Wanna know the best bit? My kids HATE pumpkin, and I can only get it past them by making this soup or this dip, but up until now, they have refused it any other way. But they absolutely loved it roasted in this dish! I can only gather it was because the pumpkin was in total harmony with everything else on the plate. On a side note, never, ever stop offering your kids foods they hate because how will they ever get a chance to try it if they don’t see it and trust me, miracles do happen!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Walnuts
Hazelnuts
Sesame seeds
Ground coriander
Ground cumin
Sea salt
Black pepper
Spelt flour
Tahini

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Dukkah Chicken with Pumpkin, Haloumi and Tahini Yoghurt Sauce

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

You can totally skip making your own dukkah and buy some good dukkah from the grocer instead. To make the dukkah I used the nuts below because that's what was in my cupboard, but you can use almonds, hazelnuts or brazil nuts if that's what you have

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• lots cracked black pepper
• Half a pumpkin
• 600 grams chicken tenderloins
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1-2 eggs
• 1/2 cup yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cake of haloumi sliced
• 1 cup couscous cooked per packet instructions

Instructions

Dukkah

• Toast the walnuts and hazelnuts in a skillet for around 3 minutes or until they are fragrant.
• Add the sesame seeds, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper and toast make sure you stir often so they don't burn, a couple more minutes should be enough.
• Remove the mix from the heat and transfer them to a food processor.
• Process the mixture until the nuts are broken down to the point that they resemble coarse sand (but not a fine powder)

Roast Pumpkin

• Preheat oven to 180 C
• Cut into 3 cm wedges, leave skin on
• Pop wedges onto baking tray and brush olive oil over the pumpkin, including the skin. Place wedges skin side down on the tray, season and roast 45-60 until tender or when skin starts to slightly blacken

Dukkah Chicken

• Line 1-2 baking trays with parchment paper
• Place spelt flour on a dinner plate
• Whisk egg in a bowl (use one egg at a time)
• Place some dukkah on a dinner plate (top up as you go)
• Set up an assembly line of chicken, flour, egg, dukkah and proceed to dip the chicken into the flour (shake off excess), egg (allow excess to drip off) and finally the dukkah and place on baking tray
• Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and bake until the chicken is cooked through, approx. 15 – 20 minutes, flipping half way through the cooking time (I pop in the oven around half way through cooking the pumpkin)

Tahini Yogurt Sauce

• Whisk together yoghurt, tahini and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper in a small bowl

Haloumi

• While the pumpkin and chicken are in the oven, heat a large frying pan, drizzle in some extra virgin olive oil or ghee, once pan is hot, fry the haloumi slices until golden brown on both sides
• Once everything is cooked, serve all components onto plate with fresh, side salad and drizzle the sauce over the chicken and pumpkin

Notes

Store dukkah in airtight container

If you make this dish please do take photos and send them to me.

If you make this recipe and share on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

Some other of our fave family dinner recipes you might like are Oven-fried Chicken and Garlic Prawn and Pea Spaghetti

Meals that can be eaten for dinner straight out of the oven, or which are just as delicious eaten cold for those nights when one child is starving at 6pm and the other not home from training until after 8pm, meals which can double up for lunch boxes the next day (and day after that).

Chicken nuggets are a perfect solution. And let’s be honest, what kid doesn’t love them?!

My recipe is super easy to make with just a handful of ingredients. I make a big batch for our big eating family , and it a makes enough for lunch boxes the next day or two. I just throw them straight into the lunchbox as is, or wrap them up in some Mountain Bread with some mayo and lettuce.

If you’re looking for more lunchbox recipes, check out my recipe ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved! It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

I’m not one for batch frying anything, I just don’t have the patience for it and I can’t bare the mess. These baked versions are just as good as the fried ones, but without the mess and they take a fraction of your time.

The seasoning can be left out of the breadcrumb mix if you prefer, or you can use any alternatives which you family prefers.  I often do a version with a Tex-Mex flavour which the kids just love. Or you can add in some parmesan cheese or lemon rind.

I like to serve the nuggets with oven-baked potato and sweet potato fries and a nice crispy garden salad and a squeeze of lemon over the lot.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Dulse flakes
Sweet Paprika
Smoked Paprika
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Dried thyme 
Dried basil
Himalayan rock salt
Spelt flour 
Extra virgin olive oil

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Baked Chicken Nuggets

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 16

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups breadcrumbs I just popped 2-3 pieces sourdough bread into the food processor
• ½ cup ghee or butter or mix of both
• 8 chicken thighs approx. 900 gms
• 2 teaspoons dulse flakes
• I teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Sea salt or Himalayan rock salt
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
• Spread breadcrumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, 10 minutes, stirring breadcrumbs a couple of times to ensure they golden evenly
• Towards the end of breadcrumb cooking time pop the ghee and/or butter into a ramekin into the oven to allow to melt.
• While breadcrumbs are in the oven, cut chicken thighs into quarters
• Once lightly golden place breadcrumbs on dinner plate, allow to cool then mix through the dulse flakes, paprika, garlic and onion powder, thyme, basil, salt and slightly cooled ghee or butter
• Place flour on a dinner plate
• Set a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet and lightly brush some olive oil onto the rack. Or you can just line a couple of baking trays with baking paper
• Set up an assembly line of chicken, flour, egg, breadcrumbs and proceed to dip the chicken into the flour (shake off excess), egg (allow excess to drip off) and finally the breadcrumbs and place on the wire rack
• Drizzle chicken with olive oil and bake until the chicken is cooked through, approx. 15 – 20 minutes, flipping half way through the cooking time

If you make this recipe let me know if your family loves it as much as we do, and please take photos and send them to me via Facebook, or if you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek

You might also like these other family-friendly dinner ideas Tex Mex Burrito Bowls or Chicken Leek and Mushroom Pie

Bren x