Papaya & Blackberry Ensalada ~

May 10th, 2012

This salad is not just fruit on greens, despite how it make look! It’s almost that easy to make, but it has the added ingredients of fresh basil, vanilla & jalapeño in there to make it a little more interesting. For the most part I eat very simple foods, but I also love feeling completely satisfied after I’ve eaten. Having interesting flavor combinations is one of the things that achieves this for me.

This salad literally takes ten minutes to make, if that.

All you gotta do is:

1- Mix up a little raw, organic avocado oil (anywhere up to a tablespoon per person, depending on how many greens you have), the seeds from a vanilla pod (or a little bit of vanilla paste will also do the trick), and a few drips of Tabasco jalapeño sauce in a small jar or bowl and shake or whisk to combine. Taste to make sure you have the right balance for your palate.
2- Put a few handfuls of arugula (rocket) on a plate, top with half a peeled, chopped papaya per person and a big handful of blackberries. Then scatter with a few hand ripped fresh basil leaves.
3 – Drizzle the dressing over it, serve and enjoy!

***
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Creamy Cajun Spiced Broccoli Soup

March 22nd, 2012

Listening to: Justin Rutledge at Junofest, 2011
Discussing: The UK Chancellor cutting the top tax rate for the richest because they, uh, weren’t paying it anyway…
Enjoying: The sun setting later and later, having friends over for laid back dinners and go-slow Sunday mornings.

This soup was a hit even with a self professed disliker of broccoli soup! It’s intense green color comes from the blended in raw baby spinach. Somehow between adding the extra greens and also a small amount of goats milk, the little bits of broccoli which tend to cause a textured soup were nowhere to be found. I’m no lover of lumpy bits.

Winter has been giving in to Spring for quite a while here and the blossom and magnolia trees are making for some very pretty roads to wander. The days are reaching 18C/64f leading me to spend more time outdoors and occasionally wishing we had an east facing balcony so I’d get to enjoy a little more of the morning’s colored skies, which for the moment I enjoy reflected back at me on the windows opposite. The rest of the time I am more than content that I get to watch the sunset behind the trees that stand taller than the houses.

This soup is one of the meals taking me away from my winter dependence on root vegetables and snoozing under a blanket on the couch late at night and more toward after dinner walks with good conversation.


Creamy Cajun Spiced Broccoli Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup water
1t cajun spice
1 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli, chopped including the stems
100g (3.5oz) fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup goats milk
100g (3.5oz) young fresh goats cheese
A couple pinches of ground cumin

Method

Gently heat the water, cajun spice, garlic and onion in a medium to large saucepan. When the onions have softened, add the broccoli and put the lid on. Steam the broccoli for about 5 minutes. Transfer it all to your blender (I use a Vitamix, which helped get this really smooth) add the goats milk and spinach, and blend until smooth. Add more milk or water to get to the consistency you’ll enjoy. Transfer the soup back to the saucepan and very gently warm it to taste. It won’t take more than a minute or two. Divide the soup between two bowls, top with the cheese and sprinkle with the cumin.

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Quinoa & Greens with Hemp & Zaatar ~

March 7th, 2012

Weather: Rainy; sometimes horizontal from errant gusts of wind.
Location: Home, sweet home.
Listening to: A mix of Audioslave, Chris Cornell (sorta the same thing, I know) and Pearl Jam
Eating: Very simply
Ignoring: The deconstruction of the UK health system

One of the fundamentals of healthy eating is how easily the body can break the food down, digest, assimilate it…and then the rest. An excellent way to give your body a rest is to combine your food per the rules of food combining. Instead of getting all fanciful and bogged down with the exact rules (if that’s not your thing), you can just aim to keep things simple. Some people may opt to serve this as a side dish – and it would be a very tasty one at that – but this is the kind of thing that serves as a weeknight dinner for me. I used the same sprouting method as I described last week (soak overnight, leave to drain the next day, rinsing once or twice throughout the day but not before you serve). Once you’ve got your sprouted little quinoa seeds, you just need to steam your greens very lightly, season your quinoa, and toss together. I think it took about five minutes to come together. It may appear a bit plain, but the flavor is all there, believe me! And not to go on and on about this chewing thing, but because I season it with other seeds, the more you chew it the stronger those other flavors are (and the better the digestion will be, as you’ve already started the process in your mouth).

