Roasted vegetables bring the flavor in these 3 fall recipes

Roasting is one of my favorite cooking methods. There are few techniques that are simpler and offer such a high flavor payoff with so little effort. And roasting vegetables, especially around this time of year, offers limitless possibilities.

I’m not sure what it is about roasting that leaves many cooks confused or frustrated. If you follow the few very basic “rules” listed below, the results will please you enormously and you’ll find yourself adapting and creating your own roasted fall vegetable dishes.

For now, here are three recipes. A mixture of roasted fall vegetables that are simmered into a satisfying, healthy soup. A roasted delicata squash topped with pomegranate seeds and toasted pine nuts. And finally, a riff on a Caesar salad: roasted Napa cabbage topped with crunchy toasted breadcrumbs, anchovies and a bright lemony dressing. Any of these dishes is ideal for a weeknight meal or to serve for Thanksgiving (it’s not very far away!).

A few tips for roasting vegetables:

• Always cut vegetables that you are roasting together into even, uniformly sized pieces. If pieces are of different sizes, you’ll end up with uneven roasted vegetables; some will cook fast, while others will need a longer roasting time.
• Generally, you want a hot oven, around 400 to 425 degrees. You want the natural sugars in the vegetables to caramelize and the vegetables to turn a light golden brown.
• Vegetables should always be roasted on a shallow baking sheet, baking tin, or baking or gratin dish with edges/sides that come up about 1 to 1 ½ inches. If the edge or sides of your cooking tin are higher, the vegetables have a tendency to steam and not roast.
• Lightly grease the bottom of the baking pan or line it with a sheet of parchment paper to make for easy clean up.
• Always roast vegetables in a single layer, not piled up on top of each other so they can properly roast and brown.
• Roast vegetables on the middle oven shelf (unless otherwise noted) and rotate the pan about halfway through roasting.
• You can mix and match various vegetables and roast together.
• And you can roast virtually any type of vegetable. Some favorites around this time of year include:
  • Onions, garlic and leeks
  • Potatoes and sweet potatoes
  • Winter squash
  • Summer squash
  • Turnips
  • Beets
  • Parsnips
  • Cauliflower and broccoli
  • Eggplant
  • Tomatoes
  • Carrots
  • Celery root or celeriac

Roasted fall vegetable soup

When you roast fall vegetables, they caramelize and become sweet. An assortment of vegetables is roasted and then added to hot vegetable or chicken stock, simmered with fresh herbs. Serve with croutes or crusty bread and a green sauce or pesto.

Serves 6.

Ingredients 

1 butternut squash, or your favorite winter squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into ½ inch cubes

Instructions

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
2. In one large or two medium very shallow baking sheets, baking tins or roasting pans, combine the squash, broccoli, carrots, onions, and leeks in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.
3. Roast for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium-large pot, heat the stock, the thyme, rosemary and half the parsley over low heat. Let simmer.
5. Raise the heat to 450 degrees after 20 minutes of roasting and roast another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are golden brown and knife tender. They don’t need to be completely soft, as they will continue to cook in the stock.
6. Remove from the oven and gently scrape the vegetables and any pan juices into the pot with the stock. Raise the heat to medium-low and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover partially and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the soup is flavorful. Taste for seasoning. Serve sprinkled with the remaining parsley and the croutes and green sauce.
7. Make croutes by slicing 1-inch pieces off a baguette or crusty bread. Heat about 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the croutes in the hot oil for about 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.
8. Make green sauce by blending together in a blender or food processor: 1 cup parsley, 1 clove garlic, ⅓ cup toasted walnuts, almonds, pine nuts or pistachios with salt and pepper to taste. Add about ½ cup olive oil and blend. Taste for seasoning and stir in about ¼ cup packed grated Parmesan, Romano or your favorite hard cheese.

