Oriental oven-baked vegetables with spicy hummus

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 4 carrots
• 4 potatoes
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 zucchini
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• Paprika powder, smoked
• Paprika powder, sweet
• Cinnamon
• Spice mix (Berbere)
• Garam Masala
• nutmeg
• Thyme
• a few stalks of parsley
• a few stalks of chives
• a few stalks of arugula
• 1 can chickpeas
• 100 ml water, ice cold
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cumin
• 120 g tahini
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp paprika powder, sweet, or paprika cream
• 1 tsp chili paste

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

vegetarian, with special spice

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Peel the carrots and potatoes and cut into thin sticks. Cut the peppers and zucchini into sticks as well. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, smoked and sweet paprika, a pinch of cinnamon, berbere (a hot spice blend from Ethiopia—if you don’t have it at home, you can experiment with chili, ginger, garlic, allspice, cloves, and coriander), garam masala (if you want to mix it yourself: the main ingredients are cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and cumin), thyme, and nutmeg. Mix and bake in the oven. This will take about 20-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the sticks and the oven. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, make the hummus. Drain the chickpeas and save the water, as it can be used in many different dishes, such as vegan chocolate mousse or macarons. In a blender, thoroughly blend the lemon juice (fresh from a whole lemon or from a bottle) with the garlic and salt. Then add the tahini (unsalted sesame paste – the best is from an Asian or Turkish grocery store, as the ones from the supermarket are often extremely bitter) and blend again. Gradually add the water (it should be really cold) until the mixture is nice and fluffy. Finally, add the chickpeas, cumin, and, for a nice color, turmeric, and blend for 2-3 minutes. Then season with the remaining ingredients (tomato paste, paprika powder or paprika cream, and chili paste) until you like the heat. Remove the vegetables from the oven. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs and arugula (you can also add other mini greens if you like) and serve with the hummus dip. The hummus will probably be a bit too much for the dish and will keep in a sealed container (such as a screw-top jar) in the refrigerator for a few days.