Charred honey-glazed carrots and parsnips with whipped feta hummus
Caramelised root vegetables served over a creamy whipped feta and hummus base
We had a braai with friends the other day and tired of the usual boring salads and sides, I decided to make something different. This citrus and beetroot salad was a hit with both the children and the adults and it went great alongside the braai meat.
I also made a second side dish which was caramelised root vegetables served over a creamy whipped feta and hummus base, finished with toasted pine nuts, honey-balsamic dressing and fresh lemon zest.
Try to make this recipe at home and let me know what you think.
Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ingredients to make the carrot side dish
For the vegetables
800 g carrots
500 g parsnips
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the whipped feta hummus
400 g prepared hummus
200 g feta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons plain Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing and garnish
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1½ tablespoons honey
50 g pine nuts
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
How to prepare the carrot side dish
Preheat the oven to 220°C, or 200°C fan-assisted.
Peel the carrots and parsnips. Cut them lengthways into halves or quarters, keeping the pieces fairly thick so they retain their texture.
Place the vegetables on a large baking tray. Add the olive oil, smoked paprika, cumin, salt and black pepper, then toss until evenly coated.
Roast for 25 minutes. Drizzle over the honey, turn the vegetables and roast for another 10–15 minutes, until tender and deeply caramelised around the edges. For extra charring, place them under a hot grill for the final 2–3 minutes, watching carefully.
While the vegetables roast, add the hummus, feta, olive oil, yoghurt and lemon juice to a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Season with black pepper and only add salt if necessary, as the feta is already salty.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, tossing regularly until golden. Remove them from the pan immediately to prevent burning.
Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey to make the dressing. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.
Spread the whipped feta hummus generously across a large serving platter. Arrange the warm charred carrots and parsnips over the base.
Spoon over the honey-balsamic dressing, scatter with the toasted pine nuts and finish with fresh lemon zest, flaky sea salt and black pepper.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe - I’d love to see it!
More recipes
Below the newsletter block, you will find some more recipes.
There are a lot of different types of meats you can cook on the braai. How about this Prime Rib Roast with Exotic Mushroom Sauce and Pak Choy? You can also make a Leg of Lamb on the braai or a Lemon & Herb Peri-Peri and Rosemary Deboned Leg of Lamb. I’ve also made Ostrich Fillet Kebabs with Nectarine and Rosemary on the braai.
Other than meat, South Africans also love to put seafood on the braai. This braaied snoek recipe with plum jam is a winner.
If you’re looking for a side on the braai, you can either make this pull bread with pesto, mozzarella and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, or make traditional braai broodjies (keep an eye out for my secret ingredient). If you have leftover gammon, these gammon braai broodjies are also to die for.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
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