Cumin Roasted Carrot Salad

A little bit of a complicated recipe here but totally worth it! Featuring three different protein sources and LOADS of delicious speed veg, this is an all-round winner. This has a subtle spicy edge, combined with a fresh zingy dressing and really is so much more than a bowl of salad. 

The measurements here make 1 very large portion (but it could totally have been shared, if I hadn't been so greedy!) You can make the roasted carrots, which take the most time, in advance and keep them in a fridge - you could do at least double this amount as they make delicious little snacks to have on tap. I find I sneak one with every cuppa I make - but that's cool as they are so good for you! I've dressed the final dish with a quick raita dressing and some fresh mint, but that is optional, if you want to keep the tofu super crisp. 

The 1 syn is for the 1.5 tsp of curry paste used in the marinade for tofu / sauce for beans within the recipe. I strongly recommend including this as it does give it a real taste kick, but if you are determined to go syn free, you could mix some garam masala and chilli powder with a drop of water and use this, but it doesn't really have the depth of flavour. I've separated out the ingredients for the different stages of the dish below so if you want to use different parts of it with different dishes, you can see what is needed. I've used the raita sauce on several different salads and the spicy beans on wholemeal toast before and, to be honest, the cumin carrots are the star of the dish and go well as a side for almost any meal. 

The tofu marinade works even better if you can remember to leave it to soak in for a good few hours (or overnight if you are some sort of super-organised genius). Frying it in spray oil that you've let get really hot is key too - you may have to vent the room and let it smoke a little to get this nice toasted finish. However, it really is worth putting up with a little smoke!

As with all recipes and meal plans on the blog I have highlighted the protein sources (P foods) in red, the speed (S) foods in green, healthy extra allowances in blue and syns, with syn values in brackets in orange. 

Cumin Roasted Carrot Bowl 

Serves 1 - 1 syn

Cumin Roasted Carrots
3 large carrots
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp garlic granules
1 red onion
Spray oil 

Indian Marinaded Tofu
120g Tofoo (or other similar very firm tofu)
1.5 tsp curry paste (I used Patak's Rogan Josh) - 1 syn
2 crushed garlic cloves
Lemon juice

Spicy Beans 
1 can cannellini beans 
Remaining marinade
2 tsp tomato puree

Rapid Raita
2 tsp quark
2 tsp mint sauce 
1 tbsp lemon juice
Ground seasalt 

To serve
Fresh spinach leaves
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh mint leaves
Fresh flat-leafed parsley

Mix the curry paste, crushed garlic and enough lemon juice to make a smooth, but fluid, marinade.

Cut the tofu into thick slices and then into chunks and lay down in the marinade, turning to ensure all sides are covered. Cover with cling film and refrigerate - if you can give it a good 10 - 12 hours this will make sure it has lots of chance to absorb the flavours.

Pre-heat an oven to 200 fan / 220 electric / Gas Mark 7

Chop your carrots into good thick slices (about 1 cm), at an angle - you want to get plenty of surface area on each slice.

Spray a large roasting tray with spray oil and lay out the carrots on it in a single layer.

Cut a red onion into quarters - keeping the central 'root' part in tact if possible so you get big thick wedges and lots of layers on show.

Tuck the onion in amongst the carrots and spray the surface with spray oil before sprinkling over the garlic granules and cumin seeds over the vegetable and putting in the oven. They will need between 30 and 40 minutes to roast - keep checking as you want them soften slightly but with a bite to them.

After they have been baking for about 20 minutes, spray and heat up a good non-stick pan.

Once it is very hot, take the tofu and start to lay it into the sizzling pan. Reserve the marinade and put to one side. Move the tofu pieces around carefully as they cook to prevent them from sticking.

After about 2 minutes, check the side down on the pan and see if it has started to brown - if so, flip it to cook the other side.

Once all pieces are browned and crisp on each side, put onto an oven proof plate or dish and pop into the oven on a different shelf to keep warm.

Add the tomato puree to the remaining marinade and mix to a smooth paste. Add the drained beans and the paste to the hot frying pan and stir continuously over the heat as it cooks. Allow it to cook down so that some of the beans break down and the sauce is cooked through.

In a bowl lay rocket leaves, spinach leaves and herbs over each other.

In a small bowl, mix the quark, mint sauce, lemon and salt to make the raita.

Spoon the beans into the centre of the leaves, take the carrots and onions from the oven and lay them over the beans. Take the tofu from the oven and lay this on top of the other ingredients and finally drizzle with the raita sauce and scatter over torn mint leaves.