From many of the WWOOFERs who come to our farm, I seem to glean some
new idea for cooking. Justin, our current visitor, likes greens, so
I've even started cooking and enjoying mustard and turnip greens, which
I'd previously shied away from. Shelley, earlier this summer, liked
grits, so with that encouragement, we started enjoying our own grits
much more often and now still do. It is Chelsea I have to thank for the
idea of roasting vegetables, though. Sure, I'd roasted some potatoes
before, but only occasionally. Chelsea said her normal meal back home
was an assortment of roasted vegetables. So I gave it a try. I cut up
whatever I had into bite size pieces onto a cookie sheet, tossed it with
a generous amount of butter and salt, and turned the oven to a toasty
400. An hour later, with a few tosses in between, the plain vegetables
had been transformed into slightly carmelized gems of yum. So now,
whenever I set a platter full of roasted vegetables on the table, we
joke we're eating Chelsea food tonight. We laugh and then dig right in.
Cooking vegetables this way, you can get even picky eaters to eat most
anything. For example, last night's roast tray included radishes,
daikon radishes, and turnips, with a good portion of onions. No
complaints were heard here, just spoonfuls of seconds. Potatoes and
sweet potatoes are always great. Peeled chunked eggplant is delicious.
Don't forget the garlic as whole cloves or pressed to toss with the
butter onto the vegetables. Herbs and/or spices are a bonus. I'm
still experimenting.
Try this as a main/side dish, but purposely make too much. Then the
next meal, you'll have the start to another great meal. Reheat the
vegetables as part of a pasta sauce, use them on a pizza, or tuck them
into an omelet.
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