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Discovering 4 Cape indigenous ingredients

Discovering 4 Cape indigenous ingredients

Try this slaaitjie from Cape wild foods expert, Loubie Rusch. It contains deliciously juicy tart leaves from 3 succulent plants: sea pumpkin, sunrose and spekboom and the vegan ricotta balls are flavoured with fragrant wild rosemary. 
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Course Dinner, Lunch, Salad

Ingredients
  

  • 30 g Sea pumpkin 
  • 30 g Sun rose
  • 30 g Spekboom
  • 15 g Wild rosemary
  • 30 ml Amma’s Creamery vegan ricotta, rolled into a ball
  • 30 g button mushrooms, wiped clean with a damp cloth 
  • 30 ml salad dressing; combine 1 part apple cider vinegar with 3 parts extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper, to season 
  • 30 ml crispy onions

Instructions
 

  • Portion sea pumpkin into 15cm long sprigs with leaves on. Wash gently and lay on clean dishcloth to air dry 
  • Portion sun rose into 20cm long sprigs with leaves on. Wash gently and lay on clean dishcloth to air dry 
  • Portion spekboom into 15cm long sprigs with leaves on. Wash gently and lay on clean dishcloth to air dry 
  • Portion wild rosemary into 20 cm sprig with leaves on, lightly washed and air dried. 
  • Take a nibble of each of the three leaves to get a feel for their flavour and texture. Pull the succulent leaves off a 15 cm length of sprig of each of the sea pumpkin, sun rose and spekboom, keeping them in separate piles. 
  • Slice the sea pumpkin leaves in half down their length if they are large. Slice the button mushrooms thinly. Combine them with the succulent leaves in a bowl, and pour the dressing over. 
  • Turn gently to coat the ingredients, taking care to not break the mushrooms. Pull the wild rosemary leaves off the bottom of the sprig, to fill a teaspoon. 
  • Chop finely and combine with several grindings of salt and pepper. Place the vegan ricotta ball on the one side of the serving platter and sprinkle the seasoned wild rosemary over. Carefully arrange the slaai ingredients on the platter, making sure to make the succulent leaves visible. 
  • Sprinkle the crispy onions over the succulent salad and serve. 
Keywords A Growers Guide, African indigenous foods, Cape indigenous foods, Cape wild foods expert, indigenous foods, indigenous inspired recipes, local indigenous foods, Loubie Rusch, Making KOS, PEDI AgriHub, Philippi Economic Development Initiative, salad recipes, slaaitjie, South African foods, Sustainability Institute, Wild Harvest, wild vegetables