Veggies & Voyages

What you’re looking at here is what I was bringing to a friend’s house for dinner who invited us to bring a side dish. If I want my kids to eat veggies, I know the chances increase if I bring roasted veggies of my own making since not many people invest the time to make roasted vegetables.

If you happen to be an expert on roasting vegetables, you’ll know that this one pan did not make all three of these vegetables. The most critical thing you need you know is that all the veggies must be laid out single file in the pan. This took me three pans of roasted veggies that I then merged into one pan for transit.

Roasted carrots: Typically these taste the best if you buy a bag of carrots, peel them, and quarter them the long way before placing them in one layer across a pan. In this instance you’ll find I used baby carrots which do substitute but don’t carry as high reviews.

Once they are laid out single file (over foil to minimize clean time), I drizzle them all over with canola oil. I follow that with shakes of salt and pepper and then let them roast for 40 minutes at 350-375 (convection bake). I’ll move them around with a spatula half way through but for the most part I can carry on with my life while they’re in the oven.

Green Beans: Here you’ll see a single bag’s worth of green beans. These were also placed in a single layer across a baking pan, drizzled with oil, salt, and pepper, and left to bake for 15 minutes with a shake up at another 15 minutes. Every oven is different so you’ll want to check on yours to see what temperature and time work. I work these at 350 convection bake and squeeze fresh lemon or lime on after they’re done.

Note that you can do the same with haricot verts but I find i like those better cooked at high temperatures in a wok or sauteed.

Brussel Sprouts: The last group of veggies you see here I purchased in a bag of whole Brussel Sprouts. I start by chopping off the tips, cutting them in half, and putting them in a bowl with canola oil, salt, and pepper. I get a cast iron pan very hot and then put them inside face down for 5-10 minutes. Then i pour in some water and cover it so they can take 7 minutes to tenderize. After that I’ll move them around and stick them in the oven as 375 convection bake to finish browning. Sometimes I’ll add balsamic vinegar to them or some parmesan cheese at the end for extra flavor.