Recipe | Sweet potato with cauliflower and minted yoghurt

Good mood foods to welcome autumn and warm your cockles

In our September issue you’ll find a menu of ‘good mood food’ recipes designed to be as good for your wellbeing as they are for your tum. Jacket potatoes are a great comfort food and, combined with creamy minted yogurt, make they for a really filling no-fuss meal.

Serves 4
4 medium to large sweet potatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
250g natural yogurt (or dairy free alternative)
4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
2 large sprigs of mint, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and rub the skin with a little olive oil. Place on a tray and cook for about 40 mins (depending on size) until the insides are soft.
2 Spread the cauliflower florets onto a baking tray, drizzle with oil, season, and place in the oven for the last 20 mins of the potatoes’ cooking time.
3 Add the yogurt to a bowl, season to taste, then add the chopped mint and mix to combine. Set aside until the potatoes and cauliflower are cooked.
4 When the potatoes are done and cool enough to handle, cut a large deep cross to the top and open the potato up. Add the cauliflower, 2-3 tbsp of the yogurt mixture, then sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and garnish with fresh mint.

Why it’s a mood booster: Sweet potatoes are lower in carbohydrates than the average spud, but have all the comforting benefits. Meanwhile, cauliflower is high in fibre and B vitamins; pomegranate is also a good source of fibre and vitamins A and C, while yogurt contains nutrients that help with bone health.

You can find the rest of the Good Mood Food recipes, inclusing salmon, greens and rice bowl, simple shakshuka and a banana and brazil nut tart from page 62 in our September issue. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our September issue…

More Autumn food inspiration…

Supper on the sofa with The Stuff of Life

Home Truths, our monthly magazine series on what really goes on inside a home, discusses ‘Suppers on the Sofa’ in our January issue. As the long month draws to an end we can think of nothing better than curling up on the sofa, a tray on our lap and our favourite box set at the ready.  

Our shopkeeper, Louise Gorrod, has selected some must-have products from The Stuff of Life for those wishing to treat themselves to an evening supper away from the dining table.

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Images from top, left to right: Navy & White Tray by Home Address, £15.00 | Dipped Bowl by Home Address, £15.00 | Gold Cutlery by Home Address, £30.00 | Dot Linen Napkin by The Linen Works, £13.50 | Solid Birch Stool by Stuff of Dreams, £149.00 | Deco Sofa by Archer + Co, £2,300.00 | Sherbert Blue Blanket by Mourne Textiles, £96.00 | Groove Lamp by Stuff of Dreams, £155.00 | Comet Moth Rectangular Cushion by Kith & Kin, £56.00.

Top image by ciaodesserts

Recipe: Sunshine hash

Sunshine hash

Serves 4 very generously

Ingredients
4 sausages (take the opportunity to buy an interesting flavour from the butcher, like caramelised onion, sweet chilli or apple)
800g new potatoes, scrubbed clean
olive oil
8 rashers streaky bacon, roughly snipped or chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped, or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 spring onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper
4 large free-range eggs

1 Cook sausages over a medium heat for about 10-12 mins, then remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe the pan with a piece of kitchen roll. 

2 Chop the potatoes into small cubes. Put two tbsp olive oil into the frying pan over a low/medium heat. Cook the potatoes for about 15-20 mins until they are golden.

3 Add the bacon and cook for a further five mins. 

4 Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they just start to soften, but don’t let them go too mushy. Stir in the spring onions and garlic if using. Then add the sausages (I like to slice them thickly before adding to the pan). Season well with salt and pepper. 

5 Push the hash to one side of the pan and add another tbsp oil. Crack two eggs in the space, and fry until they are cooked to your liking. 

6 Divide the hash between four plates, and pop an egg on top of two of them. Return the pan to the heat and fry the remaining eggs for the last two plates. 

7 Serve with ketchup and big mugs of tea. 

Recipe from Pitch Up, Eat Local by Ali Ray (£16.99, AA Publishing with The Camping and Caravanning Club)

Recipe: Honey & mustard glazed ham

Serves 8 - 10

7-8kg cooked and cured leg ham
Whole cloves

For the glaze:

180ml honey
100g brown sugar
50g Dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 200˚C (180˚fan), 390˚F, gas 6

2. Use fingers to carefully remove the skin from the ham and score a diamond-cross pattern across the fat, about 5mm deep.

3. Place the ham in a large baking dish, lined with 2 layers of non-stick baking paper.

4. Stud the centres of each diamond with a clove.

5. To make the glaze, combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat over a low heat for 15 mins, or until the sugar has dissolved and mixture thickens.

6. Brush 1/3 of the glaze over the ham and bake for 35-45 minutes, brushing with extra glaze every 15 minutes, until golden and caramelised.

7. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

This recipe was first published in The Simple Things Christmas 2013 issue - buy back issues here. 

Moroccan feast

Scatter the cushions and get on the floor for a zesty, aromatic supper that’s made for sharing. Food stylist and photographer Chantelle Grady produces exclusive recipes and sumptuous photography for a ten page feature in the magazine this month. Try her spiced coffee and almond fekka recipe tonight.

SPICED COFFEE

Your cafetiére won't know what's hit it when you concoct this warming, perky after-dinner brew .

Serves 4-6

3 whole cloves

5 cardamom pods

¹/₂ tsp black peppercorns

25g espresso beans, ground

¹/₂ tsp ground cinnamon

¹/₂ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

¹/₂ tsp ground ginger

1 litre boiling water

Warm milk, if desired

Sugar, if desired

1. Place cloves, cardamom pods and black peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. Grind until cardamom pods split open, and remove papery shell. Grind seeds and cloves into a fine powder.

2. Transfer to a bowl. Add the ground coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and mix to combine.

3. Transfer coffee mixture into a cafetière, add boiling water and steep for 5 mins. To serve, add sugar and warm milk if desired.

ALMOND FEKKAS

These crisp, just-sweet-enough little dainties are Morocco's answer to biscotti.

Makes about 40 biscuits

85g raisins

145g unsalted butter, melted

220g caster sugar

3 eggs, plus 1 egg lightly beaten

2 tbsp orange-blossom water

¹/₂ tsp almond extract

320g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

¹/₄ tsp salt

1 tbsp aniseed

1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

160g whole almonds, toasted, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C (160˚ fan), gas 4, 350˚F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Place raisins in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to soak for 10 mins, and then drain and set aside.

3. Place the butter, sugar, 3 eggs, orange-blossom water and almond extract in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir until all ingredients come together. Add the aniseed, sesame seeds, almonds and raisins and mix to evenly distribute. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

4. Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet and divide into 2 balls. Moisten hands with water and form 2 loaves about 5cm in width, allowing space between each loaf. Brush with egg wash and bake in oven for 30 mins, or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

5. Once cool, use a serrated knife to cut into 1cm slices and lay out on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake for a further 8 mins, flip slices over and bake for another 8 mins, or until golden on both sides. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve with spiced coffee.

Enjoy!