Ginger Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Cumin Roasted Carrots, Quinoa & a Nectarine Dressing

Trying not to go to the supermarket so often has its perks. A fridge raid resulted in this beautifully fragrant salad packed with fresh herbs and finished with a bright and zingy dressing. A wonderful addition to this would be dried cranberries or currents, it's only now that I am writing the recipe that I thought of it, but I am letting you know.

This salad is pretty spectacular. It has all the qualities you would want to come together resulting in a flavour packed dish. The subtle nuttiness from the quinoa, the sweet yet spicy roasted cherry tomatoes that burst in your mouth like little flavour bombs, the earthy cumin roasted carrots that give bite and depth, the vibrant orange dressing that just shines through this entire dish and lastly interesting freshness from the mint and the coriander, load these both on as it really does bring this dish to life.

45 MINUTES. SERVES 4.

INGREDIENTS

200g cooked quinoa

300g cherry tomatoes

thumb size piece of ginger, grated

1 tsp brown sugar

olive oil

5 small carrots

1 tbs cumin

bunch of coriander, chopped

bunch of mint, chopped

1 nectarine, juiced

1 tbs apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

2 tbs olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

S&P

METHOD

1. Firstly preheat the oven to 400F/200C.

2. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, add to a bowl with the ginger, brown sugar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Lay on a baking tray flesh side up and roast for 20 minutes until charred.

3. Peel the carrots, cut them into halves or quarters depending on the size, make sure they are as uniform as possible. Rub them in cumin, olive oil salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes also.

4. Add the nectarine juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper to a bowl and mix well.

5. Add the quinoa to a bowl, with the cooked carrots. Add in the dressing and mix everything every well.

6. Add the carrot and quinoa mix to your serving bowl. Lay the roasted tomatoes nicely out on top, sprinkle over the chopped fresh herbs.