Roasted Root Veggies

Roasted Root Veggies



Oven-roasting brings out the natural sweetness of any vegetable, and this is particularly true in the case of roots. The original recipe called for some sugar and some sweeter-type spices, but I was in the mood for something savory. I think they might have browned a little better had they had more sugar to caramelize, but alas. I did not want sweet roots. The original recipe also calls for parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, and carrots—I did not have any of these vegetables, so stuck with what I had. It was good anyway.

1 small sweet potato
1 large beet root
1 medium sized red-skinned potato
2 small purple (blue?) potatoes
1 tbs olive oil
salt
pepper
rosemary
herbs du provence
coriander
anything else you think might taste good

I preheated the oven to about 350. Our oven is less than accurate, so this could be anywhere between 300 and 450. I think it normally runs a little hot. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Mix together olive oil and spices to taste. Make sure you taste this and like how it tastes before adding the veggies.

Slices the roots into French fry-shaped sticks. You could do this in slices too, if you wanted to grill them, but they would take longer to cook. Toss the sticks in the olive oil mixture. I find tossing with my hands works best. Once they are all coated, put down a layer of veggies on the cookie sheet, and stick in the oven for a while. Once the sticks are somewhat soft, broil them the rest of the way. Feel free to toss them every once in a while to keep them from burning. Once they are starting to brown, they are done.

I made these again the other day and used about half as much olive oil, and they were much less oily-looking, but still browned up fine.