Roasted Veggies

Roasted veggies are important to have available when cooking vegetarian/vegan meals. Even if you aren't going to use roasted veggies in a recipe, having a container full of them in the fridge comes in handy for a quick and delish lunch. All you need to do is heat a serving up in the microwave, add to previously cooked brown rice, and eat! Or, you can top some leftover pasta with a serving of roasted veggies, and then cover with homemade pomodoro sauce (or jar/canned marinara)...heat and eat. There are many ways you can use them, only limited by your imagination! Roasted veggies are yummy all by themselves, too!

Roasting vegetables is easy. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice up zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. Add, or replace any of these with, a sliceable veggie you love. Chop cauliflower and broccoli, add some shredded carrots. Arrange all these vegetables on a lightly oil sprayed foil-lined cookie sheet (or two), spray with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, pepper, italian seasoning...or any other herbs/spices that you find yummy. Put into the oven and roast for 10-12 minutes. Remove and stir, moving the veggies around to allow for even cooking. Put back into the oven and cook for another 10 minutes...check to see if they look done, and either put back in for 5 minutes or remove from oven. You don't want them to be overdone, but just tender and some may also have some brownish tinge. After they are done, you can do with them what you wish. As I mentioned before, I like having a container of them in the fridge for spur of the moment recipes, or just to heat up and munch on. Topping homemade pizza with these babies is the best!

Roasted veggies are healthy, filling and satisfying. Consider this my first recipe post, although it isn't in a normal recipe format. Search online for roasted veggies, and you will find different techniques for roasting them.

Oh, and even if you are not vegetarian/vegan...everyone should eat some veggies every day, and this is probably THE best way to do so!

Next up: Tools you will find helpful, if not essential.