Quinoa with Hemp, Sage, Zaatar & Mixed Greens

Serves 2 (plus, in our case, enough for one to have lunch the next day)

Ingredients

1 cup of dry quinoa, to yield 2 cups of sprouted quinoa
1T hemp seeds
1/2T Zaatar seasoning (a Middle Eastern spice blend of sesame seeds, sumac, thyme & sea salt)
1/2t Sumac (a dried ground berry; I like it so I add more than is usually apportioned in the zaatar)
Zest & juice of one organic, unwaxed lemon
8 or 9 sage leaves (about 2 sprigs worth), thinly julienned
4 cups of mixed greens – I used a blend of sliced brussel sprouts, savoy cabbage and spring greens, all chopped to a uniform thickness

Method

First up, steam your greens. I don’t have a steamer, so here’s what I do: Bring an inch of water to the boil in a medium saucepan, place a metal colander over the top and place your greens in, lay the lid lightly over the top. Steam for roughly 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, place your sprouted quinoa in a large bowl and stir in the hemp, zaatar, lemon zest & juice and the sage. Stir thoroughly to evenly distribute.

Take the greens off the heat (watch your fingers, the metal colander will get hot!) and then toss the steamed greens in with the quinoa.

Voila! A 5 minute dinner!

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Sprouted Quinoa & Artichoke Salad ~

February 29th, 2012

Yesterday I came across an article about ingredients in make up that were not listed on the labels. You’d think this would be illegal and the companies (which include Benefit & Clinique) would need to pay compensation and stop adding these ingredients.  At the very least it would be nice if they listed them so that you and I can make an informed decision as to what we swipe on our bodies.  But whilst food companies are expected to list all ingredients, it seems cosmetics are not monitored despite it being something that goes on and eventually in to our bodies. I believe more and more that we are the only ones we should trust when it comes to deciding what we want to put into our bodies. Living in a city as I do, I’d much rather reduce the amount of metals and other poisons I expose myself to routinely. I see eating well as a sort of rebellion, which is one of the reasons why I am so focused on plant foods. I want to feel the best I can and when I eat this way, I have very little need for the cosmetics pushed at me on a daily basis. I found that when I used concealer or foundation the more I ‘needed’ to. Once I stopped, I turned that vicious circle around. The less I used it, the better my skin became naturally. The better I ate, the more my skin looked better than any foundation could make it.

I have a lot of fun in my kitchen. I don’t follow any rules rigidly, but I do pay attention to how my body feels after eating something and tailor my meals accordingly in the future. For instance, whilst I can and do eat quinoa cooked every once in a while, my favorite method is to sprout it. It’s actually a very laid back and relatively hands-off process. Eaten raw, it feels much lighter and cleaner in my body and I also prefer it’s texture when prepared like this. All you have to do is remember to soak it overnight, then get up in the morning, drain, rinse and leave on your kitchen counter covered in a clean towel. Then rinse and drain a couple more times over the next 6 hours or so and you are done! Don’t rinse it just before you eat it though, as you want the quinoa to be dry enough to absorb some of the flavors you add.

This salad is one of my favorites. The quinoa is mixed with ruby grapefruit, roasted corn kernels (though fresh are great in summertime), fresh basil and chargrilled artichoke hearts. And then, as always, it’s served on a pile of greens! I sometimes add other bits and pieces, but it’s the simplicity of this recipe that I think makes it memorable enough to keep me wanting to make it again and again.

Sprouted Quinoa & Artichoke Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup of dry quinoa, soaked and sprouted per above method. This will yield roughly 2 cups when sprouted.

1 ruby grapefruit

1 cup of corn kernels. If using frozen, defrost them first.

Small knob of butter or coconut oil (for greasing a baking sheet)

1 cup chargrilled artichokes, chopped into bite size pieces if necessary. If using packaged, drain them off and blot them with a piece of kitchen towel.

1 Large handful of fresh basil leaves, julienned

Mixed dark leafy greens – enough for two, to taste.

Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt.

Method

Turn the oven to 450F/230C. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread lightly with butter (sometimes I just put it in the oven as it preheats to melt it enough). Put the corn on the sheet and toss in the butter. Grind some salt and pepper over the corn, then place in oven for 20 minutes or until the kernels are golden. Toss the kernels once during baking.

Meanwhile zest the grapefruit over the quinoa and stir in. Halve the grapefruit, then cut out the halved segments using a sharp knife letting the juice drain into the quinoa as you work. Stir the segments into the quinoa so they are evenly distributed. Stir in the thin ribbons of basil and the chopped artichoke hearts. When the corn is golden and smelling beautiful, pull it out the oven and mix into the quinoa mix. Divide the greens between two bowls and then pile the quinoa mixture on top.

I hope you enjoy!

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A List + a Q&A ~

February 24th, 2012

Last month Rande of The Vegetable Centric Kitchen tagged me in the 11-Things meme. I really enjoyed reading Rande’s answers, so thought I’d share mine today! It’s in two parts – the first is a list of 11 random things about myself, the second is my answers to Rande’s 11 questions. I’ll refrain from tagging anyone else, since I’m so late in coming to it myself!

Here goes:

1. I live in a mini forest. We have 21 houseplants in a one bedroom apartment.

2. I mostly eat vegetables, but I am not actually a vegetarian. We just rarely find we can afford the quality of flesh we’d choose to eat. If eating out, I do however immediately scan the menu for wild salmon.

3. I’m passionate about equality in society, particularly with regard to health and access to appropriate care and fresh organic fruit and vegetables.

4. I love driving at night, watching the lights fly by, loud music playing.

5. I’m a fan of old black and white photography. The sort with bent corners and other random damage.

6. I’ve cleared out so many of my belongings and feel better the more and more I do this. The relatively recent proliferation of personal storage warehouses bewilders me.

7. Whilst I don’t think I’ve mentioned him on my blog to date, my favorite musician is Justin Rutledge. I make dinner with him, I practice my yoga with him, I walk with him and I occasionally go to sleep with him. My boyfriend now calls the sound of Justin the sound of Home. I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed about that or not…

8. The movie Heartbreaker makes me laugh every time.

9. One of my favorite memories is sitting in a friend’s pool past midnight in Tucson, looking at the night sky through their telescope.

10. The last live music I experienced was JJ Grey & Mofro. They were fantastic.

11. I don’t listen to music when I run. I just like to concentrate on my breath and my surroundings.

1. What is your favorite reason for blogging? To share how dinner can be made with just a few ingredients and that you can still eat healthily when on a budget.
2. What is one food that you wish were healthy? Ice cream. No doubt about it.
3. If you could live anywhere else, where would it be? Wherever I could live as closely to my own ideals as possible and have a good circle of friends
4. What is the most life-changing book you’ve ever read? Derrick Jensen’s The Culture of Make Believe.
5. Who is one person you would love to meet? Justin Rutledge, so his voice and guitar can be the only sounds I hear. No chatter to hear it over, no cell phone beeps. Just Justin, live. 
6. What would be your dream job? Working in an outreach program to get healthcare and nutritional specialists to those who are unable to afford it. Or a cook in a healthy diner style local kinda place.
7. Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Coffee.
8. Do you consider yourself to be religious or spiritual at all? Yup. I think this is all much bigger than us.
9. Does your diet have a label: vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, etc? No, I just try to eat in line with my own intuition and integrity.
10. What did you dress up as the last time you dressed up for Halloween? Sadly we don’t really have that tradition here. I once was in the US for it though and had a lot of fun handing out treats to all those who came to our friend’s front door!
11. What is the cause you feel most passionately about? See #3 of my 11 random things! It saddens me that so many people have to go without basic things, even in some of the richest nations in the world. If I can help just one person, then I will be happy.

