Eating vegetables has taken on a real centre stage in my life right now, and quite honestly, I hope the trend continues. Skipping grains in favour of millets and vegetables like sweet potato have really fuelled me, made me feel less sluggish and far more productive. Some of my favourite vegetable pioneers include Ottolenghi, and this recipe by Noor (who is one of Ottolenghi’s recipe developers) is beyond incredible.
This particular recipe is loosely inspired by the smashed carrot salad – I used some sweet potato and carrots cut into wedges, roasted with thyme, garlic, salt pepper finished with a generous heaping of greek yoghurt seasoned with sumac and zaatar, some quick pickled onion, microgreens, pine nuts / pistachio slivers and a few dollops of homemade vegan pesto (EVOO + basil + salt + walnut + garlic).
NOTE: I haven’t made this in advance myself, but I would imagine that if you prepare all the elements separately and plate it after a few hours, the salad would be perfectly incredible.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into long wedges
- 1 carrot, cut into long wedges
- 2 tbs avocado oil
- 1 tbs thyme
- black pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 400gm tub of yoghurt, left to drain for a few hours
- 1-2 tsp zaatar powder
- 1-2 tsp sumac powder
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- juice of 1 lime
- 2-3 tbs pesto
- 2 tbs pine nuts / pistachio slivers, to garnish
- 1/2 cup of micro greens
Method:
- Preheat the oven 180*c.
- Mix together the roasting spices – oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and thyme.
- In an ovenproof dish, toss together the sweet potato and carrot with the roasting spices. Let it cook in the oven for a good 25-35 minutes, checking till it is tender and cooked through.
- While the oven is doing its magic, mix together the onion and lime juice and season with salt. Set aside.
- Mix together the yoghurt with sumac, zaatar, and adjust to taste. Season with salt and pepper if you like.
- Once the root vegetables are done, place them in a shallow rimmed platter, and dollop with the yoghurt mix, sprinkle over the picked pink onion and dot with a little pesto.
- Garnish with micro greens or any greens of choice, and some pine nuts. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
