Oven roasted vegetables is the surest way to bring out the best in your veg, enhancing those sweet and savoury flavours. Add thoughtful spicing and you have a side dish to celebrate!
This recipe is the base for my amazing Goat Cheese Sandwich with Roasted Vegetables!
I grew up with steamed vegetables that might be topped with a bit of salt and margarine. No wonder I thought that vegetables were the most boring part of creation.
It was discovering roasted vegetables that turned things around, taking veggies from a boring side show to a moreish treat! There is so much you can do with roasting vegetables, but it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to one of my favourites!
Oven roasted vegetables
Oven roasting does something pretty spectacular with the most humble vegetable. This is because the process of roasting releases water from the vegetables at the same time as it enhances the sugars through caramelisation.
This process makes flavours bigger and bolder and brings out extra sweetness from the sugars that were there from the start. Almost any vegetable will benefit from being roasted, although those that started sweet – like carrots, onions and sweet potatoes – do best.
Ingredients
There are a million vegetable combinations that deserve to be combined on a roasting pan. The process of roasting will do something magic to pretty much any vegetable you can imagine.
But there are some combinations that are just a little better than the others. The difference is the way the flavours compliment, which is why I’m sold on the selection of veggies here.
Experimenting with your favourite veggies is worth doing, but it’s worth starting with the selection I have here, which I think is tough to beat. Together they have savoury, sweet and bitter flavours, a mouthwatering combo!
I also chose these vegetables because they have similar texture and cook at the same pace. If you add harder vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower you will need to give them more time to cook.
What to serve with roast vegetables
No one has ever found the limit for ways to use roasted vegetables! I’m personally a huge fan of serving then as a side dish or even as a light lunch all on their own, in which case nothing else is required!
If you do want to experiment a bit more, here are a few other ways to serve this dish:
- Mixed into couscous
- In a sandwich
- With pasta or risotto
- On a savoury galette
- Mixed with fresh greens into a salad
Storage and leftovers
Although we all know that roasted vegetables are great when hot, they deserve to be tried cold as well. It might be that they are even better the next day as flavours have the chance to meld and become more intense.
Store the cooked vegetables in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days in a refrigerator. If you do decide to reheat them, a microwave is the simplest choice although an air fryer is also a good option.
Recipe tips and notes
- The key to one-pan recipes like this is choosing ingredients that will take the same amount of time to cook, but it is still necessary to cut them into the right sized pieces. Eggplant can be slightly larger than the zucchini as it cooks quickly.
- The vegetables in this mix all have similar textures and cook at a similar rate. If you add harder vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower or brussel sprouts, they will need to be cooked slightly longer.
- You can vary the flavour profile by switching the spices used. Basil and oregano would give you Italian-inspired vegetables, or go with cumin, coriander and cloves for a Middle Eastern-style dish. The vegetables are a bit of a blank slate so almost any spice mixes you have and enjoy will work here.
Oven Roasted Vegetables
Tender roasted vegetables with light spiciing.
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini/courgettes
- 2 eggplants/aubergine
- 1 red pepper
- 1 onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Cut the top off the eggplant and peel in stripes, removing approximately half of the skin. This helps oil to penetrate easier. Slice the eggplants and zucchini into 1 inch/2.5cm slices, then cut each slice in half. Cut the onion into wedges and red pepper into strips.
- Spread all the vegetables on a roasting pan and sprinkle with olive oil all over, then season with the salt, paprika and garlic powder. Toss the vegetables to coat evenly.
- Roast in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 167Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 201mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 9gSugar: 12gProtein: 4g
Nutritional information is calculated using third-party services and is only a guideline. There may be some variations based on product brands and cooking methods. If you are on a restricted diet, it is recommended that you supplement this info with your own research.
Leave a Reply