Quinoa, black beans and roasted carrots with whipped tahini and harissa pine nuts.

(A new take on a previous recipe)

 For the quinoa:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups vegetable stock

1 x 400g tin black beans

1 large garlic clove peeled and grated

2.5cm piece ginger peeled and grated

1 tsp salt

1 heaped tsp cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

10 dates, quartered

 For the carrots:

500g carrots

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp cumin seeds

Salt and pepper

For the whipped tahini:

1 garlic bulb

120g tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Cold water to loosen

Salt and pepper

For the harissa pine nuts:

40g pine nuts

40g plant based butter

1 tsp harissa paste

Fresh coriander and parsley to garnish

Method:

Heat oven to 200 deg Celcius

-          Prep garlic: slice off top of bulb, drizzle with oil and pinch of salt then wrap tightly in foil.

-          Roast carrots: spread carrots on baking tray, drizzle with oil, scatter over cumin seeds, season well and toss to coat. Place garlic on tray with carrots. Roast for 30min until carrots are tender and caramelised.

-          Combine quinoa, stock, beans, garlic, ginger, salt and spices. Cook in rice cooker until done.

-          Squeeze roasted garlic into blender (or use stick blender) with tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Blend with 4 tbsp cold water until pale, thick and whipped, adding more water until smooth and spreadable.

-          Melt butter in small pan over medium heat, add pine nuts and cook 1 min until golden, stir in harissa then remove from heat.

-          To serve: spread tahini on plate, top with quinoa/beans and carrots, scatter over dates and parsley then generously drizzle over pine nut butter.  Top with chopped coriander.