Roasting Vegetables

Roasting vegetables is a new thing in our household.

It started with a recipe for roasted asparagus which is awesome and now is the only way that we eat asparagus.

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We then branched out and began roasting Brussels sprouts. And they were also awesome.


Then I noticed that people were roasting broccoli versus steaming it.  I thought I would give it a try- Yummy!


We have now also roasted- potatoes, carrots, summer squash, and sweet potatoes.


Since roasting vegetables preserves so many nutrients and it seems to bring out more of the flavor of the veggie, I thought I would share the "basics" of how to roast them.


Now, keep in mind, this is just how I do it.  There are many recipes out there that you can follow, but we have found that simple is the way to go!

• First, you prepare your vegetables. For asparagus, this means rinsing and snapping off the hard bottoms. For carrots, it means rinsing and trimming them up (I don't usually peel mine). Brussels sprouts, squash, broccoli, potatoes and sweet potatoes get rinsed and chopped.
• Next, I place the vegetable in a bowl and drizzle olive oil over them.  This is usually around a tablespoon of olive oil.
• After that, I season them with salt and pepper.  Now, for the sweet potatoes, I also sprinkle them with cinnamon. And the Brussels sprouts get a little drizzle of pancake syrup to bring out some sweetness in them.
• All that's left is to put them in a 425 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. This will vary by vegetable however! The potatoes will probably take close to 30 minutes to become tender.  The green veggies and carrots still need a little snap to them!

I really encourage you to try out and roast a vegetable. The caramelization and flavor is SO, SO good! And they are SO good for you!