Roasted Veggies

Okay, here it is, the long awaited for roasted veggie recipe...trust me, you are going to like it!

Here they are all chopped, seasoned and ready to go in the oven...

Little close up action! They are beautiful, aren't they

And here they are just out of the oven. So, you say, how do you make them, what's the recipe? That is a good question, a very good question, one I would ask if I were reading this post! So, about that, well, you see, there was a recipe, a very good one. However, the pan above is just the veggies I had on hand, which included, half an onion, a small zucchini, 2/3 bag of baby carrots, and one average size sweet potato. Chopped them all up, toss with 2 tablespoons (more or less) of olive oil, sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and sea salt along with basil (fresh is better, but my basil plant is bare right now) so dried had to do. Bake in a no stick sprayed 9 x 13 pan in a 400 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or so. ENJOY! See I told you it was easy, really! Now the original recipe can be found here.

The first time I had this dish it was made just like the original recipe was written. Then I made it at home leaving off the parm cheese/bread crumbs. Since I do not need any additional calories I have been making it without the bread crumbs/parm cheese ever since. I also try to use as little olive oil as I can, because although it is a great oil and healthier then others, it is high in calories...so there's why I am not using so much of it, whether you wanted to know it or not!

I made a pan of these one night that MiB ended up being late, like really late. I already had them in the oven when I found out he was going to be delayed so I immediately turned down the oven temp to a really low setting and was "holding" them til I got word he would be arriving. As the time continued to tick on I was thinking, hey, I wonder if I could make these into an oven stew? So I gave it a try...First, I pulled the veggies out of the oven. Then I took a brown gravy packet and mixed it with a cup of cold water (by shaking in a glass jar) then mixed another cup of warm water with a tablespoon of vegetable base. Poured both over the pan of veggies then returned to a slow oven and by the time MiB got home it was a wonderful one dish meal. We had some leftover crusty bread and butter and feasted.

I have made this dish over and over since I got the recipe, each time I tweak it to work for whatever I have on hand. I've used a couple different combos of spices instead of using the called for S/P and basil, like red pepper flakes, garlic salt and cilantro. Also we have used the leftovers on pizza and that was VERY yummy as well. I think it is one of those unlimited recipes that you can just go have fun with. So I am!

Buon Appetito