Showstopper Recipe: LEON Roasted Vegetables with Zahtar Freekeh and Orange and Apricot Yoghurt

There were moments when I doubted whether Spring would ever turn up but thankfully, at long last, the clouds have parted to reveal a long lost friend…the sun. With sunnier, warmer evenings creeping in, I immediately look for lighter, fresh dinner inspiration. By ‘lighter’, I am certainly not talking about a plate of sad looking salad leaves. After a long day in the office or a tiring day of looking after young kids, you want something that will leave you feeling full and satisfied.

Enter this week’s showstopper recipe: LEON Roasted Vegetables with Zahtar Freekeh and Orange and Apricot Yoghurt. The sweetness from the  roasted baby parsnips and carrots work perfectly alongside the fragrant zahtar spiced freekeh and peppery watercress salad. Bursting with nutritional goodness (this salad squeezes in 3 ½ of your half a day!) and more flavour than you can shake a stick at, this delicious recipe will change the way you think about ‘salad’ forever!

What’s the “showstopper” in this dish?

From the protein, fibre rich freekeh (it contains more protein than quinoa!) to the punchy Middle-Eastern spice, zahtar, there are so many delicious elements in this recipe battling for the ‘showstopper’ title.

However, it’s the apricot and orange yoghurt dressing in this dish that steals the show. Salad dressings are often underestimated, but when they are packed with as much delicious flavour as this one, they definitely shouldn’t be! This cool, zesty dressing brings together the wonderful flavours of this salad, expertly balancing the peppery flavours from the zahtar and watercress with the sweet juicy veg and freekeh.

Our Top Tips for this dish:

• Be sparing with the chili and orange juice going into your dressing – only add as much as you like, so keep tasting as you add it!
• If you’re making this the night before, leave the watercress and garnish separate until you’re just about to tuck in, otherwise it will wilt and won’t look very pretty!

[button content=”For the Full Recipe Click Here” color=”yellow” text=”black” url=”https://www.hellofresh.co.uk/recipes/leon-roasted-vegetables-week-13-58a465a63bddb540454fdf03/” openin=”_blank”]

This recipe is adapted from the LEON cookbook Happy Salads by John Vincent & Jane Baxter (Conran Octopus). Their latest cookbook Fast & Free is also out now. Sign up to the LEON club for more of their recipes at www.leonrestaurants.co.uk/club

If you liked this dish, we’re sure you’ll love these:

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