Roasted Vegetables

With Jane Ward

To compliment the lamb you can use either root vegetables left over from the fall garden (which if stored properly will still be ready to eat) and a fennel bulb. You want to peel and trim the vegetables into pieces of the same size, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on a baking pan at 350 degrees F. for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Perfectly tender, serve as a side dish to the braised lamb or other heartier meat dish.This video was filmed in the Kitchen Showroom at the Building Center in Gloucester, MA. You can obtain more information at their web site; www.bcgloucester.com

Ingredients

1 bunch carrots (about 8), peeled and halved or quartered, depending on thickness of carrot
1 bunch parsnips, peeled and quartered
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, sliced to approximately the same thickness as the root vegetables
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Optional: thyme or rosemary sprigs

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

1. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil. 
2. Scatter the vegetables over the baking tray, sprinkle liberally with olive oil, and salt and pepper them to taste.  Scatter a few sprigs of fresh herbs over the top if desired.
3. Roast in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes (begin checking for doneness after 30 minutes) or until vegetables are crisp, tender and beginning to caramelize.

Serve immediately with any roasted or braised meats.

Recipe courtesy of Jane Ward, http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com, 2010.

Jane is the author of HUNGER (Forge, 2001) and THE MOSAIC ARTIST, and is currently at work on her third novel, THE WELCOME HOME.  A former baker and caterer, Jane hosts a new video blog for an internet recipe resource, and regularly contributes articles to the online regional food magazine, Local In Season. Jane also blogs weekly about food, and is writing a cookbook/memoir entitled TATTOOED WITH FOOD based on the blog entries.  From Food For Thought column: "Jane shows how ridiculously easy it is to make a loaf of ciabatta bread with a gutsy crackling crust that tastes like it was baked in a Tuscan panetteria. She teaches that the holes in ciabatta are specifically engineered to hold roasted peppers, pesto, gooey melted cheese, as it is the bread of bruschettas and picnic sandwiches. That purposely definitive crust holds everything inside, like a perfectly designed suitcase for foods, more than a sandwich."