Roasting (or barbecuing) vegetables creates an entirely new taste experience! Eggplant and Peppers especially!
Same roasting techniques use oil and butter. The original recipe/technique was in Organic Gardening Magazine years ago. Please note that they used a 475 ???? degree oven — I would experiment and refine these times WAY DOWN!
Simple roasted fingerling potatoes are tossed with fresh rosemary and olive oil.
Preheat the oven to 400 F.Wash and DRY the potatoes. Fingerling or Yukon Gold Potatoes. They need to be roughly the same size. Chop rosemary.
Drizzle with some melted butter and olive oil and add the rosemary. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.
Put on a tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil, Shake to get them flat. Put into the oven and bake. 10 to 15 minutes. After 10 minutes check them and they will not be quite done so turn and mix them with a spatula and return the tray to the oven. For another five minutes or until cooked through. If they had been sliced the five minutes should be good.
When done, put in a serving dish. Top with freshly ground pepper, some ground sea salt and sour cream.
If desired, a small amount of Paprika esp. Smoked Paprika could be added. A chilies version, would leave out the Rosemary.
ROASTED CARROTS Is the same, preheat the oven to 400. Wash and dry carrots, Cut off the tops, slice down the center, then Julianne them into slanted strips. I do this for the potatoes as well.
Put in a mixing bowl. add brown sugar, melted butter and olive oil. Toss and mix.
Lay on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking dish and roast for about 8-10 minutes. These will NOT be done! Pull them out and mix again. Return to the oven and roast for another few minutes. When your knife can slice into them they are done. Top with ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper and serve. This could be done with parsnips as well or with care asparagus.
Roasted Asparagus could be made this way, cooking time shortened. I have barbecued them as well, but with great vigilence.
1 1/2 lb asparagus spears 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese Lay the asparagus spears in a single layer in a roasting tin and brush them with the olive oil. Roast in a hot oven for 8-10 minutes, shaking the tin occasionally to turn the spears in the oil. Transfer the asparagus to a serving dish, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the cheese. The asparagus can also be char-grilled, but be careful to turn the spears frequently to prevent burning.
I have also roasted beets but I find that DRIED off, not wet vegges do the best. Yams and Sweet Potatoes are obvious alternatives.