Roasted root vegetables: recipe

Something magical happens to a vegetable when it is roasted. It gets a crispy coating on the outside, and a melt-in-your-mouth texture on the inside.

I roast a lot of vegetables here on the farm, most of what I grow can be roasted: from broccoli & sugar snap peas in the spring to all the wonderful root vegetables of fall. And the root vegetables is what I roasted yesterday. Roasted root vegetables are great to eat warm from the oven, but even better as a cold salad side dish leftovers (I eat my leftover roasted veggies with an easy balsamic vinegar dressing).

Unfortunately, this years continuing drought took a huge toll on our root vegetable crops. Instead of the hundreds of rutabaga that our CSA customers should have enjoyed, they got none. There were about 12 rutabaga that grew, and I picked them yesterday, along with a few carrots & beets.

To roast vegetables, cut them all the same size. Coat with olive oil & bake at 400 for about 30 min.

Enjoy warm or as a cold salad.

Roasted sliced beets

Simple Roasted Beets

-beets
-olive oil
-seasonings of choice (this recipe used garlic powder, salt, and pepper)

Wash beets, cut off stem & tail end. Cut in half, then quarter each half (so that each slice is about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick).

Toss in a roasting pan or glass pan with enough olive oil just to coat. Sprinkle with seasonings & stir to blend.

Roast in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes, turning once or twice. When they can be easily pierced with a fork, they are done.

These can be eaten warm, and are also great cold on a salad with vinaigrette dressing.

Enjoy!