Ba'obab Baked Leeks
Ba’obab - From Africa With Love
This dish resembles one thing, and one thing only - the merging of the Middle Eastern cuisine with the health conscious vegan foodies. It does seem a little bizarre to try to integrate these two into a tangible and hopefully edible form, but when cooked to perfection, every bite leaves you with the vibrant tastes from the Middle East and the endless health benefit in plant sourced foods.
Being made up of over 50% fibre, high in vitamin C and rich in antioxitends as well as countless other health and beauty benefits, there is no thinking twice when adding it to dishes. Although having little flavour, this does allow the powder to be very versatile and mould easily to different elements. The Ba’obab powder is formed naturally within the hard casing of the Ba’obab fruit which means little human alterations or processing is used to reach the powdered result. I bought mine from The Essence of Africa has the most reliable and purest quality line of health powders coming from African plants - buy yours today here.
One important tip is to make sure you bake the leeks before you add the stuffing otherwise your stuffing will burn before the leeks are soft enough to eat. Serve as a side to any family or friend dining occasion or as a light lunch enjoyed in your own blissful silence.
Half baked leeks with Ba’obab Middle Eastern stuffing
Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
2 leeks - white bottom half only - root removed, washed and halved
2 tsp of Essence of Africa Ba’obab powder
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 small cloves of garlic, skinned and finely diced
2 tbsp of smoky paprika
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp of dried marjoram
200 grams of canned, drained chickpeas
½ cup of Cous Cous
1/3 cup of bread crumbs
Method:
Cook Cous Cous according to directions on the box. Remove from heat and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Remove the small inside of the halved leek so you have a long bowl. Place the outer bowl part on a baking tray and drizzle with oil, bake for 10 minutes until they begin to soften. Meanwhile make the stuffing.
Thinly slice the inside part of the leeks remaining and place, with the garlic, in a saucepan with the 2 tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes until the leeks begin to soften. Add the chickpeas, herbs and spices and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until the spices begin to let off an aroma. Add the Cous Cous and bread crumbs, mixing well and cooking for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Remove the leeks from the oven and stuff the mixture along the circled out part of the leek exterior. Sprinkle with extra Ba’obab and bake for 10 minutes or until the mix becomes golden. Serve with a little fresh chopped parsley and house made salad.
