Mammabake Quinoa and Roast Veg Salad

This is a Mamma bake, big batch style recipe.  It makes enough to feed 5 families for a meal!  Obviously this isn't a regular everyday thing to do, so you'll need to scale down as appropriate... but then it's always nice to have enough left over for lunches or as a side to another meal... :)

You do need to begin this recipe well in advance, in order to have time to cook and cool the quinoa before putting it all together.  The roast veg can still be warm if you are going to eat it straight away, but don't mix it through the greens hot if you're going to set aside until later or overnight!!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white Quinoa
1 cup red Quinoa
6 cups liquid Vegetable Stock
1 whole medium/large Butternut Pumpkin
1 large Sweet Potato
Olive Oil
Salt
Lots of mixed greens
Big bunch of Fresh Basil
4 largeish Lebanese Cucumbers
2 small Fennel Bulbs
1 cup of dried Chickpeas, soaked overnight and pre-cooked (or two tins strained and rinsed)
670g Jar of Sundried Tomato Halves
4 large avocados.

METHOD:
Cook Quinoa in the Vege Stock in a rice cooker or on the stove.
If cooking on the stove, place the Quinoa and stock into a large saucepan together with the lid on.
Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until liquid has been absorbed, 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200-220°C
Cut the Pumpkin and Sweet Potato into large bite sized chunks, and place into a large bowl.
Add Olive Oil and Salt and toss through.
Transfer to baking trays and spread evenly, roast for about an hour, turning the pieces over and around after about half an hour.
Keep a close eye on the roasting process, as individual ovens vary widely and cooking time will also be affected by the size of the pieces you have cut.

Once the Quinoa has completely cooled, you can begin assembly.
Roughly chop any large greens (kale, spinach, silverbeet, chard, broccoli leaves, lettuce) that you would like to use. Baby spinach can be left whole. The quantity and variety of greens can be varied greatly, but try to include a decent amount. They are SOOO good for you!!
Place the greens into the bottom of a large salad/serving/mixing bowl.

Place the cooled quinoa into a second large mixing bowl.
Chop the cucumbers, fennel and avocado into smalish pieces and add to the quinoa, along with the chickpeas.
Remove the sundried tomato halves from the oil (without discarding the oil), slice into smaller pieces and add them to the quinoa also.
Add cooled(ish) roasted veges and fresh basil.
Drizzle with a sundried tomato oil and balsamic vinegar, and toss to combine all ingredients and dressings well.

Add quinoa salad mix to the greens.  For presentation you might like to leave the quinoa mix sitting on top of / inside of the nest of greens, or you may like to toss the whole lot through!!

Enjoy immediately or within the next 24(ish) hours.

Wholemeal Apple Cake

At the Kindergarten we attend, a big fuss is made over birthdays.  Part of the special day includes baking a birthday cake in the Kindy.  Up until now, I had not wanted to interfere with the sacred ritual of birthday cake, so had accepted the non-vegan cake as an exception to our usual rules... anyway I finally had a chat to our teacher about what our options might be, and she asked me to give her a good cake recipe that they could try out... and here is the recipe I put together for her!

2 cups SR Wholemeal Flour
1 cup Coconut Palm Sugar
1 cup Rice (or other non-dairy) Milk
3 tbsp Linseed Meal, soaked in 9 tbsp filtered water
3 small Granny Smith Apples, cooked, pureed and allowed to cool
1 small Granny Smith Apple, cut into small pieces
1 small Granny Smith Apple, cut into slices for decoration

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Grease / line a 9 inch round cake tin.(approx)
Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients.
Stir until well combined, then add apple chunks and mix them in.
Pour mix into cake tin, and decorate the top with the apple slices.
I had a little fun and trimmed two of the slices to make a heart shape for the center of the cake :)
Bake 35-45 minutes, until cooked through.

Enjoy!!!