Beef Or Potato & Kūmara Skewers With Carrot, Corn & Quinoa Salad & Carrot-Top Chimichurri

Recipes & food styling Fiona Smith/ Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Fiona Lascelles

	CARROT TOP CHIMICHURRI
	1 teaspoon dried oregano
	½ teaspoon chilli flakes
	tops from 1 bunch baby carrots (or use 2 cups rocket if no carrot tops; use the carrots for the salad)
	1 clove garlic, crushed
	3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
	3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
	CARROT, CORN & QUINOA SALAD
	1 bunch baby carrots
	2 tablespoons olive oil
	150g (¾ cup) red quinoa, rinsed
	1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
	1 small red onion, sliced
	12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
	1 clove garlic, crushed
	½ cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped
	1 chilli, seeds discarded, chopped
	POTATO & KŪMARA SKEWERS
	2 potatoes (about 250g each), scrubbed
	2 orange kūmara (about 250g each), peeled
	BEEF SKEWERS
	300g lean beef, such as flank, scotch or sirloin

1.	CARROT TOP CHIMICHURRI
2.	To make the chimichurri, bring ⅓ cup water to the boil with 1 teaspoon salt and boil to dissolve.
3.	Add the dried oregano and chilli flakes and set aside.
4.	Sort through the carrot tops, choosing nice fresh-looking leaves and measure out 2 cups.
5.	Chop very finely and put in a bowl with the garlic.
6.	Whisk in the vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and the salt water (you can do this in a food processor).
7.	This chimichurri keeps for one week in the fridge.
8.	CARROT, CORN & QUINOA SALAD
9.	Scrub and trim the baby carrots and slice in half lengthways then crossways.
10.	Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the carrots with a sprinkle of salt and cook for 10 minutes until browning and tender. Set aside.
11.	Fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil.
12.	Add the quinoa and cook for 15 minutes then add the fresh corn and cook for a further 5 minutes (frozen corn will take 3 minutes) then drain well.
13.	Put the red onion in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes
14.	Put the cherry tomatoes in a large serving bowl and crush with a fork.
15.	Put the garlic and ½ teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle or small food processor with 2 tablespoons of almonds and the chilli and crush to a rough paste.
16.	Transfer to the serving bowl with the tomatoes.
17.	Drain the red onion well and stir through the tomatoes, then add the quinoa, corn and carrots.
18.	Stir in the remaining almonds just before serving.
19.	POTATO & KŪMARA SKEWERS
20.	Slice the potato and kūmara into thin, even slices, discarding the smaller end pieces.
21.	Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Boil the potato slices for 3 minutes until just tender then carefully scoop out and drain.
22.	Add the kūmara and boil for 2 minutes then carefully drain.
23.	Put the slices in a dish, add 2 tablespoons of the chimichurri and gently toss with your hands to coat.
24.	On a board, make two stacks of vege slices, starting with potato and layering alternately with kūmara, ending with potato.
25.	Carefully pierce down through the layers with 4 skewers in each stack then slice to get individual skewers.
26.	You will need to stack and cut them according to the shape of your veges – I like a long, narrow shape so you can slice into four along the length but if your veges are rounder you might need to cut in quarters like a pie. Set aside.
27.	BEEF SKEWERS
28.	Slice the beef very thinly and coat with 2 tablespoons of the chimichurri in a dish then thread onto 8-12 skewers.
29.	Heat a hibachi or other grill to very hot and cook the potato skewers for about 6 minutes and the beef skewers for about 2 minutes or to your liking.
30.	Serve with the carrot, corn & quinoa salad and the chimichurri.

Fiona Smith

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