Roasted Spiced Vegetables with Tahini Dressing

This post is the third in a series where I show you how meals based around roasted vegetables, accompanied by a range of tasty mix and match dressings, are a great way to help you reach your recommended daily intake of fruit and veg. In fact, these Roasted Spiced Vegetables with Tahini dressing will provide ALL 5 or your minimum intake – and that’s before you add any optional raw garnishes like tomatoes and cucumber.

In the first post in this series, I highlighted the fact that most people in Britain still seem to struggle to eat the recommended minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. According to a 2017 study by Diabetes UK 58% of those surveyed wanted to eat more veg but didn’t know how to go about it.

At our house, we try to make vegetables the centre of a large proportion of our meals, and find that having quick-roasted vegetables several times a week, accompanied by one of a number of dressings and a protein such as fish, chicken, cheese, nuts or pulses, helps us to reach that minimum target pretty easily – and tastily!

The vegetables in the recipe featured in my introductory post were garlic-roasted courgette, broccoli, red onion and red pepper and I served them with a simple yogurt, mint and lemon dressing and pan-fried mackerel fillets. The recipe in the second post included roasted beetroot, butternut squash and crispy kale with a feta dressing, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

This time, I’m going to roast aubergine, carrots, broccoli and red onion and serve them drizzled with a creamy, tangy tahini dressing that’s easily made in just a few minutes. Here I’ve served grilled skewers of spiced chicken alongside, but the vegetables and dressing would go equally well with falafel, halloumi or spicy fish kebabs.

Of course you don’t have to use my selection of vegetables – just use whatever you have and try to include as wide a range as possible to keep it interesting and for maximum nutritional benefit. I hope by the end of this series you’ll have your own favourite combinations which you can mix and match with the dressings and your choice of proteins. This will help you create a whole host of delicious, quickly-made, vegetable-packed dishes with no chance of getting bored with the same old meals.

ROASTED SPICED VEGETABLES WITH TAHINI DRESSING

I guess most of us are familiar with tahini these days, and I’ve been using this Middle Eastern condiment of ground sesame seeds for 30 years now. When I first starting eating it, you had to buy tahini from wholefood shops as supermarkets hadn’t yet heard of such weird and wonderful things. Now, tahini is everywhere and you even see it popping up in smoothies, cakes, brownies and breads.

Back in the old days, I’m pretty sure I only used tahini to make hummus, where it’s a vital ingredient along with chickpeas, garlic and lemon. Although I do still make hummus, I think tahini’s pleasantly bitter, nutty flavour is at its best in dressings for roasted vegetables, salads, meat, fish, veggie kebabs and falafel.

As an aside, I have to tell you that I’m really irked when hummus is served with falafel! Much as I love chickpeas, I think that two chickpea dishes on the same plate is wrong, wrong, wrong. A silky tahini dressing (complemented by a fresh tomato, chilli, garlic and herb one) is a much better accompaniment to falafel in my view.

Anyway, back to the job at hand…

TAHINI DRESSING

For a basic tahini dressing you simply add crushed garlic, salt, lemon juice and water to a few tablespoons of tahini from a jar. It’s possible to make your own tahini with a high-powered blender but, as you can very easily buy unadulterated tahini (no sugar, no salt, no added oil etc.) it’s not something I’ve ever felt the need to do.

If you haven’t made tahini dressing before, the weird thing you’ll notice is that adding lemon juice tends to make tahini stiffer whereas adding water thins it. I’m sure someone, somewhere, understands the science behind this, but I’m not that person. Be generous with the lemon anyway and add enough water to give the consistency you want – thicker tahini dressing can be used as a dip but thinner is good for drizzling.

I almost always add ground cumin and paprika to a tahini dressing but have also occasionally steered it away from the Middle East and nudged it towards Asia by adding soy sauce and ginger – in that guise it’s a good salad dressing over leafy greens.

Any leftover dressing should be fine in the fridge, in a covered container, for two or three days.

SPICED ROASTED VEGETABLES

The weight of the vegetables I’m using here, for 2 servings, should come to around 800 – 900g. That works out at over five portions of veg per person as the recommended portion size is approximately 80g. If you want to learn more about what constitutes a portion of veg or fruit, the NHS has a useful list which you can view or download here

I like to cook the onion and broccoli together as they take around the same time to roast (10-12 minutes). The aubergine takes a little longer to properly brown (15-20 minutes) so I cook them separately; under-cooked aubergine is really not very nice, but well browned and soft it’s a smoky delight.

The carrots do take a similar time to the onion and broccoli, but here I wanted them to feature more in the foreground with the aubergine, so cooked them separately. Young and slender whole carrots would be nice, but in the absence of those I just cut regular carrots into longer lengths.

