If you’re like me, this time of year you’ll crave anything which does not remind you of festive foods. It is like your body is automatically programmed to detox. And this extends to drinking too. Green juice, herbal teas, plenty of filtered water and minimal alcohol is on my menu for the foreseeable future and it feels fantastic. Saying that, it is not always easy to find a wide enough variety of flavours when cooking green and healthy  – at times it can get a bit repetitive. Which is why I’m very excited about today’s recipe which is SO TASTY!!

Chipotle, or smoke-dried jalapeno peppers, is used extensively in Mexican cooking and American Tex-Mex dishes too. But used in a different context, in a dish brimming with organic vegetables and grains for example, it’s flavour takes on a whole different dimension. The subtle smokiness, which works wonderfully well in vegetarian cooking in general and this salad in particular, has an almost sweet quality which makes it terribly moorish. I cooked this for my mother this lunch time and we hardly spoke as we gobbled up every single morsel of the delicious salad. This  fantastic recipe came from the Swedish website Coop (Sweden’s version of co-op). You can add or take away ingredients to personalise this to your heart is content but try to stick to the dry roasted pumpkin seeds. They really do add a richness to the dish whilst being visually intriguing too. Serve alone or with a green salad and some fish. Simple, healthy, beautiful and delicious.

Sweet potato and quinoa salad with chipotle dressing (serves 4)

4dl red quinoa (or equal mix of brown rice and quinoa)

1 sweet potato

2tbsp organic rapeseed oil

1/2 tbsp Maldon salt or Himalayan salt

1 whole sweet corn

1 cucumber

1 big bunch coriander

1 dl pumpkin seeds

Black pepper to season

Dressing:

2-3 tsp chipotle paste (you can also soak the chipotle peppers and then puree into dressing)

1 dl olive oil

1 lemon, juice and peel

0,5 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tbsp palm sugar or 1-2 soaked medjool dates

How to:

Cook the quinoa according to instructions. Cube (peel if you like, I don’t) the sweet potato and place on a baking tray, mix with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the middle of the hot oven (250C) for about 15 minutes. Cut off the sweet corn from the cob and add to baking tray for the last five minutes. Peel the cucumber and cut in cubes. Chop the coriander roughly and roast the pumpkin seeds in a hot, dry pan until you have a dark golden colour. To make the dressing mix all the ingredients and blend with a hand mixer. When you are ready to serve, add all the ingredients together, including dressing, and add the roasted pumpkin seeds on top. Enjoy with a salad, some fish or just on its own. I hope you enjoy it. x