Roasted Root Vegetables with Dukkah and Goat Cheese
Roasted Root Vegetables with Dukkah (pronounced doo-kah) and Goat Cheese is the Meatless Monday recipe of the week. An Egyptian spice, seed, nut blend is variable based on your tastes; I have provided a recipe for the blend I used.
I have been loving oven-roasted root vegetables this season. For this recipe, the flavors of beets, sweet potato, fingerling potatoes and turnips are combined with the fragrant and flavorful Egyptian spice blend called dukkah (dakka, duqqa, dukka).
When I was thinking of this recipe, I looked at the variety of combinations of herbs, spices, seeds and nuts that are used in dukkah. If you think there are too many ways to spell this spice blend, I’ll tell you right now, there are even more variations of blends. That just makes it easy so to adapt to suit your individual tastes.
While hazelnuts are a common base, for mine I used pine nuts (also frequently used). Additionally, I used ground dried chick peas, sesame seeds, coriander, cumin, marjoram, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
In order to make your own blend, you will either need a mortar and pestle or a food processor. The name dukkah is derived from Arabic “to pound”, so you get the idea…all these ingredients are either pounded or ground to create a consistency that is not dry, but it doesn’t come together as a paste either.
I found that I needed to grind my dry chick peas first, since they are the largest component. Then I added the other ingredients to my food processor (I used my mini-version) and pulsed until I had a crumbly mixture.
The root vegetables I just peeled (except for the red and purple potatoes), and cubed in approximately 1″ pieces. Tossed with a very modest amount of olive oil (1 teaspoon for 4 cups of vegetables), then tossed with a tablespoon of the dukkah and roasted, the vegetable cook time is only 25 minutes.
Once completed, I sprinkled on a bit of crumbled goat cheese and some cilantro leaves. Served with some warmed flat bread, this was a delicious and satisfying meal for two. It could also be a side dish for up to six people.
I hope you’ll try it.
P~
p.s.: Two recipes, one for the dukkah blend I made, and another for the vegetables (since you can find dukkah blended in some stores and online).
p.p.s.: I have been using lightly dried cilantro recently and have found it to be so nice! It keeps for a very long time in the refrigerator and has beautiful flavor. If you’re cooking with it, it will hydrate in liquid and have the appearance and flavor of fresh.
- 1 cup golden beets, peeled and diced in 1 inch cubes
- 1 cup sweet potato, peeled and diced in 1 inch cubes
- 1 cup turnips, peeled and diced in 1 inch cubes
- ½ cup red fingerling potatoes, washed, halved if necessary to make them conform to the size of the other vegetables
- ½ cup purple fingerling potatoes, washed, halved if necessary to make them conform to the size of the other vegetables.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Dukkah
- 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Combine all of the prepared vegetables in a shallow roasting pan.
- Drizzle the vegetables with the olive oil and toss to combine.
- Sprinkle the vegetables with the Dukkah and toss to coat.
- Place the vegetables into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are golden brown and fork-tender (meaning they can be easily poked with a fork).
- Remove from the oven and onto a serving plate or bowl.
- Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese and chopped cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
- ¼ cup dry chick peas, ground
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon marjoram leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Combine all ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until a coarse texture is achieved. This will not be a paste and it will not be dry.
- Store in an airtight container.
Wow, this dish looks amazing. I’ve not heard of dukkah but now I’m gonna have to make it! 🙂
It is so flavorful, and as I said, there are many, many combinations of spices; so it can be made to suit any tastes. I couldn’t stop eating this. P~