Tex-Mex 5-a-day veggie feast
Serves: 4
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Tex-Mex 5-a-day veggie feast
'Veggie traybakes are one of my staples at this time of year,' says our Food Director Sarah. 'Super-easy to throw together and packed full of winter-busting nutrition. This clever version boasts all five portions of your 5-a-day and is the perfect way to ward off those January blues. The queso sauce is a cheeky little extra I add on days when I want something a bit more indulgent.’
Serves: 4
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (100g, without queso)
Calories
341Kcal
Fat
15gr
Saturates
2gr
Carbs
25gr
Sugars
20gr
Fibre
12gr
Protein
12gr
Salt
0.2gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
For the Tex Mex veg
- 1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 red onions, cut into wedges
- 3 peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tbsp chipotle paste
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 500g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 x 400g tin black beans, rinsed and drained
- juice of ½ lime
- handful chopped coriander
- 1 avocado, flesh cut into small chunks
For the queso sauce, (optional extra)
- 10g butter
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ½ tsp onion granules
- 1 x 170g tin evaporated milk
- 100g mature cheddar, grated
- ½ tbsp cornflour
Step by step
Make it vegan
To make the recipe 100% plant-based, either omit the sauce or make a dairy-free alternative. Stir crushed garlic and onion granules into your preferred dairy-free plain yogurt or into oat fraîche. Season well and add a squeeze of lime juice to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Put the cauliflower, red onions and peppers in a large shallow roasting tray with the garlic cloves. Combine the smoked paprika, oregano and cumin with the rapeseed oil and drizzle over the vegetables. Toss to combine and season well. Roast for 25 minutes.
- Mix the chipotle paste, cider vinegar and maple syrup together, then drizzle this over the veg and stir the tomatoes through. Return to the oven for another 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and the tomatoes have broken down.
- When the vegetables are almost ready, make the queso sauce, if using. Heat the butter in a small saucepan and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add the onion granules and the evaporated milk and stir to combine. Toss the cheddar with the cornflour to combine then add to the pan. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until the cheese has melted and you have a glossy sauce. Season to taste.
-
Remove the tray of veg from the oven. Squeeze the garlic cloves to release the purée and discard the skins. Stir the purée through the veg, adding the black beans and lime juice. Scatter with coriander and avocado and drizzle with the queso sauce, if using. Serve with or without rice, as preferred, and with the extra queso on the side (if the queso stiffens up, you can let it down with a splash of hot water).Kitchen tipAny leftover roast veggies make a great lunch; serve with cooked grains, or rolled up in a wrap, burrito-style.
