I LOVE vegetables. You may have noticed this.

I especially love them in the summer, when I can walk into the farmers market and get inspired by all the weird and wonderful vegetables Oregon farmers grow. But this recipe isn’t weird, it’s with items that are pretty universally available. We’ll save weird for another day.

Lately I’ve taken to making all-vegetable meals – or close. We ate this plate of vegetables with a board that included pickles, peaches, cheese, nuts and a little bit of cured meats. Another favorite, last week, was when dinner was 1/2 roasted sweet potatoes, 1/2 kale blueberry salad with goat cheese. I *love* eating that way.

Sunday is my favorite day to make this kind of a meal. Dave and I will cook dinner and then take it outside to the picnic table in the back yard. And then we’ll pair it with icy cold cocktails, light wine or beer from our keg downstairs. For real – here’s where we ate these in our meal:

I would like to encourage you all to give this a try sometime – by “this” I mean focusing your meal around vegetables (not vegetables in pasta or on bread, not vegetables with a meat entree). Not every meal needs to be centered around protein, especially when we are awash in calories and nutrition. If it’s not something you’re used to, I think you might be surprised by the wonderful and complex flavors you’ll enjoy, and by how full you will be (plants are full of fiber!). I guarantee you’ll enjoy it. Hooray vegetables!

Ingredients

Here’s what you need:
Olive oil
1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
2 large zucchini, cut into spears
1/2 tsp. sumac
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 3/4 oz. cilantro, leaves and stems
1 small garlic clove, crushed
2 Tbsp. ish pumpkin seeds
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. sriracha

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. On a baking sheet, toss the cauliflower and zucchini with a few tablespoons of olive oil, the cumin, the sumac, the cinnamon and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Roast until fork-tender – approximately 20-25 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, buzz the 4 Tbsp. olive oil, cilantro, garlic and a heavy pinch of salt in the food processor until it forms a paste.

In a separate bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt and sriracha. Keep it cold in the fridge until the vegetables are done.

When the vegetables are done roasting, dollop with both the cilantro paste and the sriracha cream. Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds.