The one way to R O A S T every kind of VEGETABLE
If the overabundance of root vegetables like sunchokes, black radishes and kohlrabies the size of my head is the late-winter scourge of my CSA, the steady supply of braising greens is its redemption. No matter how many bunches of curly kale,
A roasted vegetable is a wonderful vegetable, even when cooked simply with on ly oil, salt and sturdy collard greens and steely chard arrive each week, there’s always a place on my table for their floppy, verdant magic.
I sauté them most nights in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes, adding whatever soft herbs need using up. A splash of water, stock or wine helps wilt and soften everything, especially the hardier plants like collards pepper. There are plenty of ways to roast different vegetables, but sometimes, you want a single method that works with everything so you can buy whatever looks good and know what you’re going to do with it.
The sheet-pan method below works just as well on cold-weather roots, florets and dark leafy greens as it does with spring’s sprightly asparagus and string beans and and broccoli raab. We pile them on toast, submerge them in soup, top them with an egg or toss them into pasta. And when no one else is home, I simply spoon the cooked greens into a bowl, sprinkle Parmesan over the top and devour the entire bunch all by myself.
For this recipe, I nestled my beloved greens in their pan with chicken thighs, summer’s juicy tomatoes and peppers. Just follow these easy instructions and exceptional results are guaranteed:
1. Cut the vegetables into uniform pieces. Slice your vegetables big or small, just shoot for roughly the same size. Smaller pieces cook more quickly and produce crisper outsides, while larger ones offer more creaminess in the centers. Spread the pieces out on the sheet pan so they don’t steam and end up mushy.
2. Season and oil the vegetables generously. It’s just like getting a tan at the beach: Oil up for a bronzed exterior. One to 2 pounds of vegetables need another weeknight favorite. It makes for a skillet dinner that’s not much harder than cooking the greens by themselves, but a lot more sub
Here’s how it often goes at dinner time on weeknights in my kitchen: My husband walks in, and if there’s no discernible aroma wafting across the room, he starts lifting lids on pans on the stovetop and looking in the fridge for leftovers before wondering out loud, “What’s for dinner?” On a recent Monday, the answer was something of a shocker, given his lifelong belief that every nighttime meal should include a starch, a vegetable and some sort of animal protein. In addition to a tender green salad dressed in a tangy, cheesy vinaigrette, there was an entree featuring the hardestworking veggie in my refrigerator’s crisper drawer — carrots.
If you’re going to go vegetarian, this is the way to go. Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitch
one to three tablespoons of oil and should be sprinkled with nice big pinches of salt (and black pepper if you’d like).
3. Roast on the lowest rack of a hot oven. The magic oven temperature is 425 degrees, hot enough to caramelize outsides but not so hot that ingredients will burn before the interior cooks through. Setting the sheet pan on the bottom rack, which is nearest to the heat source, turns it into a big skillet and helps the bottoms of the vegetables sizzle and sear. But unlike a skillet on the stovetop, the surrounding heat of the oven simultaneously cooks the other sides, too. Most recipes tell you to stir or flip vegetables halfway through cooking, but this could result in only slightly golden outsides and potentially dry insides.
Skip the flip.
4. Flavor the vegetables after cooking. While you could coat the vegetables before roasting with spices and other seasonings, it’s easier to focus on roasting the vegetables well and not stress about small seasonings scorching. The cook time will depend on the density and size of the vegetables; when a fork pierces through easily, they’re done. If you’d like, toss the roasted vegetables on the hot sheet pan with anything you want to warm or toast, like spices, butter or chopped garlic. Or, contrast the sweetness of the vegetables by sprinkling them with fresh herbs, spicy sauce or a squeeze of tangy lemon juice. To turn the vegetables into a complete meal, serve them over grains or purée them into soup.