Apart from discussing important topics like if it’s worth climbing a mountain of bureaucracy to change baby Gabriel’s name (long story…), if we would be much happier running a smoothie bar on a small tropical island than living in a cold and dark Stockholm (obviously that is a yes), and how ALL of Elsa’s leggings suddenly have huge tears around the knees (she swears that she is innocent), we have also spent the past week playing around with this super simple recipe based on root shoestrings.
It turns out that if you spiralize (check notes below if you don’t have a spiralizer) root vegetables, toss them in a little bit of oil and salt, arrange into tangled nests and roast for 25 minutes, you get something similar to rösti or hash browns. These little root tangles are quick, cheap and easy, they are crispy towards the edges and soft in the middle, contain a lot more nutrients than just potatoes and since they are baked instead of pan-fried, they don’t cause a smoke alarm situation in the kitchen. Not to mention how pretty they look with the different colors combined.
Our kids devour them straight from the plate (they call them root fries) and we have been using these root tangles as a base for a bunch of meals lately. In this recipe we’ve topped them with yogurt and a herby chickpea salad, which is perfect as you get something creamy, a few greens and proteins along with the roots. But they also work well paired with avocado mash, hummus or with a poached egg, asparagus and spinach on top, for an Easter twist.
Instead of trying to convince you with words, we did a little recipe video for our youtube channel that shows how it’s done. Press play!
We always have so much fun making these videos, can’t believe it’s been seven months since we last did one – that needs to change.
You can basically use any roots or hard vegetable of preference to make these – beetroot, potato, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, turnip and even butternut squash. If you choose organic, you don’t have to bother peeling them. It actually tastes better with the peel left on, just like sweet potato fries. You can obviously flavor these root tangles in lots of ways. Try tossing them with cinnamon or sumac, or add vinegar for an acidic twist. If you prefer them crisp all the way through, you can spread them out on the trays instead of arranging them like nests.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can use a julienne peeler or the coarse side of a box grater instead (you can place the grated roots in muffin tins if you like them to hold together better). Although a spiralizer is pretty fun tool to have at home. It doesn’t cost much and it’s great for making vegetable noodles and slices that can be used in pasta dishes, salads or thai noodle dishes.
Roasted Root Tangles with Yogurt and Chickpea Salad
Serves 4
1 1/2 lb / 750 g mixed roots (we used 1 sweet potato, 3 beetroots, 1 parsnip)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Herby Chickpea Salad
2 cups mixed baby leaf lettuce
4 sprigs cilantro / coriander
4 sprigs fresh mint
1 x 14 oz / 400 g can chickpeas / garbanzo beans
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 lemon, juice
To serve
1 cup Turkish yogurt or coconut yogurt
1 avocado
2 tbsp mixed sesame seeds
sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), store-bought or homemade (we are sharing three varieties in our new book)
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F and grease or place baking paper on two baking trays. Rinse the roots and scrub off any dirt. Trim off the edges, attach to a spiralizer and make noodles/ribbons/shoestrings (or use a julienne peeler or box grater). Drizzle with olive oil and salt and toss and mix so all root ribbons are combined. If you have very long ribbons, you can cut them with a scissor to make it easier to mix. Arrange the tangled ribbons into nests and place on the baking tray, make sure that there aren’t too many loose ribbons on the sheet or they will burn quicker. Roast for 25-30 minutes or until crispy on the outside but not yet burnt. While the roots are roasting, prepare the salad.
Chop the herbs and mix with the lettuce. Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly and add them to the lettuce. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil, lemon juice and sea salt. Toss and mix. Divide the avocado into quarters, remove the stone and use a sharp knife to slice each quarter thinly.
Remove the roots from the oven. Arrange 2-3 root tangles on each plate. Add a dollop of yogurt on each root tangle, top with salad, sliced avocado, sesame seeds and a spoonful of sauerkraut.
Enjoy!
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PS! Today Green Kitchen At Home is released in Australia! And in just three weeks it will launch in the UK and next month in the US. Exciting!
Here are some links in case you would like to order or pre-order it: Amazon.co.uk (UK). Amazon.com (USA). Booktopia.com (Australia & NZ).
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