Oven-Roasted Vegetables
I can’t think of a more perfect fast food dish that’s homemade and healthy. Roasted vegetables warm up the house in the winter while warming up our plates, too. They add such great color, nutrition and taste to other dishes served alongside main courses. Additionally, roasted vegetables can be puréed and blended into soups or used an incredible flavor base for soups, stews and braised meat dishes.
The great thing about roasted vegetables is that just about any type of vegetable tastes wonderful when roasted, especially when dried herbs, salt and pepper are added. To me, it seems like you can hardly go wrong- take your pick.
Here’s how I generally do the roasting:
Wash and dry your choice of vegetables. Wthout drying them well, they will steam instead of roast and you won’t get that nice caramelization that is so appealing in roasted foods.
These are a few that roast really well:
Peppers (of all kinds)
Onions (especially white and yellow onions) & shallots
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Carrots
Pumpkin and other types of squash
Additonally, things like garlic, olives and capers roast surprisingly well, but should generally be added later in the roasting to prevent them from burning and tasting bitter.
Roughly chop large vegetables so that they are in semi-large pieces. If they’re too small, they’ll curl up and cook faster than those that are larger, leaving you with uneven cooking times for those veggies in the same pan.
Place the veggies on a parchment-paper lined baking/cookie sheet. The parchment paper will help to save some precious oil when you’re done cooking because it’s easy to roll up and pour into something else so that it isn’t wasted (much harder to do with a large, square roasting pan).
Salt the veggies, then add your choice of dried herbs (my favorite mixture is dried basil, parsley, and thyme but I also love to add marjoram and mint when I have them).
Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and place in a hot oven (around 350º F). Depending on the thickness of the vegetables, I usually roast them for about 35-50 minutes, keeping an eye on them and watching for that nice browning I want to see throughout.
Allow them to cool once removed from the oven. If you want to blend them down into soups, or add them to any other dishes, you can do that; alternatively, they’ll keep in the fridge for several days until you determine how many different ways you want to or can serve them up to your family.
Enjoy!
What are your favorite vegetables to roast and how do you serve them?
Assalamu alaykum
When I roast veggies, I add salt and a little bit of spice such as Shan spice mix. Right now I am using ‘four spice’ and it’s my favorite so far.
I don’t use parchment paper because I’m not sure about what kind of chemicals come out during cooking?
Yummy! I usually use whatever herbs I have on hand, though my favorite combinations are pumpkins + sage or root veggies + rosemary.
Oh, those are lovely herbs, too! Thanks for sharing 🙂
One of my favorite winter time past times…I love the seasonings mentioned but I also have add rosemary..it makes all roasted veggies pop! My favorites are Eggplant, carrots, sweet potatoes (but in the end it’s whatever’s in the fridge)…i add garlic, onions and tomatoes towards the end…
This goes great on top of couscous!
I so love roasted veggies … and Nisaa I like your idea of serving them with couscous … will try that tonite .. For me it’s usually whatever is in the refrigerator and i like basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme for herbs with salt and freshly ground black pepper ….
Thanks for the inspiration Yvonne and Nisaa. Made Couscous and roasted veggies for a potluck tomorrow. My house is filled with the warmth and aroma of roasted veggies 🙂
Great idea! Jazakallah
I was just thinking of what I can make for dinner tonight and I think you just answered my question. I love capers and olives but never thought of adding them. Thanks for the tips.
JazkaAllah Khayer for this post! We havn’t roasted veggies in a while thanks for the reminder♥
Thank you, to everyone who commented on this post! You all have some lovely ideas of your own, masha’allah. If you’d like to share any of those recipes and photos, feel free to send them to: contact at myhalalkitchen dot com. Your recipe just might be featured in My Halal Kitchen!
Wow. It looks delicious. I love roasted vegetables. So, I will try to make it very soon. Your recipe will help me. Thanks for sharing your recipe.