food to glow

A partnered post

Using a combination of quality fresh, store cupboard and frozen ingredients this colourful kale, rainbow carrot and hummus tart is my idea of comfort food heaven. While it isn’t quite a quick meal, it is incredibly easy.

You can make it quicker by using bought shortcrust dough, but my very easy olive oil dough, brushed with (optional) preserved lemon oil as it comes out of the oven, lifts this tart out of the ordinary. Serve with fresh salad leaves, juicy cherry tomatoes, and something like my Moroccan Carrot Salad for a colourful and nutritious lunch or dinner.

For this recipe I used frozen chopped kale, frozen sliced rainbow carrots, and frozen bulgur wheat mix with loads of tasty goodies – courgette, red pepper, chickpeas, sultanas and a lemon-mint dressing. My recipe is completely adaptable to using all fresh ingredients, but I think this is a great way to use a little of what you need and not worry about waste.

This is an interesting recipe for me: 1) because I rarely make tarts and pies; 2) I rarely base meals around bought frozen ingredients. But, I do rely on my freezer(s!). A lot.

I have three fridge-freezers (two are in the garage) and mainly make use of the freezer part. During the summer I pick and hoard fresh Scottish berries, but I also blanch wild garlic leaves and fresh, seasonal vegetables that I buy in quantity; freeze bulk batches of sauces, mixes, cooked grains and pulses of many kinds; fill ice cube trays with leftover sauces, wine, minced herbs, garlic, ginger and the like. And of course it is repository for “a little bit of this and a little bit of that”. I’m sure you are the same. In short, despite not basing meals around frozen foods I actually use a lot of frozen foods – now that I think about it.

So, I was intrigued and pleased to be asked by Iceland to be part of their #PowerofFrozen campaign where bloggers like me show our readers how eating frozen can be not only inexpensive, convenient, and good for a no-waste lifestyle, but also delicious, very nutritious and of high quality.

I have to confess that Iceland is a store that I have rarely been in, wrongly associating it with puff-pastry based party foods, seafood rings and ready meals. So, it was with much surprise that when I visited three of their Edinburgh stores I saw not one little deep freeze of vegetables, but at least three big ones – stuffed with the usual green beans, onions, broccoli, peas, corn etc, but also huge bags of Kale, Rainbow Carrots, Peppers, Asparagus, and several grain and bean mixes.

I have tried the Zesty Bean Quinoa mix and the Bulgur Wheat mix (there is also a Couscous one), and both are excellent, with interesting, natural ingredients. I used the quinoa mix to make quesadillas (they sell fresh grated cheese and tortillas, too) and added it to a plain vegetable soup. I can see these grain packs being very useful to add a bit of oomph to things I am already making – and brilliant as you use just what you want and store the rest for another time. As for the giant bag of kale, green smoothies can be made with little if any forward planning and again, no waste. My nearest store was closing on Saturday for a big refit so I can’t wait to get back and see what they’ve done – and what vegetables they’ve added.

My final thoughts

I really applaud the launch of the #PowerofFrozen campaign as it has made me re-evaluate what I think I think I know about Iceland. If you want to read more about the campaign, do go to their website. For example, I was pleased to read that they were the first UK supermarket to remove artificial colours, flavourings, non-essential preservatives and MSG from their own brand ranges. In 1986.

Just thinking about the future of this campaign, I would like to see Iceland expand their “Superfoods” range (they can ask me for advice – ha ha), add other “new staples” like plain diced butternut squash and wholegrain rice, as well as offer some organic foods too. All of those foods are just as good when cooked from frozen as they are from fresh. These steps would put Iceland firmly on my weekly shopping route.

Other Veggie Recipes from #PowerofFrozen bloggers

Spaghetti with Kale, Asparagus, Chilli and Lemon

Zesty Bean Quinoa Burgers

Spicy Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Kale Pesto & Cauliflower Pesto Pies

***Keep In Touch!***

You can also find me on:

Huffington Post – writing bespoke recipes and opinion pieces on my own Huff Post blog;

Twitter – tweeting on health, nutrition and global news, as well as sharing other bloggers’ content;

Facebook – posting on the latest nutrition and food stories, as well as share recipe links; 

Pinterest – loads of boards on food, travel, food writing, blogging, health and novel ingredients;

Instagram – behind the scenes with my recipe development (triumphs and tragedies!) and mini, Instagram-only recipes.

I am linking up with Recipe of the Week, hosted by Emily at A Mummy Too. Go over and see about adding your recipe too! And check out some of the other links. 🙂

This is a commissioned post for Iceland. I was paid to create a recipe using a couple of their products of my choice. Thoughts and opinions are very much my own.