
Mediterranean vegetable tray bake with salsa verde
You can’t beat a tray bake for its ease of preparation. A little bit of chopping and let the oven do the work.
Any leftovers make for a perfect lunch, eaten at room temperature.
The zesty, herby salsa verde brings a freshness and vibrancy to the dish and the spicy chickpeas a welcome crunch. Keep the leftover chickpeas in an airtight container for snacks another day.
This recipe was developed with Kitchen Titbits. Photography by Jed Alder
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 60g quinoa (raw weight)
- 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ tsp hot smoked paprika
- 2 peppers, halved and seeds removed
- 2 medium courgettes, cut into fat sticks (or 8 baby ones left whole)
- 1 aubergine, cut into fat sticks
- 14 baby tomatoes
- 1 red onion, cut into quarters
- 4 cloves of garlic, left whole and in their skins
- Handful of parsley
- Handful of basil leaves
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 jar marinated artichokes, drained
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve until the water runs clear and cook according to the packet instructions. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Tip 3/4 of the chickpeas onto a baking tray. Coat with a tiny amount of olive oil, the hot smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
- Bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 40 minutes, or until crisp.
- Place the peppers, courgette, aubergine, tomatoes, onion and garlic on a large baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle over a little salt and pepper.
- Roast at the top of the oven for 30 minutes, removing the garlic and mixing the quinoa through the vegetables after 20 minutes.
- Chop the parsley and basil. Zest the lemon and remove the garlic from the skins. Chop the herbs, lemon zest and garlic together until very fine. Transfer to a bowl and squeeze in a little lemon juice. Mix together.
- When the vegetables come out of the oven, stir through the remaining chickpeas and artichokes to warm slightly.
- Finish with a scattering of the crunchy spiced chickpeas (you don’t need them all) and the salsa verde.