Roasted Sweet Potato And Cashew Pesto

I've had so much fun over the past few weeks experimenting with the fantastic MOO Dahi Indian style yoghurt.

This is my last recipe for the moment, but I can see that I'll be buying more of the Dahi in the future. It really is such a versatile yoghurt that you can use in sweet and savoury recipes, cooked and raw foods. Being low in sugar and quite mild in flavour, the Dahi is not too overpowering. Perfect when you want other flavours to dominate.

I'm calling this recipe a pesto, but it really is a chunky dip. With the lovely flavours of roasted sweet potato and garlic, nutty cashews and some tartness from the lemon and yoghurt, it is a great combination of flavours. If you find the pesto too thick for your liking, add a little more MOO Dahi and another drizzle of lemon juice. Nice and thick, this pesto would be perfect served with crackers and vegie sticks for an easy starter or nibble at a BBQ.

I served my pesto with golden pan-fried haloumi and a light salad of cherry tomato, avocado and baby spinach. You could even spoon it over pan-fried chicken fillets or fleshy white fish and then pop it into the oven for 5 minutes to warm through.

Use your imagination and see what wonderful ideas you can come up with!

Roasted Sweet Potato And Cashew Pesto

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic, skins on
1/2 cup cashews
1 1/2 cups MOO Dahi yoghurt
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Place sweet potato and whole garlic cloves on a baking tray and spray with oil spray.
Roast for approx 30 minutes or until the sweet potato is soft and the garlic is golden and bursting out of the skins.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

While the sweet potato is roasting, place cashews on a small tray and roast for 5 minutes, or until golden. Keep an eye on them as they can burn easily.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a small food processor, combine sweet potato, cashews, MOO Dahi and lemon juice.
Whiz until just combined. Season to taste.

To serve, place in a bowl with crackers and vegie sticks and use as a dip.

If you're feeling more creative, like I was, serve golden fried haloumi slices on the pesto with a light salad over the top. Perfect on a warm night when a lighter meal is in order.

Meat-free Monday

It's Meat-free Monday, which means another vegetarian meal in the eat quaff laugh household.
This time (shock horror!) I'm not cooking with haloumi, even though I really did want to!

Tonight I thought we'd go for vegie burgers with a bit of an Asian twist. I originally came across this recipe in a supermarket magazine and have made a few changes to it. The burgers are nice and dense, but not dry, due to the moist zucchini added to them. The chickpeas and cashews give a lovely texture and a bit of crunch. For extra crunch, roast the cashews first. I didn't have time today, but if you do, it's well worth the effort.

I used Jimmy's Sate sauce for the flavouring, but any sort of Asian curry paste would work well - Korma, red curry, Penang. Use whatever you happen to have a half used jar of in the fridge. The Jimmy's is quite strong, so I only needed one tablespoon. Depending on the strength of your paste, you might need a bit more. Add a little bit and then taste. It's easier to add extra than to try and take it away!

The zucchini adds some vegetable matter, but you could always use carrot, eggplant or sweet potato, if that's what you have. Harder vegetables will need to be grated first, otherwise they will be too chunky. The spring onions add a more Asiany flavour, but you could always use regular onion if you didn't want to go out and buy a whole bunch.

These burgers are really easy to make and because you need to set them aside in the fridge to firm up before you cook them, they are great made the day before. That leaves an easy fry up in the pan when you are ready to eat. For a slightly healthier version, spray with oil spray and bake in the oven until golden.

Serve the burgers in pita bread or your favourite wraps with the minted yoghurt, mango chutney and extra mint and salad leaves. They are also great on their own the next day, either cold or warmed slightly in the microwave.

Asian Vegie Burgers

2x400g tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup cashews, raw or roasted
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
1 egg
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 spring onions, trimmed and coarsely chopped white and green part
1 Tbs Jimmy's Sate or curry paste, or to your taste
A few large handfuls of mint
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Mango chutney, pita bread or wraps, mixed lettuce and extra mint to serve

In a food processor, combine chickpeas, cashews, zucchini, spring onion, sate sauce and mint. Whiz until coarsely chopped and combined. You still want a bit of texture, so don't over process.
Add 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and egg and blitz briefly to combine. Season to taste.
Shape handfuls into burgers and then press into remaining breadcrumbs to give a half coating.
Place on a linter tray and set aside in the fridge for at least 30 mins to firm up.
Heat a good drizzle of oil in a frypan over medium heat and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
To make mint yoghurt, combine yoghurt and chopped mint in a small bowl. Season to taste.

To serve, place pita bread on a plate, spread with mango chutney and top with a couple of burgers, a dollop of yoghurt, extra mint and mixed lettuce. Wrap up and enjoy.