This Black Beauty’s own Instagram identifies her as a Somali home cook in Brooklyn, ShEO of @basbaassauceI. There’s still plenty to learn about her but I was briefly introduced to the work of Hawa Hassan by the podcast “From Scratch” by Michael Ruhlman. During her feature, she shared a simple recipe for roasted carrots, chickpeas, and onions with awaze (a sauce typical of Ethiopian cuisine).
I had some but not all of the ingredients on hand and even threw in a few of my own. I love roasting vegetables because 1) it’s easy, 2) it’s so versatile and forgiving, 3) it deepens flavor, and I could probably come up with some others if you’d stick around to read it. The recipe below is my quarantine take on Hawa’s more tried and true recipe. Click to try hers.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Serves 8
VEGGIES
- carrots, 2 lbs, peeled and trimmed (about 10 medium sized carrots)
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- Vidalia onion, 1 lg, cut into 1-inch chunks
- cauliflower, 1 head
- extra-virgin olive oil, 3 Tbs
- Kosher salt, 2 tsp
- Black pepper, 2 tsp, freshly ground
BERBERE SPICE BLEND, 4 Tbs (store-bought — or use the recipe below to make it!)
- chili powder, 1 Tbs
- paprika, 2 tsp
- ground cayenne 1tsp
- ground coriander 1tsp
- ground cumin 1tsp
- ginger, fresh 1/2 in. piece, minced (or you can use ground)
- spicy brown mustard, 1tsp
- ground allspice, 1/2 tsp
- ground cinnamon, 1 Tbs
- honey, 1 Tbs
- apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup
- Preheat oven to 425 F with a rimmed sheet pan at the bottom.
- Cut the carrots into even sized (about 1 inch) pieces, using the roll or oblique cut method (holding the carrot horizontally in front of you and knife at 45-degree angle, rotating the carrot after each cut) to encourage more flavor deepening browning..
- Cut cauliflower. Remove leaves (I tossed mine into the mix). Cut around stem to release florets. I cut my stems into chunks and mixed in, but of course you don’t have to. Cut any larger florets to match the size of the rest of the vegetables.
- In a large bowl, drizzle the carrots, onions, cauliflower, and chickpeas in the oil and toss with the spices, salt and pepper to coat.
- Remove the preheated baking sheet and spread the vegetables on the baking sheet. Return to oven.
- Roast 25 to 40 minutes till softened and browned, charred in some spots, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven.
- As veggies are roasting, stir honey and vinegar to combine.
- As veggies come out of oven drizzle the sauce over the vegetables.
*I finished mine with some pulled sprigs of mint.
Tip of the Tongue 