Roast kumara, eggplant and lentil salad with feta and pomegranate

This salad has been a staple for us this summer.  It's never quite the same each time I make it, usually because I forget to add something or find something else that might be a tasty addition.. But here's the basic gist anyway.  If you can't find fresh pomegranate you could soak dried cranberries in water till they've plumped up and use those instead.

1 large orange kumara chopped into 2cm cubes (sweet potato for those of you outside New Zealand!)

1 large eggplant, cubed

1 head garlic

Olive oil spray

Rocket, baby spinach or other salad greens

1/2 telegraph cucumber, cubed

1/2 can brown lentils, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley

Large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup feta, crumbled (I usually just use half a block of reduced fat feta chopped up)

Seeds and juice from 1/2 pomegranate

Juice from 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 220c.  Place kumara and eggplant on a lined baking tray with the garlic and spray everything lightly with olive oil.  Roast veggies for about 30 minutes or until nice and golden.

Build the salad on a large, shallow dish or platter.  Start with greens, parsley and 3/4 of the mint (save the rest to garnish later) and then scatter roasted veggies and cucumber over the top, followed by the lentils.  Crumble your feta over the salad, sprinkle over pomegranate seeds and the rest of the mint.  Squeeze lemon juice over the whole salad and season with some salt and freshly ground pepper.  Yum!

Veggie Burgers

These easy tofu and veggie burgers freeze well and are great for getting loads of veggies into your kids whilst letting them believe they're getting "junk" food ;) My two like these burgers with sliced cheese, lettuce and pineapple and homemade kumara chips on the side.  Yum.

Below are the rough weights and types of veggies I use - but I tend to add whatever we have lurking in the bottom of the veggie drawer in the fridge as this is a good way to use them up.

Veggie Burgers

Makes 8 - 10 burger patties

1 tablespoon butter

200gm mushrooms, chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 carrot, grated

100gm steamed broccoli

1/2 red capsicum, chopped

100gm unsalted raw cashews, finely chopped

1 package firm tofu (approx 290gm) - available in the chiller (fresh) at the supermarket or in the Japanese food aisle (long life)

Breadcrumbs from 2-3 slices of whole grain bread 

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

Flour for coating burgers

Olive oil spray for frying

Melt butter over medium heat in frying pan, add chopped mushrooms and sauté for 3-4 minutes until they're just tender.  Allow to cool slightly then transfer to food processor with remaining ingredients and blitz until well combined.  If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand but will need to chop all the ingredients very finely before you mix them in a large bowl.

Form into 8 - 10 burgers around the size of the palm of your hand.  Coat each burger lightly with flour before frying them over a medium heat until both sides are golden brown.

Freeze cooked patties by allowing them to cool and separating with baking paper and sealing in ziploc bags or an airtight container.