Sweet Potato & Curry Hummus

I'm currently "in-between" jobs in Australia and spending a great deal of time in the kitchen. We have been hitting up the farmer's markets and last week got a giant bag of sweet potato's for $2. (I should probably mention it was actually my boyfriend's parents who got them while we were at the beach... haha). So I went onto Pinterest earlier this week and searched for anything with sweet potatoes... I found lots of great stuff but I wanted something healthy so I chose to make the hummus.

There were tons of great recipes so I used a combination of a few of them. Hummus is great because you start with a can of chickpeas and then add pretty much anything you like! Garlic, lemon and tahini seem to be a good base with the chickpeas and then add anything else! I'm hoping to try a few more varieties next week too!

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas (15oz)
• 1 roasted sweet potato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (roasted)
• 1 tablespoon of tahini
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of curry powder (I used Madras Curry Powder)
• dash of cayenne pepper
• salt/pepper to taste
• Crushed cashews for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Place 1 sweet potato on cooking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until tender. You can also roast the garlic at this time.
3. Let sweet potato cool and then peel off skin and cut into pieces.
4. Place all ingredients (except water) into food processor and mix on low.
5. Slowly add the water a little bit at a time until it is the consistency you want.
6. Add crushed cashews for garnish.
7. Store in fridge for up to 5 days.

Butternut Squash, Pecan, Spinach & Quinoa Bowl

So this is going to be my first post in a long seven months. I took a bit of a hiatus as Nathan was kindly 'asked to leave' Canada for a few months. He headed back to Australia and I joined him for an awesome vacation over the Holidays in December. He is now back here in Canada and I thought it was time to try a few fun new recipes.... So things turned out alright in the end (as I've heard they always do) and now it's time to move on and start some more food bloggin!

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided right then and there that I had to try it ASAP. It is a pretty simple salad using roasted butternut squash, pecans, hummus and any veggies you have around. We added tofu since I had some in the house and thought it would be a nice addition. Not necessary though. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 cup cubed tofu (grilled)
• 1 cup steamed spinach (or swiss chard or kale)
• 1/4 cup roasted pecans
• 1 cup hummus (homemade or store bought)

Directions

1. Cook quinoa according to directions, using vegetable stock for half the water (optional) and adding 2 teaspoons curry and brown sugar to the pot before cooking
2. Coat squash with olive oil, white sugar, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon curry and salt to taste. Roast in 400F oven for 30 min or until tender.
3. Add squash, cilantro, tofu and spinach to the cooked quinoa and toss gently to combine. Top each bowl with pecans and hummus.

Enjoy!!

Adapted from: http://pinchofyum.com/spicy-sweet-squash-bowl