Roasted Carrot Salad with Lime Yoghurt Dressing

Sometimes you don't feel like carbs, sometimes you want something light but satisfying to sate you during the hot months of summer. Roasting carrots brings out their innate sweetness but also their deep earthiness, which acts as a rich and solid tapestry to support other more gutsy flavours.

Roasting the carrots alongside onions adds a sweeter, yet sharper note that is made more complex by the addition of sumac, cumin and thyme, respectively adding a sour tang, a fragrant whiff and savoury herbaceousness.

I've included some marinated tomatoes here, because they compliment the dish so well, but you can leave them out and this would still be sufficiently pleasurable. However, having them at hand can brighten up salads, sandwiches, deli platters and cheese boards, so if you do make them you won't be concerned of how to use them.

A dressing this simple yet this satisfyingly complex allows this dish to come together perfectly. Normally I'd encourage you to experiment with a dish but I consider this to be a rather special one. Tamper if you will, but be aware of the delicate balance that is struck here.

Roasted Carrot Salad with Lime Yoghurt Dressing

450g carrots, peeled and sliced lengthways

2 red onions cut in to eights

1 tsp sumac

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp rock salt

1 tbsp sunflower oil#

Turn oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4

Put carrots and onions into a large bowl and pour over the oil.

Bash the sumac, cumin, thyme and salt together in a pestle and mortar.

Tip spice mix in to bowl, mix well.

Tip in to a non stick roasting pan and put in the oven for 30 mins.

Marinated Tomatoes

For every large tomato halved and sliced into half moons:

1 tbsp extra virgin oilve oil

1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp fresh parsley coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper

Put the tomatoes in a sealable container.

Mix all other ingredients together and pour over the tomatoes, giving a good but gentle mix. 

Leave for at least 2 hours before serving. 

Do not refrigerate. 

Lime Yoghurt Dressing

Juice of 1/2 a lime

2 tbsp Greek yoghurt

1 1/2 tsp tahini 

Salt and pepper

Mix them all together, season to taste

To construct, put carrots and onions on bottom, layer with equivalent 1 marinated tomato, drizzle with half the dressing and garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley. 

Roasted Beetroot with Soft Cheese Mousse and Sprout Tops

Beetroot needs a creamy foil, well - I think it tastes good with a creamy foil. The beetroot's earthy sweetness gets carried and mingles with a soft and salty cheese but isn't muted. A hunk of cheese and a whopping great beetroot might be someone's ideal but not mine.

Instead with a little bit of finesse with a leftover egg-white, some seasoning and something green, sprout tops in this case thanks to my veg bag from Local Greens (insert link), makes for a pleasing on the plate and pleasing on the palette meal.

I love the simplicity of winter vegetables, in the same way as summer veg can be made in to a delicious salad with a simple dressing, winter veg can be gussied up with a hot oven to expose their sweetness. Last week one dinner was swede and carrots roasted with some fried onions and kale and dressed in a lemon spiked bean dip thinned out with yogurt and tahini.

Dairy + roasted winter veg = match made in heaven. If you need the carbs then a hefty slice of walnut bread would go excellently.

Roasted Beetroot with Soft Cheese Mousse and Sprout Tops

1 large beetroot
1 egg white
200g soft cheese
150g sprout tops (any other dark green will work well)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas mark 2. Scrub the beetroot of any earth and rinse clean. Wrap in foil and leave on the middle shelf of the oven for around 4 hours. Once the skin is slightly wrinkled and comes away when you pull it means it is done.

Whip the egg white to stiff peaks with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

Whip the cream cheese with salt, pepper and oregano and then fold in a third of the egg white mixture until combined. Then fold in the remaining egg whites gently. Transfer to a small bowl or ramekin, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge.

Remove the stalk form the middle of the greens, wash and then shred. Melt a nob of butter in a big heavy bottomed pan and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally.

Once the skin of the beetroot comes off and it is hot enough to handle, halve and then cut into semi-circles.

Put balsamic vinegar on a low heat until reduced by half. Turn off.

Make quenelles out of the mousse using wet metal table spoons.

Arrange the component parts on the plate as your wish and drizzle with the balsamic reduction - I think I spent too much time this week watching Masterchef - The Professionals - look at the slick...

We ate this with this walnut bread by James Martin but used half the ingredients and it was a delicious accompaniment.

Asparagus, Pea and Lemon Risotto

A seasonal springtime treat that's healthy but seems like an indulgence

Risotto doesn't have to be dense with cheese and thick like porridge, it can be light and refreshing. Seeing as we've had a late spring this year, as soon as the new season vegetables appear I get overexcited and figure out a way to use them. Grated I did use frozen peas in this recipe but they're very nearly as good as fresh and it can be very hard to tell the difference.

Braising the vegetables before adding to the risotto allows for them to be tenderly cooked and neither hard nor mushy and imparts more flavour to the stock. Adding them lemon zest and not the juice allows for a delicate citrus flavour to be imparted to the dish, which lightens the dish along with the fresh tasting vegetables.

I managed to get two big bunches of asparagus in a certain budget German supermarket, for a quid each, go hunting and get excited whether in a budget place or a farmer's market. You'll be well rewarded.

Squirrelface described this as 'Gnommygnommygnommy'. As high praise as there ever was. 

As long as you keep your stock on a low heat this shouldn't take more than 25-30 minutes.

Asparagus, Pea and Lemon Risotto

270g risotto rice (I used carnaroli)
50g Parmesan/Gran Padano or other hard cheese, grated
1.2 litres chicken/vegetable stock
1 small red onion, finely chopped
8 - 10 sprigs asparagus, woody ends removed, snapped at breaking point into 2 or 3
3 - 4 handfuls of frozen or fresh peas
25g unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 glass white wine

I use a small cast iron wooden handled pan of integrity for this dish but just use something big and heavy and you'll be fine.

Fry the onion in the oil on a medium heat until translucent and just starting to brown.

Add the rice and coat in the oil for a minute or two then pour in the glass of wine and reduce.

Add two ladles of the hot stock and stir until reduced, then add a ladle at a time, siring constantly.

Put the asparagus and peas in a saucepan and add 200ml of the stock and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.

Check after 20 minutes to see that the rice will be just chalky and continue until al dente.

At this point tip the asparagus, peas and remaining stock in, along with the hard cheese, lemon zest and butter.

Stir vigorously until glossy and put a lid on the pan for up to 5 minutes, then serve in a bowl with a big spoon.