Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Roasted veggies for the veggiphobic


We eat a lot of vegetables, at least 5 servings a day, as part of me "practicing what I preach." Oh, plus we just really like vegetables. I can honestly say that we have been very successful in moving the meat portion of our meal out of the center of the plate.

Roasting is probably the most common thing we're doing these days. I don't think there's a vegetable in the world that can't be improved in a 450 degree oven. And these can hardly even be called recipes, once you do it once or twice, you start to improvise and experiment with whatever is lying around the house. The trick is the high oven temp and using just enough oil to lightly coat things -- we're not oven frying here.


Roasted Asparagus

Use really thick stalks, not the little stringy ones that come in spring. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, rub with olive oil. Lay them all out flat on the baking sheet and put in a 450 degree oven. Watch them. Roll them around about every 8 minutes. When they are brown and green and crispy, pull them out and eat them.


Roasted Cauliflower

Cut up a head of cauliflower into mouth sized chunks. Toss with 1/8 cup of white wine vinegar, 1/8 cup of dijon or whole grain mustard, and 1/8 cup of olive oil. Spread on the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 450 degrees until brown spots start to show, stirring them around every 10 minutes or so.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Quarter the sprouts, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until the outer leaves start to look crispy, tossing every 10 minutes or so. You can also chop some slab bacon into a small dice and toss that in with them.

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