The recent arrival of cold weather to Yosemite has put me in the mood for warm food night after night. Eating a bowl of soup by the wood-burning stove does make for a ridiculously cozy (and excessively warm) evening. However, I was starting to feel like I was stuck in a soup rut, so I looked up a roasted vegetable recipe I tried once before. The original recipe, which I found on Eatingwell.com, actually calls for a winter vegetable mix of butternut squash, cauliflower and onions, but I decided to use several different veggies instead.
There are a few things I love about roasting vegetables. First of all, you can use them as a side dish or pair them with a grain and serve them as the main course. Secondly, you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand as long as you remember to keep the vegetable pieces close to the same size so they cook more evenly and are easier to eat. In addition, it’s easy-peasy, healthy, beautiful (the colors can look amazing depending on your selection), and chances are good, it’s different from what you’ve been eating lately. Here's what I did last night, but you should feel free to vary the ingredients to your liking.
Roasted Vegetables
2 medium red potatoes, cubed
2 cups carrots, chopped
1 cup summer squash, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
2 cups of baby portabellas (halved or left whole depending on size)
olive oil
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. basil
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Toss vegetables in a large bowl with enough olive oil to coat everything. Add salt, pepper, garlic and basil and toss again.
Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring once.
The roasted veggies are great on rice, couscous, polenta, etc.
Tip: With some add-ins like corn or peas (peas are yuck in my opinion), you may want to use a frozen version or wait 10-15 minutes before adding them to the rest of the mix so they don’t burn. Also, I used basil to season the blend, but rosemary, oregano, thyme (etc.), would also be delicious and smell super good.
Rachel. This blog is awesome. It is personal and interesting (especially to those of us who know you) and it is SO helpful. This is great!
ReplyDeleteYEAH!
ReplyDeleteI ate a lot.
ReplyDeleteMore I want more food recipes!! I'll cook them on Cooking with Sonya & Friends :O)
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I'm putting this on the recipe list for this week. I understand what you mean about a soup rut. But I do love that rut.
ReplyDeleteI've been getting into raw food recently. I just bought a cook book I'm gonna try out--I'll let you know if I come across any good ones.
BTW, great blog! You are an excellent writer. Not to mention, good cooking runs in your blood.
aw, thanks ange! i love that rut too, but since i'm not the only one eating my food...i have to change it up now and then:) for sure let me know how the raw food recipes go. although i don't know if i'll be in the mood for that until spring time...
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