Meatless Meals, Vol 3: Roasted Vegetables

As Hubby and I continue to adventure into the realms of...Meatlessness...I've come across some recipes and tricks that make the quest easier. And to be honest, it hasn't been that hard. Originally, we aimed to have 1 or 2 Meatless Meals a week. I believe that we are doing more like 4-6 Meatless Meals a week without even thinking about it. The recipe I will post below has made a huge impact on cutting out meat (again - not that we don't [or won't] eat meat. We are just trying to be conscious about eating less). I've been preparing these roasted veggies each week, and it lasts us the whole 7 days. Hubby and I eat them, off and on, for lunch. I've been finding that I can use them in our dinner, sometimes even substituting the roasted veggies for meat.

Roasting vegetables brings out a beautiful flavor that one might not know was possible. The vegetables become tender and flavorful, and quite a joy to eat. It is an easy process, and worth the effort, since it lasts the whole week. Since I've been roasting veggies (and finding new ways to use them in meals and recipes), I am also cutting back on the amount of money I am spending on meat (veggies come out to be less than chicken and beef, surprisingly. Ha). So it's a DOUBLE SCORE.

With this as a terrific base recipe, I will be referring/linking back to this page in upcoming Meatless Meal posts. So this is only the BEGINNING!

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Meatless Meals

Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

Whatever vegetables you enjoy. Some great vegetables for roasting are:

Sweet Potatoes

White Potatoes

Onions

Broccoli

Asparagus

Zucchini (Green Squash)

Butternut Squash

Yellow Squash

Red Peppers

Green Peppers

Cauliflower

Tomatoes

I've been using the following combination with great results. 1 each of:

Zucchini

Red Pepper

Green Pepper

Sweet Potato

Onion (sometimes 2 if they are on the smaller side)

Small head of Broccoli

pound/bunch of Asparagus

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 450º

Wash and cut up all of the vegetables (peeling the potato is about the only necessary prep work apart from cutting. I seed and discard the center of the peppers). If you like larger chunks, cut them larger. I cut up the veggies into dime-sized bits. Place in a large mixing bowl.

Pour in 1-2 TBS of Olive Oil. Toss the vegetables, being sure that all of the veggies are coated with the oil. If the Olive Oil is not coating well, add another TBS.

Spray a baking sheet (the kind with sides, not the flat cookie sheets) with cooking spray (I use the Olive Oil kind). Spread the veggies onto the sheet (I find that with the combination listed above, I need to split it between 2 sheets), being careful that all of the vegetables are touching the sheet (and not piled on top of each other - this will hurt the roasting process). Sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano (about 1/2 tsp of each, but if you are adventurous, add more. And if you like different spices, experiment!)

Place in oven, and bake/roast for 25-30 minutes. Stir once or twice during the baking. Take out when the veggies are sizzling and browned.

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I can't begin to describe how amazing the vegetables smell as they are roasting. Delicious. These keep well in an air-tight container, refrigerated, for a week. I will share with you some recipes I've created using the Roasted Vegetables. But, for an easy fix, these go well on a plain pizza or rolled in a tortilla with some cheese (I like cheddar, along with some dill pickle slices. Hubby likes them with Goat/Feta Cheese sprinkled on). Heck, they taste great all by themselves as well!

Have a great Meatless Meal? I'd love to try it! Send them my way:

moderndaydonnareed@gmail.com