Good Eats: Roasted Veggies

Whew!  With last week being Thanksgiving - full of traveling and family time - I took the week off.  But I'm glad to be back!  I've wanted to share this with you for quite some time.

There weren't many vegetables I liked as a child.  Mainly corn, potatoes, and sweet peas.  All starch.  Oh, and baked beans.  But do those even count?  I have no idea.

This year, I've learned the reason why I didn't really like vegetables.  They were hardly ever prepared correctly.  (sorry mom!)  That's not really fair...simmering or boiling vegetables is an acceptable method.  Especially if you like mushy, bland veggies.  In the retirement communities I managed, they were all the rage! :)

If you are trying really hard to like vegetables, I implore you to try roasting them.  Seriously.  You may not love all of them, but they get much more edible.  I get excited about eating them now.  I sometimes crave certain veggies.  C calls my roasted green beans "green bean candy".  Anytime someone refers to a veggie as candy, you know it's good. 

Here's the secret:  It's not difficult!  In fact, it's super easy!!

Fresh or frozen veggies work wonderfully well for this.  I've never tried it with canned, because I don't buy canned veggies anymore.

You will need vegetables, some sort of baking dish or sheet, an oven, oil (preferably olive or coconut), and seasonings.  Preheat your oven to 450*. 

 This time, I roasted asparagus.

 I break off the yucky ends.  They end up in my vegetable broth. 

The top ends get washed and chopped. 

I always drizzle olive oil over the veggies, and I season them with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and minced garlic.  Occasionally I add in onions and Greek seasoning.

Look at that caramelization!  (And please don't look so closely at my rusted, $5 grocery store special baking sheet.  I was trying to hold out for wedding gifts!)

This was a different night, with frozen green beans and red onions...and a new baking sheet!  I couldn't wait. 

Green bean candy!


The 450* oven has worked for green beans, zucchini, squash, broccoli, asparagus, onions, and carrots.  The cook time will depend on whether you use fresh or frozen veggies.  Usually, in my experience, the fresh veggies will crisp up better than the frozen.  Fresh veggies take, on average, 20-25 minutes; and frozen veggies can take 35-45 minutes.  It's completely subjective.  If they look nice to you, they're done!