Contrasting colours bring life to a recipe 🙂
I love the Raw food movement however I could never fully commit to a raw diet, there is too much I love about cooking! However it is undeniable that raw vegetables are very healthy for you so I try to incorporate something raw into my day when and where I can. I like the contrast between raw and cooked food – just think about how nice a fresh salad is next to your lasagna or spaghetti Bolognese!
I couldn’t put this recipe forward as a Meat Free Monday post because those recipes are there to say “Hey look how easy vegetarian cooking is” and this recipe is a bit experimental to say “Hey look how creative vegetarian cooking can be!” I’ve always seen people use leaves as a wrap and I think it looks fantastic. I saw these gorgeous sweetheart cabbages in the supermarket and couldn’t resist buying them, however they can have quite a tough stalk running up the middle so look for a younger tender leaf and if you don’t fancy it then swap it for a large lettuce leaf or some collard greens.
Wonderful Dark Green Cabbage Leaves
I love roasted carrots with everything, sometimes I mix them in with potato wedges for more flavour and colour, they’re great with zesty pesto, fragrant cumin, spicy paprika or even simply salt and pepper. I will never boil a carrot again because the flavour of a roasted carrot is much deeper and the texture softer. The key with these carrots for this recipe is to add the spice at the beginning to let it all soak into the carrot but don’t add the garlic and ginger until nearer the end otherwise it will burn.
The spicy Moroccan carrots contrast brilliantly with the fresh lemony cous cous.
Makes 2 Wraps (with left over cous cous if your leaves are a bit smaller)
100g or 1/2 cup Cous Cous
5 or 6 long thin carrots (I picked out the smaller carrots at the supermarket so that they could be served halved in the wrap. Bigger carrots you may need to slice up into a few pieces)
1/2 teaspoon Moroccan Spice (pre bought mix or use some ras el hanout)
1 Garlic Clove
1 inch piece Fresh Root Ginger
1 Lemon (Zest and 1/2 Juice)
1/3 Cucumber finely diced
Fresh Coriander
2 Cabbage/ Lettuce leaves
Firstly put the cous cous in a large bowl and cover with boiling water, the level of water should be about 2-3 cm above the cous cous. Place a plate/ lid over the bowl and put to one side.
Pre heat the oven to 180c (fan oven) 200c normal oven.
Wash and trim the carrots but don’t peel unless they’re a bit tough. Coat the carrots in some sun flower oil and the spices then roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and crush the garlic clove into the baking tray and add the finely diced ginger.
Put back into the oven and continue to roast for another 10 minutes.
Check on the cous cous, it should have absorbed all of the water and become lightly and fluffy. Add the lemon zest, juice, chopped fresh coriander, finely diced cucumber and some salt. Mix well so that all ingredients are combined.
Wash your leaves carefully then cut the tough ends of the stalk out. Pile in the cous cous and then top with carrots and the now slightly crispy garlic and ginger. Fold up the wrap and eat!
veghotpot 