Friday, December 3, 2010

Chanukah Recipe #3 No, not more potatoes. Well, kind of.

Roasted Roots Recipe

Yet another recipe with infinite permutations; it works with a multitude of veggies, responds to a variety of seasonings, and can be put to use from breakfast through dinner and as an appetizer, main course, or side.

It's roasted root vegetables.  And while this post is part of a series of recipes that are useful during Chanukah, a week where some of us eat lots of potatoes, it still involves the humble tuber.  Or not, if you're sick of them already.  This recipes handily uses olive oil, staying true to the symbolic food of the holiday, but can also be served with latkes as a vegetable side or as an appetizer or finger food at a party.

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.
Grease 1 cookie sheet for every 2 whole veggies you plan to roast.
You want these to roast and get crunchy, as opposed to steam and get soft, which is what they will do if they are too close together.
Choose your root vegetables:
Potatoes (unless your already-potatoed out): wash well, cut in medium dice
Sweet potatoes: wash well, peel if you want, cut in medium dice
Carrots: wash well, peel if you want, cut in one-inch sticks
Parsnips: (the ones that look like white carrots & are sweeter than turnips) wash well, peel if you want, cut in one-inch sticks
Turnips: (round, white & purple, more bitter than parsnips- am I the only one who confuses the two?) wash well, peel if you want, cut in one-inch sticks
Garlic cloves: peel, leave whole or cut in half
Onions: peel, cut in chunks or wedges
Shallots: treat like garlic if small, treat like onions if larger
Brussel sprouts: wash, cut of stem, cut in half through the stem end to the round top, roast these separately, cut-side down, until brown on the bottom and just tender through out

Toss your veggies in a giant bowl (or season and roast them separately then serve them in separate bowls, or lined up on a large platter for a striking presentation).
Toss with olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time until just coated.
Shake on a nice dusting of salt and, if you want, pepper over the top.
For carrotts and parsnips, I like herbes de provence.
For potatoes, I like rosemary.
Cinnamon or nutmeg would go well with sweet potatoes.

Put sheets in the oven and start checking every 15 minutes- brussel sprouts will go quickly, harder vegetables and larger pieces like more times.
Flip/stir after about 20 minutes.
The trays of deliciousness are done when the vegetables are brown and crisped on the outside and tender on the outside.

Enjoy!



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