Roast cauliflower, broccoli & sweet pepper salad with tahini dressing

When I have time, I like to roast a big tray of veggies and store them in the fridge to use with various dishes throughout the week. I find they really elevate an average lunch in terms of flavour and, most importantly, nutrition! 

Here I have added a lemon tahini dressing, and finished with fresh herbs, but you could top with roasted nuts or seeds, or even feta cheese. I also love to have a pot of this dressing in the fridge as, again, it works well with lots of different dishes, like  salads, chicken, fish, but I think my fave combo is with fried tofu. I often mix in a spoon of rose harissa paste to make the dressing spicy. 

In this recipe I have used cauliflower, broccoli, sweet pepper and red onions, but it's totally flexible as you can use whatever veg you have in the fridge - but remember to adjust the cooking times. 

Here's a few nutrition highlights if you use this veggie combo: cauliflower and broccoli contain a compound called sulforaphane that is understood to help with liver detoxification, plus they are also great source of fibre for gut microbes. All the veggies in this recipe may be good sources of antioxidants and can help the body protect against free radicals - unstable molecules that can cause damage to cells and tissues and may be linked to chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Similarly, tahini is high in antioxidants and is also a rich source of healthy monounsaturated fats, which may have an anti-inflammatory effect in the body. 

I think the main takeaway for this recipe is the potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect of the ingredients which can support long-tem health and reduce the risk of disease. 

Ingredients

Serves 4 - 6

• 1 small cauliflower, large florets

• ½ head broccoli, large florets

• 2 red onions, sliced in 1/2 cm half moons

• 1 sweet pepper, sliced

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• ½ tsp cayenne pepper

  Dressing

• 4 tbsp tahini

• 3  tbsp water

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Small garlic clove, finely grated

• Good pinch of salt 

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°c.

• Put all the veggies in a large tray, mix with the olive oil, fennel seeds, coriander and cayenne and a pinch of salt.

• Place in the oven for 15 mins, then turn and repeat for 10-12 minutes.

• While the veggies are cooking make the tahini dressing by putting all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking with a fork.

• Spread the cooked veggies on a serving plate, drizzle with dressing, and finish with fresh parsley, coriander, or toasted sunflower/pumpkin seeds.

Quinoa, broccoli & red pepper salad with herby tahini dressing

Nutritious and tasty, this salad delivers a ton of flavour and over 10 of your 30 plants a week! Nutrition researchers at the Zoe project recommend eating 30 different types of plants weekly to support gut microbes, long-term general health, and weight management (read more).

The veggies and quinoa are full of fibre, which feeds gut bacteria and has been linked to weight loss, improved energy levels, and even reduced menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings, and anxiety.

This recipe is also a good source of B vitamins (tahini and veggies), which can help with weight management; B1 (thiamine) helps the body burn calories from carbohydrates, and B6 and B9 (folate) can boost metabolism.

Quinoa and chickpeas contain manganese, a co-factor for many different enzymatic reactions in the body, including those that support weight management by encouraging carbohydrate and fat burning. Manganese also protects against oxidative stress by neutralising free radicals.

Oxidative stress occurs when our body has high levels of free radicals that can damage the surrounding cells and tissues. When free radicals react with important molecules in our cells, like DNA, proteins, or fats, they can disrupt their normal function and lead to damage. This damage is associated with health issues, such as accelerated aging, inflammation, and increased risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. The good news is that broccoli and red pepper also contain high levels of antioxidants, including vitamin C, which reduce the risk of oxidative stress and inflammation by supporting the immune system

It’s a vegan salad, but you can eat whatever you want with it … last night, we had Mexican-spiced fried chicken breast, and leftover carrot, and kohlrabi slaw, but grilled meat, fish, halloumi, fried tofu, feta, edamame would all work really well.

