Healthy veggie-packed meal with falafel

Print Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Gut-friendly, Healthy, Mediterranean

Ingredients

For the Vegetable dish

1 bag baby potatoes (approx. 500g)
2 bags chard (approx. 400g)
parsnips (approx. 500g)
2 bunch spring onions
1 pack halloumi
2 packs falafel, shop bought (approx. 400g)
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari for a gluten-free option)

For the Tomato sauce

2 large tomatoes
100 ml tomato passata
2 cloves garlic grated
1 tsp thyme dried
1 tsp oregano dried
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp cumin powder
50 g sourdough bread (approx. 2 slices)
25 ml apple cider vinegar
100 ml olive oil extra virgin

Instructions

Parboil the baby potatoes in salted water for 7 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain well.
In the meantime, peel and cube the parsnips.
Place the boiled potatoes, cubed parsnips and whole tomatoes in an oven tray. Sprinkle some olive oil, nutmeg, turmeric and salt over the root veg. Sprinkle some olive oil and salt over the tomatoes. Roast for 15min at 180 degrees until tender.
While the root veggies are roasting, prepare the chard. Clean the chard leaves under running water. Slice the chard stems and leaves crosswise into pieces of your desired size. Boil in salted water for 5 minutes.
Drain well the cooked chard. Toss the chard in a pan with some olive oil and soy sauce and cook for 5 minutes until the flavours are well mixed.
Pan roast the halloumi. Reserve.
For the tomato sauce, peel the skin off the tomatoes. In a blender, blend the garlic cloves, spices, tomatoes, tomato passata, vinegar and bread until you get a smooth sauce. Season to taste.
To serve, in a large serving plate place first the root veg, then scatter the chard and halloumi. Toss in the tomato sauce (make sure is heated).

Notes

This is a nutritionally balanced vegetarian meal for children. It contains all food groups and natural plant fibres and feeds the family on a budget.

If you make double portions, it can keep in the fridge for a few days. You may use leftovers in other dishes too. Sometimes, I use root veg for morning omelettes or just blend them to a soup for when the kids come back from school.

Keyword dairy-free, gluten-free, gut-friendly recipe, meat free recipe, plant-based family meal, vegan recipe