If any of you are shying away from roasting your vegetables in the oven because it "takes too long" I strongly urge you to reconsider. Try it when you are not feeling rushed, and you'll fall in love with it.
Although the time in the oven is much longer than the time it would take in a steamer, or in the microwave. The flavors and textures that roasting your vegetables provides just can't be matched.
I also feel like roasting your veggies makes they last longer and taste better as leftovers. With a lot of the moisture taking out in the roasting process, they just don't get soggy as fast.
Ingredients:
2 cups brussels sprouts
1 onion
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Peel and cut onion. I cut mine into small quarters. I find they break up quite a bit during the proccess, so I don't worry about wasting the time chopping them too small.
Prepare your brussels sprouts by cutting a bit off the end and removing any wilted leaves. I don't like to trim too much off the end, as I feel that makes the leaves come off more than I would like.
You can do this next part on a large cookie sheet if you want to save dishes, but I use a bowl (or a ziploc bag)
Put your chopped onions and brussels sprounts into a bowl and add the 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then I add a little salt and pepper (you can always add more after they cook) and toss them all together. I feel like this gives the vegetables the most even coating of oil, but like I said, you can do it all on the cookie sheet and just mix it with your hands.
Spread them evenly on your sheet pan, making sure they don't overlap and have room to breath and get nice and cooked.
Put them into your 400 degree - preheated oven and start to roast them. I usually let them cook for about 20 minutes before I stir them the first time, then 10 minutes of so after that. You'll most likely end up cooking them for 40-45 minutes depending on the size of your brussels sprouts. - I just gauge it by eye, and sometimes I taste them when I pull them out to stir them. Hey! That's one of the benefits of being the chef, right?
If you are new to roasting you may feel like you have burned your vegetables, but I am almost 99% sure that you haven't. Those crispy dark edges are where your yummy veggies have released their sugar and it got all cooked and fantastic.
And remember, almost all veggies can be cooked this way, carrots, cabbage, both white and sweet potatoes, parsnips, beets.... broccoli, cauliflower.
Don't be afraid of the time, Yes, 45 minutes might seem like an eternity, but the prep is less than 5 minutes and you just stir them a few times, the oven does all the work and I promise you all that work is totally worth it.
