Baked Tempura Sesame Veggies

There are two things in the culinary world that makes Mr.Loonie go loonie.....deep fried broccoli and soy sauce.  Not the cheap soy sauce either, it has to be the dark and salty "China Lily" brand.  I am always up for some salt but broccoli, not so much, it is actually pretty nasty stuff.  I honestly only started eating asparagus this past year, either my taste buds are numb or I am getting over my stubbornness (who cares if my pee stinks right?). 

So to make this dish a little more healthy and to avoid the work of dealing with the deep fryer, I opted on baking the veggies till crispy and they actually turned out pretty damn good.

Step 1: Start with your favorite veggies, as you can see I used red onion, broccoli and asparagus.  Snap peas, mushrooms, zucchini, cauliflower and yam would also be delicious (besides the fungus). Heat oven to 375°C.

Step 2: Toast up 1/4 cup of sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until golden brown. Add to a plate of panko crumbs and mix.

Step 3: Prepare mayo mixture (used to hold panko to veggies).  Mix to taste and to the quantity needed as per the amount of veggies you are using.  For the plate above and rack pictured, this was my quantities: 1/2c mayo, 2 tbsp soya sauce, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar and good grate of fresh ginger.

Step 4: Set up an assembly line.  Roll veggies in mayo mixture to coat.  Transfer to panko/sesame seed mixture and roll to coat.  Place on rack (no need to flip half way using the rack).  For the broccoli, I only dipped the heads.

Step 5: Bake 15-20min on 375°C until golden brown.

Step 6: Prepare a dish for dipping,  I just used soy sauce with green onions and sesame seeds for garnish. Enjoy!