Recipes by Vicki Ravlich-Horan, Images by Ashlee DeCaires
A roast vegetable salad is the perfect solution in spring when you are hankering for a salad but the price of cucumber and tomatoes can still be up there. Below are the veg I love to use, but tweak it to what you have, like or what’s in season. Eggplant, beetroot, asparagus, fennel and cauliflower are all great roasted! The yoghurt dressing will be thinner when just made than if allowed to sit in the fridge for a few hours. So if you want to drizzle over the salad, make the dressing just before you serve the salad. If you want to place the dressing on the bottom of the dish and plate the roast vegetables on top, make the dressing ahead of time.
1 small kūmara
1 medium potato
1 carrot
1 red onion
½ a broccoli
1 capsicum
1 zucchini
extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
salt
Chop the vegetables into similar sizes for even baking. I aim for around 1 cm pieces. Toss the chopped kūmara, potato and carrot in a little oil and season with a generous pinch of salt. Place on a baking dish and bake for10 minutes.
Place the remaining (softer) veg in the same bowl with a little oil and another pinch of salt and add these to the baking tray, continuing to cook for a further 10–15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.
Dressing
1 large garlic clove
3–4 generous handfuls of soft herbs (I like Italian parsley, dill, mint and coriander. Basil and chives will work too)
1 spring onion
1 tsp capers
juice of 1–2 lemons
1 tbsp tahini
½ tsp salt
1 cup Raglan Food Co Greek yoghurt
Place all the ingredients, except the yoghurt, in a blender and blend to form a puree. Add the yoghurt and blend until combined.
Crispy Chickpeas
The addition of these crispy chickpeas adds some protein to this salad, making it a complete meal. I admit these are a bit of a faff, but they are very moreish and a great snack or crispy addition to salads.
1 tin chickpeas
extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
1 tsp za’atar
Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place them in a clean tea towel and rub to loosen the skins of the chickpeas. Now this is the tedious bit – remove all the outer skins of the chickpeas.
Toss with 1–2 tbsp of oil and the za’atar. Place on a baking tray and bake at 180°C for 20–30 minutes, or until the chickpeas are crispy. Shake the tray every 10 minutes while they are cooking.
Once cooled, store in an airtight container to keep fresh.
For the Flatbreads
These are great served with this salad to make it a complete meal, but they are also a handy recipe to have up your sleeve for BBQ season and beyond.
2 tsp active yeast
1 tsp sugar
¼ cup warm water
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
¾ cup Raglan Food Co Greek yoghurt
Activate the yeast by placing it in a mixing bowl along with the sugar and warm water. Mix well and allow to stand for 10 minutes until foamy.
Add the flour, salt and yoghurt and mix. If using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes. If doing by hand, once you have formed the dough into a ball, place it on a floured bench and knead for 10 minutes.
Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover and place in a warm spot to rise. You want it to double in size.
Divide the dough into eight pieces. The easy way to do this is to cut it in half and then each piece in half, and these in half.
Heat a griddle or cast iron pan (or the hot plate on your BBQ). Roll each piece onto a round approx. 15 cms and place in the hot pan. When it begins to puff up, flip to finish cooking the other side. If you want you can brush the hot flatbreads with a flavoured or good quality olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Or leave as is. I wrap them in a clean tea towel to keep warm as I continue to cook the others.
