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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Kitchen Technique: Roasting

One of the reasons people often give me for not cooking and eating more vegetables is that they don't know how to prepare them - or that they take a long time.  I'm a busy girl these days and need meals to be simple, but always delicious.  Roasting is my go-to preparation for dinner many nights of the week.  As simple as scrub or scrape, chop, toss and into the oven.  Here's an example from this week...

Roasted Winter Veggies
3 medium carrots, scraped and chopped
3 parsnips, scraped and chopped
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges
2-4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 tsp thyme
3 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  While the oven heats, prep the vegetables.  Toss everything together in a bowl and then onto a lined or sprayed sheet pan.  Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes (until nicely caramelized and cooked through), tossing about every 15-20 minutes for even roasting.

A few tips:
  1. Chop everything about the same size to ensure even cooking - but no need to get fancy.
  2. Add additional spices, herbs and/or vary the veg to make an endless combination of roasted deliciousness.  Some of my favorite combos include sweet potato wedges tossed with olive oil, cinnamon and red pepper; yellow squash, zucchini, and onion tossed with olive oil, thyme and pepper; apples and potatoes tossed with a little olive oil, cinnamon and maple syrup; cauliflower tossed with a bit of olive oil, curry powder, salt and pepper; and colorful bell peppers and onions tossed with olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper.
  3. Start this dish first.  Then, while the vegetables roast you can prep and cook everything else for dinner or just spend a little more time playing with your baby, dog, or internet.  
Leftover roasted vegetables are so versatile too.  They are fantastic added to scrambled eggs, folded into a tortilla for a vegetarian lunch, or even cold right out of the fridge.  What? Just me?  In addition to the fact that they are super easy and yummy, roasting instead of boiling helps retain nutrients since there's no water for the vitamins to leach out in.  So...what are you going to roast next?  Be adventurous.  Be healthy!

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