I hope you all had a beautiful and very merry Christmas and spent lots of time giving thanks and feeling blessed with others.
This month I have been getting used to the end of the farmers market…and it hasn’t been easy.
I’m really missing my Arkansas black apples (though I might have found a place to get those, but please share if you have any orchard connections), fresh greens, fun squashes and fresh herbs.
But we have been eating a lot of root veggies, broccoli, cauliflower and kale, so that’s not too bad.
After you’ve eaten veggies steamed and mashed, sometimes you want to cook them in a way that lends a little more flavor and texture.
When that’s the case, you need to try some roasting.
Roasting veggies is one of the easiest, one-pan preparations and lends so much flavor! Especially when you throw some garlic bits in the mix and they get all crunchy and caramelized in the oven.
And even if you have 6 different kinds of veggies, you can let them all roast together and enjoy the unique flavors that come out.
This is a basic recipe that you can use to roast most vegetables and, though cooking times vary, you can just keep an eye on them until they’re tender to your liking.
Here’s how you make basic roasted vegetables:
1. Preheat the oven to 400-425 degrees.
2. Prepare the vegetables and cut into equal-sized pieces.
3. On the baking sheet mix the veggies with 1-2 tbs. or of olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a clove or two of garlic (I use my garlic press, but you can just finely dice it).
4. Toss the veggies in all of the oil and seasonings until well coated and roast on an even layer for 30-40 minutes (again, depending on the vegetable) until slightly browned and crisp.