Looking to veggify your summer? Former food editor of True Love, chef Mokgadi Itsweng, has just the summery veggie treats for you.
And here you thought that plant-based foods cost an arm and a leg.
Itsweng tells Health For Mzansi, “The idea that healthy food is expensive, is what holds us back from eating well. I try debunk that myth by showcasing recipes that are accessible and affordable in the South African context.”
Itsweng is also an avid gardener and celebrates her love for gardening making delicious recipes with her bountiful harvests of indigenous and often forgotten ingredients.
“Indigenous ingredients like Sorghum, wild food like Thepe [Amaranth], show the versatility of our South African ingredients and food.”
You can get versatile this summer with Mokgadi’s mighty sorghum salad and imphepo smoked cauliflower.
Mighty sorghum salad
Let sorghum be the hero. This salad aims to pack as many veggies onto your plate as possible. Itsweng tops with pomegranate seeds or even dried fruit like raisins or cranberries, or cheese and avocado for a good fatty punch.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups (500 ml) sorghum grain
8 carrots, sliced in half lengthways
2 whole sweetcorn, cut into ribs
3 baby marrows, sliced lengthways
200 g broccoli, cut into steaks Handful of coriander, chopped
Handful of mint, chopped
Handful of Italian parsley, chopped
½ cup (125 ml) pomegranate seeds
2 tablespoons (30 ml) Pickled onions (page 40)
Dressing
1 cup (250 ml) lemon juice
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) cumin
1 teaspoon (5 ml) honey
1 teaspoon (5 ml) crushed garlic 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ginger, grated
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
2. Cook the sorghum according to the packet instructions and leave to cool.
3. Place the carrots, baby marrows, broccoli steaks and sweetcorn ribs on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and grill for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, allow the veggies to cool, and set aside.
5. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together.
6. Mix half the dressing with the sorghum, and add the chopped herbs and pomegranate seeds.
7. Arrange the sorghum and vegetables on a platter, and top with the pickled onions and the remainder of the dressing before serving.
Impepho smoked cauliflower with red pepper sauce
Impepho or wild sage is an indigenous African herb that is widely used by traditional healers in spiritual prayer rituals. The herb is also used as an antifungal, antiseptic and anti-anxiety medicine. It adds so much flavour to any food it is smoked with. “I use a kettle braai for smoking, but you can follow the quick smoking hack that I have included in the recipe,” she says.
INGREDIENTS
1 whole cauliflower head
Handful of dried impepho herb, for smoking the cauliflower
1 garlic clove, crushed
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
2 red peppers, left whole
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon (15 ml) smoked paprika
¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon (15 ml) brown sugar Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of fresh parsley or thyme, chopped
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
2. Bring a saucepan of water with 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt to a boil, then add the cauliflower head. Cook for 10 minutes, then drain and set aside.
3. Smoke the cauliflower by placing a hot charcoal disk inside a small foil container, then adding a handful of dried impepho herb. When the impepho starts smoking, place it inside a kettle braai with the cauliflower. Close the kettle braai lid and allow to smoke for at least 10-15 minutes. Remove from the kettle braai and set aside.
Quick hack: Use your oven as a smoker. Place the impepho on an oven tray, light it and when it starts to smoke place the tray on the bottom rack of the oven. Then place the cauliflower on the rack directly above the impepho. Close the oven and allow to smoke for 5-10 minutes.
4. Mix the garlic with the olive oil and brush over the whole cauliflower. Season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until crisp on the outside.
5. While the cauliflower is roasting, make the sauce by first roasting the peppers in the oven until the skins are blackened.
6. Remove the peppers from the oven and place in a bowl, cover with clingwrap and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
7. Once cooled, peel the skins off and blend the peppers, then set aside.
8. Heat the oil, then add the garlic and paprika, and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat. Add the blended peppers and cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously to ensure that the sauce doesn’t stick and burn.
9. Add the lemon juice and brown sugar, cook for a further 2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
10. To serve, slice the cauliflower into steaks or leave whole, then place on a platter. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and top with chopped herbs.
