ROASTED FENNEL WITH WHIPPED TAHINI, LEMON AND OLIVE
Serves 4 - 6
By Zarah Khan
WHIPPED TAHINI
1 cup tahini
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup cold filtered water
ROASTED FENNEL
3 heads fennel
2 tablespoons The Magic Spice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons
½ cup olives, such as Beldi or Castelvetrano
First, preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Then start making the whipped tahini. Blend garlic and lemon in a food processor until the garlic is minced. Add tahini and salt. With the food processor running, stream in enough water to reach a creamy consistency. It will first break, fear not! Keep adding water slowly until it comes together light and smooth. Taste for salt. Set aside.
To make the roasted fennel, cut fennel bulbs in half and remove the hard core. If your fennel has the greens attached, chop them off and save them to make vegetable stock for later. Then, cut the fennel in slices about ¼ inch thick.
Slice the lemons as thin as you can, removing the seeds as you go. Very thin! A serrated knife might be the move here if your knife isn't very sharp.
Toss lemons and fennel in extra virgin olive oil and The Magic Spice and arrange them on a parchment lined sheet tray. Pit olives and toss them onto the tray as well. Roast everything for about 20 minutes until fennel has some color and is soft. Olives will be a little blistered. We like this.
Spread the whipped tahini onto a plate in a circle. Spoon roasted fennel, lemon and olives over top. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle a little more magic spice over the top to finish, and enjoy!
MAGIC SPICE ROASTED CARROTS WITH WHIPPED TAHINI
Serves 4
By Heather Sperling & Zarah Khan of Botanica
12 small/medium carrots (from the farmers market, if possible – the flavor is vastly superior!)
2 teaspoons of The Magic Spice
1 cup whipped tahini (recipe below)
½ cup toasted pistachios
½ cup pomegranate seeds
Preheat oven to 450F. Halve any larger carrots lengthwise so the carrots are similar in size. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, lay carrots in a single layer (cut side-down, for those that are cut) and dress abundantly with olive oil. Sprinkle with The Magic Spice and roast until softened and caramelized – around 20 minutes, give or take, depending on their size.
Spread whipped tahini on a serving platter and lay carrots on top. Scatter pistachios and pomegranates over top and finish with another drizzle of olive oil.
WHIPPED TAHINI
1 cup tahini
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup cold filtered water
Add the garlic, lemon and salt to a food processor and pulse until the garlic is broken down to a paste. Add the tahini and pulse to incorporate. With the machine running, slowly stream in the water until the mixture is creamy and emulsified. It’s done when it holds a soft peak! 
MAGIC SPICE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH CITRUS AND MINT
Serves 4
By Heather Sperling & Zarah Khan of Botanica
1 head cauliflower (from the farmers market, if possible – the flavor is vastly superior!)
1 tablespoon of The Magic Spice
3 mandarinquats*, thinly sliced
½ cup whole mint leaves
Preheat oven to 450F. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Drizzle it with abundant olive oil; add The Magic Spice and toss well to ensure it’s evenly dressed. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast until softened and quite caramelized – around 20-30 minutes, give or take, depending on the size of your cauliflower pieces.
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before combining with the mandarinquats and mint.
*Mandarinquats are a mandarin-kumquat hybrid that are sweet like mandarin oranges but fully edible (skin included) like kumquats! Kumquats or orange segments are a fine substitution here. Dried currants or barberries would work instead of the citrus, too!
