The Perpetual Feast

Winter vegetables tend to be homely. Parsnips, rutabagas, squashes, and turnips are lumpy and bumpy, and sometimes have funny shapes,

Although a bowl of them actually is quite lovely on the table

Despite their homeliness, winter vegetables have many enduring virtues. They mix well with other root vegetables, like potatoes and carrots. They also keep well, so you don’t need to fret if life interferes with your cooking plans and you put off cooking them up for a bit. Winter vegetables’ homeliness is more than made up for by their unique combination of heartiness and sweetness. Roasting winter vegetables brings out their sweetness. This recipe appeared in my local newspaper right when I was looking for an interesting vegetable to accompany roast chicken for a dinner party. And that’s another virtue of roasted winter vegetables – they make a good accompaniment to a variety of main dishes, as well as making a fine main dish themselves. I had a bit leftover, and can attest to their ability to stand up to reheating in the microwave the next day.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

Cooking Spray
1 one pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes (see Hint 1)
3 red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
2 turnips, peeled and cut into cubes
3 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into pieces
3 parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into pieces
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons malt vinegar (sometimes called fish and chips vinegar)
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a large roasting pan (big enough to hold the vegetables in a single layer) with cooking spray. (I used a Corning Ware pan so that I could put the roasted vegetables on the table right in their cooking pan.) Put the vegetables (squash, potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips) into the pan. Add the oil, thyme, and pepper and toss to combine and coat the vegetables thoroughly. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender when pierced, about 45 minutes.

Stir the vinegar, parsley and garlic together in a large bowl.  Add the vegetables and toss to combine. (I mixed the vinegar, etc., in a bowl and poured them over the roasted vegetables, then tossed them so I could serve the vegetables in the roasting pan.)  Serve immediately.  This makes 6 main dish servings with 3 grams of fat/serving and about 10 side dish servings with 1.8 grams of fat/serving.
Hint 1: The vegetables roast best if all the pierces are more or less of equal size so they cook evenly.

Hint 2: When purchasing root vegetables like turnips and parsnips, it’s best to select small to medium vegetables.  Larger ones may be tough.