I love vegetables, all vegetables, but roasted veggies are the absolutely mostest fabulous! Roasting makes all the vegetables sweeter, more decadent. Hand me a peeled raw carrot and I’m a happy girl. Hand me a plate of roasted sliced carrots liberally salted and peppered with a large pat of butter on top and I could sing several choruses of “I’m in Heaven”. For those of you not as fond of veggies as I, yes, like the Hunka-hunka, I feel for you and can only hope you will eventually learn and grow.
Ah, potatoes. Lately, I’m able to find miniature potatoes at the store. Typically they are approximately 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Cute, cute, cute. I don’t even cut them. During the summer, I go through pounds and pounds of Russet or red potatoes in the search for the perfect oven fry. Everyone loves them.
And, squash. This has been my go-to baked veggie since I was a little girl. My mom would bring a huge Hubbard squash home and we would eat on it for a week or so. They have such a tough skin, she would often need to use an ax to separate it into pieces. I never bake it with brown sugar or into pie. I love the clean taste of the squash, as long as I get my salt, pepper and butter.
This holds true for all the vegetables I cook. I pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. The veggies are cut into the correct size for whatever I’m serving. They go onto the pan followed by a liberal drizzle of olive oil and a heavy sprinkling of salt and pepper. Give them a good mix. Baking times range mightily. Squash may take 15 minutes if you cut it into 1 inch cubes. A large Russet potato cut into 8 sections could easily take 45 minutes. You will have to learn your vegetables. The amount of surface is key. Plus, you don’t want to overcrowd your pan or they won’t crisp, they will simmer.
Give these old root vegetables a try; you might find yourself turning into a veggie appreciator as well. And I haven’t even begun to mention how good they can be in soup!
and remember: Too bad you don’t live closer, because there are evil plots to be hatched and twisted deeds to be done. Big kiss, Lynn
From the Recipe Box 