One of the things that says “Fall” to me is a plate filled with roasted vegetables. This dish is colorful, hearty and healthy (even with the creamed honey), and easy to prepare.
This is actually one of the few ways my son will actually eat vegetables, so I make this dish quite often during the fall and winter seasons. It's the perfect after-football-practice dish because it warms his belly and fills it up. There are never leftovers …
Roasted Vegetables (with melted creamed honey)
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato, cubed
- 1 small red onion, widely sliced
- 2 large heads of broccoli, cut into large pieces (I do not use the stems)
- 3 garlic cloves (do not remove from skin)
- 2 large Portobello mushrooms, cubed
- extra virgin olive oil
- good Balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/4 cup creamed honey, melted about 15 seconds in the microwave
Directions
Step 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut all of the vegetables as indicated. Make them roughly the same size so you have even cooking. Add the garlic cloves and thyme. (I used dried thyme this time, but I prefer fresh, and when I use fresh, I toss in several bunches with the stem on. I think it looks cool that way in the finished dish.)
Step 2. Add a generous splashing of olive oil and a generous splashing of Balsamic vinegar, and then some salt and pepper to your taste. Add the melted creamed honey. Toss everything together with your hands. (You can use a big spoon, but I prefer to feel the food as I mix it together, and then lick my fingers afterward.)
Step 3. Pour the vegetables into a non-stick cookie sheet with low sides. Bake at 400°F for 40 minutes, stirring intermittently to make sure the vegetables do not stick. (You can use parchment paper for this too, but I still recommend tossing them a few times so they cook more evenly.) You can bake it a bit longer if you like the sweet potatoes to be softer … but don't burn everything else in the process.
Serve piping hot.
The garlic cloves soften and become buttery inside the skin, so you can actually squeeze the soft garlic out and use it as a kind of “butter.” Use a knife to extract the hot garlic and spread it on the vegetables and stir to distribute the flavor. Yum y'all!
Here is what the vegetables looked like before they were roasted.
Best and Success!
