Our food isn’t merely a bunch of macronutrients, vitamins and minerals, it is way more complex than this.
Bioactive compounds present in plants form a small proportion of the food we eat.
These are not vitamins or minerals but they are very good for us. If you see a health claim on a particular food, it is almost always likely to be because of the bioactive compound.
Curcumin in turmeric is an example.
Bioactive compounds are especially high in herbs and spices and in different coloured vegetables.
This recipe capitalises on some of the best bioactive compound-containing ingredients to create an incredibly tasty (& fancy looking) dish.
In case you are not a fan, cauliflower is easily replaced with a baked sweet potato or a chunk of any roasted veg.
Ingredients for 2:
1 small cauliflower (1 large cauliflower will serve 4)
rapeseed oil
sea salt & black pepper
150g dry weight quinoa (or 1 ready-cooked quinoa pouch)
For the roasted red pepper sauce
1/4 of a tin of chopped tomatoes
2 peppers
1/2 jar of sun-dried tomatoes (75g drained weight)
For the chimichurri
1 bunch of parsley
1/2 bunch of oregano
1-2 shallots (dependant on size)
1 clove of garlic
1 red chilli, optional
1 lemon
Italian olive oil
For the hazelnut dukkah
1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
50g hazelnut (ideally blanched hazelnuts)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Put the cauliflower in an ovenproof dish with a lid and drizzle with oil or wrap it in tin foil.
Bake for 1 hour, until the cauliflower is soft and fully cooked through.
Cook the quinoa according to packet instructions and season well with sea salt and black pepper.
To make the dukkah, put all of the ingredients on a small ovenproof roasting tray and roast for 10 minutes. The spices should become fragrant and the hazelnut golden in colour.
Allow it to cool completely then pulse in a blender to roughly break the ingredients up.
To make chimichurri, finely chop all of the ingredients aside from the lemon and transfer them to a bowl.
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, a pinch of sea salt and stir in enough olive oil to give it the consistency of pesto.
Taste and add more lemon if needed.
To make the roasted red pepper sauce, cut the sides of the pepper off and lay them on a roasting tray, skin side up. You should have 4 flat pieces per pepper.
Put the pepper slices under a hot grill and grill them until the skin blackens and blisters.
Take them out and allow them to cool.
Once they are cool enough to handle, peel off the blackened skin and transfer the pepper pieces to a blender.
Add 1/2 jar of drained sundried tomatoes and a 1/4 of a tin (100ml) of chopped tomato.
Blend until completely smooth.
To serve, put 2 tablespoons of the roasted red pepper sauce on a plate and swirl to form a circle.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of quinoa, a 1/4 or 1/2 of the roasted cauliflower.
Top with a couple of tablespoons of chimichurri and a tablespoon of the hazelnut dukkah.