Fall into Fig Season with this Delicious, Nutritious Recipe
I tried my hand at cooking with fresh figs for the first time last weekend and I am SO glad I did. The rotund, plump fruits were delicious eaten raw and roasted as in this recipe. Nutrition-wise, they are an excellent source of minerals like calcium, copper, potassium, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc.
Actually, I got inspired to grab a small pint size basket of them from our local grocery store after seeing this beautiful photo on instagram from a fellow health coach and Boston blogger. It got me thinking, how can I incorporate roasted figs into a balanced meal?
Well, after few moments of scanning the cupboard and fridge, I had lined up brown rice, black beans, garlic (lotsa garlic!), zucchini, red pepper, and some spices. An hour later, everything was put together and, voila! A new balanced bite to add to the books was born! To see the live video of this production, join the Balanced Bites facebook group.
4-6 Servings
Ingredients:
1 cup Brown rice, cooked
1 can Black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Red pepper, chopped
2-3 handfulls Figs, sliced
1 Zucchini squash, rounds
1-2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Rosemary
1 teaspoon Black pepper
1 teaspoon Turmeric
a pinch o' Salt
1/4cup Roasted chickpeas
Sriracha hot sauce, to taste
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350*
In a large bowl, toss the squash and figs with the olive oil and spices.
On a baking sheet, evenly spread the figs, seed side up, and zucchini squash. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden.
Combine remaining ingredients in the bowl and add the roasted fruit*.
Serve in bowls, hot or cold, and top with roasted chickpeas, a zig-zag of sriracha, or any other toppings you like.
Enjoy every bite!
Thanks to my buddies for enlightening me on the following:
*Did you know: In a culinary context, zucchini is treated as a vegetable; it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, zucchinis are fruits, a type of botanical berry called a "pepo", being the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower.Zucchini, like all squash, has its ancestry in the Americas.
