Healthy Caribbean Recipes: Callaloo Croquettes accompanied with Sunshine Salsa & Super Power Smoothie (Part 1)*

 

It's officially Caribbean Food Week from the 24th-31st August 2015- a UK wide celebration of Caribbean food and drink to ensure people cook Caribbean in the convenience of their own home!

I was over the moon when I was provided with a box of 5 Grace Foods products where I was given the mission to produce creative recipes with the ingredients above. This blog will show you how I used the Callaloo (a green vegetable similiar to spinach), Grace's Hot Pepper Sauce & Grace's Smooth Coconut Water as well as my opinion on the products.

Callaloo Croquettes

Makes 10 

• 1 cup of Dunn's River callaloo (prep method is below)
• 10 cubes feta cheese, mashed
• 3 cups 2-day old mash: I used 2 white potatoes and one sweet potato
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Dash of maple syrup
• 1/2 cup spring onions, chopped
• Fresh coriander, chipped
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of panko bread crumbs

Note: before you start making the croquettes, put the panko breadcrumbs on a separate plate for later

Preparing the Callaloo

Making The Croquettes

In a large mixing bowl mix all the ingredients (except the panko) until combined

 

As the mixture was sticky I shaped the mixture in to oblongs by using a food bag as a glove (below), and made sure I squeezed the mixture to ensure it wasn't going to crumble. I then rolled it carefully into the panko breadcrumb ensuring that the croquettes were covered properly

Use a metal tray and spray with olive oil spray in the corners as this helps the greaseproof paper stick to the tray then spray the paper to help prevent the croquettes from sticking.

Finally spray oil on top of croquettes and bake at 180°C and turn occasionally, be careful as they are fragile. They are ready when the panko is golden brown and crisp, serve with salsa (recipe below)

Note: they do flatten out a bit but this doesn't compromise on the taste!

Prepare the Mango

 

I switch between the cubed method and slicing the skin off the mango, it really depends what you are comfortable with, for tips see Mango Cutting Tutorial. 

Three quarters of the mango was roughly chopped (left) for the smoothie and the rest was finely chopped about a quarter cup (for the salsa)

Making The Salsa

In a bowl mix together the finely sliced mango, 1/4 juice of one lime, 4 shakes of Grace Hot Sauce, half of a red medium onion finely chopped, half avocado chopped and a handful coriander roughly chopped

Serve the croquettes and salsa immediately.

 

Opinions on callaloo: When I was reading about Callaloo, websites said it's similar to spinach the thing is I'm not keen on spinach but wanted to give this a try. To my surprise the callaloo tasted really good and these croquettes were a big hit with the family... crispy on the outside, melt in the mouth on the inside, healthy and nutritious.

The cooling component of the mango in the salsa a long with the hot sauce was a great pairing. In my opinion the hot sauce is SO much better than Tabasco as it has lots of heat and flavour. I will definitely be making this again.

Mango, Coconut Water & Banana Smoothie

To wash it all down I blended 1 banana, 1 cup of Grace's coconut water,  quarter cup Greek yoghurt and blended till smooth (in a blender).

I added it in a jar, topped off with chai seeds and a little umbrella

The family and I have tried coconut milk but not coconut water. We found the taste of smoothie lovely and refreshing. Coconut water has many health benefits too: aids with weight loss, helps with hangovers, boosts hydration and more. This smoothie would be a really good option for breakfast or a snack after cardio :)!

To look at more of the options Grace Foods see their website: www.gracefoods.co.uk
and to keep in the loop of Caribbean food week follow via Twitter @caribbeanfoodwk
and  Facebook: www.facebook.com/caribbeanfoodweek

 I really think you should try these recipes. They are healthy and delicious. If you create any of the recipes please use the #basibeauty tag and I look forward to looking at your creations.

Next week I will be publishing the recipes on the remaining Grace Food Products by making Jerk Chicken and Double-marinaded double-coated fried chicken with homemade coleslaw. The teaser is below:

 Hope you enjoy the weekend!

Kimren xo