Roasted Vegetables

There are many ways to cook vegetables but I do particularly enjoy them when a selection of seasonal root vegetables are slowly roasted in the oven with garlic and herbs. Roasted vegetables make a delicious accompaniment for a great many other dishes. Just be sure to keep the oil to a minimum so that all the nutrients stay in what gets served. Remember that when vegetables are boiled, a lot of the goodness from them is being poured away when they are drained.

Ingredients

• 4 medium onions, red or white according to your preference
• 1 or 2 bulbs of garlic
• 1kg/2lbs seasonal root vegetables such as carrots, parsnip, swede or sweet potato
• Chopped fresh herbs although dried can be substituted. Rosemary or Thyme are good but use whatever works best for your taste buds
• Olive Oil

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 4
2. Peel and quarter the onions.
3. Break up the garlic bulbs and peel the individual cloves but leave them whole
4. Peel and chop your selection of vegetables. You can make them just bite-sized but I prefer to have them larger. It means that they take up less oil and they have to be cut with a knife when served
5. Finely chop the herbs of your choice. Remember also that you can experiment here and use different herbs according to what your mood is at the time
6. Put all the ingredients into a baking dish and carefully drizzle in some olive oil. The target is to get the vegetables thinly coated with the oil but not to have a lot at the bottom of the dish
7. Place the baking dish into the oven and let the vegetables roast for 30-45 minutes. The exact time will vary because larger pieces will take longer to cook. Stir them every 15 minutes to keep the oil evenly spread though.
8. Give the whole roasted vegetable selection on final stir to evenly coat them all with the remaining olive oil then serve to accompany almost any hot main course that you may choose

The environmentally friendly way to do this is to cook it in the oven at the same time as something else is in there so that the oven is full. Roasted vegetables would go well with Toad in the Hole as an example and Roast Potato would round that off for a fulfilling dinner.