My Favorite Roasted Vegetables

Vegetables may not sound as appetizing as they do to me. You may still be recovering from a nightmarish childhood of being forced to eat awful, soggy, tasteless vegetables, night after night. You may be like my husband, who, for many years, would only eat two vegetables: salad and peas. Personally, I don't even know that "salad" is exactly a vegetable, especially if it hides beneath a mound of croutons and dressing and cheese, but we won't go there for now.

See, what I have come to realize over the years, is that vegetables have to be honored. They can't just be boiled to death or covered with cheese or butter. They need to stand out as the main attraction and they must be treated properly to do so. That's where roasting comes into play. Roasting vegetables brings out their best flavor by almost caramelizing them. The best part is the simplicity of the other ingredients: olive oil, salt and pepper, and maybe some fresh or dried herbs if you wish. I bet you already have all of these in your pantry. Next time you need to put a vegetable on your plate, try them this way and I bet you'll come to create some new, fond memories of vegetables. Here's a few of my favorites:

Roasted Red Potatoes: Wash, cut into wedges, and toss with olive oil, salt, fresh ground pepper, rosemary (fresh or dried), and garlic powder. Roast at 400 degrees in a greased casserole dish or sheet pan for 30-40 mins, turning once.

Roasted Okra: This is a new one for me. I love fried okra, but it isn't realistic for me to fry okra on a weekly basis, which is how often I buy it from the farmer's market. I found that roasting it may even be better than frying it and is definitely easier! Simply toss in olive oil, salt, and fresh ground pepper, and roast at 400 degrees in a greased casserole dish for 15 mins.

Roasted Butternut Squash: Toss with olive oil, salt, and freshly ground pepper and roast at 400 degrees in a greased casserole dish for 30 mins. Sometimes I take my roasted squash and put it on a whole wheat pizza with goat cheese, tomato sauce, and baby spinach.

There are many other vegetables I love to roast (grape tomatoes, baby carrots, eggplant, and more) but I hope these will encourage you to try your vegetables in a new way.