Roasted Root Vegetables
Winter is root vegetable season. I like to think of it as the time when the earth digs deep, searching for nourishment and, as a result of all that hard work, produces delicious vegetables, rich in minerals and with a wonderful array of flavors.
My current favorites, parsnips, are delicious when roasted as they tend to caramelize on the outside but remain tender on the inside. They are also versatile. They add an extra dimension pureéd with potatoes; added in soups they bring an extra earthiness in flavor and texture to the mixture; and in a ragout of vegetables they will enhance the complexity of the dish. Serve this alongside a roasted chicken and it is a scrumptious way to showcase one of the season’s most delicious—if somewhat overlooked—vegetables.
Roasted Root Vegetables
Ingredients
- 3 large parsnips, peeled, quartered and then cut into 3-inchlong strip
- 1 butternut squash, halved, peeled, seeded and cut into pieces the size of the parsnip strips
- 2-3 pounds carrots, peeled, quartered and then and cut in half
- 2-3 red onions, peeled and cut into eighths
- 10-12 shallots, peeled and cut into quarters
- 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
- 5-6 sprigs thyme
- 1 teaspoon Coarse sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Place all the prepared vegetables on a baking sheet. Pour the olive oil over the vegetables and sprinkle them with the herbes de Provence, fresh thyme, the sea salt and some black pepper. Toss all the vegetables so that they are well coated.
- Roast the vegetables for 1 hour, turning the vegetables once or twice so that they do not stick to the pan.
