It has now been a week since my My New Roots 21 day challenge. I had to jump into school when I finished (I defended my masters thesis on friday!). I have enjoyed 99% of the recipes I have made, and have learned so much about new ingredients and whole meals because of Sarah, from My New Roots. I was chatting with my other foodie friend about this the other day, the only real criticism I would say about My New Roots as a lot of the recipes take time, they are not great if you want simple, fast recipes, and they challenge you to think outside of the box. That being said, all the recipes make many portions, and if you like the result, doubling the recipe can result in some great leftovers (and I have found most are freezer friendly too!). The breakfast bars are a great recipe in that they make many portions, you can freeze and take out for the day for a mid day snack.
The Butternut Squash Macaroni and Tease is another one of those recipes that takes a bit of time to prepare: you have to bake the butternut squash, soak and cook beans (unless you want to buy canned), prepare the sunflower seed crumble, make the sauce and then bake it. What I think would be super helpful is if Sarah posted the overall time the recipe takes, and if there is prep work involved. That being said, this is one of the best ‘fake’ make and cheeses that I have tried.
The butternut squash is super rich, sweet and has the perfect amount of orange colour to make a cheesy sauce, and the beans add the protein and fibre that cheese has. I wasn’t particularly fond however of the texture the beans added to the sauce, it added a bit of a powdery aftertaste – if that makes sense. I would like to try this again with another form of protein, I’m thinking maybe a soft tofu? It may not even need it if you add a complete protein on the side. However, with the beans, there is 18.8g of protein in the overall meal, which is quite substantial for a vegan meal (Nutritional info found here).
What I really like about this, is the amount of servings it makes. As you can see, there was enough for a huge casserole dish, and then some… it made more sauce then needed, and some extra crumble as well. I froze over half of it for quick meals during the week. It also creates a fairly low budget meal, with the amount of servings – I probably spent about $7.00 on the entire meal (and had about 7 servings!). So sometimes the time is worth it!
I gave this meal a 33.5/40 – not bad for a longer preparation meal!
Another meal I want to review and share with you today, is the Multigrain Carrot Cake Porridge with Pecan Crunch, found in the My New Roots cookbook p. 76. I was intrigued by this recipe as you let oats sit in carrot juice overnight, and can eat either raw or slightly heated, mixed with grated carrots, warming spices (cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove), raisins, and topped with pecan crunch, yogurt (or vegan substitute) and flaked coconut.
I was pleasantly surprised with the result. It was definitely a bit liquidy in the morning, but once I added the grated carrots and coconut, it soaked up the liquid and was able to get thick. I really liked the wonderful carrot taste, and the pecan crunch was phenomenal. It was a nice change to regular oatmeal, however I do feel like it was a bit of work to create, and a juicer was needed to get the fresh carrot juice. I also would think that chia seed would add to the thickening component the next day (and prevent you from having to heat it up).
Here is my review of the porridge, the second time I made it had a lot more carrot pulp than the first time and I think I would stick to the lower end of carrot pulp, so it doesn’t taste overly carrot – it.
Stay tuned for more updates shortly!
xoxo Hannah