Hi Everyone!
As promised here is another favorite veggie side dish that comes from the genius of my hubby's mother, Toni. We have been enjoying this dish for a couple years before starting the switch to Paleo, and it is a great one for flexibility and minimal prep: Roasted Vegetables
In an effort to streamline my blog posts/recipes, I am rearranging the text to put the notes and additional details AFTER the main recipe. Please read all the way through if you have questions/concerns. Or just comment/contact me!
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Roasted Veggies
Ingredients
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
garlic (5+ cloves crushed and finely chopped)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar*
1 tsp lemon zest
1 bell pepper, cut into slices
1/2 eggplant, cut into about 1/2 inch half-moon slices
1/2 onion, cut into about 6 wedges and the layers separated
fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme)
Directions
In a container/zip lock bag combine all the ingredients--EXCEPT for the herbs--and marinate for at least 30 minutes. At the end you may want to sprinkle some fresh herbs before serving.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the marinated veggies in a single layer on the foil. Place in an oven heated to 400 degrees F on the middle rack and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping the veggies about halfway through.
When all the veggies look cooked and have a nice crispiness forming (about 40 minutes), remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle on some fresh chopped herbs.
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Notes and Details
You will notice that one of the ingredients (sugar*) is not Paleo. Because I am still doing my 30 day bit, I simply omit this ingredient and the result is still delicious. However, substituting a "Paleo Sugar" such as maple syrup or raw honey could work great here.
There is nothing more frustrating than a recipe that doesn't give the amounts! Sorry about that, but this one you will have to trust your gut on and find your own happy amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, especially if you are switching up the types and amounts of veggies that you are roasting. For the veggies listed in this recipe, about 1/2 cup olive oil and 3 Tbs balsamic is good. You are aiming for about a 3:1 olive oil to balsamic ratio. You can use more or less garlic, depending on your taste, as well. The eggplant will absorb a lot of the oil and flavor, which makes them so darn good by the end. :D
Once you have prepped all your ingredients and combined the marinade in your container/zip lock, go ahead and add the veggies to the marinade and coat well. We like using a zip lock because you can really mush the marinade around the veggies and get them thoroughly coated, but my inner environmental Nazi gets a little peeved sometimes by the use of plastic. Toss the marinating veggies anywhere you please (the fridge, the counter, etc.) to sit and soak in the juices. You want them to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes; of course, longer is better and I like to aim for an hour.
When you are ready to bake your veggies, heat your oven to 375 or 400 degrees F, depending on the temperament of your oven, with the rack in the middle position. Cover a baking pan (rimmed cookie sheet, or other heat-conductive pan with shallow side-walls) with aluminum foil. You can skip the aluminum foil, but the juices do tend to burn onto the pan pretty harshly with this recipe. Arrange the marinated veggies on the aluminum foil in such a way that they cover the pan in a single layer. If you have more veggies then what will fit in the pan you can do this recipe in batches or save the marinated veggies to bake the next day.
If you are adding some faster-cooking veggies to this recipe (such as asparagus), place them on the pan with the other veggies when you are flipping them or when you have about 15 minutes of baking time left. Squash such as zucchini and summer squash can also be used with this recipe and can be incorporated from the very beginning.
Et voila!! Irresistible veggies!!! They are even better the next day as leftovers!
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What do you want next? Another dinner, maybe some snacks? I know that my avocado deviled eggs are in high demand...how about that one?
Happy Living!!
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