Serves 4
The beauty of the squash and carrots in this bowl is the color you achieve when they’re roasted. The color is the result of what is referred to as caramelization. That the root of this word is caramel is no coincidence. Roasting vegetables brings out their natural sweetness. Winter squash keeps at room temperature for weeks, if not months. During the fall and winter, I keep a display of assorted squash in my house, so I can admire their beauty while also having them to cook for hunger emergencies. You can roast cauliflower, fennel, or sliced sweet potatoes—in place of the vegetables called for here.
This recipe is vegetarian. To make it vegan, skip the egg and dress the bowl with Tahini Sauce (here) in place of the Yogurt Green Goddess.
1 acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into ½-inch half-moons
½ pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 bunch carrots with greens, scrubbed and halved lengthwise (leaving 1 inch of greens attached)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2½ teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Yogurt Green Goddess (recipe follows)
1 cup Khorasan wheat, cooked (or farro or spelt, see here, here, or here)
1 head radicchio, sliced
1½ cups cooked chickpeas (see here), or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed
2 medium-cooked eggs (see here), cut in half
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roasted salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 cup radish sprouts (or another type of sprouts or microgreens), optional
To cook the vegetables, arrange the oven racks so one is in the middle and none is near the oven floor; you are going to put the baking sheet on the oven floor. (If you have an oven that doesn’t allow you to put a baking sheet on the floor, put the rack as close to the floor as possible.) Preheat the oven to 500°F.
Toss the vegetables in a big bowl with the oil, salt, and pepper and lay them flat on two baking sheets, making sure not to overcrowd them. (If you overcrowd the baking sheets, the vegetables will steam instead of caramelizing.) Put one baking sheet on the middle rack and one on the floor of the oven or the lowest rack and roast for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets and turning the veggies midway through the baking time so they brown evenly. (I turn the vegetables one by one with tongs to get perfect browning, but if you’d rather just give them a good shake, I hear you.) Remove the vegetables from the oven.
To prepare the bowls, smear a big spoonful of the green goddess in the bottom of each bowl. Scoop the grains into the bowl, and arrange the radicchio, roasted vegetables, and chickpeas on top. Nestle an egg half in the center of each. Season the eggs with salt and pepper, and scatter the pepitas and sprouts, if using, over the bowls. Serve with more green goddess on the side to drizzle at will.
Makes about 2 cups
A little yogurt turns a simple lemony vinaigrette into something totally original—and really flavorful. We used a similar vinaigrette in Nancy Silverton’s Mozza at Home, which we were finishing up at the time I started working on this one. I had a jar of the dressing in my refrigerator and found myself drizzling it onto all kinds of salad and roasted vegetable bowls. Make this once and you’ll see for yourself.
½ cup packed fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons packed fresh sage
2 tablespoons packed fresh oregano (or marjoram)
2 tablespoons packed fresh thyme
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup buttermilk (shake before pouring)
Juice of ½ lemon
1 garlic clove
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the dressing is light green. This dressing will keep, covered, for up to 3 days. (Try it as a dip for raw vegetables.)
G-Free Alternative: To make this gluten-free, substitute wild rice, quinoa, or sorghum, or a combination, for the Khorasan wheat.