Roasted Vegetables with Saffron Yogurt

 

 It's sheet pan dinner time again.  As long as I don't do it more often than once a month, it feels like a treat.  And it always means vegetarian to me, so there's less timing for everything to cook properly.

This one did involve giving the eggplant a head start.  That 20 minutes was plenty of time to whip up the sauce and prep the rest of the veggies.

1 medium eggplant
olive oil as needed
salt to taste
*1 tsp paprika
*1/2 tsp sumac
2 carrots
1 red onion
1/2 lb green beans
*1/2 C walnuts or almonds, optional
*pinch saffron, about 1/4 tsp
2 cloves garlic, minced
*1/2 tsp turmeric
*1 tsp dried mint
*2 Tb lemon juice
2 C Greek yogurt
*Feta for garnish, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment for easy cleanup, but not required.

2.  Remove cap from eggplant and dice into generous bite-sized pieces.  In a bowl, toss with a glug of olive oil, bearing in mind that the eggplant will soak it up and it won't look like as much as you put in.  Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/4 tsp sumac.  Toss again, then arrange in a single layer on baking sheet and start roasting.

3.  Peel carrots and chop up as desired.  I did diagonal rounds.  French cut onion and break apart.  Trim ends off green beans and cut in half if very long.  Add in walnuts, if using.  Splash with another tablespoon or two of oil in the bowl.  Toss with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/4 tsp sumac.

4.  Pull out the pan and push the eggplant to one side.  Mound up remaining vegetables and put the pan back in the oven.

5.  In a small cup, crush saffron and mix with 1 Tb hot water.  Let sit while you work on the dressing.

6.  In a small bowl, whisk together minced garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, turmeric, dried mint, and lemon juice.  Add yogurt and combine.  Stir in bloomed saffron and its water.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  You should not taste the mint; it's there to cut any bite from the saffron and turmeric so you don't have to add sugar.  There should just be an undefined crispness.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

7.  Check vegetables after about 20 minutes in the oven.  If the carrots can be pierced with a fork, everything's done.  Toss the assortment in the large bowl and serve hot, with the yogurt on the side and feta either in the yogurt or sprinkled on the veggies.

Difficulty rating  :)