My husband says that if I were embodied in a food dish, this creation of mine would be it. It is a simple thing; 4 root vegetables, tossed in olive oil, sprinkled with sel gris de guerande (a course sea salt that is my absolute favorite), and roasted at about 425°F until caramelized on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. It goes with any kind of fish or meat, and is soooo yummy. I am not ashamed to admit that I make as much as will fit in my roasting pan so that I have enough to serve for dinner as well as leftovers to eat cold for breakfast in the morning!
The four vegetables I use are turnips, carrots, yams, and parsnips. The yams have a wonderful sweetness, and the parsnips are an absolute must with their unique flavor and perfume. The carrots and turnips add a nice balance to round the dish out.
First the vegetables are chopped into bite sized pieces.
Place them in a roasting pan, and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.
Take a nice pinch of coarse sea salt, and grind it up over the veggies by rubbing it briskly between your palms.
Place it into the 425°F oven. The cooking time will vary based on the thickness of your vegetables, but stir every so often so that you can see their progress. The most important thing is that they become well caramelized.
Here they are, gorgeous, delectable and ready to serve:
On this particular occasion I pan fried some striped bass to go with them. This was also a simple preparation, just dredged in a bit of flour, sautéed in some vegetable oil for about 7-8 minutes, and a little squeeze of lemon on the plate.
Add a green vegetable to the plate for extra color and vitamins! In this case I just boiled some green beans in salted water.
Lunch is served!
Bon Appetit!
5 comments:
Mary, this is wonderful. So easy and healthy and good. I will do this some day. Thanks for the inspsiration.
We had these just last night! I love roasting vegetables. Last night I put in parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts, red onion, red bell pepper, and beets. I use Trader Joes lemon pepper seasoning and some sea salt.
I can tell I'm going to love your blog. The pictures and explanations are great.
By the way, I found your blog via Karen.
Yay for pictures of food! I am embarrassed to say that I have never prepared turnips and parsnips at home (because my husband doesn't eat them) but I will now just to try this!
Very awesome Mary Kay!
Question: Are sweet pototoes more healthy than yams?
Would you ever substitute sweet pototoes for yams here?
Love - Dad.
Dad, that's actually a pretty tricky question! What I am using is an orange-fleshed tuber, in the same botanical family as the sweet potato, and not technically a "yam" even though it is labeled that way in the supermarket. The name "sweet potato" in the market often refers only to the white-fleshed sweet potato, and then the orange-fleshed ones are distinguished under the name "yam". They are both rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene (a vitamin A equivalent nutrient), vitamin C, and vitamin B6. The orange ones have more beta carotene than the white ones, so do contain more nutrition overall.
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