This recipe is taken from Emily Johnson’s cookbook ‘Eat Well With Arthritis’, published by Yellow Kite and Hodder & Stoughton 2023, and reproduced here with Emily’s kind permission.
This is so delicious on a warm day, one for a BBQ in the back garden, or for lunches. The vegetables are overflowing with phytonutrients. In traditional medicine, sage has been used for the treatment of gout, rheumatism, and inflammation, and rosemary has been used to relieve pain, and for its and anti-inflammatory activity.
Serves 4
Ingredients
45 parsnips (500g/1lb 2oz)
5 carrots (500g/1lb 2oz)
3 red bell peppers
3 courgettes (500g/1lb 2oz)
40g (1 cup, or 60 leaves) sage
10g (¼ cup) or handful of fresh thyme
15g (11⁄33 cup) or handful of fresh rosemary
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
10 big Kalamata olives, pitted
100g (2½ cups) wild rocket
4 large slices of sourdough bread, toasted and sliced
FOR THE WHITE BEAN DIP
2 x 400g (14oz) tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 roasted garlic cloves
10g (½ cup) fresh basil leaves
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp plant milk
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Squeeze of lemon juice
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan (410°F).
2. Peel and cut the parsnips and carrots into strips. Cut the bell peppers in half and deseed them, then cut into chunks. Quarter the courgettes lengthways. Place the peppers on to a baking tray. And the carrots and parsnips to a separate baking tray. Evenly distribute the sprigs of sage, thyme and rosemary across the trays of vegetables, season with the sea salt and black pepper and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
3. Place the carrots and parsnips into the oven and cook for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
4. Roast the pepper chunks for 20–25 minutes, then add the courgettes and cook for 10 minutes until softened and browned.
5. While the vegetables are roasting, blend all of the white bean dip ingredients together. Transfer to a bowl and top with the olives and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
6. Serve the dip with the wild rocket, slices of toasted bread and the roasted vegetables.
Photography copyright: Nassima Rothacker 2023