Roast Fennel, Aubergine with Freekeh, Chickpeas and Harissa Dressing
A simple salad of roast fennel, aubergine and spring onions with earthy freekeh and amazing homemade harissa sauce. Perfect for lunches or alfresco dining.
Here’s another delicious roast veg salad–for me, roasting veg is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to make a simple but delicious meal.
Today I used fennel, aubergine and spring onions as that’s what I had in my fridge and I think the Aniseed flavour works really well with the earthy freekeh and Harissa. The great thing is that the veg and gains can be switched up really easily and everything still works.
Some delicious combinations;
Roast peppers and courgette with rice & butter beans
Sweet potato with black rice & chickpeas
Roast squash with quinoa and pulses of choice
The star of the dish? My home made Harissa–a deep smokey flavour with lots of spices and subtle (ish) chilli.
Toasted seeds add the final and essential crunch to the dish.
Enjoy xx
Ingredients
For the roast veg
- 1 fennel bulb sliced
- 1 aubergine sliced
- 1 bunch of spring onions sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
For the salad
- 250 g cooked freekeh or rice if preferred
- 1 can chickpeas drained
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
- Juice 1/2 lemon
For the harissa dressing
- 2 red peppers
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- For the spice mix
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the toppings
- Handful leaves
- Toasted sunflower seeds
- Sea Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil-optional
Instructions
To roast the veg
- Pre heat your oven to 180c
- Add the veg to a large baking tray. Toss with olive oil and salt.
- Bake for approx 30 minutes, then remove from the oven.
To make the harissa
- First toast the cumin, fennel, coriander seeds and chilli in a dry pan until fragrant, a couple of minutes. Now either crush in a pestle and mortar of blitz in a spice grinder.
- Char-grill the pepper on a griddle pan (high heat) for approx 15 minutes, turning frequently until nice and charred on both sides.
- Set aside
- Now add all the ingredients to a food processor and blitz to a paste.
- Transfer to a clean glass jar with a lid.
To make the salad
- Add they all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- Now add the roast veg and a few tbsps of the harissa. Toss again.
- Top with leaves, toasted sunflower seeds, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil if desired.
6 Responses
Love this! I always try to empty my fridge before each shop & this time I had only red pepper, aubergine, spring onions & fennel left. I was delighted to find your recipe & I’ve shared it with friends already. It’s so delicious & the harissa paste is amazing on anything. Thankyou…you have a new follower!!
Aww amazing! Thank you xx
This was very good, thank you ! I used quinoa instead of freekah, and I only had red onion rather than spring onions so used those. Everything else was as in your recipe and it was a hit !
I served it along with some sliced fried smoked tofu for a bit of extra protein.
I love that you adapted it to what you had to hand! Very #FoodWasteFriendly! I may even have to give those changes a go myself one day. thanks so much – Niki xo
absolutelyfabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb……………
Yay! x