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Greens with Almond & Garlic Crumbs

February 22nd, 2012

I’ve been eating a lot of bowl food lately. Literally just bowls of veggies topped with anything random I can find in our refrigerator. Some days it’s just a big bowl of baked sweet potato cubes with diced avocado (& plenty of habanero sauce) other days I try to fancy it up a bit. I’m not even going to pretend this is a recipe as it’s more just a method. In the bowl above is:

A bag of mixed seasonal greens

Baked halved brussel sprouts

Baked broccoli – including the stalk, all chopped in same size pieces

Store purchased fresh tomatillo salsa

Palmful of almonds (about 5 or 6), a clove of garlic & the leaves from one sprig of fresh rosemary, all finely chopped together.

Note: I soak my almonds to rehydrate them. It also makes them easier to digest as it rinses off the enzyme inhibiting substance found in the skin.

I just load it in the bowl layer by layer, then place myself on the couch and proceed to mix it all up. In this instance, the salsa served as the dressing once I stirred it all in. It typically takes me a longer time than most to eat as I am consciously chewing every mouthful, to aid digestion. It’s getting more normal to do this without consciously reminding myself. It also helps if you don’t mind eating cold cooked vegetables, as half an hour after I started – and sitting on cold greens and drenched in a cold salsa – means they cool down way before I finish my meal. At first it was an issue, as I wanted to enjoy it in all it’s hot glory, but gradually I just got used to it. Now when I think of how I used to gobble down my hot food I laugh – I used to be able to eat a meal in about five minutes flat! Now it’s actually a big part of my evening, where I really sit down and thoroughly enjoy it.

I know I’ve said this before, but listening to music as I prepare it also helps me immeasurably. I usually pick something with a pretty laid back rhythm, so I’ve slowed down – mentally and physically – by the time I even get to start eating it. Some people meditate before eating, some take a bath or a shower (which I sometimes do if I’ve had a busy day – nothing like a hot shower to rinse away the city’s buzzing energy). When I eat out I at least take a few conscious breaths before I dig in and I’ve also found that it really helps to run a little bit early too. That way I’m not stressing about making a friend wait, but am peaceful and content the whole time. The worst that can happen is I get to check my email before they join me, plus I get to settle into the surroundings and also check out the menu and make my decision on what I’d like to eat.

This past week at home I’ve found myself repeating the six songs on Amos Lee’s As The Crow Flies. You can listen to the whole thing by clicking here! Whilst we’re talking music, I came across this video of the ever wonderful Chris Cornell singing I Will Always Love You. Just gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

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Eggplant Slices with Garlicky Pecans ~

February 12th, 2012

I can’t take full credit for this recipe, as it was from a Sunday night when I was feeling uninspired in the kitchen. I grabbed a book off the shelf, looked up eggplant and found a recipe which I could basically do, subbing in what I had, but keeping to the original premise. The book was Arabesque by Claudia Roden (& if you have the book, it’s on page 157). Claudia Roden calls for walnuts and parsley, but I had pecans and oregano, so made do with that. She also calls for a lot more garlic than I went for! In the end I could see how extra would have been fine, but I very much liked the balance of just the four cloves anyway. Being that nuts are quite dense, I paired this dish with a large romaine lettuce that I’d sliced into thin ribbons. The meaty eggplant slices pair really well with the oregano and I think it makes the eggplants more inline with the season up here in the north. If it were summer, I’d be highly tempted to try this method using mint, almonds and lemon. But that’s for another time!

Before I get to the recipe, I’d also like to recommend a post that Megan, the Detoxinista, wrote this past week about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I’d not heard of it before, but am interested in reading more about it thanks to Megan! You can check it out here. As Megan writes, it’s “ a diet thought to heal the intestine through avoiding certain types of starches and sugars, while still embracing others.”

Eggplant with Garlicky Pecans & Oregano inspired by a Claudia Roden recipe

Serves 2, as a main course

Ingredients

2 globe eggplants (the usual variety found in grocery stores)

3T melted butter or olive oil + 1T butter (keep separate)

2T of lime juice (or a wine vinegar – red wine vinegar would work out well here too)

Large pinch of sea salt (such as the Maldon brand)

4 cloves of garlic

6T pecans (or other nut you have to hand)

A couple of stems fresh oregano, leaves removed, stalks discarded (or whatever fresh herb you have to hand)

1 large romaine lettuce, cut crossways into ribbons about 0.5cm wide

Method

Preheat the oven to 475F. Oil a baking sheet with some of the melted butter. Don’t use it all, you’ll need more to brush the eggplant slices with.

