Even though we’re heading into summer, I like to think of ways to add a seasonal touch to vegetables we’ve come to enjoy over the colder months. Adding a cooling and refreshing yogurt dressing to these crispy root veggies is the perfect way to welcome the sun. With the final addition of dry-roasted pine nuts, there’s no question that you’ve taken this salad to the next level.

Ingredients

  • 5carrots, roughly chopped
  • 4beets, peeled and cut into eighths
  • 3thyme sprigs
  • Pinch salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 1/2 cup whole-fat Greek yogurt
  • 3mint leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Spread carrots and beets evenly on a roasting pan. Tuck thyme sprigs among them. Sprinkle with salt, drizzle with oil, and toss vegetables with your hands to coat.
  3. Place in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until veggies are easily pierced with a knife.
  4. Bring a small frying pan to medium-high heat and dry-roast (without oil) pine nuts for 2 minutes until golden.
  5. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, mint, and lemon juice.
  6. Arrange roasted veggies out on a platter or cutting board and liberally dollop with yogurt sauce. Top with pine nuts.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Dude Food: A Guy’s Guide to Cooking Kick-Ass Food (Simon & Schuster) by Daniel Churchill.