Thoughts Before Jukai

Recipe: How To Roast Vegetables Simply

We’re addicted. There is nothing like a bit of roasting to bring out the sweetness in summer and winter veggies. And… um… I have a confession to make. Sigh. Sometimes… I do not love cooking. I’m not bad at it, but it’s just not my favorite thing. Fortunately Matt loves it, he is a fantastic and trained cook, and… well, this is one of the reasons why I’m the luckiest woman around! But for those days when Matt works late and it’s my turn to cook, I use Matt’s oh-so-perfect and oh-so-easy recipe for roasting vegetables. It’s simple and it’s actually fun…. Matt’s Method For Roasting Vegetables Ingredients. Seasonal Vegetables Cooking Oil (we prefer olive oil) Salt Pepper Steps. Preheat the oven to 400. Matt says, “Set it and forget it, don’t listen to recipes that give different temperatures for everything.” Chop the vegetables into large pieces (photos above). Put the vegetables in a large bowl and coat in oil (we prefer olive oil). For the amount of veggies above, we used 2-3tablespoons. Don’t be afraid of over-oiling – the extra will just pool at the bottom of the bowl. Toss! Salt heavily. I throw in a small handful of salt. Toss! Pepper the vegetables well, but don’t over do it. Toss! Place the vegetables on baking sheet, without over-packing them. The vegetables should lightly touch, but not pile up on top of each other. If you’re roasting a lot of vegetables, put different vegetables on different baking sheets. If you’re roasting vegetables of very different cooking times (eg, potatoes and broccoli) you can put them on different baking sheets and stagger the timing – or just throw it all together like we often do. Give the veggies a good stir with a metal or wooden spatula about 15-20 minutes in. Total roasting time is between 30 minutes and 1 hour, depending on what you’re cooking. Taste to see if it’s done – you may like it crispier or you may like it just barely soft. (Or if you like them a bit browned, you can switch to broil at the end for somequick extra color.) That’s it! Serve as a snack, as a side dish, or as a main dish over couscous, rice, bulgar wheat, farrow wheat, or some other tasty whole grain. Variations are plentiful. We often add fresh herbs. For example, rosemary and potatoes go well together, thyme and carrots go well together, sage and cauliflower go well together. You can also try different oils – canola oil has a lighter flavor. A little lemon juice or orange zest gives it a bit of zing. Matt likes to sneak in a few cayenne pepper flakes for a splash of heat. Veggies That Are Good For Roasting Our favorites are potatoes, corn, summer squash, winter squash, garlic, peppers (hot and sweet), eggplant, onions, scallions (put them in toward the end), carrots, beets, bulb fennel, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli. Others we’ve successfully roasted include tomatoes, string beans (put them in toward the end), lemons, greens (right at the end, put them in for a minute or two), garlic scapes… We haven’troasted anything we didn’t like, so have fun and experiment! Similar Posts:

By , on September 9th, 2008 | Category: , | |