Straight up, I love the colours of these simple roasted spring vegetables; the vibrant yellows, orange and green, just make me happy and hungry 🙂 Like so many people we love a good meal of roast veggies, and eating them often, it’s always nice to have a few different combinations to choose from.

The flavour of roasted fennel is so wonderful, I really wanted it to be the star of the dish. Tossed with a few fresh vegetables and a good quality olive oil is all it needs to create a vibrant and delicious roasted spring vegetables medley. I tossed through some ground roasted nuts for added texture and yumminess before serving it over a bed of quinoa, which I have included in the recipe instructions below, for a complete meal.

Alternatively serve these simple roasted spring vegetables with couscous or crusty bread for mopping up the lovely oily juices, num!! A tasty and effortless way to enjoy the goodness of vegetables, this healthy recipe is elegant enough for a side dish when entertaining or perfectly filling for a tasty mid week meal or weekend lunch.

Fennel Roasted Spring Vegetables w/ Quinoa
Preparation time: 40mins // Serves 2-4

• 175g (6 oz) baby carrots (I used a combination of baby and whole carrots (cut into batons) because that’s what we had in the fridge:), scrubbed
• 175g (6oz) asparagus, woody ends removed
• 150g (5 oz) pattypan squash, quartered
• ½ large fennel bulb, sliced
• ¼ cup good quality full flavoured olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse rock salt
• ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• 2-3 star anise
• 1 tbs almonds
• 1 tbs hazlenuts
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 cup vegetable broth

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/392°F

Toss the vegetables in the olive oil, salt and chilli flakes, making sure all the veg are well coated in oil.

Arrange the prepared vegetables in a large baking tray and toss in the whole star anise.

Roast the vegetables in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes until golden coloured and still slightly firm.

Meanwhile bring the quinoa and vegetable broth to boil in a small saucepan, turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes until cooked, strain of any excess liquid and keep warm until serving.

Dry roast the nuts in a frying pan over a medium heat and then allow to cool before grinding coarsely.

Once the vegetables are roasted (removing the star anise) toss with the prepared nuts and serve over a bed of quinoa with a few fresh fennel sprigs for garnish. Alternatively serve this roasted vegetable recipe with couscous or crusty bread.