If you want to simplify the recipe, you can use raw chopped cherry tomatoes (vine if possible for flavor) or roast the tomatoes for 15-20 minutes at 180°c rather than the slow and low method I have used to dry them out. You can also swap the crispy chickpeas for toasted pumpkin, sunflower seeds, or hazelnuts. I recommend you try the chickpeas once, though, as they are super delicious and add a nice crunch.

ingredients

Serves 6 as a side dish

• 250g vine cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas

• ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika

• 150g quinoa (I used tricolour, but you can use ‘normal’)

• 200g tenderstem broccoli, ends trimmed

• 1 large red pepper, thickly sliced

• 30g fresh herbs (any combo of flat-leaf parsley, coriander, dill, basil) chopped roughly

Dressing

• 4 tbsp tahini

• 6 tbsp chickpea water

• ½ clove garlic, peeled

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 10g herbs (taken from the 30g listed above)

method

• Heat the oven to 120 °c

• Drain the chickpeas and retain the liquid. Pat dry with a paper towel.

• Spread the tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with salt.

• Next, spread the chickpeas on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with paprika and a pinch of sea salt.

• Place both trays in the oven and cook for 1 hour. The tomatoes should be caramelized and blackened on some edges, with most of their liquid evaporated. The chickpeas should be very crunchy; if not, put them back in for 10-15 minutes.

• Simmer the quinoa for 20 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside to drain well.

• Once the tomatoes and chickpeas are cooked, turn the oven to 180°c.

• Put the broccoli and peppers on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.

• Place in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove the broccoli and put the peppers back in for 5 minutes.

• Meanwhile, chop the herbs and make the dressing; put all the ingredients, including ⅓ of the chopped herbs, into a small mixer and blitz.

• Assemble the salad by layering quinoa, veggies, herbs, dressing, and repeat, finishing with veggies, dressing, herbs, and chickpeas. I like drizzling each layer with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon to add flavour and moisture.

Tip

• If you don’t have a mixer, use a whisk and bowl if you don’t have a small mixer, but make sure your herbs are chopped finely.

Purple broccoli & potatoes with celeriac, quinoa & green tahini

Bit of a different one from me today as I don’t often cook with blue anneliese potatoes or celeriac, but wow, I need to pick them up more often! This salad was so tasty and even won over my celeriac-hating other half! I think the way forward is roasting the celeriac to get the sweetness and a softer flavour.

The veggies all arrived in my Able & Cole box (as did the celeriac); I’ve been trying them for the past few weeks and I’m really enjoying cooking with different ingredients and creating dishes to include them in.

This salad was so tasty and amazingly healthy, here are a few nutrition facts you might find interesting:

purple potatoes have more potassium (fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals) than bananas surprisingly and contain lots of antioxidant polyphenols, which mop up the free radicals in your body that cause cell damage.

Celeriac is also packed with antioxidants plus Vit C (immunity), K (blood clotting and bone health) and B6 (supports neurotransmitters that regulate mood, such as serotonin, dopamine and GABA).

Purple sprouting broccoli is another great source of antioxidants (like anything purple!) , Vit K, C, folate (mental health, cardiovascular and immune system health, cell division and DNA creation) .

And last but not least quinoa, a complete source of protein as it contains all 9 essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and protein forms the basis of all tissues in your body. It is also packed full of: manganese (metabolism, growth, development), phosphorus (tissue health), copper (heart), folate, iron (energy), magnesium (muscles, energy), zinc (immunity, growth and around 100 essential enzyme reactions).

Note: if you can’t get blue anneliese then switch for sweet potatoes.

Ingredients

• Serves 4-6, or 8-10 as part of a mezze

• 3 blue anneliese potatoes, 1cm slices, halved

• ½ large celeriac, 2 cm rough cubes

• Pinch of dried thyme

• 150g tri-colour quinoa

• 100g purple spouting broccoli

• Dressing

• 100g tahini

• 20g fresh parsley

• 1 small garlic clove

• Juice 1 ½ lemons (approx 3 tbsp)

• 3 tbsp water

• ¼ tsp sea salt

  Method

• Pre heat the oven to 180ºc.

• Spread the potatoes and celeriac on 2 large trays with a pinch of thyme and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, roast for 20-25 minutes until soft and browned.

