ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLE MEDLEY
Makes 10 to 12 servings.
8 to 12 slender carrots
8 to 12 baby turnips
6 to 8 fingerling potatoes
1 or 2 large parsnips
1 or 2 medium onions
1 or 2 large beets
1 or 2 kohlrabi bulbs
1 celery root (celeriac) bulb
1 whole head garlic
2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage or thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish
To prepare vegetables: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare vegetables, making sure all pieces are roughly the same size or thickness for even cooking.
Cut off and discard any green tops. Peel and trim carrots. Peel turnips. Scrub potatoes under cold running water to remove surface dirt, but leave peels
on; cut cleaned potatoes lengthwise into halves. Peel and trim parsnips; cut them diagonally into 1-inch chunks.
Trim and peel onions; cut in half and each half into quarters. Peel beets and kohlrabi; cut them into thick wedges. Trim celery root; cut in halves and
cut each half crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Separate head of garlic into individual cloves, leaving them unpeeled.
To assemble: Put all vegetables and herb sprigs in large baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Season well with salt and black pepper. Using hands,
toss vege-tables to coat evenly.
To roast vegetables: Put baking dish in preheated oven. Cook, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting, for 45 minutes or until vegetables are golden
brown and tender enough to be pierced easily with tip of metal skewer or small, sharp knife.
To serve: Present vegetables in baking dish or transfer to heated platter, garnishing with freshly chopped parsley or chives just before serving.
In winter, while I was growing up in the Austrian village of St. Veit, green vegetables never appeared in my mother's kitchen.
Every vegetable we ate during the cold months came from our sand-filled root cellar, which maintained just the right temperature and humidity for the organically
grown carrots, turnips, potatoes, celery root, parsnips, rutabagas, beets and kohlrabi we'd harvested in the autumn from our little garden.
With all those different roots and tubers from which to choose, meals were never boring. My mother had so many ways to cook them: boiling, steaming, sautéing,
braising and, my favorite, roasting.
So, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment after coming to America when I learned, to most people here, roasted vegetables meant only potatoes.
There's so much more. Consider my recipe for Roasted Root Vegetable Medley. It makes the perfect festive side dish for a Christmas or New Year's dinner
table.
Roasting root vegetables intensifies their flavor. The dry heat slowly softens them while releasing some of their moisture; it also caramelizes their natural
sugars and gives the vegetables crunchy surfaces that contrast nicely with their tender interiors.
The secret to successful roasted vegetables begins with buying them. Seek out good-quality specimens without blemishes or soft spots. I especially like
to look in farmers' markets and well-stocked food stores for organic vegetables.
At home, prepare the vegetables in a way that produces equal sizes, so all will cook evenly. Small or baby vegetables may be just trimmed and left whole;
larger ones may need halving, quartering or slicing, depending on their size and shape.
Then, simply season them with salt and pepper and drizzle them with olive oil in the baking dish. I also like to add a few sprigs of herbs to scent them,
along with whole unpeeled garlic cloves, which will turn as soft as butter, rich and sweet.
Finally, be patient. Slow cooking at a not-too-high temperature ensures the vegetables reach perfect tenderness just as their surfaces turn brown and crusty.
_._,_._,_
Makes 10 to 12 servings.
8 to 12 slender carrots
8 to 12 baby turnips
6 to 8 fingerling potatoes
1 or 2 large parsnips
1 or 2 medium onions
1 or 2 large beets
1 or 2 kohlrabi bulbs
1 celery root (celeriac) bulb
1 whole head garlic
2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage or thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish
To prepare vegetables: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare vegetables, making sure all pieces are roughly the same size or thickness for even cooking.
Cut off and discard any green tops. Peel and trim carrots. Peel turnips. Scrub potatoes under cold running water to remove surface dirt, but leave peels
on; cut cleaned potatoes lengthwise into halves. Peel and trim parsnips; cut them diagonally into 1-inch chunks.
Trim and peel onions; cut in half and each half into quarters. Peel beets and kohlrabi; cut them into thick wedges. Trim celery root; cut in halves and
cut each half crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Separate head of garlic into individual cloves, leaving them unpeeled.
To assemble: Put all vegetables and herb sprigs in large baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Season well with salt and black pepper. Using hands,
toss vege-tables to coat evenly.
To roast vegetables: Put baking dish in preheated oven. Cook, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting, for 45 minutes or until vegetables are golden
brown and tender enough to be pierced easily with tip of metal skewer or small, sharp knife.
To serve: Present vegetables in baking dish or transfer to heated platter, garnishing with freshly chopped parsley or chives just before serving.
In winter, while I was growing up in the Austrian village of St. Veit, green vegetables never appeared in my mother's kitchen.
Every vegetable we ate during the cold months came from our sand-filled root cellar, which maintained just the right temperature and humidity for the organically
grown carrots, turnips, potatoes, celery root, parsnips, rutabagas, beets and kohlrabi we'd harvested in the autumn from our little garden.
With all those different roots and tubers from which to choose, meals were never boring. My mother had so many ways to cook them: boiling, steaming, sautéing,
braising and, my favorite, roasting.
So, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment after coming to America when I learned, to most people here, roasted vegetables meant only potatoes.
There's so much more. Consider my recipe for Roasted Root Vegetable Medley. It makes the perfect festive side dish for a Christmas or New Year's dinner
table.
Roasting root vegetables intensifies their flavor. The dry heat slowly softens them while releasing some of their moisture; it also caramelizes their natural
sugars and gives the vegetables crunchy surfaces that contrast nicely with their tender interiors.
The secret to successful roasted vegetables begins with buying them. Seek out good-quality specimens without blemishes or soft spots. I especially like
to look in farmers' markets and well-stocked food stores for organic vegetables.
At home, prepare the vegetables in a way that produces equal sizes, so all will cook evenly. Small or baby vegetables may be just trimmed and left whole;
larger ones may need halving, quartering or slicing, depending on their size and shape.
Then, simply season them with salt and pepper and drizzle them with olive oil in the baking dish. I also like to add a few sprigs of herbs to scent them,
along with whole unpeeled garlic cloves, which will turn as soft as butter, rich and sweet.
Finally, be patient. Slow cooking at a not-too-high temperature ensures the vegetables reach perfect tenderness just as their surfaces turn brown and crusty.
_._,_._,_
