Roasted Veggie Delight

This is a hard recipe to precisely define because you can vary the contents so widely, depending on your preferences and what's in the crisper drawer of your fridge. I listed how I've made this recently, and you can feel free to modify it as you see fit. Just be sure to choose veggies that can take the high heat and the stirring, without dissolving as tomatoes would.

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 small head each of broccoli and cauliflower, cut into large (2" or so) florets
• 1 large sweet onion, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1 lb baby carrots
  
• 1 lb whole cremini mushrooms (baby portobello mushrooms), cleaned and de-stemmed, if desired
• 6 (or more) large garlic cloves, peeled
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oregano

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

*NOTE: To gauge how many veggies to use, put them in your pan as you get them ready. You want the pan bottom to be well covered, but you don't want the entire pan brimming with veggies or you won't have room to stir them without spilling things out into the oven.

Put all veggies in a METAL pan (to be sure it is able to tolerate the heat without cracking), and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and sprinkle liberally with oregano.
(Note: This picture shows parsnips, mushrooms, onion, peppers, and sweet potatoes.)

Using your hands, carefully toss all the veggies to be sure they are coated well with the olive oil. You don't want them swimming in it, but they should all be shiny from the oil. Add a little more, if necessary, to be sure all veggies are evenly coated.

Put pan in oven and roast at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Open oven and carefully stir the veggies. Don't worry if they look a little blackened. The veggies will get a nice sear, and they will caramelize and develop a wonderful smoky flavor.

Turn down the heat to 475 degrees, and roast for 10 more minutes. Stir again. Turn down heat to 450 degrees and roast another 10 minutes. Continue turning down heat and roasting the veggies until they get a nice caramelized look and the sweet potatoes are fork tender.

Use your judgment about how long to cook them. Depending on how hot your oven runs, and what type of veggies you are cooking, it may take less or more time.

You can vary the spices and the combination of veggies to see what you like best. Try it with bell peppers, or hot peppers (which will turn up the heat in the whole dish). You can add some washed and de-ribbed fresh kale during the last 10 minutes (stirring it in to coat with the oil) and it gets almost crispy, adding a great texture.
(This shows the same veggies above, with the addition of kale in the last ten minutes.)

When roasted, the garlic cloves will get creamy inside and their sharp, raw flavor will mellow nicely. Cauliflower tastes similar to cabbage when raw, but roast it and it will develop an almost nutty flavor.

This recipe is wonderful served alone, either hot or room temp.

You can also serve it over cooked multi-grain or whole-wheat rotini pasta, tossed with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, or with brown rice.

Enjoy!