Steamed, Stir Fried & Roasted Vegetable Salad

I made this salad to take to Nanny Ellen’s birthday party this year.  It’s very similar to the ‘Roasted Root Vegetable Medley with Steamed Green Vegetables’ recipe from another post, very similar.  Both dishes have roasted vegetables, as well as steamed vegetables.  However, the main point of difference was that I gently stir fried the steamed vegetables in sesame oil, and also, roasted pickling onions in olive oil and mixed herbs, and then drizzled them in balsamic vinegar.  The whole point is to mix the vegetables together so that people will get a little bit of everything when they put the serving spoon into the salad.  However, if you just throw all of the vegetables together and hope for the best, you may just end up with a huge mess.  For the recipe shown, I used the following quantities of vegetables:

Ingredients:

• 8 kumara
• 1 crown pumpkin
• olive oil
• 1 bag of pickling onions
• olive oil and dried mixed herbs
• balsamic vinegar
• 4 brocolli heads
• 12 large carrots
• sesame oil

Roasted Vegetables

1. Peel and cut kumara into similar sized pieces.
2. Also cut pumpkin into similar sized pieces.
3. Coat the vegetables in olive oil, and place in a roasting dish.
4. Roast the vegetables at 180 degrees celsius until the vegetables are cooked through, checking the vegetables every now and again.
5. Season with salt and pepper, and set the vegetables to the side until required.

Roasted Pickling Onions

1. Peel the pickling onions.
2. Coat the onions in olive oil and sprinkle with dried mixed herbs.
3. Roast the onions at 180 degrees celsius until the onions are cooked through.
4. Drizzle the onions in balsamic vinegar, and set the roasting dish including the onions and balsamic vinegar to the side until required.  Don’t drench the onions in the vinegar, only drizzle enough onto the onions to completely coat them.

Steamed Vegetables

1. Cut florets of broccoli.
2. Peel carrots and cut them on a slant, approximately 1 cm wide.
3. Steam the vegetables until the vegetables are half cooked.
4. Use a sieve to drain the vegetables and leave for a couple of minutes.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a non-stick pan and lightly brown the steamed vegetables in the oil.
6. Don’t overload the pan.  Repeat this process in batches, adding more sesame oil as required.
7. Set the steamed (and now stir fried) vegetables to the side until required.

Assembling the Salad

1. Once all of the vegetables are prepared, it is time to assemble the salad.
2. Use a large serving tray, and start bringing the salad together, usually starting with the roasted kumara and pumpkin at the bottom, and gradually adding the broccoli and carrots, as well as the onions.
3. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar from the onions onto the salad.
4. Finish the salad by drizzling your choice of dressing eg. honey mustard, herb and feta, or in this case, a plain mustard dressing, across the top of the salad.
5. Serve and enjoy.