COOK YOUR SUCCESS - WORKSHOP
“Cook your success” is the name of a workshop I attended recently. It was organised by Szilárd Márton, coach and outdoor trainer. Here is what Szilárd says about the workshop: “The Cook your success workshop is about discovering how stress affects our way of communication and regaining balance while delegating, coordinating and leading several tasks in our everyday life. I find cooking to be an optimal, very exciting and colourful tool to develop and finetune this skill-set. The workshop is adjusted to the needs of the participants while still being challenging enough whether they know how to cook or not, whether they know how to aim for leadership or not.” It was three days (3-4 hours each time), 4 people and 12 different dishes!
I would like to share these recipes as a great and beautiful outcome of the workshop apart from the fact that I was learning how to delegate tasks, how to work in a team of four people and how to prepare a dish in a specific time limit having a limited budget. Not only we cooked, but experienced how it is to do it under stress and how to manage it, reflecting on our experiences after the meals had been served. A good tool to find similar things in our every day life!
On the second day my task was to prepare a desert and my ingredients were vanilla, soy milk and mint. And my first instinct was - rice! I will simply boil rice in soy milk, add vanilla pudding, some brown sugar, almond crumbles and some berries. Best idea ever I must say! Have a look:
Then came the third day. One of the tricks that Szilárd gave us was unusual ingredients for dishes, for example, a ginger for salad, red onion for dessert or mint for the main dish. Out of the ideas to find a fitting recipe, which also had to be vegan (success!), here is what me and my colleagues came up with.
PUMPKIN, APPLE, AND CARAMELIZED ONION VEGAN QUESADILLA AS A DESERT
Please equip yourself with the following ingredients:
2 onions (1 sweet white onion and 1 red onion (HERE is an explanation with all different onion types that I was even not aware of...)), sliced thin
1/4 cup vegetable broth (plus more as needed)
1 cup pumpkin puree or we used sweet potato puree
2 tsp maple syrup or anything else syrupy
1/4 tsp crushed dried rosemary
pinch of cayenne (optional for heat)
In a large, preferable non-stick skillet, heat vegetable broth over medium heat. Add sliced onions and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until they get dark and caramelized. You might need to add an additional 1-2 tbsp of vegetable broth if the onions start to stick to the pan too much. Try to keep them in one even layer. They can overlap a little, but they will steam and not caramelize, if there is a mound of onions. When the onions are caramelized, turn off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar. Stir to coat the onions.
In the meantime, while the onions are cooking, stir together the pumpkin or sweet potato puree, maple syrup, chili powder, smoked paprika, rosemary and cayenne.
Now, take one tortilla and lay it flat. Spread the puree mixture all over the whole thing. Place onion mixture over one half of the pumpkin puree. Add the sliced apple on top of the onions. Fold the half of the tortilla that only has puree on it over the other half and do this for the remaining tortillas. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add a bit of oil and place the folded tortillas in the pan (to put two at the same time seemed to be a wise choice). Cook for a few minutes on each side until brown and crisp. Nom nom nom! Ready!
To be honest, I have a feeling it could be any kind of salad, but I made chickpea salad with ginger and sesame dressing. You will need:
Chickpeas/garbanzo beans (best taste is if you soak and boil them, I prefer the extra effort over the quick option of taking canned beans)
Chopped carrots (as small and thin as you can make them!)
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger or more, depends on your love for ginger
Mix everything together and top with some more sesame seeds. Remember, that this salad is quite filling for the belly, because of the chickpeas!
Take a bowl and stir together couscous, finely chopped garlic and scallion, zest from one lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour over the couscous mixture hot water or vegetable broth, then cover tightly with a lid and let sit for 5 minutes. Add freshly chopped mint leaves, fluff with a fork and stir in the olive oil. Voila, it's ready! For a better outcome, choose some nice (bio/organic) couscous.
And the end result presented for the jury (oh yes, there was a professional jury evaluating our dishes!):
