When we hear someone say, "we eat with our eyes", I totally believe them. I love the look of all these veggies on one sheet pan. It makes we want to dive straight in. Like many of us, I am a visual person. I like to look at my food and appreciate it before I eat. This rainbow of veg is sure to please who ever it is made for.
In keeping with a "healthier" St Patrick's Day menu (I cannot tell a lie, it's not all healthy - chocolate stout cupcakes may be on the menu too, but I do try!) I decided to go with a medley of roasted rainbow veggies and call it leprechaun lunch.
While the idea is to re-create a rainbow with ROYGBIV colours, use whatever produce you have seasonally available at your local shops. I went to the store with one idea and then found these AMAZING purple yams and decided to use them instead. This is the first time I've seen purple yams - they were fabulous and I'll be sure to pick them up again for other dishes. You do want to choose a heartier vegetable that will stand up to roasting. Veggies such as lettuces won't roast well for this dish.
Some rainbow veggie options to choose from:
Red: cherry tomatoes, bell peppers
Orange: yams, bell peppers, carrots
Yellow: bell peppers, little yellow tomatoes (depending on the season), squash cubes
Green: peppers, snap peas, broccoli, zucchini, asparagus chunks
Blue: potatoes, cabbage chunks
Purple: peppers (most of the time you can find these in the summer), purple cauliflower, yams, purple carrots
Indigo/Violet: radishes
The most time consuming part of this dish is the chopping. The vegetables I used have different roasting times based on their water content and textures. So, I tried to chop same-sized pieces for a more even roasting. After chopping I arranged the vegetables into ROYGBIV colour order starting at one end of a parchment lined sheet pan and worked my way across, trying to keep the same-sized veggies from touching. When they touch, it creates steaming instead of roasting and your veggies end up soggy. I then poured 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over the full pan and mixed the oil into the vegetables with my hands. Add salt and pepper and put the sheet pan into a pre-heated 400 degree oven. The roasting time varied for the vegetables I used, so I checked after 20 minutes (photo below) and then put the whole tray back in for 15 minutes more.
The roasted veggies retained most of their colours and made a fantastic Chopped Lettuce & Roasted Veg Salad. I added a bit of crumbled goat cheese. The salad didn't need any dressing, as there was so much flavour from the roasted vegetables.
You could also use the veg as a side-dish or eat them on their own.
Enjoy your Leprechaun Lunch!
Krista
コメント