Roasted Vegetables...

[radiantbaby]

...or, I should say, roasted numminess!

So, lately I have been experimenting with eating more vegetables.

As I am sure I have mentioned before, my parents don't eat vegetables (well, except corn), so I grew up rarely ever eating them. As an adult, I have tried a few things with vegetables, but it's mostly been eating them at friend's houses and restaurants as I have been a bit gunshy with cooking them at home.

One thing that I have discovered recently has been the glories of roasting vegetables. I never used the oven much in cooking until recently, but since I have, I have really enjoyed the way things carmelize in there. I have mostly only done this with carrots so far, but tonight I decided to try roasting broccoli.

I was inspired by this recipe by Rachael Ray, but also from some googling where I found this recipe (which has some good reference pictures).

So, being home alone tonight, I decided it would be a perfect night to try the food experiment of roasting broccoli (especially since justben doesn't eat broccoli).

I did and it was oh-my-goodness good!

Here is what I made (roughly):


Spicy Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, eyeball it
* 1-2 tbsp. of minced garlic (I used 2, but I love garlic)
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (I used "Chicago Steak" seasoning)
* Broccoli (I used about 6 oz. of pre-cut broccoli spears, but I am sure you can vary this)
* Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, chili powder and grill seasoning in the bottom of a large bowl and add the broccoli spears. Toss to coat broccoli evenly then transfer to a large nonstick baking sheet.

Roast the broccoli until ends are crisp and brown and stalks are tender. This can take from 10 - 20 minutes depending on your oven - be sure to keep an eye on it.

When it's done, toss with grated parmesan if you'd like. I tried half of my portion this way and it was really tasty!


And while I am at it, since I was chatting about it last night with wheezinggirl and mtn_hermit and they wanted a recipe, here is my recipe for roasted carrots:



Baked Carrot Oven Fries

Ingredients:
* extra virgin olive oil (see recipe)
* sea salt (see recipe)
* carrots (I used pre-sliced carrots myself, but this is flexible -- I wouldn't suggest "baby carrots" though as they didn't work out so well when I tried using them)

Heat oven to 375 F.

Toss the entire bunch of carrots in a bowl with a couple glugs of olive oil. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with the sea salt.

Bake for 30 minutes or until carrots are golden brown.



Happy roasting! :)

Comments

[nyssimi.livejournal.com]

OMG - the pictures from the one roasted broccoli recipe and your recipe practically made my mouth water. I can't wait to try it!

[melissanmn.livejournal.com]

Ooh. I am nabbing these. I am working on better eating habits and veggies are my friends. If you have any recipes with fruit too, let me know. :) They both sound yummy.

[elgecko.livejournal.com]

'round here it's surprisingly common to put veggies on the BBQ. Astonishingly, even I am enjoying this.

[lonestar9.livejournal.com]

Holy Shit!! What am I reading?

I've rarely known you and the words enjoying veggies in the same sentence...I'm gonna faint now..

for Autumn

[dustyskinandall.livejournal.com]

A really wonderful vegetable roast is to take potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and carrots and cube them all. Toss 'em in a roasting pan with some chicken stock and white wine and then throw it in the oven for awhile. SO GOOD.

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

Oh, this looks wonderful! I like broccoli, too, so I will have to try this!