Roasted Winter Vegetables

I LOVE roasted vegetables.  I love how easy they are to make and how the roasting process brings out the natural sweetness in the vegetable. 

If you follow these three simple rules, you can roast almost any vegetable.
1. Cut vegetables into evenly sized pieces so that they roast evenly and bake similar vegetables together.  (peppers with peppers, broccoli with broccoli, etc.)
2.  Toss vegetables with a mild olive oil and a generous amount of salt.  
​3.  Adjust oven temperature to the vegetable that you're roasting but as a general rule, 425 is an average roasting temperature. 

Those are the roasting basics.  You can experiment with herbs and seasonings after the roasting process if you like.  Don't be afraid of roasted vegetables - as long as you keep and eye on the oven so they don't get over-roasted - it's hard to ruin them.  

Roasted Winter Vegetables
2-3 pounds fall vegetables (carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips)
1 red onion, sliced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
​

Cut vegetables into similarly sized cubes.  

Place on greased, foil lined baking sheet along with red onion. 

Drizzle with oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper.  

Roast 30 minutes at 425.  Stir occasionally.

Did you know that virtually any vegetable can be roasted?  Root vegetable are the most obvious choice for roasting: sweet potatoes, parsnips, squash, carrots but I've also been known to roast cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, green beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and eggplant.  I have yet to find a vegetable that isn't roast-able.  ​

Roasted vegetables are the perfect accompaniment to almost any meat, chicken or fish dish.  They're easy to make and they add a lot of beautiful color to an otherwise bland looking plate.   ​

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