This vegetarian curry-style dish (a welcome change from Easter offerings) combines roasted apples and pears with sweet potato, spices, baby spinach and canned mixed beans in a chilli sauce (so convenient!). It’s served with cauliflower rice for extra health benefits and for those with larger appetites. You can of course now buy ready-prepared fresh and frozen cauliflower rice if you don’t want to make from scratch.
The good-for-you ingredients give you almost all your 5-a-day fruit and vegetable requirement! The recipe is also perfect for my new back-on-track regime since it has slow-burn complex carbs along with great protein, vitamins, minerals, loads of fibre, and moreover, taste. It’s also ideal for vegetarians and vegans. It can be pureéd or fork-mashed for the amber or soft stage of eating post surgery.
I like to serve with a little thick low-fat yogurt but it is optional.
CURRY-UP FRUIT & VEG SUPPER WITH CAULIFLOWER RICE
Ingredients
METRIC/US
1 pear, cored and cut into chunks
1 apple, cored and cut into chunks (I used South African Pink Lady variety)
1 tbsp lemon juice
800 g/1¾ lb sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
low-fat cooking spray or mist
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets
2 x 400 g/14 oz can mixed beans in chilli sauce
100 ml/½ cup vegetable stock/bouillon
1 tsp ground coriander
80 g/3 oz baby spinach
fat-free yogurt, to serve (optional)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F/gas 6.
- Toss the pear and apple in the lemon juice and put them in a large roasting pan with the sweet potato. Spritz liberally with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Add the garlic and cumin seeds and season with black pepper. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until tender.
- Meanwhile, put the cauliflower florets in a blender or food processor and blitz to give a fine, grain-like texture. Steam or simmer in a little water with a pinch of salt for 5-8 minutes. Drain if necessary and keep warm.
- At the same time, heat the mixed beans in a large saucepan with the stock/bouillon and ground coriander.
- Add the roasted fruits to the beans with the spinach and cook gently until the leaves have wilted.
- Serve hot with the prepared cauliflower rice and a little yogurt if liked.
SERVES 4
WLS PORTION: ½
V suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
CALORIES PER PORTION (with cauliflower rice): 410
PROTEIN: 17.1 g
CARBOHYDRATE: 81.7 g
FAT: 3 g
Image courtesy of http://www.beautifulcountrybeautifulfruit.com