Roasted Veggies: A Short Cut for Quick, Healthy Meals
We were away this weekend enjoying family and Fall on the Jersey Shore (so beautiful!) and our next CSA pick up is this afternoon, which meant I had to figure out what to do with a whole mess of veggies still left from last week that we had in our fridge. I decided to roast a bunch of them. I love having roasted vegetables in the house. I use them in salads, mix them into pasta and rice dishes, slip them into kids’ lunches, incorporate them into quesadillas, include them in wraps, snack on them throughout the day, and, honestly, I eat them straight off the baking sheets in HUGE quantities.
Another perk: roasting vegetables is a great way to encourage kids to try new vegetables, too. The roasting brings out the natural sweetness in vegetables, which makes them more appealing to a child’s palate, which is more inclined towards sweet.
So today I found myself looking into a drawer with two large zucchinis, three medium-sized eggplants, and a whole head of cheddar cauliflower (the orange kind, which if you have never tried, you must!). So out came the zukes and eggplants. I chopped them up, threw them in the oven, set the timer, and set to other work.
Once I pulled them out, guess who used them in a wrap with homemade hummus, a leftover tomato, and feta…. This girl. Yum!
Roasted Veggies
Ingredients
- 2 large zucchini
- 3 medium eggplant
- Extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. While the oven is heating, chop the vegetables into small, bite-sized pieces. Give them a generous drizzle of olive oil (not too much or they will get soggy). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to mix. Spread out in a single layer on two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Roast for 30 minutes or until browning and crisping, stirring once or twice during cooking. Enjoy in a variety of ways throughout the week!
Notes