For the spices, I’ve used fennel, cumin and coriander seeds plus dried chilli flakes. You can just sprinkle the seed spices over the veg if you like, but I think they’re better crushed a little first – with a pestle and mortar if you have one or the back of a tablespoon if not. Give the vegetables a good seasoning with salt and pepper too and coat with olive oil, giving everything a mix with your hands to make sure it’s all coated in spices and oil.

As with all the recipes in this series, the vegetables are best quick roasted at a high temperature. You want them to get a bit charred around the edges but still have some bite and texture.

If you want to serve the vegetables and tahini dressing with the grilled chicken skewers shown, marinate bite-sized pieces of chicken (for 2 people I used 4 small boneless, skinless thighs) in the same spices and seasonings as for the veg; about 1 teaspoon each of the spices, lightly crushed, plus dried chilli flakes salt and pepper, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Set aside for however long is convenient, from 30 minutes to overnight, then put on skewers and grill or griddle until nicely browned and cooked all the way through. Fish or halloumi can be prepared in the same way, reducing the marinating time to 30 minutes for fish and leaving out the salt for halloumi. Adjust the cooking time accordingly.

PLATING UP

I try to include some raw veg with every meal and with this one I think a few halved cherry tomatoes and chunks of cucumber are all that’s needed;  4 tomatoes and 3 centimetres of cucumber per person will give everyone another fruit and veg portion too.

Once your veg, dressing and accompaniments are ready, all that’s left to do now is plate up.

I like to layer up the ingredients, drizzling the tahini dressing as I go, but also including a nice dollop of dressing which diners can then dip into with a choice bit of veg, chicken or whatever.

A sprinkling of chopped coriander, a dusting of cumin and paprika finishes the dish, along with a few sesame seeds which will give texture and are also a neat little echo of the ground sesame in the tahini dressing.

If you’re very hungry, you could include a few tablespoons of cooked bulgar wheat or brown rice per person. However, I think this dish is great as it is and you might be surprised at just how filling and satisfying a good range of vegetables can be when combined with one of my mix and match dressings.

Print

Spiced Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Dressing

Course Main Course

Cuisine Middle Eastern, Vegetarian, Vegan

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

For the tahini dressing

• 2 cloves garlic grated/finely chopped
• 0.5 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 100 g tahini
• 1-2 whole lemons (juice only)
• 2-4 tbsp water
• 0.5 tsp ground cumin
• pinch paprika

For the spiced roasted vegetables

• 250 g aubergine (approx 1 medium) in bite-sized chunks
• 250 g carrots in long lengths
• 200 g broccoli (approx half a head) in medium sized florets
• 160 g red onion (approx 2 medium) skinned & quartered
• 1 tsp fennel seed lightly crushed
• 1 tsp cumin seed lightly crushed
• 1 tsp coriander seed lightly crushed
• 0.5-1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil

To serve

• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved optional
• 6 cm cucumber, cut into large dice optional
• 2 tbsp coriander leaf
• pinch ground cumin
• pinch ground paprika
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

For the tahini dressing

1. Using the flat side of a knife, mash together the grated garlic and salt into a rough paste and scrape into a bowl.
   

2. Add the tahini to the paste and stir to combine.
   

3. Add the juice of 1 of the lemons and continue stirring: the mixture will be quite thick.
   

4. Add 2 tbsp of the water and stir well to create a smooth, creamy texture.
   

5. Taste the dressing and add more lemon juice to taste and/or more water to make a thinner consistency if liked.
   

6. Stir in the cumin and paprika, then set the dressing aside until needed. Will keep 2-3 days in a covered container in the fridge.
   

For the spiced roasted vegetables

1. Pre-heat your oven to 220C/220 Fan /Gas 7

2. Put the aubergines in a baking dish or tray and sprinkle with one third of the fennel, cumin & coriander seeds, one third of the dried chilli flakes. Season with salt and pepper then drizzle with one third of the olive oil. Mix together with your hands to ensure the aubergine is coated in spices and oil.
   

3. Cook the aubergine until soft and brown (15-20 min)
   

4. While the aubergine is cooking, repeat the spicing, seasoning and oiling process described above: in one tray put the carrots and one third of the remaining spices and oil, in another tray put the broccoli and onion plus the final third of spices and oil. Roast until just cooked and starting to char at the edges (10-12 min).
   

To serve

1. Divide the vegetables between two bowls, drizzling with the tahini dressing as you go. If liked, add grilled chicken, fish or halloumi kebabs, or falafel, to the bowls.
   

2. If using, add the optional cherry tomatoes and cucumber then sprinkle with coriander leaf, ground cumin, paprika and sesame seeds.