walnut and cumin muhammara
If there is someone in your life who thinks vegetarian food is bland, hand them a bowl of this and some charred flatbreads and give them 5 minutes. It’s a riot of flavours: musky sweetness from the peppers, earthy spice from the cumin and buttery depth from the walnuts. And it’s so versatile. I keep a jar of it in the fridge for spicing up pretty much any meal.
Pomegranate molasses is traditionally used here to add a sweet piquant roundness. Most larger supermarkets and Middle Eastern shops stock it, but if you can’t get your hands on it you can substitute a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon of date syrup, dark honey or agave syrup.
MAKES A GOOD JARFUL, ENOUGH FOR A CROWD TO DIP INTO
75g shelled walnuts
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 × 200g jar of roasted red peppers, or 3 freshly roasted red peppers, peeled, deseeded and chopped
2 slices of good brown bread, whizzed to breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons good-quality tomato purée
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon Turkish chilli flakes (see here) or a pinch of normal chilli flakes
juice of ½ a lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.
Put the nuts and cumin seeds on to a baking tray and roast for 6 minutes, until the nuts are just starting to turn golden and the cumin smells wonderful and has released its oils. Tip into a food processor and add the red peppers. Blitz to a paste, then add the breadcrumbs, tomato purée, pomegranate molasses, chilli flakes, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Blitz again until smooth.
With the mixer on, slowly pour in the oil and blitz until really smooth. Taste, season if needed, and blitz again. Keep tasting and balancing the flavours – you may need a bit more lemon juice, or more molasses and seasoning. Get it how you like it. This will keep well in the fridge for at least a week.
Ways to use your muhammara:
· For breakfast, spread on toast and topped with a poached egg.
· As a marinade for tofu or vegetables for barbecuing.
· Let down with a little oil as a dressing for roasted root veg, beetroots and squash.
· Piled on the side of a plate of lentils or beans, with a little yoghurt and some herbs.
Maple peanut California wraps
This wrap sustained me through a week in the desert, listening to music, a few years ago. Just the right combination of refreshing greens and vitamin-loaded carrot and good protein energy from tempeh and seeds.
But the crowning glory here is the sauce – it’s one of those sauces that hits every flavour level and leaves you wanting more. It’s good on a salad too. I have to say it has been known for me to eat two of these on the trot. They are that good. Super-quick to put together, these are a weekday lunch for me at least once a week and often make an appearance in summer for supper, with some roasted sweet potato wedges.
Tempeh is a cake of pressed soya beans. It is a great source of protein and works well in most recipes where you might use tofu. I buy my tempeh from my local health food shop. Tempeh is a fermented food, which actually makes it much easier to digest than other types of soya. Tempeh does need a bit of special treatment, such as this marinade, as its flavour is quite neutral. Firm tofu would work here too.
MAKES 4 WRAPS
4 wholemeal tortillas
2 carrots, grated
4 tablespoons mixed toasted seeds
4 handfuls of salad greens
FOR THE TEMPEH
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
200g tempeh, cut into 1cm slices
FOR THE PEANUT DRESSING
2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons miso paste
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1 lemon
Mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, olive oil and vinegar in a bowl. Add the tempeh and turn to coat in the marinade. Leave to one side.
Next, make the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together, with a tablespoon of water if it’s too thick, taste and check for balance, then set aside.
Heat a dry pan and fry the tempeh for a couple of minutes on each side until browned and starting to caramelise.
Warm the tortillas – I do this by holding them with tongs over a gas flame for a few seconds, but the oven or a dry non-stick pan will do too. To assemble each wrap, place some tempeh on each tortilla, top with a quarter of the grated carrot, seeds and greens, then add a quarter of the dressing. Repeat with the rest of the wraps.
HUMMUS
If your house is anything like mine, or those of most of my friends for that matter, then a lot of pots of hummus find their way into fridges and on to tables. I usually make my own, as I like being able to adapt the flavours to what’s going on at the time, seasons, moods and what else is in the fridge. The chickpea/tahini format can get a bit samey, so here are some offbeat versions you won’t find in the shops. The principle can be followed with pretty much anything, as long as you keep to roughly the same quantities of beans/citrus/seasonings below.
These recipes are a great way to use up leftover beans.
All these keep in the fridge for 5 days. Each recipe makes a good jarful.
DATE AND BLACK SESAME
•
1 × 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medjool dates, roughly chopped
juice of ½ a lemon
½ tablespoon miso paste
sea salt
2 tablespoons
