Tray salad with roasted Brussels sprouts, romanesco broccoli, haricot and clementines

I love cooking and serving simple food. Unpretentious, yummy and pretty food served in a relaxed way - like here straight from the tray! Invite family or friends for a hearty dinner, or make a whole tray for yourself and you’ll hade lunch boxes sorted out for the rest of the week!

Just a note before starting with the recipe. As fresh garden beans (such as haricot verts and sugar snaps) are brought to Sweden by airplanes from far away places (primarily Africa/South America) I always get frozen ones when the Swedish garden beans aren’t in season. They work perfectly fine! Almos same thing with Brussels sprouts - the frozen ones can be used when fresh ones aren’t available, however the Brussels sprouts aren’t flown here so whenever I can get hold of fresh ones I’d prefer them even if they come from other European countries.

Now, lets get cooking!

Tray salad with roasted Brussels sprouts, romanesco broccoli, haricot and clementines

Serves 4

Ingredients

250 grams Brussels sprouts

1 romanesco broccoli, or broccoli

250 grams haricot verts (use frozen thawed ones when fresh ones aren’t in season)

1 radish bundle

2 avocados

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

1 Tbsp cold pressed olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For serving

4 portions of any cooked whole grain such as naked oats, quinoa, sorghum or wild rice (optional)

Any kind of dip, optional. For example my Golden turmeric hummus, Green pea spinach dip or Ginger tahini dressing

How to

Pre heat the oven to 175°C.

Remove the bottom part of the Brussels sprout if necessary. Remove the outer leaves and set aside. Cut the bigger ones in half and put them all in a oven tray. Break the romanesco broccoli in to smaller florets, save the leaves - cut the thicker ones in smaller pieces. Put on the baking tray. Toss with a tiny bit of oil. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until veggies are tender and slightly crisp.

Steam the haricot verts (if using fresh ones) for 5-7 minutes, until al dente. If using frozen ones just thaw them.

Cut the radishes in half. Peel and cut the clementines in slices. Cut, deseed and scoop out the avocados and massage the Brussels sprout leaves with just a tiny bit of oil. Toss everything together with the baked veggies. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Serve with your choice of cooked whole grain!

Tahini and caramel mousse truffles with raspberries

Carob is a seed that comes from a brown pod of a tree of the same name, originally from the Mediterranean. The flavour is a bit similar to cacao - but with a more caramel touch to it. Except from the great flavour it's said to have quite a few health benefits such as; containing good fibers and minerals, contains a good amount of antioxidants and the seed is also naturally low in fat. Carob can normally be found in well stocked food stores, health food stores and online. However, if you cannot get hold of any carob, raw cacao would work just as fine. 

I like the truffles best properly chilled - close to frozen. Therefore I tend to always store them (if there are any left that is...) in the freezer. Which is good to make sure they stay fresh for as long as possible anyway!

The combination of a sweet yet light base, decadent caramel mousse and a dark chocolate top layer with hints of goji berries is just a prefect combination - time to get baking!

 

Tahini and caramel mousse truffles with raspberries

About 16 truffles

Buckwheat and coconut base

2 dl / 0.8 US cups whole buckwheat, soaked for 8 hours or over night

2 dl / 0.8 US cups grated coconut

8 fresh dates, pitted

1 pinch sea salt

Caramel mousse layer

1/2 dl / 0.2 US cups light tahini

1 dl / 0.4 US cups coconut cream

1 ripe avocado

1 1/2 dl / 0.6 US cups carob powder (to be found in well stocked food stores, health food stores and online)

1/2 tsp sea salt

8 fresh dates, pitted

Chocolate layer

1/2 dl / 0.4 US cups cold pressed coconut oil

1 dl / 0.8 US cups cacao (preferably raw)

1 pinch sea salt

1/2 dl / 0.4 US cups goji berries

How to

Drain and rinse the buckwheat carefully. 

Mix all the ingredients for the base in a food processor until everything comes together and gets a smooth texture. Cover a small baking tin with plastic film. Press the dough into the tin. Put in the freezer. 

Peel and deseed the avocado. Mix all the ingredients for the mousse in a high speed blender until completely smooth (could also be done in a good food processor, but might take some more time). Spread out the mousse over the base, put back in the freezer. 

Heat the coconut oil on low heat, you want it to be liquid but not hot. Add the cacao and salt and whisk together. Let cool. Drizzle over the mousse layer, making sure every bit gets covered. Add the goji berries on top. Put back in the freezer for at least 1 hour. 

Take out the cake from the freezer 15 minutes prior serving. Cut in to smaller pieces. Serve topped with fresh raspberries and fresh mint.

Enjoy! 

Photo by Fanny Hansson. Recipe originally published in The Gothenburg-Post/Två dagar in August 2018.