• Rinse the quinoa really well and cook as per the packet instructions, rinse and drain well. Toss in a good pinch of salt and set aside in a pan with the lid on to keep warm.

• Blitz the dressing ingredients in a mini chopper or use a stick blender in a deep jug.

• While everything is still warm layer the quinoa, veggies and dressing, serve immediately if you can, but if you have to make ahead then this salad is lovely at room temperature too.

Creamy broccoli pesto pasta

Summery veggie pasta that we love in our household. The kids will even put up with wholewheat pasta in this one! I’m usually a bit ambivalent about brown pasta, but this fusilli from Sainsbury’s is really tasty - nutty flavoursome without tasting too ‘healthy’.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• ½ head broccoli

• 1 small or ½ large courgette

• Handful of spinach, optional

• 2-3 tbsp crème fraîche

• ½ tsp sea salt

• 80g wholewheat fusilli

  Pesto

• 40g basil / parsley

• ½ garlic clove

• 15g parmesan

• 30g pine nuts

• Juice of ¼-½ lemon

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large pan and fry the onions gently for 5 minutes.

• Next add the broccoli and courgettes for approx 15 minutes until soft. Turn up a bit a bit to brown

• Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions.

• Make the pesto by adding all the ingredients to a food processor and blitzing to a rough paste

• Add the spinach to the broccoli for the last couple of minutes, stir well and let it wilt.

• Drain pasta, reserving a little water.

• Add the pasta, pesto and crème fraîche, if you’re using, to the vegetables, mix gently.

• Add a little pasta water to loosen if necessary - about 4-6 tbsp pasta water

Broccoli & spring green salad with hasslebacks and wild garlic pesto

It’s officially spring and this salad is perfect for the time of year. Lots of greens, some crispy hassleback potatoes and a wild garlic pesto made from leaves picked in our local park. I love this salad served warm on it’s own or part of a spread. It would be great if you’re BBQing over the next few weeks too.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 500g new potatoes

• 200g purple sprouting broccoli, trim & halve any with thick stalks

• 200g green beans, both ends cut

• 250g spring greens

• Juice of ½ lemon

Pesto

• 20g wild garlic (15 leaves)

• 30g basil

• 50g pinenuts

• 20g parmesan, grated

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc.

• Make the pesto: toast the pine nuts in a frying pan (no oil) for 2-3 minutes, watching closely so they don’t burn. Allow them to cool before making the pesto. Next blitz the parmesan in the food processor and then add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

• Prep the potatoes: put them, one at a time, onto a wooden spoon and, starting at one end, cut across their width at 3mm intervals with a sharp knife – the spoon keeps the potato stable and stops you from cutting all the way through.

• Spread the potatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with 2-3 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle each one with sea salt. Roast for 50 minutes until the tops are crispy.

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and char the broccoli for approx 10 minutes until just cooked, so it still has a bite.

• While the broccoli is cooking, steam the green beans for 5-6 minutes.

• Warm a plate briefly in the oven and then put the cooked broccoli and green beans on it while you prepare the spring greens. Cover the plate loosely with tin foil.

• Add the spring greens to the same pan as you used for the broccoli. Drizzle with a little olive oil, if needed, sprinkle with salt and fry on a low-medium heat for 3 minutes to soften.

• Toss the veggies in ½ tbsp olive oil, plus the juice of ¼ lemon and a pinch of salt, then arrange on a serving plate, spreading each vegetable out as evenly as possible.

• Nestle the potatoes in between the greens, top with spoons of pesto and squeeze over the remaining lemon quarter if needed. Serve straight away.

Broccoli, sweet potato & tahini salad

Salad season is back! I feel ready to say goodbye to soups now! Or may be I’m getting over excited as it’s sunny AND warm today. Feels really good after a long Covid lockdown winter and now we can have friends in our gardens, life just feels that bit better. I’ve missed seeing my family and friends so much!

