Chermoula Roasted Vegetables w Quinoa & Harissa Yogurt

I love flexible one tray bakes, you know the type you can use any vegetables with. The perfect midweek supper whereby I make an easy marinade with some spices, oil and garlic, which I massage into the veg, I cook some sort of starch in a pot, while I rummage the fridge to find things that can accompany the veggies with.

It’s funny how one can be influenced by a cuisine one week and the next week by another. This week I am a bit obsessed with Moroccan flavours. I feel I don’t know enough about this cuisine although I am lucky enough to have a very good Moroccan friend and I have sat at her table many times in London. She cooks like an angel.

Chermoula is a Moroccan marinade usually made to coat fish, meat or vegetables. There are many versions and while I was researching Moroccan spice and flavour combination I came up with my own.

The marinade is enough to coat the veggies liberally, I think it’s a good idea to roughly stick to the veg ratios to ensure that all the veggies get a good dousing, the best way to ensure this is to use your two hands (many a stained turmeric hands have been seen on my yoga mat!).

Swops: This dish is perfect to use any veggies you have hanging around with, even the forgotten ones. If you are going for roots here try to cut them into smaller blocks as they need to cook within the 40 minutes.

Getting Ahead: Perfect make ahead dish which can double up as a salad and served cold the next day. The dish will happily sit in the fridge for 2 days. Just hold off on any yogurt or flaked almonds if using.

Serves 4-6

Served this with some toasted almond flakes, harissa yogurt and chopped herbs. Oh yes, the addition of salty feta would be perfect.

You can hold off on the quinoa and rather fill some pita breads with the roasted veggies and a generous drizzle of the harissa yogurt – pure bliss. For a quick flatbread recipe, click here.

A very large roasting tray or two smaller ones, ideally the veggies are laying in a single layer.

• extra virgin olive oil
• small broccoli (200g) cut into small florets
• small cauliflower (250g) cut into small florets
• large aubergine (300g) diced into large blocks
• 200g small beetroots, halved or larger ones cut in quarters
• 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 100g small radishes, halved if bigger
• chopped parsley or coriander to garnish (opt)
• salt & pepper

Chermoula

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don’t like heat)
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 medium red onion (170g) very finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil

Quinoa

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• pinch of cumin seeds
• 2 pinches salt
• (OPT: 2 cups sautéed chard leaves and stalks, finely chopped)

Rose Harissa Yogurt

• 1 cup yogurt of your choice
• 1 teaspoon rose harissa (more to taste)
• pinch salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 220c.
2. Place all the quinoa ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil, turn down the heat, gently simmer, covered until all the liquid has evaporated and the quinoa has ‘popped’ revealing a little white tail, fluff the quinoa with a fork, cover again, turn off the heat and let the quinoa steam for 5 minutes. Tip into a bowl, fluff again and taste for seasoning, drizzle with a little bit of oil. Mix in the chard if using.
3. Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients together for the chermoula paste.
4. Add the veggies to your large roasting tin(s) add the paste and with your hands work the paste into your veggies, massaging as such until all the veggies are covered.
5. Roast the veggies for 20 minutes, remove from the heat, give it a good stir, turn the heat down to 180cm, drizzle the veggies with a bit more oil if they seem dry and return for the final 20 minutes. Remove and let it cool a bit.
6. Toast the flaked almonds if using in a small baking sheet in the preheated oven for 5 minutes until light golden, keep an eye on them.
7. For the harissa yogurt mix all the ingredients together and drizzle with a bit of oil and sprinkle over some chopped herbs.
8. To serve, pile some veggies on top of the quinoa, scatter with some herbs and toasted almonds and serve along with the yogurt.