Roasted Winter Vegetables

Roasted Winter Vegetables

During the Fall and Winter months when so many of the root vegetables are plentiful along with the varieties that work so well with oven roasting, it is so nice to make a large baking pan filled with vegetables and allow them to bake and caramelize. They are so tasty! This is another recipe taken from the cookbook, "The Vegetarian Table INDIA byYamuna Devi

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Ingredients:

1/3 to 1/2 cup peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon brown mustard seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 small sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (2 lbs.)

4 waxy potatoes (1 1/2 pounds)

6 medium carrots (1 1/2 pounds)

4 medium Portabello Mushrooms*

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro or parsley

juice from 1 lime or lemon

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 475. In a large pot, heat the oil and mustard seeds over medium heat. When the seeds begin to pop, drop in the fennel seeds and pepper flakes; remove from heat in 5 or 10 seconds. Cut the pumpkin or squash into slices 1/2 inch thick. Steam the pumpkin or squash for about 5 minutes, then add it to the oil. Halve the potatoes, slice 1/2 inch thick and add them to the oil. Slice the carrots 3/4" on the diagonal, and add them to the oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to mix. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on 2 non-stick baking trays. Roast until the vegetables are tender and browned, turning twice; 25 to 35 minutes. If you roast the mushrooms, slice the caps 1/2 inch thick and toss in the spiced oil left over from the other vegetables. When the vegetables are about two-thirds cooked, sprinkle the mushrooms onto the trays and continue roasting until the mushrooms are softened and browned; 10 minutes or so. Sprinkle all of the vegetables with the lemon or lime juice before serving and garnish with cilantro or parsley.

*Portobello Mushrooms; When using portobello mushrooms in a recipe, prepare the mushrooms by scraping the dark gill from the underside. They create a bitter taste and add a dark liquid to a recipe.