Dandelion greens risotto with raw hemp felafel

I don’t usually make my meals so multi-faceted. But every once in a while my brain lights up with a big idea and something like raw hemp falafel happens. And then all I can think about is emerald-colored foods with a better-for-you spin. Thus, quinoa risotto. And of course you need something sweet to round out all of these greens. Sweet potatoes it is!

Credit: Renee Byrd

• serves

  2-3

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2.5 cups water or unsalted vegetable stock
• 1 tpsp ghee or coconut oil
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• ⅛ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ⅛ tsp maple syrup
• coarse Celtic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup fresh picked young dandelion greens, washed thoroughly
• 1 cup young spinach leaves

Maple paprika caramelised sweet potatoes

• 900 g (about 2 lbs) sweet potatoes (I used 2 medium sized sweet potatoes), peeled and sliced into 5 mm-1 cm (¼-½ inch) thick rounds
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp maple syrup

To serve

• raw hemp felafel
• avocado slices
• seseame seeds

Cooling time: 10 minutes

Allow 10 minutes for making the raw hemp felafel

Instructions

For the caramelised sweet potatoes, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sweet potato rounds with the olive oil and sea salt. Spread the sweet potatoes out on the parchment lined baking sheet as best you can so that they're not overlapping. Bake for 25 minutes. While the sweet potatoes are baking, combine the smoked paprika and maple syrup in a small ramekin or cup.

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and drizzle the paprika-maple mixture over top, tossing the hot sweet potatoes with a wooden spoon. Bake 8-10 minutes more, until the sweet potatoes begin to caramelize – some might blacken and crisp up. You might want to hoard those bits to yourself because they're the best bites!

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, make the quinoa risotto. In a sauce pot cook the quinoa in water (or veggie stock) on medium-high heat, partly covered, for 25-30 minutes – or until the water has mostly cooked completely off. Stir occasionally.

Once the water has evaporated off, remove from heat and add the ghee, shallot, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and maple syrup. Stir everything together to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving add the dandelion greens and spinach to the hot quinoa. The heat will wilt the greens perfectly. Serve warm.

To serve, put it all together! I like to top the dandelion green quinoa risotto with more fresh greens, the maple paprika sweet potato rounds, avocado slices, chive blossoms, and a sprinkle of hulled sesame seeds, with the hemp falafel on the side.

Notes

• This quinoa risotto comes together faster than rice-based risotto. It makes for a great grain-free savory alternative! The cooking method here results in a creamy, soft consistency as opposed to the fluffy consistency you might normally be used to. You can also add ½ cup grated fresh parmesan if you'd like! 

• Be sure to collect dandelion greens from wild areas you can confirm were never sprayed with pesticides or weed killer! You want organic greens only here.

Recipe and image from Will Frolic For Food by Renee Byrd

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.