Oven Roasted Veggies

Many of you have seen a preview of this in my previous post Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.

I served these alongside the cabbage rolls and these were indeed a perfect accompaniment! And it takes just a couple of mins to prepare this super tasting dish and then its just the baking time. I love this combination of root vegetables and being such an easy thing to make - I've started making this quite often too. It takes a lot less oil than if you are pan frying these veggies. And the flavor remains the same or even better.

You can use any combination of root vegetable - parsnips, turnips, radishes, all types of potatoes, carrots, beets, yams - except of course Horse radish - that'll just make it too strong. We'll skip that!

I just used the basic veggies - potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and added some onions for flavor! I wasn't stocked up on the other veggies and could not wait to make this another day! Maybe the next time, I'll make it with all the root veggies I can get my hands on.

As you see the picutres - you'll realize what an easy dish this is to make. And I'm hoping you'll read this and go into your kitchen, search for all the root veggies you have and start making this. Because you just have to - you have to taste this to believe how good it is!

Chop up a medium onion into big pieces. Add to a wide mixing bowl.

Then, chop some carrots into big chunks and add to the onions.

Now the potatoes - just wash the skin well and cut along with the skin. You don't have to peel them.

Same with the sweet potatoes. Just wash well and chop roughly.

Now, add some fresh chopped basil. You can also add mint or parsley or even cilantro if you don't have basil. Totally up to your taste buds and what's available in the kitchen.

Now add about 1/8 th of a cup or approz about 1 big tbsp of olive oil or your normal cooking oil.

Next, sprinkle some salt to taste.

And some cayenne pepper or red chilli powder for a little spice! I added my Kashmiri red chilli powder - helps with the color too!

Mix everything together well. Now, did that take you all of 3 mins? Its that easy!

Move the veggies to a baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake in a pre heated oven at 375F for about 20 mins. The veggies are actually at the bottom  - the cabbage rolls were on the top. I love multitasking!

But, you will have to take out the pan every 10 mins once and give the veggies a gentle toss. This is to make sure that they cook evenly and besides you also get a chance to pick and taste a bite while its baking! Shhh...trade secrets!

Its about half done here. I took it out to give the veggies a toss. And the center of the potatoes are not done yet - how do I know? Trade secret.

Once you think that they have cooked well, remove the foil on top and broil for about 5 mins. This will help to get a nice crisp top to the veggies. The veggies will be soft and completely full of flavor - that's when you take them out of the oven and serve hot to your hungry family.

You can serve this as a side to your favorite pasta dishes, or even with Indian rotis or rice.

Enjoy! Peace out!