Roasted Winter Root Vegetables

If there was one thing we were not short on in our CSA share it was (not surprisingly) root vegetables! I've roasted my fair share of vegetables in the past, but this time I tried to come up with some new techniques that would bring out a variety of flavors. For that, I went to the internet!

Let's start out with the basics...my standard go-to recipe is adopted from Vegan with a Vengeance. I like to toss vegetables with fresh chopped rosemary, thyme, and sage, and a little bit of maple syrup and olive oil to keep them moist. You can also add a bit of ginger in there to spice things up a bit! If you chop your vegetables up into nice even chunks (about 1/2-3/4 inch each) you can throw them in the oven at about 350-400F. Toss them around a bit after about 20 minutes, and 45 minutes to an hour you'll have a nice tasty side dish! They're ready when they're fork tender (don't be afraid to try a bite to see if they're just right!). Perfect for Thanksgiving.

Keep in mind that different vegetables cook at slightly different speeds, so you'll want to chop up the slower cooking veggies (like carrots) a bit smaller. I find this recipe works well for things like sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, and squash. Things like sunchokes, black radishes, and fingerling potatoes, however, cook a bit differently. More on these "exotic" vegetables tomorrow...