Healthy Vegan Briam for the Whole Family

image source: The Mediterranean Dish

Briam is a simple and absolutely delicious traditional Greek style roasted vegetable dish. Imagine thin roasted vegetables casserole-style featuring potatoes, zucchini, red onions and tomatoes tossed in a mixture of garlic, parsley, extra virgin olive oil and spices then roasted in saucy diced tomatoes. You can even add sliced eggplants or bell peppers to make it more colourful and fancier.

For easy slicing, I used the Borner V5 Power Starter Set to effortlessly slice the potatoes and vegetables quickly. It's also great for slicing fruits, cheese and even chocolate too. When cooking, it's best to use a good quality cast iron cookware to evenly cook your meal sealing the delicious flavours in.

It's a great dish to cook especially when you need to use up leftover vegetables. What's more, a quick and easy meal to prepare packed full of flavours. This healthy, meat-free dish can stand as a main course or served with other entrees. This recipe is taken and adapted from The Mediterranean Dish.

image source: The Mediterranean Dish

Prep time: 20min | Cook time: 75min | Serves: 6 or more

Ingredients:

570g gold potatoes (about 3 medium-size potatoes), peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
570g zucchini squash (2 to 3 zucchini), thinly sliced into rounds
Salt and pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
scant 1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes with juice (no salt added organic tomatoes are recommended)
1 large red onion or 2 smaller red onions, thinly sliced into rounds (if large, you’ll want to cut the onion in half first, and then slice)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a rack in the middle.
Place sliced potatoes and zucchini in a large mixing bowl. Season with kosher salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary. Add fresh parsley, garlic, and a generous drizzle extra virgin olive oil. Toss to make sure the vegetables are well coated with the EVOO and spices.
Grab a large round pan on skillet (I used an 11-inch oven-safe pan. See notes for more options.) Pour 1/2 of the canned diced tomatoes in and spread to cover the bottom of the pan.
Arrange the seasoned potatoes, zucchini, and sliced onions in the pan in rows (simply going around the shape of the pan and alternating.)
If you have any of the extra virgin olive oil and garlic mixture left in the mixing bowl, pour that all over the veggies, then top with the remaining diced tomatoes from your can.
Cover the pan with foil (tent foil a bit so it is not touching the veggies). Bake in 400 degrees F heated-oven for 45 minutes. Take pan out briefly to carefully remove foil, then place back in oven, uncovered, and roast for another 30-40 minutes or until the veggies are soft and charred and most of the liquid has evaporated. (ovens do vary, so pay attention and check as needed.)
Remove from oven. Serve warm or at room temperature with an added generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Tip: If you don't have time arranging the vegetables neatly around in rows, you can easily just use a large rectangular baking dish. Pour half the tomatoes in the baking dish to cover the bottom then, simply spread the vegetables flat evenly in the dish and top it with the olive oil, garlic, parsley, and herb mixture and remaining tomatoes. Cover and follow the method from here. Recipe adapted and sourced: The Mediterranean Dish

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Healthy Vegan Briam for the Whole Family