This roasted vegetable salad with barley doubles as a vegan meal prep idea! Topped with a delicious maple tahini dressing, it makes a healthy and satisfying light meal.
12Brussels sproutstrimmed (and cut into halves if they're large)
2large carrotspeeled and sliced
1small-medium sweet potatopeeled & diced
2-3medium beetspeeled & cut up
4medium tomatoesquartered
3-4tablespoonsolive oil
1teaspoongarlic powder or to taste
5dashes Italian seasoning or to taste
Salt & pepperto taste
Handful of spinachoptional
Dressing:
3heaping tablespoons tahini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1clovegarlicminced
1tablespoonpure maple syrup
Salt & pepperto taste
Water to thin the dressing (3-4 tbsp)
Instructions
Cook barley according to package directions (I cooked 1 cup barley in 3 cups of water with a pinch of salt and it took about half an hour).
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400F and move the rack to the middle position.
Prep your veggies (try to cut them into pieces that are about the same size (I aimed for about 1" pieces) so they cook more evenly) and add them to a baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt & pepper. Roast them for 20 minutes or until they're cooked. You can flip them halfway through if you wish, but I did not.
Add the dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk together until smooth. Adjust the lemon juice and seasonings as needed. Thin with 1 tablespoon of water at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
Once everything is ready, you can either add it all to a large bowl or platter and assemble it like you would a salad, or you can portion it out into individual containers if you're going the meal prep route.
Notes
Here's a guide on how to cook barley if you want a little more explanation than I provide here.
Serves 4-6.
This recipe makes quite a lot of food. I had some of it as a salad when I first made it (including the spinach you see in the photos), and then I had the rest as lunches (without spinach). I did not heat the lunches up... that is up to you. I think it would work hot or cold.