Hungry? Make this healthy aubergine traybake from the Zoe recipe book

This veggie traybake is the kind of dish that will wow your dinner guests (doesn’t it look pretty?) but it’s actually a cinch to rustle up. And it also packs a seriously healthy punch as it contains 15 (yes, fifteen) plants. That’s our kind of dinner.

It’s from excellent new tome The Food For Life Cookbook, £14, by Professor Tim Spector, the founder of the Zoe personalised diet plan. The book is packed with gut health-boosting dishes and snacks plus achievable advice for fine-tuning your diet (it was Spector who popularised the ‘eating 30 different plants each week’ tip).

And if you like the look of this dish, we also highly recommend Spector’s broccoli and walnut orecchiette pasta recipe, which is perfect for a midweek speedy supper or his carrot cake, if you’re in need of a sweet, but plant-packed, treat.

Tim Spector’s Roasted Aubergine Traybake recipe

“Traybakes are so simple to make, but the garnishes here make it look like a showstopper and bring the plant score up to 15, giving you plenty of polyphenols and a boost of fibre. The best entertaining recipes require very little active time in the kitchen, and this one fits the brief. Prepare the tray for baking in advance and pop it in the oven for 40 minutes before you plan to serve.”

Ingredients

Serves 4, preparation time 15 mins, cook time 40 mins

– 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained

– 350g cherry tomatoes

– 2 peppers, cut into 2cm chunks

– 200g halloumi, cut into 1cm cubes

– 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled

– 2 ½  tsp ground cumin

– 1 ½ tsp ground coriander

– 1 tsp chilli powder

– 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

– 2 aubergines, halved

– 3 tbsp tahini

– 180ml kefir

– 2 tsp sumac

– 20g coriander, roughly chopped

– 4 spring onions, thinly sliced

– 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds

– Juice of lime

– Salt and black pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

2. Put the chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, halloumi and garlic cloves on one tray with three-quarters of the cumin, the ground coriander and chilli powder. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Toss to coat.

3. Cut each aubergine in half lengthways and score a 2cm deep criss-cross pattern into the flesh of each one. Sprinkle with the remaining ground spices and drizzle with the remaining olive oil, season and place on the other baking tray. Place both trays in the oven for 40 minutes.

4. Mix the tahini, kefir and sumac in a bowl and season. When the vegetables are ready, squeeze the garlic from their skins into the sauce, mash them in and stir to combine.

5. Transfer the chickpeas and veg to a serving dish and stir in three-quarters of the coriander. Place the aubergine halves on top and scatter with the remaining coriander, spring onions, pomegranate seeds, lime juice and the sauce.

The Food For Life Cookbook (Jonathan Cape, £14) by Tim Spector with Zoe is out now

All photography by Issy Croker