Jeweled Root Vegetables with Chermoula
What do David Lebovitz and I have in common? Our undying love for Paris and, of course,root vegetables! I have been making this jeweled vegetable recipe for as long as I can remember so I was pleasantly surprised to see it right there, in one of my favorite cookbooks, My Paris Kitchen. I mean, we make it the same exact way, simply and deliciously, the Parisian way; salted and peppered with nothing more than a few sprigs of thyme. That’s it. So, the reason for me creating a blog post about it is more about teaching you how to cut beautiful looking vegetables and presenting them in a gorgeous way as well. If you scroll to the bottom of this post, I created a nifty video to show so many techniques for cutting the vegetables and give you some great tips on vegetables in the kitchen.
Aside from the technique, I also included a very easy and tasty recipe for Moroccan Chermoula sauce, which is similar to chimichurri sauce. The sauce is the perfect accompaniment to the hearty and earthy vegetables. It’s bright, tangy, and herby punch of flavor brightens up the dish.
With the holidays right around the corner, I got a lot of request for healthier vegetable focused side dishes and this one knocks out so many of your requests. It’s healthy, easy and serves a large crowd. Just follow the three easy steps!
Scroll to the bottom for the recipe and Video How-to
This roasted root vegetable dish makes a stunning addition to your holiday table
Step 1: Prep the Vegetables
Getting all the vegetables washed and dried with a proper set up will make this step easy and stress free. Have a discard bowl ready to catch all the peelings, scraps and trimmings so when you are preparing everything you aren’t moving from place to place in your kitchen. Staying put will help you breeze through this process. I also use two different knives; a smaller detailing knife is easier for working with smaller vegetables, such as brussel sprouts, with ease while a larger chef’s knife is better to use with heartier and larger root vegetables.
The way the vegetables are chopped is so easy, it just looks impressive. Most of the cuts in this recipe are either segmented just like cutting wedges of an apple, or julienned like cutting french fries. The technique you may not be familiar with is ‘Roll Cutting’, which involves holding the blade perpendicular to the board and cutting straight down on a diagonal. Then turn the vegetable a quarter turn, and cut straight down again, on a diagonal angle. Keep repeating the process. I’ve demonstrated this technique in the video below!
Prepped vegetables ready for the oven
Different cutting techniques make for a beautiful presentation
Step 2: Roast the Vegetables
Roasting vegetables requires no thought at all. However, making sure the vegetables come out beautifully caramelized and equally tasty requires some useful tips and tricks that will result in successful execution.
Roasting the vegetables at a high temperature ensures they will crisp up on the outside and be perfectly cooked on the inside.
Roasting the pan directly on the oven floor allows direct heat to reach the pan, making for “charred in some spots”, goldeny roasted veggies.
Rotating the pans halfway through cooking time means both pans will be equally golden and perfect.
Properly seasoning the pan also means the vegetables will taste just as good as they look.
Make sure to drizzle the pan with enough olive oil, salt and pepper to season the dish perfectly.
Step 3: Make the Chermoula Sauce
While the vegetables are roasting, you can make the super quick and easy Chermoula sauce. Toasting the spices and then grounding them up into a powder might be the preferred method for you if you are sticking to a “make it all yourself” approach but for the sake of time and ease, I decided to use pre ground spices and was pleasantly happy with the outcome. I got a delicious, perfectly seasoned sauce that was so easy to make without any weird “uncooked” spice flavor.
My only piece of advice here is to resist the urge of dumping in all the olive oil at once. Think of this sauce the same way you would a pesto, a slow and steady stream of olive oil is what will make the difference. If the sauce is too oily, it will take away from the bright punch of herby flavor. If it’s not oily enough, the sauce won’t be spreadable and will have a thick and pasty consistency, which isn’t pleasing to the palate. Slow and steady wins the race and it won’t take more than 5-10 minutes to make, tops.
Five Minute Chermoula
Bright and green Chermoula sauce
Recipe
Jeweled Root Vegetables and Chermoula Sauce
Serves 10-12 Prep Time – 30 min Cook Time – 30 to 45 min
3 Carrots, cut into 3” spears
2 Sweet Potatoes, roll cut
2 golden beets, segmented
1 red beet, segmented
1 Turnip, segmented
1 Parsnip, cut into wedges
1lb Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
3-4 Large shallots, quartered
Thyme – about 10 sprigs
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive Oil
Chermoula Sauce
1 small bunch Cilantro, roughly chopped
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
½ lemon, juiced
2 cloves garlic
9 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Sumac
½ tsp Cumin
1/8 tsp all spice
Pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Wash and dry all vegetables. Peel the beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnip and turnip. Cut the beets and turnip into segments, the same as you would an apple. Cut the carrots into spears. Cut the parsnip in half, length wise and cut each half into triangle wedges. Cut the sweet potatoes into a roll cut by holding the blade perpendicular to the board, cutting the sweet potato on a diagonal, turning the sweet potato a quarter half turn and repeating until you’ve cut the entire potato. Repeat with the other sweet potato. Trim all the brussel sprouts and remove outer leaves. Cut in half. Peel the shallots and cut into quarters.
Step 2: Line two roasting sheet pans with parchment paper. Working with both sheet pans, lay all the Brussel sprouts cut side down. Scatter all the remaining vegetables and make sure to put all the shallots cut side down as well. Drizzle generously with olive oil, salt and pepper. Scatter thyme leaves around the sheet pans, about 5 stems per pan.
Step 3: Place one sheet pan on the oven floor and another directly above on the lowest rack. Roast for about 15 min and rotate pans half way through. Roast another 15 min for tender-crisp vegetables. For softer vegetables roast a total of 45 min, rotating pans halfway through cooking time.
While vegetables are roasting, make the Chermoula Sauce
Step 4: In a food processor, pulse the cilantro a parsley a few times until the volume is reduced by half. Add the garlic and pulse a few times until garlic is minced. Add the spices and pulse again. Turn the processor on low and half the olive oil in a slow and steady stream. Turn the processor off and add the juice of half a lemon, chili flakes if using, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pulse a few times. Check the consistency and taste, you should have a pasty consistency. Turn the processor back on low and add enough olive oil, about 4-5 more table spoons, to be smooth and spreadable.
Presentation: on a large serving platter, arrange the mix of vegetables and pile them high. Top with micro kale for an elegant touch or drizzle with Chermoula. Alternatively, you can serve the Chermoula on the side. Enjoy!