Slice the eggplants lengthways about 0.5cm thick (roughly quarter of an inch). Place the slices on the baking sheet, then brush the tops of the slices with the rest of the butter. Bake for 15 minutes, turn, bake for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic. Melt the last 1T of butter in a small pan, and gently cook the garlic in it taking care to not burn it. It shouldn’t take more than a minute or so, and will start to smell divine. Coarsely chop the pecans, put the oregano leaves on the pile of nuts, then the buttery garlic, and then chop all together, until a coarse sort of pesto forms.

When the eggplants are done, drizzle with the lime juice and sprinkle with some of the sea salt.

Put the romaine on the plate, then lay the eggplant slices out in one layer and top each slice with some of the pesto.

 

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Red, White & Greens ~

February 1st, 2012

This was a post-run salad feast! My body has been craving the juiciness of big tomatoes lately so I picked up a couple of good looking ones (by January standards) at the store on the way home one night. The rest of the salad is a mix of greens, with capers and mint to brighten it up, avocado to mellow it and roasted baby parsnips and red peppers to sweeten it. I find that when my main course satisfies me on those counts, my desire for dessert lessens.

A lot of people enjoy stevia when they want a sweetness fix. I used to add it to my salads, especially in summer, when sweetened lime juice over a blueberry and arugula salad basically sent me heaven-bound. But I am taking a break from it now for a couple of reasons; it is only readily available where I am in powdered form with added ingredients and also because I like to take breaks from additions I feel I may be relying on a bit too much. Over the last month I’ve not used much at all and the natural sweetness of my food has been noticeable. The roasted red peppers were enough for me at this time, especially when paired with these roasted baby parsnips. And again, I felt fortunate just to be able to enjoy these foods as much as I do!

A song I’ve been loving lately is Let it Be. I like both the Aretha Franklin and the Gladys Knight versions best. I have them at the beginning and end of a playlist I put together. Some days when I catch the news and it’s all about war, power plays and stories such as how we treat animals in factory farms and yet we carry on regardless, I listen to this list. It reminds me to stand strong with my own life choices and at the same time to love, anyway. I believe that the best way to protest what goes on in this world is to change your own habits to live by your own ideals, whatever they may be and insofar as you are able, and to hold respect for others doing just the same.

Post-Run Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

Mixed greens  – enough for 2 people – I used a mix of watercress, arugula, romaine (chopped into thin ribbons) and baby spinach

12 baby parsnips, halved

2 large tomatoes, chopped into wedges

1T capers

1 avocado

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips (I cut mine into eighths)

A few sprigs of fresh mint, leaves only, cut chiffonade

Sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F.

Lightly grease a parchment paper lined baking sheet with some butter. Add the parsnips and red bell pepper strips to it and bake for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, divide the greens between two plates and toss to make sure they’re all mixed up. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and capers. Slice the avocado and add that. Add the parsnips and red pepper strips when they’re done. Sprinkle the mint on the parsnips and serve!

***

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

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Kale with Lime + Baharat Wedges ~

January 27th, 2012

I realize this neither looks nor sounds like something you’d aspire to make. But maybe it looks like something you actually would make? I debated posting this because really, it’s pretty basic. Which is exactly what some evenings call for and it also illustrates what I eat on nights when I need to magic up another dinner from a near empty fridge. This happens a lot around here because we shop as we go, trying to make sure we use everything up whilst it’s as fresh as possible and don’t waste a thing.

So. Sweet potatoes and kale. Half an onion and some last cloves of garlic. A lime. Then, some baharat for seasoning. I love baharat because when cooked, the paprika mellows and gives way to the sweeter spices in the mix. In case you’re not familiar with this middle eastern mix or want to mix up your own, the ingredients are as follows:

Baharat
2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

(via the epic centre)

Once you have that spice mix put together, the rest of the meal is a breeze. I was still in an Amos Lee mood, so I put the Last Days at the Lodge album on nice and loud and got to work in the kitchen. I started by baking my boyfriend some of his favorite cornbread. I used this recipe, except I had to go a little ad-hoc on it, making the buttermilk with whole organic milk + lime juice and I also omitted the sugar.  He said the cornbread went down really, really well with the kale.