Roasted delicata squash with pomegranates, toasted pine nuts and maple dressing

Delicata squash is roasted in slices with a touch of maple syrup to highlight its natural sweetness. Delicata squash doesn’t need to be peeled; the entire squash is edible. Simply cut in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds and stringy insides, then cut into ½-inch slices. The roasted squash is topped with crunchy garnet-red pomegranate seeds and buttery toasted pine nuts and then drizzled with a quick maple syrup dressing. You could also add crumbled feta cheese or Parmesan shavings to make this a more substantial side dish or salad.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 delicata squash, about 1 pound 4 ounces, washed, cut lengthwise, seeds and strings removed, then cut into ½-inch slices

*The best way to release pomegranates is to cut the fruit in half. Working over a bowl, place one pomegranate half in your hand, seed side down facing the bowl. Use a rolling pin and gently tap on the skin to release the seeds. Squeeze any juice or remaining seeds out of the pomegranate and repeat with the remaining half. 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the squash on a baking sheet, shallow baking tray or shallow roasting pan in a single layer. Drizzle 1½ tablespoons of the oil and 2½ tablespoons of the maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper. Roast on the middle shelf for about 20 minutes, or until just tender when tested with a small, sharp knife.
2. Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over low heat. Add the nuts and toast, stirring, about 5 minutes or until you can smell the nuts and they begin to turn a richer shade of golden brown. Remove from the heat.
3. Place squash on a serving plate and spoon any juices from the bottom of the pan on top. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1½ tablespoons of oil, vinegar, and the remaining tablespoon of maple syrup with salt and pepper. Spoon on top of the squash.
4. Sprinkle the pomegranate seeds and any pomegranate juice on top, then sprinkle on the pine nuts. Garnish with whole sage leaves. Serve at room temperature or warm from the oven.

Roasted napa cabbage with crunchy breadcrumbs and Caesar dressing

This side dish/salad takes its inspiration from a classic Caesar salad. Crunchy Napa cabbage leaves are roasted at high temperature in the oven until mostly wilted and slightly crunchy and brown around the edges. The roasted cabbage is topped with crunchy breadcrumbs sauteed in a touch of anchovy oil. Then the breadcrumbs are topped with salty, umami-rich anchovy filets and a bright lemony dressing. If you’re an anchovy lover, this is the dish for you; if you’re not a lover of salty anchovies, you could use thin shavings of Parmesan cheese on top, or a hard-boiled egg finely chopped. Serve at room temperature with warm, crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients 

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The roasted cabbage:

• 10 ounces Napa cabbage, cored and quartered*
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper

The breadcrumbs:

• About 3-inch chunk crusty bread, 2 ounces, chopped
• 1 teaspoon anchovy oil (from the anchovy jar), optional
• 1 tablespoons olive oil or 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon if omitting anchovy oil
• Freshly ground black pepper (no salt!)

The Caesar dressing:

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 anchovy filet
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice, from 1 medium lemon
• 1 tablespoons anchovy oil (from anchovy jar), optional
• 2½ tablespoons olive oil or 3½ tablespoons oil if omitting the anchovy oil
• 4 to 6 whole anchovies, optional

Optional garnishes:

•  1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
• Thin shavings Parmesan cheese

*You could also use a Savoy or white or green cabbage, cored and quartered or if large cut into small wedges.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
2. Place the bread on a small baking sheet or piece of foil and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until dried out and beginning to brown. Remove and place in a blender or food processor and blend until you have coarse breadcrumbs. You should have about ½ cup.
3. Roast the cabbage: place the cabbage in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet or baking tray. Drizzle the oil, salt and pepper on top. Roast on the middle shelf for 10 to 12 minutes, or until mostly wilted and just beginning to crisp up along the edges.
4. Make the dressing: in a small bowl, mix the mustard and the anchovy, mashing the anchovy with the back of a spoon until it’s a paste. Add the lemon juice and pepper. Using a fork, whisk in the anchovy oil (if using) and olive oil. Taste for seasoning.
5. Meanwhile, make the breadcrumbs: in a medium skillet, heat the anchovy oil (if using) and olive oil over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and pepper and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown and slightly crunchy.
6. Arrange the roasted cabbage on a medium serving plate and arrange the breadcrumbs in a strip along the middle. Arrange the anchovies in a criss-cross “X” on top and spoon on half the dressing. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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