Roasting courgettes enhances their flavor and one of several ways we enjoy them. When making smaller servings of this vegetable salad I use an air-fryer instead of the oven for roasting the courgettes and spring onions, I find it convenient and faster. Depending where on the globe you live, this lovely light summer salad is perfect for dining à la fresco… unfortunately no chance where I live, soaring heat and high humidity means dining indoors for the next few months. Thought this roasted courgette salad could easily qualify for eating using chopsticks as I’ve added a few oriental ingredients, toasted black sesame seeds, sprouted bean shoots and kombucha vinegar for the dressing.
If you’ve followed food and tools you will have noticed I started sprouting a few different seeds. As I use a sprouting dish, the mung beans grow vertically and when placed near a window the bean shoots develop green leaves, a little different from sprouted beans in a jar, but they taste just as delicious.
Recently started making kombucha (more on that later), a fermented tea drink touted for its many health benefits. So far results have been good and the rest of the family are enjoy the sweet-tart apple like flavor too. Over fermentation and you get kombucha vinegar… which you can use for salad dressings.
As for toasted buckwheat groats on salads, the inspiration came from Trine Hahnemann’s cookbook Scandinavian Comfort food, I love the way she incorporates grains into her recipes. You can buy toasted buckwheat (Kasha) but I have found the earthy flavor a little overpowering, so I prefer toasting the groats on a dry pan which seems to lend a milder flavor.
Of course you can easily adapt this healthy vegetable salad recipe and use bean sprouts from the supermarket or try pea shoots if they happen to have them. As for the kombucha vinegar, simply replace with rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, to taste. This salad would be a perfect served with a piece of grilled fish or at your next summer barbecue.
Roasted Courgettes with Tomatoes, Bean Shoots and Kombucha Vinegar
Ingredients:
4 or 5 courgettes, trimmed, cut into quarters, then each quarter cut into thick batons
4 spring onions (white parts only), cut into 2 inch pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup of roughly chopped coriander
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
a large handful of bean shoots
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons kombucha vinegar or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, to taste
2 teaspoons of toasted black sesame seeds
3 tablespoons of toasted buckwheat groats
How to make:
Preheat the oven 400°F/180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 6.
Place the courgettes and spring onion into a roasting tray in a single layer. Drizzle over the olive oil and shake the pan to coat the vegetables with the oil.
Roast in the oven for about 2O minutes or until slightly charred. Transfer the roasted courgettes and spring onions to a mixing bowl to cool.
When ready to serve, to the mixing bowl with the courgettes and spring onions, add the tomatoes, coriander, garlic, bean shoots and sea salt. Gently toss ingredients together. Check seasoning and add more sea salt if required. Drizzle over the kombucha vinegar and again, gently toss the ingredients together.
Transfer the contents to a serving bowl, scatter over the toasted sesame seeds and buckwheat groats. Serve immediately.
You also might like to try:
Spiralized Courgettes with Whole-wheat Spaghetti and Coriander Pistachio Pesto
Hasselback Baby Courgettes with Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan Cheese
Food and Tools 
Lovely looking salad, Moya
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Thank you Glenda, we love eating courgettes, especially when roasted or cooked on the barbecue 🙂
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