Roasted Vegetables with Chile Yogurt, Cilantro Mint Sauce and Salted Pepitas

OK the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasting has passed… did everyone make it through? I for one FINALLY used some restraint and moderation and feel all the better for it. It was not all gobble gobble of decadent fudge, cookie after cookie, or I’ll take one more slice holiday eat fest. No sir, I was good.

We had the usual suspects of roasted turkey, which I slathered under the skin with toum, a Lebanese garlic sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and my favorite Homemade Cranberry Relish that has cherry in it. Oh so good! We feasted, but again I say in moderation. And I made Apple Crisp for dessert instead of my usual Crème Brûlée or Pecan pie. After all the appetizers like Green Chili Chicken Mac and Cheese Muffins we coasted through to a wonderful and fun dinner. Good times. I didn’t go crazy on the servings, kept it to one and had small portions.

So the day after Christmas we used the leftover stuffing to make waffles.  These Cranberry Pecan Stuffed Waffles with Turkey Mashed Potatoes and Gravy were pretty amazing and all that was left from Christmas dinner were a few bits and pieces that I’ll throw into a wonderful comfort soup.

Which leads me to this incredible, and I mean incredible, Roasted Vegetables with Chile Yogurt and Cilantro Mint Sauce.

Quite the change from all the heavy hitter holiday dinner regulars. I wanted to switch gears and keep it simple, healthy and packed with flavor, so I read through my new favorite cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty More and came upon this dish. The original recipe called for butternut squash and after I cut mine open was saddened to find it bad, so I used other vegetables instead. I also ended up grilling some sausages for protein and called it a night.

Sriracha sauce makes an appearance and is mixed with some cooling plain Greek yogurt to drizzle on top of the roasted vegetables.

The wonderful combination of fresh herbs, garlic and salt are puréed with olive oil to also add freshness and color. I took the liberty to add the mint and parsley as his recipe didn’t, but I just had to shake it up a bit. Also, I bought the roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas).

This is one visual dish and the crunch of the salted pepitas finishes it off nicely.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Chop the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and chile. Place in a bowl and toss with cinnamon, pinch of kosher salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Roast for 35 minutes or until golden brown and shows crispy edges.

Make the herb paste in a food processor. Add the cilantro, mint, parsley, garlic and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Process until smooth. Add a pinch of kosher salt, pulse once and taste test. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the Greek yogurt and Sriracha sauce until smooth.

Remove vegetables from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Drizzle with spicy yogurt sauce and herb paste. Sprinkle with roasted and salted pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately.

This appears and actually is a very simple dish – and simple is good, quite good. I think the spicy and cool yogurt sauce is delicious with the caramelized vegetables. The fresh and lively cilantro, mint and parsley herb sauce is a good a companion on top as the vibrant flavors shine and tickle the tongue.

I could go, dare I say, vegetarian with dishes like this one. But who am I kidding, I couldn’t live without my beloved bacon. Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Roasted Vegetables with Chile Yogurt, Cilantro Mint Sauce and Salted Pepitas

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Kevin

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 red potatoes, cubed
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 Serrano chile
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 20 sprigs of cilantro
• 4 sprigs of mint
• 4 sprigs of parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• kosher salt
• ¼ cup salted and roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Chop the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and chile. Place in a bowl and toss with cinnamon, pinch of kosher salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Roast for 35 minutes or until golden brown and shows crispy edges.
3. Make the herb paste in a food processor. Add the cilantro, mint, parsley, garlic and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Process until smooth. Add a pinch of kosher salt, pulse once and taste test. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl whisk together the Greek yogurt and Sriracha sauce until smooth.
5. Remove vegetables from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Drizzle with spicy yogurt sauce and herb paste. Sprinkle with roasted and salted pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately.

3.2.2925