Roasting Holiday Vegetables

There are lots of holiday lights adding color to this time of year. Light up holiday meals with colorful roasted vegetables.

Baked sweet potatoes, which are actually yams, but that is another story, are easy to prepare. Purchase, scrub, pierce, bake or roast – that’s all that is needed. Baked sweet potatoes, quickly reheated in the toaster oven, oven or microwave, make for a fast, or mobile, breakfast. Re-heat, split open, top with nut butter, a sprinkle of nuts or shredded coconut, a small handful of chopped dried fruit, and you are ready to go.

For people who love those medical shows, sweet potatoes are full of antioxidants, have lots of fiber, Vitamin A, C and calcium. Although this may not be an issue, try to avoid eating more than sweet potatoes a day. Eating lots of sweet potatoes can raise your risk of developing kidney stones, if you have a propensity for them, or developing carotenodermia, an orange tint to the skin from consuming too much beta carotene.

Cool roasted sweet potatoes, peel on or off, and dice into vegetable, fruit, pasta or grain salads. Mash roasted sweet potatoes with butter, margarine or vegetable oil, silken tofu and/or milk and season with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and orange peel for a sweet side dish or pie filling. If you’d like a savory sidekick, add your favorite herb and spice mix, instead of sweet seasonings.

Thin mashed roasted sweet potatoes with milk, vegetable broth or water, stir in a small amount of canned (unsweetened) pumpkin and use as a base for a colorful, thick soup. Add in minced, sautéed vegetables or white beans for texture or crumbled bacon or nori or smoked tofu or tempeh for taste. This can also be done with roasted white potatoes, if you would like more of a palette to work with.

Making a mélange of roasted fall vegetables takes some cooking time, but not a lot of advanced technique! Most hardy, winter vegetables can be roasted at about 400 degrees F. Roasting time varies depending on your oven and how thickly the vegetables are cut.

For a typical baking sheet worth of single-layer, 1-inch thick fall veggies, an estimate of 30 minutes or so would be a ballpark figure. If you would like moisture, slightly browned vegetables, then roast them with a cover, removing the cover at the end of cooking for two or three minutes.

If you would like crisper veggies with a bit more chew, then roast uncovered. If you happen to have a hot grill, barbecue or cooking fireplace (with a grill or shelf), then cut a foil envelope and roast removed from the flame.

Here is a “for instance” combination: sliced carrots, peeled, sliced butternut or Hubbard squash, small, peel-on new potatoes, sliced parsnips, and sliced sweet onion, tossed with olive and fresh rosemary, sage and thyme. Or, for an interesting flavor profile, sliced, peeled winter squash, Brussels sprouts, peeled, diced sweet potatoes, peeled, diced golden or white potatoes tossed with oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar and garlic and walnuts.

How about Brussels sprouts and carrots, tossed with balsamic and oil, walnuts or pecans, some white pepper and a hint of cinnamon?

For a multi-colored combination, try sliced carrots and parsnips, peeled quartered or sliced fresh beets, sliced fresh fennel, peeled and diced eggplant, diced gold or purple potatoes, coated with vegetable oil spray and tossed with a splash of lemon juice and maple syrup.

 For a “is it a side dish or dessert” fruit roast, combine about four cups of a variety of sliced pears and apples and toss with peach or pear nectar or apple cider and a small amount of canned, crushed pineapple. Add maple syrup and a small amount of curry powder and toss to combine. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking pan with oil, pour mixture onto the baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the fruit is the texture you would like.

If you have some not-very-exciting winter fruit around, chop in large dice, toss with a “sweet,” such as maple syrup, honey, agave syrup, orange juice concentrate, a “spice”– whole peppercorns, coriander or cardamom, cinnamon stick (remove these after cooking), dried lavender, candied or dried ginger, and a “flavoring,” vanilla or orange extract, fresh lemon, orange or tangerine zest and dried fruit. Toss to combine, roast and enjoy!

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