Roasted Vegetables

Harmon’s grocery store offers fantastic cooking classes that I love to consider attending.  To date, I have been to two:  TJ and I attended a knife skills class that we loved and for a friend’s birthday last year, she and I attended a class on herbs and oils.  It was enjoyable (though I stink at tasting spices and naming them blindly) and we made roasted vegetables, which has become one of our regular recipes.  This is a great way to enjoy fresh vegetables and roasting makes them extra flavorful.  Feel free to mix up which vegetables you use (we have never used zucchini because…I just don’t adore it).

Roasted Vegetables

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

½ yam, cubed (*I usually just use the whole thing)

1 zucchini, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 parsnip, diced

½ red onion, quartered

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (worth getting fresh, but if you don’t have it, just use dried)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (worth getting fresh, but if you don’t have it, just use dried)

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

On a half sheet tray combine all ingredients and cook in a 375 degree oven.  Cook until vegetables are fork tender, but still have a snap.  Cooking time should be around 25-30 minutes depending on how the vegetables are cut.

*Note on cutting these: peppers and onions will cook fastest, so cut them largest.  Also, we typically use a parsnip in this.  Have you ever had a parsnip?  They look like big white carrots.  They are great (disclaimer: we have only had parsnips roasted, so can't attest to their flavor raw or otherwise).

*Another note: I thought that the longer these marinated in balsamic vinegar (which I could drink) the better they would be.  Wrong.  They get mushy, so don’t do that.  

*A final note: we don't peel our carrots anymore.  We wash them well and save ourselves a lot of time and peels by just eating them as they come.  It's terribly liberating.

Enjoy! And HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY (here's hoping Holly gets a ring!)