I have temporarily adopted a baby girl named Shachar (Dawn) yay! Well, actually, she is more like a 30-year-old young woman, which actually has its advantages. She is toilet trained, able to dress and feed herself. She’s been through adolescence, and has a job. She is funny, smart, and is super techno savvy which is of great help to a dinosaur like me. She is also a millennial... Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything...
Like all children, she comes with a set of requirements, no gluten, no dairy and she is a vegetarian! Can we keep the food as natural as possible? And if I’m going to use oil, can I use natural fats like Avocado in my cooking as much as possible!
I love a healthy meal as much as the next person, but for this I had to hit the Instagram pavement for some inspiration , I even bought a machine that makes zoodles (zucchini noodles) I found an avocado and nut pesto recipe and made up the rest as I went along, I have to say I was pretty chuffed with the results. This dish will make vegans green with envy! (If you’ll pardon the pun). It’s super healthy and surprisingly filling!
If you want to give your family a super-healthy filling meal, this is THE ONE folks!
Ingredients
Eggplant
500g eggplant, chopped into cubes
Oil spray
2 tablespoons Italian herbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Chickpeas
420g can chickpeas
1-2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Avocado pesto
1/2 large Avocado
Handfull basil
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup cashews
1/8 cup lemon
1/4 cup almond milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Mixed veggies
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons coriander powder
10 sprigs thyme, leaves only
2&1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 bunch of fresh or canned baby corn, chopped
1 bunch asparagus blanched and chopped
1 baby yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
1 baby orange capsicum, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, spiral or finely chopped
1 zucchini, spiral or finely chopped
Method
Eggplant
Preheat the oven to 200c.
In a large bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of oil with Italian herbs, salt and pepper.
Add the eggplant and coat throughly.
Transfer eggplant to a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in the oven. After 20 minutes, check the eggplant. If it’s dry, give it another spray with the oil and let it cook for another 20min. (40-50min all together).
Chickpeas
Drain and rinse chickpeas.
Dry with a paper towel.
Place chickpeas in a bowel and stir in oil, paprika, salt and pepper.
Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 15-20min on 200c.
Mixed veggies
In a large frying pan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic for a minute, then add the coriander, thyme leaves, salt and pepper and stir for another minute.
First throw in the asparagus and stir for a minute, then add the corn and stir for another minute. Continue to add vegetables and stir for a minute after each addition.
Avocado Pesto
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Put all vegetables in a large bowl and mix with avocado pesto.
Love,
Nava.
PS - I love hearing from you! Let me know how it went and feel free to spread the word/passion/love, the more the merrier!
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