Friday, February 4, 2011

Day 354- Roasted Veggies

Roasted veggies are just about my favorite thing to eat. Somehow just about all of them get better when tossed with oil and salt and tossed in the oven for a while. Yesterday I got to go to the Vegetable Bin, so picked up some (super nummy) veggies- Brussels sprouts, small red potatoes, a huge beet, a head of garlic.

All that, plus a carrot or two and some onion ended up in the oven last night.

Just about all veggies can be roasted. You could probably even do cabbage, but I don't know why anyone would want to.... It's just a question of how long they take to cook, and any weird stuff you need to keep in mind.

Normally I just stick with root veggies. They all take about the same amount of time to roast (an hour or so @ 400*, at sea level), they are tasty, and they're (mostly) cheap. For argument's sake root veggies are (to me) any veggies that grow underground. Just chunk them to about 1"square pieces (give or take), shove them in a bowl, drizzle oil and salt over them, and mix. Unless you want everything to turn pink, beets should get chopped, mixed, and roasted alone- either in a different pan or off to one side of the main one.

Yesterday I had brussels sprouts too, though. They don't need to cook as long, so I tossed them on after the rest of the veggies had cooked for about 40 minutes. I also stirred the beets into the main mix at the same time. I usually flake the onion and use it to line my baking dish- potatoes stick, but onions mostly don't.

The roasted veggies freeze really well- just dump them in a baggie or container and freeze until you need them. I like to have a bag of them in my freezer so I can mix up a "fast" chowder-type soup. Just make a white sauce, toss the veggies in, and simmer until they're heated through. You can microwave them if you want to eat even faster.

White sauce:
  • 1T oil (butter, margerine)
  • 1T corn starch (flour, arrowroot?)
  • "milk" (soy, oat, cow, goat, w/e)
  • salt or other spices to taste
Put the fat in a pot, mix in the corn starch or flour. You can brown it a bit if you really want to, but you shouldn't need to. Add "milk" slowly, stirring or whisking the whole time. You should be able to add a whole bunch without the sauce getting too runny if you add it slow enough. Try not to let it get totally solid, though- that's a mess to fix. You probably want to spice it *after* you add the roast veggies (since they should be salted already...)

You can also use the (kinda spendy, I admit) white sauce as a base for any chowder you can think up, or to melt cheese into for mac and cheese or broccoli cheese soup. Just make sure you cook the starch and don't burn the "milk". Either one would taste kinda gross. Oh, and for you fancy cooking-types, yes, it's just a roux.

Other Food And Dog Stuff

I gave in to the call of the wild ramen yesterday. Just happened past the nissen brand ramen, and had to pick up a couple packets. 17 cents each, and all the msg my junkfood loving heart could desire. Not as tasty as when I doctor it, but still kinda nice every once in a while.

The dog has been kinda tortured lately. Mom has a different kind of chest harness that's supposed to limit pulling. We put it on Bear and he stood perfectly still for about 3 minutes before walking (picking his feet *way* up) over to the door. After we took it back off he sniffed after it for a good ten minutes. Also, I think I've finally got him to accept that *everyone* with their head at his level doesn't want to be licked to death. I actually *sat on the floor* for about 40 minutes and he only licked me twice. Of course, he tried to climb into my lap, but, well... baby steps?

I've got some pictures of Bear at the beach, I just have to get them of a (slightly malfunctioning) camera. Next week?

2 comments:

  1. Ooh, I bet roasted cabbage would be great in a warm winter slaw!

    Roast a cabbage, shred it, roast some onion, garlic, and then toss in some raw shredded beet and raw shredded carrot, and coat with a warm vinagrette-thing, bet it would be yum!

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  2. Hmm, I didn't think of that. Wonder if it'd taste like roasted brux sprouts...

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