FOOD: Warm up with roasted veg

Now is the time of year to serve up hearty, tasty, dinners to combat the cold weather, and nothing creates an umami effect like a tray of roasted vegetables. The caramalisation and sweetness that comes out is a winner for so many dish combinations. Simple but versatile, bursting full of colours and textures, roasted veg make an attractive palette to work a meal around, excellent with meats and fish. And like all great recipes, a tray of roasted veg is also good for clearing out the cupboard and fridge!
The key to balancing roasting vegetables is deciding what size the vegetables go in at, and at what time they go in for. Add too many big vegetables too late and they will still be crunchy because they won’t cook through; add too many small pieces in the beginning, and they will be burnt by the time everything else is cooked.
Another thing to bear in mind is that if the vegetables are too closely packed together, they will simply steam more than roast.

Basic roast veg
Here is a basic, roasted vegetables dish with an interesting combination of artichoke hearts.

What you need

1 aubergine
1 courgettes
1 char-grilled artichoke hearts from a tin
3 red peppers
3 red onions
3 garlic cloves
Olive oil – good glug
Seasoning
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

What you do
Pre-heat your oven to 220°c. Pour out and drain the artichoke hearts from your tin. On a chopping board, cut the courgette and aubergine into slices about the thickness of a jam jar lid (you can use different shapes if you prefer; that’s half the fun). Place these on a roasting tin covered with baking parchment. Wash and cut the red peppers into strips (again, wider or different sized pieces can be used if desired) and mix with courgettes and aubergine. Peel and crush the three garlic cloves, and add to the mix. Peel and slice the red onions thickly to complete the mixture.
Drizzle the oil over your veg, season well and mix around with a wooden spoon. Place in oven without the artichoke hearts, as they don’t need as much cooking. Roast for 20 minutes then the add the hearts, tossing all together. Place back in the oven for another ten minutes, toss with the balsamic vinegar and allow settle before serving out. Potatoes or rice are always an excellent accompaniment with this dish.

Sweet potato and broccoli version
This creates a great combination of roasted, almost gooey, sweet potatoes and gives a semi bite to the broccoli heads.

What you need
2 sweet potatoes, peeled/washed and diced
1 broccoli head, cut into florets
2 red peppers, cut to your chosen size,
2 courgettes, washed and cut into rings or cubes
1 red onion, peeled and cut into eighths
3 garlic cloves, crushed with skin on or off
200g cherry tomatoes
Seasoning
3 tbsp olive oil

What you do
Again, pre-heat your oven to 220°c. Simply place all your cut ingredients (leaving out the cherry tomatoes and garlic for now) into a bowl, season well, add oil, and mix well. Place them on top of baking parchment on baking trays and cook for 25 minutes, Add the tomatoes and garlic, and cook for a further ten minutes. Remove and serve out with you dinner. Enjoy!

– Redmond

Sandra and Redmond Cabot live in Lanmore, outside Westport, Co Mayo, with their children, Penny and Louis. Fresh, seasonal foods are their passion – shopping at country markets, growing their own veg and producing their own dips and sauces for sale.