I never thought I'd say this, but could I have some more brussels sprouts? or cauliflower...

Before I had kids, I always felt a little guilty about the lack of vegetables in my diet.  Every once in a while I'd hit a virtuous streak and make some elaborate vegetable dish, trying to make myself feel better, while hiding the fact that we were eating vegetables.  Then, one day I happened across a great recipe in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.  I actually can't remember exactly what the recipe was for - might have been asparagus?  Anyway, the recipe was to roast it at a high temperature for a relatively short time, and it was great.  After that, I started trying this method on every vegetable I could think of, and it hasn't missed yet. 

 
I made this for a friend one night and he said, "I never thought I'd say this, but could I please have some more brussels sprouts?"  Yeah, they're that good.  This recipe works great on broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, cut up squash, carrots (warning - very sweet, especially if you use baby carrots), I've even done green beans - they were a little odd, but actually not bad.

It's really simple. Preheat your oven to 425, then cut up your vegetable into bite sized pieces (I actually like them being a little uneven, so that some of the little pieces get really brown and sweet) and spread on a rimmed baking sheet.  Cut up a little more than you think you need - they'll shrink a bit in the oven. 

Next, you drizzle on some olive oil and sprinkle some coarse salt over top.  Now, a note on olive oil... there's been a lot of talk in recent years about beautiful, fancy, expensive extra virgin olive oil.  And I love a good tasty olive oil in its place - which is drizzled over a finished dish and eaten immediately, NOT placed in a hot oven where all taste will be completely degraded anyway.  I keep an inexpensive bottle of store brand olive oil for cooking and have a beautiful (though pricy)  bottle of to good stuff for dressing salad dressing and drizzling.

 
Where were we?  Oh, yeah, so toss your veggies to evenly distribute the oil and salt, then toss in the oven at 425.  It usually takes about 20 minutes, but you'll need to keep your eye on the oven, because the cooking time  will vary depending on what vegetable you use and how small you cut it.  Reach in and toss frequently so different parts will touch the pan, creating more yummy browned spots.  You can also toss in some appropriate spices about five minutes before it's done - I tossed in some cumin with the cauliflower and it was delicious!

This recipe will also work at different oven temperatures, depending on what else you're cooking.  Best is between 375 - 425, though, and the cooking time will obviously be longer at lower temperatures.  I love to roast broccoli this way with Lemon Roast Chicken - both cook at 425 - and Mashed Potatoes.  It's a super easy, super traditional comfort food meal for cold evenings.

Comments

[Christine @ Fresh Local and Best]

This looks quite interesting. I like the simplicity of this recipe. I always struggle with cauliflower, I'll try this recipe the next time I pick one up. Thanks!

[Gaelle@whatareyoufeedingyourkidsthesedays.com]

I only recently discovered that you could roast vegetables... and this has become one of my favorite way to cook Brussels Sprouts. Even my children ask for more!