I got a beautiful leek from Singh Meadows so I had to do something special with it. Today I roasted the leek. I thought a little sprinkle of corn and zhoug would go well with the leek ( zhoug is a Yemenite spicy cilantro sauce that is hand chopped and not blended) and instead of something like tahini that is a classic with zhoug I thought the cashew butter would be similar but also tasty. Today I used Micheal Solomonov’s recipe for zhoug. I ate at his restaurant Zahav and it was one of the best meals that I have had in my life. This recipe make far more zhoug than you need……but if you think you like zhoug than it is worth making…..I used some zhoug last week on grilled eggplant with date syrup that was very good. You can quarter that amount of zhoug and you still will have more zhoug than you need for this recipe.

Ingredients for two servings (plus extra zhoug)

1 cup parley leaves – hand chopped – fine chopped – zhoug

1 cup cilantro (fine stems ok to use) – hand chopped – fine chopped – zhoug

2 Tablespoons lemon juice – zhoug

1 Tablespoon cardamon – ground – zhoug

1 Tablespoon sea salt – zhoug

20 serrano peppers – chopped – zhoug

4 garlic cloves – fine chopped – zhoug

1 cup canola oil – zhoug

1 leek (mine was a large leek) – cleaned cut in half long ways

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup (or more) cooked corn

2 Tablespoons cashew butter

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Oil a baking sheet with a little olive oil or non stick spray.

Oil the leeks all over with the olive oil. The leeks go cut side up on the baking sheet. They roast for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes shut the oven off but leave the leeks in for another 10 minutes. (throw the corn in the oven to warm up.)

During this time you can make the zhoug.

Make the zhoug. In a large bowl combine the parsley, cilantro, lemon juice, cardamon, salt, peppers, garlic and oil. Set to the side or refrigerate.

Take the leeks out and dress them with the corn zhoug and cashew butter.

Enjoy!

A special THANKS!!! to Micheal Solomonov for his amazing zhoug recipe.