Veggies So Delicious They Taste Like Candy

Pin It This past week my aunt and uncle happened to be in the area for an organic farming conference so we were able to hook up and have lunch together.  We went to this cute little cafe and enjoyed a delicious lunch.  It was so much fun to catch up with them and talk about our latest cooking creations and nutrition research.  One of the best parts about the day (besides actually being able to visit and spend time with my aunt and uncle) was getting a load of vegetables from my uncle's ginormous garden.  Cucumbers. Carrots. Zucchini. Beets. Tomatoes. Lettuce. Peppers. Onions. Garlic. Nutrition nerd heaven.

Sorry about the poor picture quality...I was too excited to take the time to get out my good camera and spend some time taking pictures.

At first I was kind of nervous to bring it all home to my roommates being as our fridge is already packed as it is.  Sharing a fridge with 4 other girls gets a little crazy sometimes... but we made it work no worries! The girls were actually almost as excited as I was about all the free vegetables.  It didn't take long before they were enjoying fresh salads and sliced cucumbers. 

To take a little load off of the fridge I decided to roast a bunch of veggies right away. In the mix went several beets, some carrots, and a pepper. I've never really had much experience with beets being as my mom absolutely hates them, but I asked my uncle to bring a few so I could try them.  Guess what??  I LOVED THEM! They were so sweet and flavorful I couldn't keep my hands off the plate as I was trying to take pictures.  Yummy! 

I think roasting vegetables is one of my favorite ways to cook them (nothing tops grilling of course).  I don't know what it is about them, but the tender centers bursting with flavor and crisp toasted outsides is just something that cannot be beat.  Plus it couldn't be easier to chop up a bunch of veggies, toss 'em in some olive oil, season with a little salt and pepper and throw 'em in the oven. It's hard for me to even call this a recipe, but I just had to share the beautiful bright colors of the roasted vegetables and my new love for beets.  Seriously you need to try them this way!

Note: I'm warning you right now.  Roasted veggies are as addicting as candy.  The other night I cut up a whole zucchini, several carrots, and a whole onion...and ate it all...only me right?  "Only Kara the crazy vegetable girl would do that."  No... I'm serious these are so good it can happen to you too!

GARDEN FRESH ROASTED VEGETABLES

Ingredients:

Olive oil

Seasonings (Salt, pepper, basil, etc.)

Vegetables of choice

*I just used salt and pepper on mine this time and used 2 red beets, 1 golden beet, 1 pepper, and several carrots.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.

2. Wash and cut up vegetables into 1 inch or so chunks.  I like to cut my carrots in half too for faster cooking.

3. Lightly toss veggies in olive oil on a cookie sheet lined with foil (for easy clean up).

4. Sprinkle on desired seasonings.

5. Bake 10-15 minutes, stir, and repeat until the edges are getting crispy and the middles are soft.

SO PRETTY!

*I have no idea what how many people this serves...if it was me it'd only be 1-2 servings...but I really like my veggies.  I don't have nutrition facts either due to too many recipe variations, but feel free to calculate your own if you are curious. :) ENJOY!