Za’atar Roast Veg

This was my fridge forage from today. You can use any veg you have that comes to 800/900g. Whatever you use, I recommend using the red onion to give it the boost of flavour. This effortless marinade ties it all together nicely and I threw on crumbled feta, pine nuts, lemon’s zest/juice, coriander leaves and a last drizzle of aged balsamic.

Vegan/GF
Serves 2
Ingredients:
250g romano peppers, sliced lengthways into quarters
250g carrots, cut into 1cm sticks
360g tomatoes (about 3 medium), halved and quartered
1 large red onion, sliced into 1.5cm pieces

For the marinade
5 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used a thicker aged variety)
1 tsp garlic powder
2/3 tsp salt
2 tsp za’atar
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp black pepper

For the polenta:
80g quick cook polenta
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Zest of 1/2 lemon, plus 1-2 tbsp juice
2 tbsp sesame oil
500ml vegetable stock, hot

Preheat the oven to 190 C degrees fan and add the chopped veg to an oven tray. Mix everything together for the marinade and toss together with veg. Place into the oven for 30-35 mins (mixing half way) or until everything is caramelised and golden.

Set a saucepan to a medium to high heat and add first 4 ingredients for the polenta. Stir for 30 seconds to infuse before adding in half the veg stock. Start to stir until the mixture thickens, about 1 min and then add in the rest of the stock. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Stir until is starts to thicken again and taste to check the seasoning. Then plate up straight away, top with the roast veg with any cooking juices. Finish with any toppings from above and serve!