Garlic & Lime Kale with Baharat Sweet Potato Wedges

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 large bag of chopped kale (I used enough to fill a medium saucepan right up to the top)

Half a red onion, diced small

2 cloves of garlic, sliced as fine as you can (Goodfellas thin, as Andrew Carmellini would say)

4T water

Juice of 1 lime

2 or 3 sweet potatoes, depending on size and hunger level, chopped into wedges. I leave the skin on, just scrub them well!

1T (roughly) baharat (enough to dust each sweet potato wedge)

Butter to grease the baking pan

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it with the butter.

Put the sweet potato wedges on the baking sheet and dust with the baharat. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until soft.

Meanwhile, put the kale, onion, garlic and water in a saucepan. Put the lid on and heat over medium heat on the stove top. The water will steam everything. Just shake the pan every now and then and take it off the heat as soon as the kale is bright emerald green, this will be about 8 minutes but just keep an eye on it. Drain off any excess liquid then squeeze the lime juice over the kale, toss and then plate. Serve with the baked sweet potato wedges and some southern style cornbread, if that’s your style!

 

 

 

 

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Grapefruit & Basil Ensalada Verde

January 25th, 2012

Eating healthily is the quickest way to put a meal together, no joke. There’s no hammering of meat, time intensive stirring of gooey risotto and you can be more creative as there’s less scope to go too far wrong!

Take this one such salad. I love playing with the concept of green salad, just finding everything green I have in the refrigerator and making it work. I know some people will be thinking they’d want more variety of color, but there’s something about the coolness of green that I find appealing.

The dressing on this is also pretty light as it’s mostly just grapefruit juice, which then seeps into the veggies infusing them with a little of it’s tang. The peppery basil is cut fine and scattered throughout to season each mouthful and the asparagus is gently grilled to lend smokiness. I also find that using mixed greens in these kinds of salads is the best approach. Romaine has it’s place, but a mix of watercress, arugula (rocket) and baby spinach leaves really kicks the flavor up a bit more.

This is a 30 minute meal from start to finish. I put on my playlist of favorite Amos Lee songs* and marinated myself in his words and the unseasonably mild winter’s evening. Creating dinner is such a meditative time for me. Let’s face it, it’s going to take the same time to make something no matter how you approach it, so you may as well enjoy it, right?

Grapefruit & Basil Infused Green Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

About 75g of mixed green leaves per plate (or however much you fancy) – I used arugula, baby spinach and watercress

Zest of half a pink grapefruit

Juice of half a pink grapefruit

3 sprigs of fresh basil leaves – about 3T when chopped in a fine chiffonade

1T of extra virgin olive oil

1t of grade 2 pure maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice, I just like the woody note that maple imparts)

1 bunch of fresh asparagus – the plump rather than the fine, woody ends chopped off

1 medium zucchini (courgette) chopped into 2″ long sticks (I cut mine into thirds, then halved each piece and chopped each piece into thirds again)

1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets and the stalk cut into coins

1 large handful of fine green beans

Method

Preheat the over to 200C/400F.

Add the olive oil & maple syrup to a glass jar, then zest the grapefruit over the top. Halve the grapefruit, and add the juice of one half and reserve the other half for another use. Add the chopped basil, then place the lid on the jar and shake well to combine.

Lightly oil a baking sheet, then place the beans, broccoli and zucchini on it – spreading it out as much as you can to encourage roasting rather than steaming. Bake for 20 minutes.

Lightly oil a grill pan and bring to a medium heat on the stove. Grill the asparagus for about 8 minutes, turning mid-way to encourage even cooking.

Plate the greens and lightly drizzle with some of the dressing. Add the other veggies and drizzle with the rest of the dressing.

*Favorite Amos songs include:

Seen it All Before

Baby I Want You

The Wind

Night Train

Arms of a Woman

Dignified Woman

My favorite whole album of his is Last Days at the Lodge. It is just gorgeous. Dare you not to be able to relax to that one!

 

 

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