This dish is a fun and colourful concoction, hearty, satisfying and packed full of not just incredible flavours, but plenty of beneficial nutrients too. It is proof of how healthy food can be utterly delicious.

In combination, the broccoli, the potatoes, the tomatoes and the peppers, create a vitamin C nutritional bomb, and by adding all the rest of the ingredients, the onion and garlic, the cashew and pecan nuts, the parsley and the gherkins, you end up with a plate full of protein, iron, potassium, magnesium, plenty of various vitamins and healthy fats. What more could you ask for? Oh! And it’s gluten free, and vegan.

Roast Potatoes With Broccoli, Pepper & Tomato Cashew Sauce, Pecans & Gherkins

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

For the potatoes:

5kg peeled potatoes, cut into chunks

A couple of sprays of coconut oil

2tsp vegetable stock powder

1tsp sweet paprika

1tsp coconut sugar

1tbsp dried oregano

1/2 cup water

Juice of 2 lemons

For the broccoli & sauce:

2 medium heads of fresh broccoli, cut into florets

A little vegetable broth

1 onion, peeled & finely chopped

4 large tomatoes, finely chopped

4 roasted red peppers, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2tsp vegetable stock powder

1tsp smoked paprika

1tsp maple syrup

1cup raw cashews, soaked and drained

To serve:

1/3 cup raw pecan nuts

1/4tsp sweet paprika

A tiny pinch of salt

4-5 gherkins, sliced

Some finely chopped fresh parsley

🥦Preheat the oven at 180C.

🥦Place the potatoes in a baking tray and add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the lemon juice. Using your hands, massage the potato chunks so that the coconut oil and spices coat them well. Cover with a piece of foil. Place in the oven and roast for 1 hour. Remove the foil, increase the heat to 200C and continue to roast for another hour, or until they have browned and gone slightly crispy here and there. Turn the oven off. Add the lemon juice to the potatoes and keep them warm in the oven until serving.

🥦To make the sauce, add the vegetable broth in a medium frying pan and gently sauté the onion until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the cashews and stir over medium heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes and peppers have mostly broken down.

🥦Place half of the mixture along with the cashews in a food processor or blender and purée until very smooth. Return to the pan and mix the purée with the other half of the mixture.

🥦Steam the broccoli florets until tender, but not to the point they fall apart, or lose their vibrant colour.

🥦Roughly chop the pecan nuts and place them in a small, dry frying pan. Sprinkle the paprika and the salt over them and dry cook them over a medium high heat until fragrant. Watch them closely, as they burn easily.

🥦Remove the potatoes from the oven.

🥦To serve, place some potatoes and some broccoli on each plate. Ladle the sauce over and scatter the pecan nuts, the gherkin slices and the chopped parsley on top.

Enjoy!