Make the most of the abundance of delicious produce around during summer. Roasting turns all vegetables beautifully sweet and tender, while the watercress dressing adds a fresh and peppery note. This would also be great as part of a shared meal and leftovers make an excellent lunch.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
Vegetables
2 medium eggplants
4 x zucchini
2 x capsicum (1 x red, 1 x yellow)
2-3 cups cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Olive oil for roasting
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Millet
1 cup hulled millet
2 cups vegetable stock
Watercress, pine nut and caper dressing
1 tightly packed cup watercress (discard very thick or woody stems)
½ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon capers
¼ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
sea salt and cracked black pepper
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
Cut the vegetables (except cherry tomatoes) into 1 inch chunks. Use two oven proof trays for roasting to ensure the vegetables have enough space to cook evenly. Divide the fennel seeds between the two trays and toss the vegetables generously with olive oil. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Roast for 45 – 60 minutes until tender but not mushy. Try to only turn once during this time. Be very gentle with the cherry tomatoes.
Combine the millet and the vegetable stock in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer. Partially cover with a lid and cook for 15 – 18 minutes until tender. Place the lid on properly and set aside for 5 minutes before serving.
Use a blender or hand blender to make the dressing. Combine all ingredients and then blitz until very smooth. Taste and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
To serve: Divide the warm millet between four bowls. Top with the roasted vegetables and serve with the dressing on the side.
Leftover vegetables and millet will last up to 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Leftover dressing will last 1 week in the fridge.
Kelly Gibney
Kelly Gibney is a food writer, stylist and photographer based in Auckland. For more of Kelly's flavour-first wholefood recipes head over to her blog, bonnie delicious.
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In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.