I’m having a hard time believing it, and I don’t want to jinx a good thing, but, you guys… I think it might be spring. Which means that our shelves will soon be filled with such wonders as rhubarb, artichokes and asparagus, and we won’t want to see another root vegetable for as long as we live. Which means that I don’t have much time to get you this super simple but incredibly tasty recipe for roasted vegetables.
This is another one of those recipes that barely constitutes a recipe. But I’m telling you, it really delivers when you need it to. This “recipe”, combined with couscous, fed me a comforting meal when I didn’t have the energy to do more than slather a bunch of barely cut-up vegetables with butter and then pick pieces out of the oven while they caramelized. Then it fed me for a few lunches after that. It even turned a fennel hater into a fennel lover. Basically, it’s magical food that takes only a few ingredients and even less of your time.
The key to good roasted vegetables, as my sister and I just discussed with regards to brussels sprouts, is using enough oil (or butter, in this case). So don’t be stingy with it. Make sure it’s soft enough (like you’d use for baking) and get it all over the surface area of those vegetables. If you want caramelization and delicious crispy bits, then you need butter. You’re already eating a pile of vegetables, so cut yourself some slack in the health department. Add some generous salt and pepper too, if you want these to taste awesome.
Obviously, if one of these vegetables is, god forbid, offensive to you (I know there are some beet haters out there, no matter how much butter and salt and pepper they’re covered in), you can swap it out for one you prefer. But I’d also urge you to give these a try. You might not like raw fennel in your salad, but did you know that fennel roasted with spices tastes more like candy than a vegetable? Did you know that some time in the oven will make even the saddest grocery store carrot sweet and even beautiful? Either branch out or stick with what you love, but regardless – get these ready before the season is over and you have to wait until next year to have your mind blown by the simple pleasure of humble vegetables from a hot oven.
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed in a mortar
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- 1 1/2 lbs. carrots, scrubbed and halved lengthwise
- 3 fennel bulbs (1 1/2 lbs.), cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
- 1 1/2 lbs. beets, peeled and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
- 2 tablespoons chopped dill
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a bowl, mix 6 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of the mustard and the coriander. Season with salt and pepper.
- On a large rimmed baking sheet, combine the carrots and fennel. On another large rimmed baking sheet, arrange the beets. Dollop the butter over the vegetables on each baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Toss and rub to evenly coat. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and rotating the sheets halfway through, under the vegetables are tender and caramelized.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of mustard. Dollop the butter over the warm vegetables and toss to evenly coat. Transfer the vegetables to a serving platter and garnish with dill.
Notes
https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2016/03/11/caramelized-vegetables-with-dijon-butter/
