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This sheet pan harissa eggplant and carrot salad is full of delicious flavors and textures. The sweetness of roasted eggplants and carrots is enhanced by the spicy harissa, while the tangy feta and lemon juice balance out all the flavors perfectly. You will love it!
This is a light and balanced meal, affordable, and ready in 30 minutes. A bowl of goodness, so easy to throw together even for our weeknight dinners: only one bowl and one sheet pan to wash!
what about meal prep?
While you’re at it roasting the vegetables, go ahead and roast some more because this is a great meal prep recipe. Place the salad into meal prep containers, add some couscous, and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. Drizzle with a little olive oil and some freshly squeezed lemon juice when it’s time to eat. Enjoy it!
What ingredients you need
- Eggplant
- Carrots
- Chickpeas
- Harissa paste
- Cumin seeds
- Feta
- Almonds
- Lemon
- Salad leaves (optional)
- Olive oil, salt, pepper
- Preheat the oven to 425 F
- Cut the eggplant into 2-inch cubes and cut the carrots in half lengthwise
- Toss the vegetables with harissa paste, cumin seeds, oil and salt until well combined
- Spread on a roasting pan so that the vegetables aren’t overlapping
- Roast carrots and eggplant for 10 minutes
- Add chickpeas and keep roasting for a further 10 minutes
- Then add almonds to the baking pan and back to the oven for the last 5 minutes
- (total time: 25 minutes!)
- Arrange some fresh salad leaves on a plate or in a bowl
- Place the roasted vegetables and chickpeas over the plate
- Sprinkle with sliced almonds and crumbled feta
- Drizzle with a little of olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Enjoy!
RECIPE NOTES
Flavor
The spicy harissa works beautifully with the sweetness of these roasted veggies, while the tangy feta and lemon juice balance out that flavor so well. Plus, you get different levels of texture with the soft and caramelized eggplants and carrots, the creamy feta, the chickpeas, and the crunchy almonds. And don’t forget the bright touch from the lemon juice to enhance the freshness.
Harissa
when it comes to fragrant and aromatic condiments, harissa is one of my favorites. It’s basically a paste made from chili peppers, garlic, and assorted other spices and herbs, widely used in North African and Middle Eastern cuisines (now Traders Joe’s sells it!). It’s such a versatile condiment, perfect to jazz up roasted veggies and many other dishes.
To make a more generous and substantial Moroccan salad, skip the salad leaves and add couscous!
These quantities yield to 2 large servings/4 smallish ones, so you may want to double the recipe: just use two pans in the middle and upper third of the oven, and swap them halfway through cooking.
If you make this harissa eggplant and carrot salad, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!
Harissa eggplant and carrot salad
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, cut into cubes
- 1 lb carrots or baby carrots, peeled
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 Tbsp harissa paste
- 3/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup feta, crumbled
- 1/4 cup almonds, roasted
- 1 bunch salad leaves (arugula, spinach...) optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F and grease a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil (or line with parchment paper).
- Cut the eggplant into 2-inch cubes and the carrots in half lengthwise. If your carrots are big, you might want to halve them again and/or cut them crosswise.
- Toss the vegetables with 1 Tbsp of harissa, 1 Tbsp of olive oil, salt and cumin seed. Then roast them in the prepared baking sheet for 10 minutes.
- In the meanwhile, in the same bowl, toss chickpeas with 1/2 Tbsp of harissa paste, 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add to the vegetables and keep roasting for a further 10 minutes.
- Add almonds to the baking sheet and roast a further 5 minutes. Total time: 25 minutes.
- Arrange the salad leaves, roasted eggplant, carrots and chickpeas on the plates. Sprinkle with crumbled feta and sliced roasted almonds.
- Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and the freshly squeezed lemon juice. Enjoy.
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