Stuck for ideas for a nourishing autumn dinner or lunch? Try nutty brown rice, soft-roasted kumara and pumpkin, walnut and feta, topped with a tasty dressing.
It's part of a repertoire of healthy treats at Ripe Deli in Auckland, a quiet success that's led to two cookbooks and steady traffic at the deli's Grey Lynn HQ.
This week's recipe was first published in Ripe Deli owner and chef Angela Redfern's new cookbook "Ripe Recipes - A Fresh Batch" (Beatnik Publishing, 2013). Enjoy!
Serves 6 to 8
• 1 cup (200g) brown rice
• 2 carrots, peeled, chopped chunky
• 1 large orange kumara, chopped chunky
• ¼ (700g) crown pumpkin, chopped chunky
• 2 red onions, peeled, chopped chunky
• zest and juice of 2 oranges
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup (120g) walnuts, roughly chopped
• 125g feta cheese
• 1 cup (40g) fresh italian parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup (40g) baby spinach
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Grease and line a large roasting tray.
3. Cook the brown rice.
4. Into the large roasting tray, place the carrots, kumara, pumpkin and red onion.
5. In a small bowl add the orange zest and juice, fennel seeds, brown sugar, olive oil and salt. Mix well. Pour over the vegetables and toss to coat.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Add the walnuts and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the walnuts are toasted and vegetables are cooked through.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
7. To prepare the dressing: place all the ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well.
8. Into a large mixing bowl place the roasted vegetables and walnuts, add the rice, feta, parsley and spinach. Drizzle over the dressing, gently toss to mix through.
9. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving dish.
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