Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand,
Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorise your neighbourhood.
If that sounds like where you live on Halloween night as trick or treaters prowl the streets, how about magicking up something a little different to satisfy those ghoulish lusts but which scarily might not be as unhealthy as they look!
These devilishly good recipes packed with the original superfood, watercress, make chilling statement dishes for any Halloween party, and with more than 50 essential vitamins and minerals in every mouthful of watercress, they’re frighteningly good for you!
Spooky Tortilla Graveyard with Guacamole Dip
SERVES 8-10
The ingredients
- 4 ripe avocados
- 2tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 4tbsp coriander, finely chopped
- 2-3 large tortilla wraps
- 250ml vegetable oil
- 85g watercress
- Salt and pepper
The method
- To make the guacamole, add the avocado and lemon juice to a blender or food processor along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth, then stir in the coriander and red onion. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Use a small, sharp knife to cut grave stone shapes from the tortilla wraps. Why not be as creative as you like and try cutting out some ghosts or trees as well!
- Place a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. After a few minutes, check the temperature of the oil by dropping in a small piece of tortilla wrap. If the wrap sinks to the bottom, the oil is not hot enough. Once the oil is the correct temperature, the tortilla should stay on the surface and create bubbles. Add a few tortilla shapes at a time to the oil, frying for less than a minute on each side or until golden. Drain the shapes on kitchen towel and allow to cool.
- Once the shapes have cooled, take a large ceramic oven dish and spread the guacamole evenly over the base. Scatter over the watercress to represent grass, then place the gravestones and other shapes in any way you like.
- If not serving immediately, keep the guacamole in the fridge and the tortilla shapes in an airtight container at room temperature.
Roasted Cauliflower Brain with Green Slime Hummus and Dead Man’s Finger Sandwiches
The ingredients
- 1 whole cauliflower
- 2tbsp olive oil
- 150ml white wine
- Salt and pepper
- 3tbsp tomato ketchup
FOR THE GREEN SLIME
- 50g watercress, roughly chopped
- 2 tins chickpeas in water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1tbsp tahini
- Juice of one lemon
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 6tbsp olive oil
- Salt
FOR THE DEAD MAN’S FINGERS
- Half a loaf of thin-sliced white bread, crusts removed
- Soft butter or margarine
- 150g cream cheese
- 50g whole almonds
The method
- Pre-heat oven to 150°C. Trim the leaves from the cauliflower and cut its base flat so that it sits upright. Rub all over with olive oil. Place the cauliflower into an ovenproof casserole dish and pour over the white wine. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1.5 hours.
- Check after one hour and brush on more oil if cauliflower seems dry. After the time is up, remove from the oven and insert a long knife into the centre of the cauliflower, ensuring that it is cooked all the way through. Leave to cool.
- While the cauliflower is in the oven, make the hummus. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place into a blender with the watercress, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, ground coriander and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth, gradually adding olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning and lemon juice if necessary.
- To make the finger sandwiches, gently flatten the slices of bread with a rolling pin to make them more pliable. Spread each slice with a little butter or margarine and some cream cheese. Roll up the sandwiches, then use a blunt knife to make indentations to form the knuckles. Trim one end of each roll into a V shape and use a little cream cheese to stick on an almond fingernail.
- Once the cauliflower has cooled, use a sharp knife to carefully cut a hollow, creating a bowl in the top. Fill this with the green hummus, then mix the ketchup with a little warm water and drizzle over the sides of the cauliflower to look like blood. Serve the cauliflower brain with the dead man’s fingers on the side for dipping.