Recipe: Roasted Vegetable Medley

I love roasted vegetables! It's such an easy and diverse dish, and when it comes to food, I'm all about recipes that can be modified to suit the season, what's on hand, and what else is being served. Roasted veggies provide just that! This was our really delicious, hardy dinner from last night.

Salad from our patio-garden greens, homemade dressing, cherry tomatoes. Grilled cheese with earth balance, organic raw sharp cheddar. A smattering of roasted vegetables with my favorite seasoning combo, organic shoyu. 

Ingredients:

• You can use just about any vegetable for roasting. Garlic cloves and onions are always a must for me, but be as creative with the rest as you'd like! For this particular recipe, I'm sticking with the classic:

• Potato
• Red & Green bell pepper
• Crimini mushroom
• Elephant garlic
• Purple onion

• The herbs and seasonings also provide a lot of room for experimentation, so again, get creative! Smell, taste, explore. My trusted favorites from last night include:

• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Thyme
• Rubbed sage
• Rosemary

Portions for this dish will vary depending on how many people you want to feed. Since this was used as a main dish of sorts, Oscar and I easily consumed a full tray's worth of the veggie-deliciousness. This was: 2 small purple potatoes, half of each bell pepper, a large handful of mushrooms, 3 elephant garlic cloves, and half a purple onion. After chopping up the veggies (not too small! they will shrink a good deal while roasting) I coated them with enough olive oil to saturate their pores thoroughly, with no oil drip when held above the bowl. 

As veggie portions vary, so will the amount of spices used. This is a visual of the amount of herby coating I like to see, pre-stir. For this recipe, I used just about equal amounts of each seasoning, going a little lighter on the rubbed sage. A good rule of thumb when it comes to seasonings: if it smells strong, it probably is! Also, you can always add more, but over-spicing can ruin the best of meals! 

Veggie roasting times and temperatures vary on the size and variety of vegetables being roasted. Roasting is done at high temperatures (between 400-475 Fahrenheit) and is the fastest way to remove water, which results in the shrinking and rich-flavor-trapping that takes places in roasted goods. The browning that occurs also adds a whole other distinct layer of taste. When roasting mixed vegetables, the more tender-fleshed items will roast quicker. I love the way this tastes (think crispy, browned onions and garlic) but some people prefer to roast their vegetables with only like-items. For this batch, I roasted everything together at 420 degrees for about 30 minutes, flipping the veggies every ten minutes to prevent burning and uneven cooking. 

Optional step: with ten minutes left, drizzle a layer of organic shoyu or other soy sauce, for a little extra moisture and flavor! This photo (below) is still with ten minutes left. I know my veggies are done when my potatoes have full browned, and as you can see, they're only just starting to here.

Can be served as a main dish, a side dish, or a cold salad with the addition of a dressing. Hope you enjoy this super simple, healthy recipe. Happy Wednesday, friends!