Roasted veggies over garlicky dill labneh with kalamata olive dressing
Because two sauces are better than one
Welcome to Weeknights Done Right, a series where I’m sharing simple, wholesome recipes with lots of staying power. AKA, things you can make once, pair with various components, and eat for days to come. My kind of meal prep. Non-boring, fresh, full of flavor ways to make putting together a meal a breeze.
Hi, friends! Happy Sunday. Today’s recipe is one of my favorite kinds: a veggie dish with serious main character energy. Something you can definitely serve as a side if that suits your fancy, but that’s filling, tasty, and satisfying enough to do the heavy lifting come dinnertime.
Tell me more
Because roasted veggies on their own are great if not a lil boring, we’re upping the ante with not one but two sauces. A swoosh of zingy dill and garlic labneh below the veggies, and a drizzle of zingy, salty kalamata olive dressing on top. And between? Beets, carrots, and cauliflower.
The result is a dish that’s a little bit of everything: sweet and salty, creamy and full of texture, warming and cooling, and so, so nourishing. A perfect end to January, if you ask me!
Before we start
As the intro to this newsletter says, this month’s newsletters have been focused on creating recipes that can then be repurposed into other meals. It’s meal prep my way, and a great way to love your leftovers. I thought today’s recipe would be a perfect finale to that series because it includes three components that can be used to make something else: roasted veggies, the dilly garlic labneh, and the kalamata olive dressing. I’m planning to write an extra newsletter next week that details how I’d take all four recipes from January and pair them together in various ways (with the addition of a few extra things, like avocado, eggs, and mixed greens) to make a whole roster of delicious meals.
You can really use any combination of veggies you want here. I love the sweetness that beets and carrots bring, which we’re enhancing with a drizzle of maple syrup while roasting.
Make the sauces while the veggies roast to put this on the table as fast as possible.
If you prefer this to be a side dish, I think it would taste fantastic alongside a roasted chicken, quickly broiled salmon, or steak.
The recipe
Serves: 4
Cook time: 30 minutes
For the veggies:
4-5 small carrots
2 medium beets or 1 large
1 medium or 1/2 large head cauliflower
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Chop your carrots and beets into similar bite-sized pieces. Separate your cauliflower florets and cut or tear any larger ones in half or into quarters.
On a large baking sheet, toss veggies with olive oil, maple syrup, lemon zest and juice, and season generously with salt and pepper. If the veggies are too crowded, separate them into two baking sheets (if veggies are too close together, they’ll steam instead of getting nice and crispy in the oven.)
Bake for a total of 30-40 minutes, tossing halfway through. Keep an eye on them because the sugars will have them going from perfectly cooked to burnt in just a couple minutes.
Meanwhile, make your sauces.
For the dilly garlic labneh:
1 cup labneh
1/2 cup chopped dill
1/2 garlic clove, grated or finely chopped
1/2-1.5 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
Mix together all ingredients. Taste and add more lemon to make it zestier, more garlic to make it punchier, or more salt to make it saltier. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
For the kalamata olive dressing:
1/2 cup kalamata olives
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley leaves
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, add to a tall wide-mouthed jar or container and blend using an immersion blender. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
To assemble, spread labneh on a large plate or serving platter. Top with roasted veggies, then drizzle on the kalamata olive dressing. Top with more drill if you’d like and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Notes
Leftovers: The veggies and labneh can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. The kalamata olive dressing can be stored for up to a week.
