Thursday 17 May 2012

WW Beetroot, chickpea, tomato and kale bowl

Summer suits a quick meal after work.  It is just the weather to throw vegies together in a salad or stirfry.  Winter is harder when I find myself rushing home and haven't prepared dinner.  I want to roast and simmer and bake.  So with the darker night and cooler days, dinner is more often served later.

This bowl of vegies was inspired by Wendy's Roasted Beetroot Salad, Joanne's Spicy Lentils with Sweet Potato and Kale, and Kari's Maple and Balsamic Roast Vegetables and Tofu.  Yet I didn't follow any of their recipes.  I took my vegies from the farmers market and adapted a marinade I had used before.  Don't the stripey golden beetroot look fascinating!  If I was asked to name that vegetable I would call it a Tiger Beetroot.
 
When I made this bowl of vegies a couple of weeks back, not only were the meal times a little out, but so was Sylvia's sleeping.  She had had one of those odd nights when she seemed to go down really early and then rose as we were about to go to bed and was wide awake for hours, no matter what we did.  So it was followed by a night when we were doing that delicate balancing act of trying to judge whether to give her more or less sleep.  Less sleep won out.

The upshot was that she was still sitting up with us when we ate dinner later than usual.  She had already picked at her own dinner.  However she decided she loved the chickpeas - not surprising given that they had the smoky sweet flavours of the tofu bacon that she loves so much.  With an eye for detail of a fussy child, she was unnerved by the mustard seeds.  I scraped off a few and then told her to just eat them. 

I had thought the vegies would last a couple of nights but the three of us polished off the lot.  After dinner I made a huge batch of pea soup so that the following night we could come home and just heat up our meal rather than having a long wait. 

I am sending this post to Ricki's Wellness Weekends.  Hop on over to check out lots of great ideas for healthy vegan and sugar-free dishes.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: CC Moody Blues - the juice and the colour
Two years ago: St Nigel's Brownies
Three years ago: Pumpkin Hummus
Four years ago: Condensed Milk: Heirloom Comfort Food
Five years ago: Pear Cake for the absent bride and groom

Beetroot, chickpea, tomato and kale bowl
serves 2

 
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 large beetroot, peeled and diced
250g cherry grape tomatoes
400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 large bunch of black kale, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed

Marinade:
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp seeded mustard
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp liquid smoke
dash of cayenne pepper
Simmer beetroot for 15 minutes on the stovetop in a medium saucepan and then roast in 1 tbsp olive in a hot oven for about 30-45 minutes or until soft (mine didn't get soft after 45 minutes but I blame my slow old oven).  

Meanwhile fry onions for 15-20 minutes over medium to high heat until nicely browned.  Add kale and garlic and fry another 15-20 minutes or until kale is well cooked.  

Meanwhile, make marinade by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl.  Set aside two tablespoons of marinade and add remainder to kale and cook a few minutes.  The marinade should still be in pools at the bottom of the frypan when you turn off the heat and will create a lovely sauce.

When beetroot is just soft but not too crisp, add chickpeas and tomatoes and a couple of tbsp of marinade with a pinch of salt and roast another 10 - 15 minutes.

Pile kale in a bowl and spoon beetroot, chickpeas and tomatoes over the top.

On the Stereo:
Snowflakes are Dancing - Tomita

20 comments:

  1. I love your variation on these flavours and can see how they would pair beautifully with kale. I also love the tiger beetroot (perfect name!), and am rather wishing we had this for dinner tonight. I can see how you didn't have enough for leftovers!

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    1. Thanks Kari - I think the strong flavours were good with kale - I am still a bit unsure of how to use it but this worked well

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  2. The flavours in the marinade sounds great to me, I adore roasted beetroot and haven't had it in ages. The tiger beetroot is very striking, I've never come across it before.

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    1. Thanks Mel - I love roast beetroot - the 'tiger beetroot' is actually a golden beetroot and the stripes only seemed to be really prominent when I roasted it which I found odd

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  3. Hehe Sylvia's antics always amuse me! I guess she sees everything as new, even mustard seeds!

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    1. Thanks Lorraine - she really isn't into seeds - and I love them - so I find my loyalties wavering - but agree that a lot is new to her

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  4. I would eat all of this in a heartbeat!!

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    1. Thanks Love2dine - I was actually surprised at how quickly it disappeared

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  5. That looks so yummy, and golden beetroot is wonderful :)

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    1. Thanks Rachel - this was my first bunch of golden beetroot and I am smitten

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  6. Oh dear, the unpredictability of children! Don't they just know how to make you exhausted! This looks like a wonderful dish. I"m a big fan of chickpeas and I think the way you have cooked them would bring out amazing flavours xx

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    1. Thanks Charlie - unpredictability is exactly the right word for sylvia - but at least she loves chickpeas too :-)

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  7. This is exactly my type of dish! Oh gosh, sometimes reading your posts I realise how much I'm definitely not ready for kids yet! :P (Sylvia is gorgeous, of course, I don't mean anything to the opposite! More that I have a hard enough time sleeping myself, without anyone else to worry about :) )

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    1. Thanks Hannah - some nights sylvia really doesn't make it easy to sleep but there are compensations because she is cute - though I don't think you need to be ready to have kids and if it means you sleep better that is probably a good thing!

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  8. I love that this is a mishmosh of a few different recipes and yet it's totally your own. sounds like a tasty summery meal to me!

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    1. Thanks Joanne - any meal that means roasting stuff in the oven for a long time doesn't seem summery - but I can also see what you mean because it is so full of fresh flavours with the veg

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  9. Lovely looking beetroot, and I can see why you'd want it to be called tiger beetroot!It looks like a really colourful dinner too, and I do love roasted vegies. Delicious.

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    1. Thanks Caroline - I love dinners that are created around roasted vegies

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  10. This is such a pretty colourful dish.

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    1. Thanks Cakelaw - agree the colours are lovely

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