Roasted Vegetables
In late fall, when I’ve given up on salad and the farmers’ market pickings are growing slimmer, I turn to my oven for everything – meat, baked goods, and even vegetables. I like nothing better than pulling a pan of mouth-wateringly aromatic roasted vegetables from the oven – they are so good, I could eat a big bowl of them for dinner, and need nothing else to satiate me.
There is something about oven roasting with a little garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper that intensifies the flavors of simple, nondescript vegetables like eggplant to the point where “delectable” is not too extravagant a word choice. Oven roasted tomatoes, a la Molly Wizenberg (A Homemade Life) are a good example of what oven roasting can do.
I also know these are particularly good because Eli, my never-excited-about-veggies boyfriend, will easily put away a nice-sized pile of them at dinner, and even ask for the leftovers for his lunch the next day.
You can oven roast any root vegetable – carrots, beets, red potatoes – as well as peppers, onions, any kind of squash, and eggplant. Just peel, cut into chunks, toss with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put them on a shallow cookie sheet, and roast for 45-60 minutes at 400 degrees until tender, tossing once or twice during roasting.
The recipe below is my favorite combination of vegetables, and came into being a bit by accident. One of my favorite appetizers is Roasted Eggplant Spread, from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten, which starts with roasted vegetables that are then pureed in a food processor with a little tomato paste – delicious served with toasted garlic crostini.
The second or third time I made Roasted Eggplant Spread, I wondered, as I pulled the pan of roasted eggplant, peppers, and onion from the oven, how it would be to forego the tomato paste and pureeing. So the next night, I served them on their own. They were a hit.
Roasted Vegetables
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
2 red bell peppers, cut into chunks
1 red onion, peeled and cut into chunks
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Peel and cut the vegetables, and toss with the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Spread on a large cookie sheet and roast for 45 minutes until tender and lightly browned, tossing once or twice during cooking. Serve hot.
Harmony
0
