Spicy Parsnip, Butternut & Chickpea Salad with Soy-Roasted Seeds

My husband, who spent his early years in England, is besotted with parsnips, and whenever he sees a pack he buys them and hands them to me with a hopeful look on his face. I usually toss them into the oven along with the roast potatoes, or make a fluffy parsnip mash. They're excellent in warm salads too, particularly if they're roasted first at a fierce heat, which brings out their nutty sweetness. In this winter salad, I've combined them with chickpeas, roast butternut, feta, spices, mint, chives, coriander and - for essential texture and crunch - soy-toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Spicy Parsnip, Butternut & Chickpea Salad. Do you like my plate? I
bought it in a junk shop this week; in its centre there is a handsome peacock.

This is good at room temperature, and keeps well in the fridge, but it's very good when the root vegetables are still hot. I've written the recipe with the assumption you're going to serve it right away, which involves getting all the cold ingredients ready to go while the veggies are roasting. (Read more about my recent obsession with hot-and-cold salads here.)

The first time I made (and photographed) this dish, I used some finely sliced red onion, but it was too aggressive, so when I made it next I added plenty of chopped chives, which have just the right gentle oniony bite.

It isn't necessary to rinse tinned chickpeas if they're in a clear, thin liquid, but I had to wash the organic ones I bought from Woolworths, which were suspended in a peculiar and unappetising gloopy gel.

It's also not compulsory to splash Kikkoman soy sauce over the toasted seeds, but I love the way this adds a salty burnish to each seed.

A final dusting of excellent paprika adds a lively tingle to this dish. I love the mildly hot, smoked variety of La Dalia Pimentón de la Vera, which you can buy in good delicatessens, or order online from Yuppiechef.

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Spicy Parsnip, Butternut & Chickpea Salad with Soy-Roasted Seeds

10 medium parsnips, trimmed and peeled
1 packet (about 3 cups or 400 g) ready-peeled butternut chunks
3 Tbsp (45 ml) olive oil
salt and milled black pepper
1 large lemon, halved
1 orange, halved
2 x 400 g tins chickpeas, drained
150 g feta cheese, roughly crumbled, plus extra for topping
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed, or more, to taste
½ cup (125 ml) chopped fresh coriander [cilantro]
½ cup (125 ml) finely chopped chives
¼ cup (60 ml) finely chopped mint
1 tsp (5 ml) cumin
1 tsp (5 ml) coriander
1 tsp (5 ml) medium-strength curry powder
60 ml sunflower seeds
80 ml pumpkin seeds
1½ tsp (7.5 ml) Kikkoman soy sauce
1 tsp (5 ml) good smoked paprika
extra lemon juice & extra-virgin olive oil, for dressing

Heat the oven to 200 ºC. Cut the parsnips into large chunks (I slice the fat end quite thickly, half-mooning the biggest slices, then cut the thinner end into 2-cm batons). Line a baking tray with kitchen paper and add the parsnip and butternut pieces. Sprinkle with 3 Tbsp of olive oil, then squeeze over the juices of one half each of your lemon and orange. Put the squeezed-out halves into the tray, and season the veggies with salt and pepper.

Put the squeezed-out lemon & orange
halves in the roasting dish so you can
add their pulp to the salad.

Roast for 30-40 minutes at 200 ºC, fan on, or until the veggies are very soft, and just beginning to char at their edges.

In the meantime, rinse the chickpeas under cold running water (see my comment, above), drain well and place in a mixing bowl. Add the feta, garlic, coriander, chives and mint. Squeeze the juice from the remaining half-lemon and half-orange into the salad and mix well.

Set to one side.  Heat a dry frying pan over a medium-low heat and gently toast the pumpkin and sesame seeds for a few minutes, or until they are crisp and beginning to make soft popping noises. Watch them like a hawk, as they can burn fast.

Sprinkle the soy sauce over the seeds and mix well. As soon as all the soy sauce has evaporated - this will take not much longer than 30 seconds - whip the pan off the heat and set to one side.

Measure the spices out into a small bowl. Remove the cooked vegetables from the oven and immediately sprinkle the spices all over them, tossing well to coat (the residual heat from the veggies will help to release the fragrances).

Tip the hot butternut and parsnip pieces into the salad. Using a pair of tongs, squeeze the hot pulp from the lemon and orange into the bowl. Toss everything together very gently and thoroughly, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

You may need to add more lemon juice to the salad to achieve a pleasant acidity, especially if you leave it to stand for several hours. Chickpeas suck up flavours eagerly, and the lemon juice fades quickly into the background.

Tip the salad onto a platter, sprinkle generously with olive oil and top with the toasted seeds, some extra crumbled feta, and a generous dusting of smoked paprika.

Serves 4 as a main meal, 6 as a side dish

Like this recipe? Try my Parsnip, Potato and Cumin Cakes with Crème Fraîche and Chives

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Feeding a crowd: Roast Butternut and Baby Corn Salad

Lovely nutty flavours and sunset colours make this bountiful salad a real crowd pleaser. Roasting the vegetables takes a little time, but you can do this well in advance and let them steep in their own toasty juices for a few hours before you assemble the salad. And making stuff ahead is the key to success when you're tackling a big festive feast, isn't it?

I'm a fan of big composite salads like this one because they go a long way and don't cost very much to make. I served this with my Christmas Gammon with a Sticky Orange and Ginger Glaze and a platter of crunchy potato wedges, and it easily fed ten very hungry people.

