A Simple Technique: Roasting Vegetables

I felt compelled to blog about roasting vegetables on this Saturday morning.  I think it is confirmed that I am a food nerd.  That being said, I shall embrace it and continue to write.  Yes you can steam your vegetables and that is all fine and good.  But they taste, well, like dirt most of the time.  If you roast your vegetables with little or no oil, you are still getting all the benefits of steamed vegetables with 100% more flavor.  I feel that we steam our vegetables because it makes us feel better and healthy about how we are eating.  But why not feel healthy and eat healthy - with flavor!


I roast everything.  Here are a few of my favorites:


Roasted Broccoli (the best way to eat broccoli in my opinion)


Ingredients
Broccoli florets or Asparagus (same method)
1 tbs of olive oil
1 tsp of lemon zest (optional)
1 tbs of lemon juice (optional)
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 cup of toasted pine-nuts
salt and pepper


Instructions
Pre-heat your broiler 
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray
Toss the broccoli or asparagus with the oil and season with salt and pepper
Roast in the broiler for about 7-10 minutes.  Keep an eye on the broccoli or asparagus around the 7th minute and rotate the tray and flip the broccoli or asparagus so all sides get crispy.  You will see some of the florets get a crispy, golden brown - that is okay!  That is flavor!
Now the veggies are delicious just like this.  But to add more flavor, you can add parmesan cheese during the last minute of cooking.  You can also add the lemon zest, juice and pine nuts after you have taken this out of the oven.  


Roasted Sweet Potatoes 
(add other root vegetables if you like)


Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes (peeled and cut into fries or half moon shapes - sometimes I keep the skin on because there are lots of nutrients in the skin)  I usually have one medium sweet potato per person
Carrots/Parsnips (optional)
1-2 tbs. of olive oil
1-2 tbs. of balsamic vinegar
1 tbs. of honey
1 tbs. of orange juice
1 tbs. of chopped fresh rosemary
salt and pepper


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray
Toss the sweet potatoes in the olive oil, vinegar, honey, orange juice, rosemary, salt and pepper
Arrange on sheet tray so the sweet potatoes aren't crowded.  If you have too many sweet potatoes, roast on 2 sheets.  You want each piece of potato to have contact with the sheet tray.  Too many sweet potatoes = steaming, not roasting!  Now I put 1-2 tbs. of oil and vinegar because you will have to eye ball the amount depending on how many sweet potatoes you roast.  I usually buy a medium sweet potato per person.  This recipe is based on that.  If you have more people, just bump up ingredients.  You really can't go wrong with this recipe.
Roast for 30-45 minutes - every oven is different.  I like to flip the potatoes once or twice during roasting to make sure each potato gets nice and crispy.


I highly recommend these recipes.  Obviously the more olive oil you use the crispier they will get.  I like to keep my olive oil in moderation (per my recipes) to make sure to keep it low in fat.  Enjoy!