Roasted Vegetable & Chick Pea Salad with Feta, Cumin & Lemon
The trick to roasting vegetables is not to overcrowd the roasting tin – it should be large enough so that the vegetables can be spread out in a thin layer. Turn them now and then during roasting so that they brown evenly.
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Cut the butternut squash, red pepper, courgette and fennel into small chunky pieces and put into a large roasting tin with the red onion, oil and some salt and pepper. Toss together well, spread out into a single layer and roast for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the asparagus stalks in half and make the cumin and lemon dressing. Heat a dry frying pan over a high heat, add the cumin seeds and shake them around for a few seconds until lightly toasted. Tip them into a coffee mug or mortar and grind to a powder with a rolling pin or pestle. Tip them into a bowl, add the lemon juice and gradually whisk in the oil. Season with some salt and pepper and set aside.
Add the asparagus to the roasting tin, turn everything over a few times and roast for a further 20 minutes until all the vegetables are just tender and slightly caramelized around the edges.
Shortly before the roasted vegetables are ready, drop the chick peas into a small pan of boiling salted water and simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain the chick peas. Remove the vegetables from the oven and mix in the chick peas, dressing and a little salt and pepper to taste. Leave to cool a little, then spoon onto a large, flat serving dish and sprinkle over the feta cheese. Scatter over the rocket leaves and serve with some foccaccia bread.
Ingredients
- 450 g (1 lb) prepared butternut squash
- 1 small red pepper, stalk and seeds removed
- 1 courgette, topped and tailed
- 1 small fennel bulb, first outer layer removed
- 1 small red onion, cut into thin wedges through the root
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
- 1 x 400-g (14-oz) can chick peas, rinsed and drained
- 100 g (4 oz) feta cheese, crumbled into pieces
- 25 g (1 oz) rocket leaves
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- foccaccia bread, to serve
- For the Cumin & Lemon Dressing
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil