Roasted Carrots and Chickpeas seasoned with za’atar and served over Greek yogurt with lemony kale makes a wonderful side dish or meatless main!
Za’atar Roasted Carrots and Chickpeas
I’ve been on a meatless kick lately, and it’s not really intentional – I just love my veggies! Carrots are the best roasted in the oven, and adding chickpeas and za’atar makes them over-the-top good! Some of my other favorite carrot recipes are Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Ginger and Roasted Carrots with Feta Truffle & Lemon Zest.
I teamed up with Stonyfield to make this recipe and used their organic whole milk Greek yogurt. Since this was a vegetarian main dish, and all the ingredients are pretty light I went with full fat rather than fat-free, which is so much tastier and creamier, less tangy and a great source of protein. Chickpeas are a good source of fiber and protein, and Greek yogurt has a ton of protein. Did you know that all proteins from milk deliver the amino acid nutrients that match human requirements better than plant proteins? For this reason, they are often called the highest protein quality – and incorporating these proteins into meals and recipes gives your dish a nutritious boost!
Why is it important to choose organic dairy?
Stonyfield is a company I can trust because all of their yogurts are made without toxic persistent pesticides, artificial hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs. A new study from Emory University has found residues of antibiotics and pesticides in a wide variety of conventional milks on store shelves, driving home how important it is to choose organic dairy when possible. Not only are you supporting better farming practices and better pay for the farmers, you are also getting a higher quality product that is safe from antibiotics, pesticides and growth hormones, which we know we should avoid.
Stonyfield only works with organic farms that provide optimal living conditions and low-stress lives for their cows. Stonyfield cows live in healthy, clean conditions and spend at least 120 days each year on pasture. That means preventative antibiotics are unnecessary. Happy, healthy cows mean delicious, creamy yogurt made with high quality ingredients and no harmful pesticides – a win win for everyone!
Tips & Variations
- Yogurt: If you prefer to use fat-free yogurt instead, that’s fine too.
- Carrots: If you can find multi-colored baby carrots, great. I bought mine at Trader Joe’s. If not, thinner farmers’ market carrots would work too. If you can only find large carrots, just slice them in half lengthwise.
- Kale: I prefer Lacinato kale (also called dinosaur kale and Tuscan kale). Lacinato is more tender than curly kale, but curly will work if you can’t find Lacinato. The most important step when working with raw kale is to massage it in a little bit of dressing. Massaging the kale breaks it down and makes it softer. For this recipe, just massage the kale with some olive oil, lemon juice, and salt for a couple of minutes until the kale turns a darker shade of green.
You can serve these veggie yogurt bowls as a side dish too. They’d be great with Za’atar Lamb Chops or Grilled Chicken Shawarma.
What is Za’atar?
Za’atar is a Mediterranean blend of sumac, thyme, sesame seeds, and salt, and some variations include dried marjoram or oregano. Sumac is what gives za’atar its distinct flavor. It’s a red spice that has a tart lemony flavor.
How to Make Za’atar
You can find za’atar at most grocery stores. However, if you can’t find it, you can always make your own. Just combine one tablespoon each of sumac, thyme, and sesame seeds and one teaspoon of salt.
More Mediterranean Recipes You’ll Love:
- Greek Chicken Meal Prep Rice Bowls
- Mediterranean Sea Bass
- Mediterranean Bean Salad
- Spiralized Mediterranean Beet and Feta Skillet Bake
- Mediterranean Chicken Kebab Salad
Za’atar Roasted Carrots and Chickpea Yogurt Bowls
Ingredients
- 16 small heirloom baby carrots, about 16 oz total (Wash, dry and trim the stems)
- 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Za’atar spice blend
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- fresh black pepper, to taste
- 1 ounce feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 bunch kale, preferably lacinato, ribs removed and discarded (2 1/2 oz total without ribs)
- 1/2 tbsp freshly squeeze lemon juice
- 2 cups full fat Stonyfield Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large sheet pan with olive oil.
- Drain chickpeas in a colander, or salad spinner and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Let them dry completely.
- Place carrots and chickpeas on the prepared sheet pan and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, Za’atar, salt and black pepper.
