Wrap up of the My New Roots Challenge and Potluck!

Jul 4, 2015My New Roots Challenge0 comments

Well, before I get started with my Minimalist Baker 21 day Challenge, starting tomorrow, I realized I better dust off my to-do’s and finally wrap up my last challenge! I am sorry to have kept you waiting so long.  I will do my best to keep this short and sweet, and get into the meat of the material.

A couple recipes left to review: the mint pea dip, the flax crackers (found in recipe bundle) and the summer abundance bowl.  I will also do a short review on the recipes used in my wrap up My New Roots Potluck, hopefully giving some of you some good material for 4th of July or other weekend festivities!IMG_6783 This mint pea dip, served with the flax crackers, was a nice change of pace from hummus which I’ve seemed to tired my taste buds out of.  I really enjoy the dip itself, as it’s fresh and light, and the mint added gives it an almost middle eastern flair to it.  It really is nice on crackers, I also had it with crudite which was also nice.  I think it could work on anything most likely!  The ingredient list is minimal, and the prep work is very light for this one as well.  I used tahini in mine and highly recommend it.  I really don’t have any negative things to say about this dip!IMG_6773_2I served it many of the days with flax crackers, made from the my new roots recipe bundle (you had to pre-order her cookbook to get this, but I may be able to ask for the recipe if anyone is interested).  The picture above isn’t anything glamorous, I tended to scarf down the crackers before any good photos were taken.  I really liked the taste and texture of these crackers, and they weren’t that difficult to assemble, however it does take a lot of flax to make them, and some time to roll out each piece of dough and add the toppings you want.  I made the savoury version with green onion.  I am really tempted to try the apple cinnamon ones next!  Anyone else tried these?


Screen Shot 2015-07-03 at 9.17.19 PMAll in all a great little snack, especially for those warm summer days when you just need something light and refreshing but also full of great omega 3’s (flax seeds) to get you through the day.  I dig it!

Last meal I am doing a thorough review of, is the Early summer abundance bowl.  This one really pulled at my heart strings.  I try to eat dairy and gluten free as much as possible, but nothing quite gets me like a mean block of halloumi cheese.  If you allow cheese in your diet and haven’t tried it yet, I beg you to drive/walk/bike to your nearest grocery store right now and pick up a block! It is best fried, and tops salad really nicely.  I never thought of making a buddha bowl and topping it off with it! This bowl is really hearty, with many different flavours present.  Sarah B., you have out down yourself yet again.  I used up the leftover freekah from the freekah pancakes, added some spinach, avocado, slivered beets and harissa chutney (also in recipe).  Such a great combination of flavours! The chutney took some time to assemble, but it made quite a bunch so I froze half of it.  This bowl keeps really well, and is great for lunch the next day.  You don’t even really need to heat it up!
IMG_6745_2
IMG_6741All in all another great meal! The cost really is high on this one, freekah being a fairly unique grain it can get costly depending on where you find it (for me it was at a high end organic grocery store).  Halloumi in my neighbourhood is around 8-10$ a block, but a little goes a long way!

Screen Shot 2015-07-03 at 9.28.11 PM

Finally for a wrap up of my My New Roots Potluck Picnic I hosted a few weeks back, to end the challenge.  It was so much fun, there were seven of us, with quite an assortment of delicious meals. Included was:

  1. Raw Brownies
  2. Fattoush Salad with Za’atar
  3. Black Bean Chocolate Chili Cherry Cookies
  4. Life Changing Loaf of Bread
  5. Chilled Parsley and Pea Soup
  6. Lemony Leeks with Chickpea and Feta
  7. Garbanzo Bean Salad with Mexican Mango Dressing

IMG_6840_2As you can see, there was an abundance of food at the event.  I made sure to carefully label each dish and let the participants really take a good look before diving in, presentation was half of it! Being the grad student I am, I came equipped with marking criterium, to measure best presentation, best overall recipe, and most interesting ingredients.  Everyone came prepared with a good palette and a critical eye!
IMG_6833_2 Here is a nice smorgasbord of the many items on my reusable tupperware.  I really enjoyed all the meals, they were all great for a potluck and had such an abundance of healthy proteins.  As a vegetarian or vegan who often goes to potlucks, my pet peeve is leaving feeling hungry or unsatisfied.  There was none of that here!IMG_6825IMG_6832_2 Here is a nice close up of the Fattoush Salad.  This won best ‘overall recipe’.  It was super unique with very interesting flavours, the zaa’tar spice was new for me which I found very intriguing.  And it had a great overall presentation.  A true crowd pleaser among the group!IMG_6831 The pea soup was a surprising favourite of mine (I think the group agreed as well).  I am not really a fan of cold soups, but this one really held it’s weight with a thick pea base and some really refreshing flavours.  Another great potluck idea as it’s cold, and easy to dish out.

IMG_6830 The black bean cherry cookies won for most interesting ingredients.  The black beans add density and richness to the cookies without adding on too much fat and adding an extra dose of fibre and protein.  The smoked paprika sprinkled on top just hit the ball in the park.  Also, dried cherries? So unique and such a wonderful added taste.IMG_6828_2Above is the mango salad, so refreshing and the dressing is so lovely and sweet, combining really well with the crunchiness of the carrots and the juicy crispy jicama root (I need to cook with this more often!)
IMG_6827 IMG_6826Last but not least, the lemony leeks won the prize for best presentation.  Just look at what my friend Holly did with this one.  I have never had a salad primarily with leeks before but I really enjoyed it.  A nice amount of crisp, but because the leeks are cooked it is not terribly onion-y on the tongue.

I hope you all try these recipes at home for your next potluck! We rated them all super high, it was so hard to pick our favourites!

That ends my My New Roots Challenge Reviews! On to the Minimalist Baker Challenge tomorrow!

xoxo Hannah