I'm not crazy about butternut - sweet vegetables aren't my cup of tea - but I don't mind it at all plainly roasted with tender ears of corn and baby carrots, then combined with feta, watercress, spinach and peppery rocket. Lemon juice in the dressing adds necessary acidity, while soy-sauce-coated sunflower seeds provide a bit of crunch and texture.

Roast Butternut and Baby Corn Salad with Feta and Sunflower Seeds

1 large butternut, peeled, deseeded and cubed
2 cups (500 ml) tiny little carrots (or big carrots, peeled and cut into cubes)
1 large punnet baby sweetcorn
7 T (105 ml) olive oil
salt and milled black pepper
2 large packets mixed rocket, watercress and baby spinach, or similar dark leaves
1 stick celery (no leaves), finely sliced
140 g (about two 'wheels') peppered feta cheese
½ cup (125 ml) sunflower seeds
2 T (30 ml) Kikkoman soy sauce

For the dressing:
reserved juices from the roast vegetables
a pinch of Hot English Mustard powder, or ½ tsp (2.5 ml) prepared Dijon mustard
a pinch of caster sugar
the juice of a small lemon
1 tsp (5 ml) Kikkoman soy sauce
2 T (30 ml) white wine vinegar
3/4 cup (180 ml) olive oil, or a mixture of sunflower and olive oil
salt and milled black pepper

Heat the oven to 190ºC.  Put the butternut cubes on a roasting tray and drizzle them with half the olive oil. Season generously with salt and black pepper and, using your hands, toss well to coat. Roast the butternut, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are nicely freckled with brown. Push the cubes to one side of the tray and arrange the baby sweetcorn and carrots on the other side. Drizzle the remaining oil over them, season, toss well and return the tray to the oven. After 15 minutes, remove the butternut cubes, place them in a large bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave the sweetcorn and carrots in the oven for another 15 minutes, or until they are toasty and just tender. Add them to the cooked butternut cubes and set aside at room temperature until you're ready to use them.

To make the dressing, tip any juices that have accumulated under the roast vegetables into a small mixing bowl.  Add the mustard powder, caster sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce and vinegar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Now whisk in the olive oil to make a smooth emulsion.  Season with salt and pepper. If you'd like a tangier dressing, add more lemon juice or vinegar to taste.

Put the sunflower seeds in a large frying pan and toss them gently over a medium-low flame until lightly toasted.  Turn the heat up to medium, add the soy sauce and stir well so all the seeds are coated. Leave over the heat for 30 seconds, or until the pan is dry, then set aside to cool slightly.

Lay the leaves on a big serving platter and arrange the roast vegetables, chopped celery and feta - broken into chunks - on top.  Immediately before you serve the salad, pour over just enough dressing to coat the leaves lightly, and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

Serves 10 as a side salad, or 6 as a main course. Print Friendly

Bless Jamie Oliver for this lekker baked butternut

Jamie Oliver seems to irritate a lot of people in the celebrity-cook and cheffy* world, but for a hard-working home cook like me, he's a hero. I love his simple, hearty, lip-smacking recipes. Oliver understands that I don't have the time or energy to to faff around preparing platesful of pretentious, vertically stacked food nestling in jus, or topped off with clouds of almond air. I also take my hat off to him for his effort to shake up the quality of crappy school dinners, and to encourage disadvantaged (and often incredibly loutish) kids to consider a career in cooking.

Anyway, here is my version of Oliver's lekker baked butternut recipe, which I took from his book Cook With Jamie . I've adjusted the recipe for family tastes (I left out the red chilli flakes, cut down a bit on the spicing, and instead of a cup of cream used half thick Greek yoghurt and half cream) but it was still astonishingly good.

Jamie Oliver's Baked Butternut

1 large butternut squash, unpeeled
3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) coriander seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh thyme leaves (I used fresh oreganum)
salt and milled black pepper
1/2 cup (125 ml) cream
1/2 cup (125 ml) plain white yoghurt
1/2 cup (125 ml) white wine
1/3 of a nutmeg, grated
1 cup grated Parmesan (Grana Padano or Pecorino will do)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the butternut into 1-centimetre-thick slices, using a heavy cleaver or knife. Cut each slice in two, and scrape out and discard any seeds or pulp. Don't bother peeling the butternut. Put the butternut into a suitably sized oven-proof ceramic dish (the chunks should fit into the dish in a single layer. Jamie emphasises that they should be tucked up closely against one another). Pour the olive oil over the pieces, add the coriander, the thyme and the salt and pepper, and, using your hands, toss well to coat. Cover the dish with a piece of tin foil and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the butternut is tender. In the meantime, whisk the cream, yoghurt and white wine together in a bowl. Stir in the nutmeg and half the Parmesan. Taste the mixture, and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

When the butternut is tender, remove it from the oven, drain off any liquid by tipping the dish over the sink, and pour over the cream mixture. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top. Put the dish back in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes longer, or until the dish is bubbling hot and browned on top.

Serves 6 as a side dish.

* An example: Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux has said, snottily, of Jamie: "He's served the purpose of being able to bring young people to understand that food is something to enjoy and even cook for themselves. But when someone tells me he's a chef I just say 'You're joking'."

Recipe rating
My rating: 7/10
My Significant Other's rating: Not at home tonight.
Teenagers' rating: 'We're not hungry, honest, mom. We had 20 peanut butter sandwiches at 5 pm'
Small-daughter rating: 5/10 ('I think I might like pumpkin') Print Friendly