Spring Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Dressing, Poached egg, and Crispy Sesame Panko

I was extremely excited yesterday when I got my hands on local asparagus, radishes, snow peas and sunchokes!  I have been waiting for what seems like far too long to buy these veggies, as I didn't want to buy some shipped from another part of the country. 

So I thought for tonight what better than to create a salad showcasing them?  I decided to roast the asparagus and sunchokes to bring out the flavor but leave the radishes and peas raw and crunchy!  I was in the mood for something with a little middle eastern flavor, so a tahini dressing was to accompany them, as well as some toasted sesame seeds.  I am a bit textural person when it comes to food, so I thought the crunch of some nice garlicy panko breadcrumbs would be perfect with the veggies and silky dressing!  Lastly, wanting this to be a complete meal, a poached egg topped off the lovely pile of veg! 

It was satisfying and delicious, plus quick to throw together!  Here is the recipe if you wish to try it for yourself! 

Spring Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Dressing, Poached egg, and Crispy Sesame Panko

Serves 2

Dressing:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
a pinch cayenne
1 garlic clove, minced

Sesame panko:
1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt
 a large pinch red pepper flakes

Veggies:
Olive oil
2 cups sliced sunchokes
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces

Poached eggs:
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 cups water
2 organic eggs

1 cup snow peas
1 cup radishes

In a small bowl, whisk dressing together, and set aside.  For sesame panko, in a small nonstick skillet, combine breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, garlic clove, olive oil, about 1/4 tsp sea salt, and red pepper flakes.  Saute until crumbs, seeds and garlic are toasted.  Remove from heat and set aside.  To prepare veggies, preheat oven to 475 degrees, line a sheet pan with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Toss asparagus and artichokes with just enough olive oil to coat and spread out on pan.  Roast until browned at the edges and crispy, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, and let cool to room temperature. 
To poach eggs, heat water to a simmer in a medium saucepan with the vinegar and salt. Crack an egg into a ramakin. Stir water with a spoon to swirl, and carefully pour egg into it. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or preferred doneness, and remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with other egg.  To plate between 2 plates, scatter roasted veggies, snow peas, and radishes about the plate, drizzle with dressing, top each with a poached egg and the toasted sesame panko.  Serve!

Moroccan Salad with Crispy Jerusalem Artickokes and Sesame Yogurt

One of my favorite restaurants in the Twin Cities, La Belle vie serves up a wonderful Moroccan Salad with Crispy Artichokes and Sesame Yogurt.  I have ordered it the last 3 times I have been there I love it so much!  They spoon a bit of creamy sesame cumin laced yogurt onto the plate, top it off with mache, kalamata olives and artichokes so crispy they are almost like a chip!  The plate is dusted with Moroccan spices that give just the right amount of seasoning to the salad.  Since I can't go to La Belle Vie every weekend, or every time I am craving this salad, I thought this would be the perfect weekend to try and recreate it!  I put my own spin on it however, and not wanting to deal with frying artichokes, or cleaning one of them (since it is quite the process), I opted for some crispy roasted jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) instead!    I wasn't able to get my hands on any mache, so I used baby arugula, wartercress and a bit of spinach for my greens, and dressed it lightly in a lemon juice vinaigrette.  I am not exactly sure what all goes into the sesame yogurt at La Belle Vie, but it is so creamy that I guessed it was a Greek yogurt and that is what I used.  I whisked in tahini to make it even more creamy, a bit of cumin, garlic, and lemon juice for flavor, and it was the same delicious flavor as theirs!  My salad also contained kalamata olives, and i decided that smoked Spanish paprika would be perfect for dusting the plate!  My salad was just as wonderful as theirs, and now I am happy that I can recreate it at home for a lot cheaper.  That said, I still think the food at La Belle Vie is amazing and I am sure I will still order their verison of the salad as long as it is on the menu.  If you would like to try my version of this delicious salad for yourself, here is the recipe!

Moroccan Salad with Crispy Jerusalem Artickokes and Sesame Yogurt
Serves 2

4 large jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) thinly sliced on the diagonal
oilve oil
sea salt

yogurt:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 Tbsp sesame tahini
1/2 tsp ground cumin seed
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Greens:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large bunch of baby arugula (about 1.5 oz)

1 large bunch of watercress or baby spinach (about 1.5 oz)

To plate:

smoked spanish paprika

toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees and line a sheet pan with foil, spray with non-stick spray.  Toss artichokes with enough olive oil to coat and spread out on sheet pan.  Roast until crispy and starting to brown at edges.  Remove from oven and let cool.  To make yogurt, whisk together yogurt, tahini, cumin, lemon juice, sea salt and garlic and set aside.  In a large bowl, place 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  Add greens and roasted artickokes toss well to coat.  To plate salads, dallop a large spoonfull of the yogurt onto each plate, and smooth out with a spoon.  Sprinkle the yogurt and the plate with a little spanish paprika, then top with the dressed greens and artichokes.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and top with kalamata olives.