By: Taylor Waldron
Co-Editor-in-Chief / Columnist
It’s come to my attention that many of the emerging adults around me aren’t consuming an appropriate amount of vegetables in their weekly diet. This realization made me take a good hard look at my own eating habits, and I realized that I’m not eating as well as I thought I was.
When it comes to eating the right amount of things that we’re supposed to (fruits, vegetables, protein, etc.), I’m a victim of convincing myself that I was doing just fine. Well, it turns out I’m not much better than the people I was just passing judgment on. We must do better.
The collective thought surrounding eating vegetables is that it’s too hard or complicated to prepare them for consumption. Did we forget how easy it is to eat raw carrots or celery? I know it’s not the most interesting snack, but carrots with ranch or celery with peanut butter are something we should all incorporate back into our snacking habits.
Now, what about the rest of the vegetable world? My answer: roast them.
It is SO easy to prepare a variety and large quantity of your favorite veggies with a single sheet pan and a 375-degree oven. Roasted veggies are savory and delicious. Depending on what types of spices or sauces you drizzle over them, the combinations are endless and there’s always something new to try. These veggies pair great with rice, pasta and can stand on their own as a complete meal.
I hope that you’ll give this method of veggie-ing a try. It’s the simplest, easiest and most tasty way to get them back into your routine.
Here are just a few ways that you can start roasting your own vegetables.
Feel free to use your favorite veggies, but these are some of my favorite combinations!
Pan Roasted Mixed Veggies
Ingredients
- 1 large Yukon potato (or two small yellow potatoes) chopped into cubes
- 1 large sweet potato (keep skin on) chopped into cubes
- 1 small bundle of carrots, tops removed, peeled and chopped
- 5 cloves garlic (or how every many your heart tells you), skin removed
- 1 large red or yellow onion, sliced into thick wedges
- Favorite cooking oil (I like olive or avocado) for drizzling
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Note: Any root vegetable that you slice or chop can be added to this mixture. Use parsnips, squash, other potatoes, more onions, brussels sprouts, rainbow carrots or whatever else your heart says.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper (use more baking sheets as needed if increasing batch size).
- Add all vegetables to the pan, oil, salt, pepper, and toss with your hands to combine. This is really more like rolling all of the veggies around until they’re evenly coated in deliciousness. All of the vegetables should be well coated in oil.
- Roast until golden brown and tender—about 30-45 minutes, or more—tossing/flipping at the halfway point to ensure even baking. I tend to just shake the pans around, back and forth, so that the veggies flip over without me taking the pan completely out of the oven.
- Once veggies are fork tender, remove from the oven and enjoy!
- Store cooled leftovers up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat, or in a 350-degree oven until warm. Microwaves make things a little rubbery.
Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
- Cooking oil for drizzling (I use olive or avocado)
- 2 garlic cloves (or whatever your heart tells you) skin removed, sliced
- 1 pound of brussels sprouts, halved. If using frozen, allow to thaw before preparing
- 1 large yellow onion, quartered
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- ½ of 1 lemon, juiced
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.
- Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet with the garlic, onion, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper.
- Toss them on the sheet pan with your hands (rolling them around) and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly.
- Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.