This was a hastily put together salad based on what I fancied last night. It was a rare evening when everyone else had either leftovers or a packet pie (yes, they’re my lifeline some days) to eat and I was left to my own devices. So I made a salad with roasted vegetables, harissa spices, quinoa and tahini dressing, which I enjoyed so much. I took the rest to eat lunch with a friend in the park and added some falafels and pitta, which felt like a real treat!

* If you want to make the salad vegan, just leave out the feta and top with a few toasted seeds.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a main, or 4 as a side

• 1 red onion, sliced

• 100g tenderstem broccoli

• 1 medium sweet potato, 1½cm cubes

• 1 tsp dried harissa spice blend

• 120g quinoa

• A handful of coriander leaves

• 100g feta, crumbled (optional)

  Dressing

• 3 tbsp tahini

• 5-6 tbsp water

• Juice of ¼ lemon

• ¼ small clove garlic

• Pinch of sea salt

Method

• Preheat the 200ºc. Mix approx 1 tbsp olive oil and the harissa into the onions and sweet potatoes and roast for 15 minutes.

• Turn the onions and potatoes, then add the broccoli to the tray and drizzle with a little oil. Roast for 15 minutes and then set aside to cool a little.

• While the vegetables are roasting, rinse and cook the quinoa as per the packet instructions - I usually rinse it 3-4 times so the water runs pretty clear and then simmer for 20 minutes.

• Make the dressing by putting all the ingredients in a jar and mixing well. Just add the water slowly until you get the right consistency - tahini sometimes varies with the amount of water it needs to let it down.

• Drain the quinoa and allow to cool, or run it under some cold water if you’re in a hurry and then drain again.

• Layer the ingredients, including the dressing, in a large bowl or platter, finishing with feta and coriander on top.

Orzo, roast tomato & broccoli salad with pesto

This is a quick and easy salad that can be eaten warm or cold, so it’s a good one to make all year round. I also like to add a little cheese to this dish by crumbling over some feta or grilling 2-3 slices of halloumi;. It goes really well with roast chicken, pan fried fish or even chickpeas roasted in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 head broccoli, chopped into florets

• 400g cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

• 350g orzo

• 20g toasted almond flakes

• 2 tbsp any kind of pesto - I made some myself, but you can use jarred or fresh ready made from the supermarket.

  Pesto

  Makes enough for this recipe plus 4 servings with pasta

• 90g basil - or wild garlic when it’s in season (March/April)

• 1 small clove garlic (but don’t add if you’re using wild garlic!)

• 2 tbsp lemon juice (approx juice of 1 lemon)

• 6 tbsp olive oil

• 60g pine nuts

• 15g parmesan, chopped roughly

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

  Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°c

• First make the pesto by putting all the ingredients into a food processor and blitzing until they form a loose paste-like texture. If the parmesan isn’t grated add this first and blitz, followed by the pine nuts and repeat, then add the rest of the ingredients. You don’t want it too smooth though as pesto isn’t a purée!

• Next put the veggies on a large tray so they have plenty of space and drizzle with the oil, sprinkle with salt and mix well. Roast for 12 mins, then turn the broccoli and put back in the oven for a further 5-8 minutes so it has started to brown a little on the other side, but still has a bit of a bite.

• While the veggies are roasting, cook the orzo as per the packet instructions - usually boil for 10 mins - then drain thoroughly and stir in the pesto.

• Spoon the orzo and veggies on to a serving plate, season and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

• Serve straightaway if you want the salad warm. Otherwise leave to cool and eat at room temperature.

  Tips

• All salads taste better when eaten at room temperature, rather than chilled, so remember to take it out of the fridge about an hour or so before eating.

• Try adding some sliced avocado if you’re eating it at room temperature.

• A drizzle of posh balsamic or balsamic glaze (same sweet tangy flavour as the posh, but way cheaper!) would also work well.

• Make the pesto a day or so ahead so you cut down on the prep time. Pesto stores really well in the fridge for 7 days or freezes for up to 3 months and this recipe will give you enough to add to another meal at least, so it’s a good one to make ahead and save time in the kitchen later. I love to roast a tray of mixed vegetables and add a few dollops of pesto or it’s great added to risotto as a flavour boost at the end.