Vegan Monday: roasted beets & butternut squash with tahini

A hearty salad that combines maple-glazed squash and beets with salad leaves, tomatoes and nutritious lentils, all drizzled in a creamy tahini dressing. If you’re not a fan of balsamic vinegar, you can substitute it with fresh lemon juice. I like to use light tahini for a smooth dressing.

Roasted Beets and Butternut Squash with Tahini

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 large raw beetroots, peeled and chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped
leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 × 400g tin of brown lentils, drained and rinsed
200g mixed rocket and other salad leaves
200g cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 tbsp sunflower seeds
handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
salt and black pepper

For the tahini vinaigrette
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar (to taste)

Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7.

Place the beetroot, butternut squash and rosemary in a large baking tray or roasting tin and toss in the olive oil, maple syrup and some salt and pepper until evenly coated. Spread out the vegetables in a single layer and roast in the oven for 40-50 minutes, stirring once halfway through the cooking time, until tender and slightly crisp.

Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the tahini vinaigrette together in a bowl, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the lentils and salad leaves in large bowl with the cherry tomatoes and a small drizzle of the tahini vinaigrette and toss until evenly coated.

Transfer the dressed salad to a serving dish and add the still-warm roast vegetables in layers with the sunflower seeds, parsley and pomegranate seeds. Finish with a generous drizzle of vinaigrette.

Extracted from Rachel Ama’s Vegan Eats: Tasty Plant-Based Recipes for Every Day (Ebury Press, approx €22.50). Photography by Haarala Hamilton.