Savoury Veggie Crumble

Hi there, everyone. It’s Rita here. This is the first recipe we’ve shared in over a year. We’ve been quite busy, first growing a baby and now raising said baby for a little over 6 months now. Our journey through parenthood has been as wonderful as it is challenging, just as it is supposed to be. For the very first time in our adult lives, it really is essential that the whole process of preparing food, including shopping for ingredients and the actual mealtimes, is as simple as possible. During the first few weeks after Simão was born, we turned to the stash of frozen meals we had prepared during the third trimester of pregnancy and Uber Eats became our best friend. When André made his return to the kitchen (mama stayed in the nest close to baby for a little while longer), he would prepare large trays of oven roasted veggies that could yield at least 6 portions. At times we would pair those with a side of brown rice, but we mostly ate the veggies straight out of the oven, and that’s how we kept our tummies full and our tired bodies going. Good, simple, nutritious, real food. Week by week, the combinations would change according to whatever veggies we had in our fridge.

This was a very special moment in our lives and our minds never stopped thinking… ‘this is exactly what our blog needs’! Recipes that fit our new normality (and so many other families’ normalities!), warm, comforting food. And thus was the promise made that this dish would be our return ticket to the blog, the roasted veggies just as we prepared them time and time again and the bonus topping of a savoury crumble, to make sure this is a complete meal and that there is no need to prepare a cereal on the side.

You may very well adapt this recipe to your liking and to whatever there is available in your fridge and/pantry. We went for a combination of vegetables and chickpeas for this one, but we’ve made this in so many different ways – kidney beans, butter beans, broccoli or cauliflower, cubed butternut squash, etc. What matters most is that you gather a variety of veggies and enough to fill a whole baking dish. We hope this recipe wins over your tummies as it did ours. Stay close everyone. We’re back!

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Savoury Veggie Crumble

1 hour |  serves 6-8 portions

INGREDIENTS

OAT & HERBS CRUMBLE
1 1/2 cups | 150 gr. rolled oat flakes
1 1/2 cups | 150 gr. oat flour
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup | 65 gr. sunflower seeds
1 tsp fine Himalayan pink salt
1 tbsp dried thyme
black pepper to taste
6 tbsp refined coconut oil (odourless)

VEGGIE FILLING
1 small can of cooked chickpeas
1 leek
2 carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 red onion
4 garlic cloves
1 medium sweet potato
200 gr. small new potatoes
150 gr. brussel sprouts
125 gr. cremini mushrooms
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 cup | 60 ml. white wine
1 cup | 250 ml. vegetable stock
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
2 bay leaves

STEP BY STEP

Start by gathering, preparing and measuring all of the ingredients. This will improve your dynamic in the kitchen. 

OAT & HERBS CRUMBLE

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except for the coconut oil, in a bowl.

2. Add the coconut oil, one tablespoon at a time, and mix with your hands until the oil is properly incorporated.

3. Set aside while you prepare the veggies.

VEGGIE FILLING

1. Preheat the oven to 395ºF / 200ºC.

2. Wash and drain the chickpeas. Cut the leek and carrots into slices. Chop the bell pepper and onion and crush the garlic cloves with a garlic press. Peel the sweet potato and cut into cubes. Cut the potatoes and brussel sprouts into halves and the mushrooms into quarters.

3. Place the veggies in a baking dish or tray.

4. Combine all of the condiments in a small bowl, except for the olive oil and bay leaves, and mix well.

5. Pour the spice mix onto the veggies and toss them around to properly coat them.

6. Drizzle the veggies with extra virgin olive oil and shove the bay leaves in between the veggies, in distant corners of the baking tray.

7. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until the veggies are nearly cooked through, stopping once to give the veggies a quick toss.

8. Remove the tray from the oven, cover the veggies with the crumble and place back in the oven for 20 minutes or until the crumble is crunchy and golden brown.

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