Sumac Roasted Carrot Salad with Za’atar Yogurt & Smoked Chickpeas

Easy Saturday lunch salad that comes together in no time.

I love the Middle Eastern flavours running through this salad and as the carrots are the star here, it might be worth sourcing the freshest carrots you can find. I picked up a lovely bunch of rainbow carrots at my local weekend market, but any bunch will do.

For the dressing you can use labneh (thick yogurt spread) or thick yogurt dolloped on the salad. You can make a runnier dressing to drizzle by using normal yogurt (the runny kind).

The success of this dish will depend on your seasoning, so, be generous with the spices (to your liking), salt, pepper and plenty of citrus.

I served the salad on a bed of cooked quinoa (1 cup) but freekeh, couscous or bulgar wheat would also work well. Feta will great as will a drizzle of honey over the warm carrots straight from the oven.

• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch carrots, peeled or scrubbed (very well)
• 2 teaspoons sumac
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 lemon (zest & juice to taste)
• 1 handful herbs, I love dill, mint and coriander
• 2 handfuls watercress or rocket (or any leaf you have)
• salt & pepper

Harissa Chickpeas

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained well
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Spanish smoked sweet paprika
• 1/2 kasmiri chilli or chilli flakes
• salt & pepper

Za’atar Yogurt

• 1/2 cup thick Greek yogurt/runny yogurt of your choice (see intro)
• 1/2 teaspoon za’atar
• small garlic clove, minced
• 1 lemon zest & squeeze of juice

1. Preheat oven 200c, add the carrots, olive oil, sumac and fennel seeds to a baking tray, season and roast for 30 minutes until golden and soft but still have texture (we don’t want mushy carrots). Remove to cool slightly.
2. Mix the chickpeas with paprika, oil and chilli and season well, roast in the same oven (they might pop!) until chewy or crunchy, about 15 minutes (soft) or a little longer if you want them to be crunchy. Remove and cool.
3. Mix all the yogurt ingredients together and taste and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
4. To serve, scatter the leaves on a pretty plate, add the carrots, the chopped herbs and a generous season with lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper. Dollop the yogurt over the salad, followed by the chickpeas or if you are using a runny yogurt, add the chickpeas before finally drizzling over the yogurt. You can now add a pinch of sumac and/or za’atar seasoning over the final dish. Enjoy!