What We Ate Wednesday--Saucy Mushrooms and Kale with Roasted Sweet Vegetables

Hello Lovelies! Last week I talked about what I made with the 19p carrots and parsnips I got at Lidl on their Easter holiday sale. Last week I made savoury lentils and roasted sweet vegetables, but this week it's Saucy Mushrooms and Kale with Roasted Sweet Vegetables. The veg stays the same (because why mess with perfection?) but the main bit changes. I use mushrooms here as they are dead cheap and are a good source of, Folate, Iron, Zinc, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Potassium, Copper and Selenium just to name a few. Plus they are a wicked source of Vitamin D. But, if you are of the allergic persuasion like my friend Michelle, then you can substitute chickpeas for the mushrooms.

Saucy Mushrooms and Kale with Roasted Sweet Vegetables
Note: this sauce is based on one from Dreena Burton's cookbook Plant Powered Families. She uses it as a coating for making kale chips, but i don't have a dehydrator or the patience to do it in the oven, so we just use it as a sauce.

The sauce:
6 TB Nutritional yeast flakes
1 TB tahini
1 TB lemon juice
2 tsp tamari of soy sauce
1 tsp liquid sweetener (like agave, maple syrup or golden syrup)
1/4 tsp (smoked) sea salt
2 TB water to thin

To make the sweet vegetables;
1.Heat your oven to 220C/425F and preheat your pan. 
Slice your parsnips and carrots into baton shapes and place them in a large bowl. 
3. Then add 1 Tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper to taste.
4. When the oven is hot, remove the pan and pour pour veg into the hot pan (hear that sizzle!) and roast in a hot oven until brown and caramelised (30 minutes stirring half way) and then drizzle on a tablespoon of maple syrup or other liquid sweetener and cook for 2 minutes longer. Don’t overcrowd the pan or they’ll steam and not brown. I use 2-3 parsnips and 2 carrots. 

Meanwhile, do the rest. You need:
1 onion, diced
half a pepper, diced
12 button mushrooms, diced
2-3 cloves of crushed garlic
100g curly kale (4 cups or thereabouts we use half of a 200g bag), destemmed and torn into bits
1. Cook the onion and garlic in a splash of oil.
2. Add the mushrooms and pepper and cook until the mushrooms release their water.
3. Add the kale and cook until reduced and bright green (add a splash of water if needed) and then add the sauce and stir to coat.
4. When the sauce is hot,serve over brown rice with the roasted sweet vegetables.

It is a good combination of sweet and savoury. It is certainly a way to make kale more appealing for those who might be reluctant to try the leafy green stuff. I am sure this would have won me over as a child and I was a pretty hardcore veggie hater.

Which is only funny now as I am a veggie lovin', tree huggin' activist.