added a lovely brightness to this recipe. The addition of kale (red Russian kale from our garden) makes this a complete meal. Leftovers are perfect for lunch.

It's essentially a dhal type recipe but I'm hesitant to call it that because I use the completely non Indian ingredient of hot smoked paprika. It may seem a little sacrilegious but I love the sweet heat and smokiness it adds.

Whenever I'm making this I think of a friend of mine who comes from a big Indian family of great cooks and just self published a beautiful book of her families recipes. I wonder if she'd approve of this dish. I plan to get brave and serve it to her one day soon.

Tamarind, coconut & kale lentils
2 cups brown lentils

6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 can coconut cream
1 can tinned tomatoes (preferably cherry tomatoes)
1 large bunch kale (or silverbeet) separated from stems and chopped.
Small handful of coriander chopped.
2 large onions chopped

2 tsp hot smoked paprika

1 Tbsp cumin

1 Tbsp turmeric

6 cloves garlic

1 1/2 Tbsp tamarind puree

3 Tbsp finely chopped ginger

1 large red chill (deseeded)
2 Tbsp coconut oil or ghee


Chop the onions. I like to cut the onions in half and thinly slice into half circles (rather than dicing) to add a little texture to the dish.

Melt the coconut oil in a large heavy based pot on a medium heat. Gently fry the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli.

Add all the spices and cook gently until fragrant.

Add the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and leave for five minutes. Add the tamarind puree. Turn the stove down to a simmer and let it bubble away for approx 1/2 hour. Stir regularly.

Add the tin of tomatoes and leave to simmer for another 1/2 hour. Stir regularly. If the pot is looking too dry during this time, add a 1/2 - 1 1/2 cup of water.

Use a masher to break up some of the lentils and provide a kind of gravy. Do this until the dish has reach a desired consistency. About 30 seconds of mashing usually gets it to where I like it.

Add the can of coconut cream and the kale. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Taste to check seasoning and add salt / pepper if desired. Stir through coriander.

Serve on top of brown rice with a dollop of greek yogurt on top.

(vegetarian if using vegetable stock, gluten free)

Event: Sunday Supper - Sunday July 28th @ Golden Dawn

I'm in the middle of planning a really great event and I had to share some pictures from my last one. The below pictures are from the Sunday Lunch dining series I organised over summer at the Golden Dawn. Clever chef Beckie Pillay prepared (as always) absolutly stunning food. Mostly cooked outdoors over an open fire. Everything was served on large shared platters and guests sat on long communal tables in the Golden Dawn courtyard. Guests came with friends but inevietably made more. There was live music, kids running around and thankfully lovely weather. 

We're doing it all again! This time with a really cosy Sunday Supper series over July, August and September. The first is on Sunday 28th July at 5pm. There will be a raw bar in the courtyard so guests can enjoy arrival drinks, music and oysters freshly shucked by the good folks from Mahurangi Oysters. Then we'll move inside where everyone will be seated along one long table. More excellent music and great food......

Join us!

Sunday Supper Menu

Mahurangi Oysters. Shallot sherry vinegar or chipotle tabasco

Il Casaro burrata mozzarella w/ fresh chilli, olive oil & flaky sea salt

Warm spelt loaves w/ tarragon garlic butter

Salash air dried pork w/ brussel sprout, apple & walnut slaw

Whole Freedom Farm free range pig w/ Braeburn & calvados sauce & green herb oil

Root vegetable & provolone gratin

Wild mushrooms, puy lentils, sage & hazelnuts

Whiskey bread & butter pudding w/ vanilla cream

Tickets:http://www.undertheradar.co.nz/gig/34556/Sunday-Supper.utr

The day after the party and a loaf

What a perfect winter morning we had in Auckland today. Bright sun and a clear sky. Mondays should always be so pretty.The house felt strangely quiet after a very busy day yesterday. There were still balloons bouncing around and lovely birthday cards scattered around. Yesterday was our Bonnie's 1st birthday party. Her first year has flown by and it was fun to celebrate reaching the milestone with some of our favourite people. My partner and I been blessed to have a wonderful gang of family and friends support us the past year while we've tried to master this parenting business.

Her party was a morning tea. Foolishly I got too caught up in hosting to take a picture of the pretty table We enjoyed lots of delicious homemade food, bubbles and strong stovetop coffee.

At the end of the party I had lots of requests for one recipe in particular. It's not one of mine. I'm just spreading the good word. The much requested recipe was the "Life Changing Loaf" from mynewroots.org. I served it lightly toasted alongside smoked salmon and my roasted pumpkin & garlic cream.

This recipe is ridiculously easy to make. A clever mixture of nuts, seeds and oats. Naturally gluten free and vegan. It's basically combine, soak and bake. Make sure you use a silicon loaf pan. It's essential that you're able to turn the loaf out halfway through cooking.

Thank you to Lucy for reminding me about this recipe.

The Life Changing Loaf of Bread by My New Roots

1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds 
½ cup / 90g flax seeds 
½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds 
1 ½ cups / 145g rolled oats 
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
3 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks 
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt 
1 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
1 ½ cups / 350ml water

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.

Place all dry ingredients into a flexible silicon loaf pan and stir well.

Whisk together the oil, maple syrup and water. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until really well combined. The dough should be very thick. Smooth the top and then let sit on the bench for at least two hours. Overnight is fine. You'll know the dough is ready if it retains it's shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it.

Place the loaf into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the loaf from the pan and place it upside down directly onto the oven rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes.

The bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped.Allow the bread to cool entirely before slicing.

Store in an airtight container for up to five days or pre slice and freeze for easy toasting. (I think this bread is best as toast)

(Vegan, wheat free)

If you've never checked out Sarah Britton's My New Roots blog- quick. Do it now! It's inspiring and uplifting. I'm so appreciative to the lovely Rachel who passed it on to me. 

www.mynewroots.org

Roasted pumpkin, garlic & walnut Cream

Replace your boring old hummus with this spread. It's great condiment for just about anything. Last night's dinner was a red quinoa "risotto" with leeks and silverbeet. A dollop of this on top was perfect. Of course spread on flatbread or crackers is great too.

This is full of winter goodness. The roast pumpkin tastes nourishing and satisfying, roasted garlic is a winter food hero for me and the walnuts give a lovely nutty creaminess. Not to mention a good dose of omega 3.

A squeeze of lemon and some thyme from the garden finish this off perfectly.

Roasted Pumpkin, Garlic & Walnut Cream

1/4 small crown pumpkin (you need 1 cup cooked pumpkin)
1/2 -3/4 cup walnuts soaked overnight or for at least 6 hours
1 head garlic
3/4 cup water
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a few sprigs of thyme
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Cut the top off the head of garlic so the top of the individual cloves are exposed. Drizzle with oil and roast for approximately 45 minutes until very soft. Leave the garlic to cool enough for you to handle  it. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of each clove and place into food processor

Cut your pumpkin into approximately 6 manageable chunks. You can leave the skin on. Remove the seeds and drizzle with oil. Roast until tender and browned on the outside. Scoop the flesh away from the skin and measure roughly a cup of cooked pumpkin. Place in food processor.

Put the walnuts into the food processor with garlic, pumpkin, olive oil and water. Process until smooth. Add thyme and lemon juice. Process to combine well. Add salt and pepper to suit your taste. I usually add chill flakes too. Enjoy!

(dairy free, vegan, gluten free)