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.

Spring Salad

With the weather generally warming up, salads are becoming a lot more popular in the eat quaff laugh household. Melbourne has ridiculously variable weather in Spring, so one day it's hot, the next its cold and wet with thunderstorms. Trying to come up with appropriate food is impossible!

Salads for us at the moment tend to be a bit more substantial than the hot summer ones, because you still have an appetite and want something filling.

I love a good roasted vegie salad. Firstly, they taste good, but also I can roast the vegies the day before if I need to, so that it's really easy to toss the ingredients together when it gets to dinner time. If you are using pre-roasted vegies, you'll need to heat them up in the microwave or the oven so that they aren't too cold.

Roasting vegies always brings out a beautiful sweetness in them as they caramelise in the oven. My favourites are pumpkin, sweet potato, onion and beetroot, but you could really use whatever takes your fancy. Paired with some fresh greens, this makes a very satisfying meal.

I served this salad with a beautiful piece of crispy skinned salmon, but you could serve it with any sort of meat, or just on its own with some crusty bread and butter for a vegetarian option.

Roasted Vegie Salad

1 sweet potato

1 red onion

6 cloves of garlic, in the skins

A drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

A bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off

A big handful of baby spinach leaves

A big handful of rocket leaves

1Tbs or so of your favourite bought or homemade dressing (preferable an oil/vinegar mix, rather than creamy)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Prepare the sweet potato by peeling and then cutting into roughly 1cm thick slices. Cut these slices into halves or quarters, depending on the size of your sweet potato.

Peel the onion and cut into 8 wedges lengthwise.

Toss the onion, whole garlic cloves and sweet potato in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and then tip onto a baking tray.

Roast in the oven for 30 mins or until the onion and sweet potato are soft and browning around the edges. If the onion is cooked before the sweet potato, remove it from the oven when it's done.

Set the vegies aside to cool slightly.

Place the asparagus spears in a heat proof container. Pour boiling water over them and let them sit for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the spears.

Drain once they are tender and refresh under cool water. Cut the spears into half lengthways.

To make the salad, combine sweet potato, onion, garlic and asparagus in a bowl. Toss through rocket and baby spinach. Dress with your favourite dressing and season to taste.

Enjoy!