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

I took advantage of the cool change the other day and snuck in a wintery meal which I’d been planning to make, but hadn’t got around to – until now. Knowing that my opportunities would diminish as the summer really kicked in, now was my chance.

I pulled out my Thermomix Everyday Cookbook to make the Cauliflower Soup recipe, but found the recipe evolved right before my fingertips into a more nutrient-dense version that had my family licking the bowls! Memo to self: don’t take them out in public!

This soup is perfect for dinner or packed to take to work or school for lunch.

I’m often asked how to keep the food hot until lunchtime.

Well, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Boil the kettle and then pour the water into the thermoses, be sure to pop the lids on
2. Heat up the food
3. Pour out the hot water  add the warmed up food into the container,  then pop the lid on immediately.

Here are my fave insulated jars which have lasted me years:

Lunchbots Insulated Stainless Steel Container 470ml 16oz
In these containers I pack soups, pastas, any hot meals and also cold salads.

Goodbyn Insulated Food Jar 12oz 350ml – Blue
I like this smaller size option to keep things cool like yoghurt, granola and fruit, overnight oats or to keep things warm like the chicken nuggets or smaller serves of things like soup, stew, pasta.

If you’re looking for more lunch inspiration, take a look at 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!

There’s even a delicious recipe for Kale and Cannelleni Bean Minestrone which my kids love taking to school in their insulated container.

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:

Chicken stock
Salt
Nutmeg

So I’m excited to say this is my first (adapted!) Thermomix recipe, but an easy one to make the conventional way too.

Here’s how to make it both ways:

Print

Cauliflower and Potato Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 6

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 30 g parmesan cut into cubes (optional)
• 600 g chicken stock I used home-made for all it's benefits or 300mls chicken stock and 300mls water
• 600 g cauliflower cut into small florets
• 3 medium potatoes diced
• sea salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/4 cup cream
• pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

• Place parmesan into mixing bowl and grate 10sec/speed 9. Set aside.
• Place stock/water, cauliflower, potato and salt into mixing bowl and cook 15min/100 degrees C/speed 1
• Add butter and cook 5 min/100 degrees/speed 1
• and Blend 1 min/speed 9, gradually increasing speed from speed 1 to speed 9
• Add parmesan and cream and blend for 10 sec

Notes

CONVENTIONAL INSTRUCTIONS
Grate 30g parmesan. Set aside.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan and add cauliflower and potato and sweat with lid on for  10 minutes. 
Add stock and salt and bring to boil.
Simmer with lid on for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Pour contents into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

If you know someone who could use some inspo in the kitchen, please share this recipe with them.

And if you make any of my recipes please take photos and send them to me, or if you share them on Facebook or instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. I get a total kick out of seeing you make my recipes!

For more nourishing and soothing recipes, check out my soup round up, 7 Soup Recipes To Soothe the Soul.

Bren x