- Bake until the carrots are crisp-tender and browned, about 40 to 45 minutes, turning halfway.
- While they are cooking, slice the kale into 1/4-inch thin ribbons and place in a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Massage the kale with your hands for about 1 to 2 minutes, until soft.
- In 4 shallow bowls, swoosh 1/2 cup yogurt in the bottom of each.
- While the carrots are still hot, transfer over the yogurt and season with more salt and lemon zest.
- Scatter the chickpeas over each dish and drizzle the remaining oil, top with kale and crumbled feta
Last Step:
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Stonyfield. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Skinnytaste possible. All thoughts are my own.
Shockingly perfect combo! Don’t think too hard about and just make it. I served cod on the side to bump it up to a dinner. Loved the whole dish!
The lemony kale really finished this dish. Had it as a meatless main and it was fantastic.
Very tasty. We are trying to eat more vegetables and this was terrific. Nice flavor. My teen and tween even liked it. Thanks for the creative recipes!
Great!!
Loved this recipe! Simple ingredients and straight forward to make. I only massaged enough kale and served out enough yogurt for the portions I needed then and stored the carrot/chick pea mixture separately so that I could have fresh left overs! The next day I just massaged another serving of kale, heated the carrot/chick pea mixture, and then assembled with yogurt, feta, and a drizzle of olive oil.
This was so pretty and delicious! I had leftovers and put them together in Tupperware so not able to reheat the carrots and chickpeas but it was just as good cold!
This was the BEST thing I’ve ever tasted! WOW! I felt like a chef when I saw it on my plate! Such a great combo of flavors.
Oh my goodness! This looked so healthy and different that I had to try it, and it was even better than I’d hope! The textures and flavors complemented each other perfectly. I’ll definitely be making again.
One question. I have lots of leftover and I’m not sure how to serve it. Heat it up or eat cold?
I can’t seem to get Za’atar now. What seasoning could I use to substitute and get a similar taste?
Za’atar is actually really easy to make. 1T dried thyme, 1T sesame seeds and 1t sumac. If you don’t have sumac, you could mimic this by using thyme and lemon juice.
I put the nutritional facts into the Weight Watchers calculator (I am on Purple plan) and it told me this is 10 points per serving! Am I doing something wrong?
You have to use the recipe builder. 🙂
This was amazing! We had this last night, and we all loved it… even my 10 year old. I loved that we were eating healthy, but also loved that this was so different than anything else I have ever made. Thank you!
Awesome!!
Looks tasty! How many days will this keep in the fridge if I wanted to meal prep this?
This was yummy, and a good vegetarian dinner. I especially liked the za’atar on the carrots and chickpeas. I had regular table carrots, fat free Greek yogurt, and only collard greens on hand, and all held up nicely in the dish, so don’t be afraid of those substitutes! Massaging the greens – delicious! Thanks for an inventive meal.
Blue points are wrong here…
This was really surprising, and a place now in favorites category. I used rainbow regular sized carrots cut in two, and chick peas I had cooked prior in pressure cooker from dried. I changed it only by also adding cauliflower and skipped the yogurt part. Used fat free feta crumbles and less oil by far, just my misto spray and one teaspoon in the kale. Did a side of bugler wheat.. Really good seasoning, carrots sweet, great vegetarian option. Hard to stop at one serving.
Perfect combo! This is party in your mouth kind of recipe. The sweetness of the roasted carrots seasoned with zatar paired with creamy yogurt and salty feta. I’m going to make it again tonight. I forgot that I have zatar until I saw this recipe.
This looks and sounds delicious. I am on WW blue … how big is a serving? wondering if you could be more specific than one bowl. Thanks!
it says it makes 4 servings, so i’d just divide everything by 4 and thats a bowl.
Looks like using non-fat yogurt instead of full fat yields 4 purple points per serving. Did you perhaps use that in your points calculations?
This sounds amazing, I am going to try this tonight! I, too, have been on a meatless kick lately…..great timing. Thanks!
This sounds delish, Gina. It is harder to find Kale in Germany now (for us it is mostly a winter green). Any ideas as to a substitute? Thanks, Jutta
Collard greens would work, spinach, escarole…