I recently got conned into using airline miles to purchase magazine subscriptions. Truthfully, I’m not entirely sure how it unfolded. Lately I am having moments of adult blackout, a disorder I have been observing in my parents for years (example: did they remember to close the garage?). The other day I had a minor panic attack in the shower and couldn’t remember if I had paid my renter’s insurance. I literally had no recollection of writing the check or receiving my new plan in the mail, both of which had occurred. Most recently I had an adult blackout and apparently subscribed to a catalog of magazines. Really, who needs both Shape and Self?
This current predicament is made worse by the fact that half of the magazines are weekly and my mailbox is tiny. I have been gauging my level of busy by the number of unread magazines piling up on the counter. I’d rather not disclose the number of unread magazines – use your imagination.
I bring this up only to further encourage you to try this recipe. I received an email on Thursday night assigning a dish for a Friday night potluck. With no groceries, no energy to be creative, and lots and lots of unread magazines (in other words–no time for anything!), I decided to default to roasted vegetables. I could pop things in the oven after work on Friday and still make it over for dinner. Although there is some roasting time involved, the prep-time is minimal, as are the ingredients. So please, give this a try because it’s too simple not to. And if you’d like to take some of these weeklies off of my hands, it wouldn’t hurt.
Remember – the veggies will shrink significantly in the oven! This served 8 people as a small side.
Ingredients:
5 large carrots, de-stemmed
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1/2 a red onion
1 bunch of broccoli
1 pint of white mushrooms
1 clove of garlic (do not peel)
1 red pepper
6 oz of canned coconut milk
Olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a large baking sheet (or two) with oil or Pam. Wash all vegetables. Prepare your vegetables beginning with the carrots. Slice into long, thin sticks and spread on the sheet. Next slice up your squash; I went with one sliced longways and one in disks. Feel free to slice as you please, remembering that the thinner the slice the softer the product. Next up clean the broccoli by cutting off the bottom portion of the stalk and trimming off any extra leaves. Slice into large chunks. Remove the mushroom stems and place whole mushrooms on the pan. Dice up your red onion or slice into quarters, as you prefer.
Pour a few drops of olive oil in your hands (about a tablespoon) and coat the vegetables on the baking sheet. Add olive oil as needed until each vegetable has been reached. Don’t drench them, simply apply a thin layer to the veggies. Shake a bit of salt, pepper, cumin, and any other spice onto the vegetables and mix once more with your hands.
Place your garlic clove and red pepper on the pan if there’s room or simply set in the oven on a piece of foil.
Roast your veggies for 35-45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to ensure that the sides cook evenly. When the onions are glassy, test the other vegetables to make sure they too are cooked through. I like mine a bit charred on the edges.
The roasted red pepper should be rotated every 10 minutes so to thoroughly cook each side.
Remove the veggies from the oven and set the tray aside to cool. Let the red pepper cool until safe to handle. Carefully peel off the skin of the red pepper which, if fully roasted, should easily slide away. Tear off bits until you have worked around the seeds and are left with a de-seeded roasted pepper.
In a large bowl, combine the coconut milk and pepper and squeeze the roasted garlic meat out of its shell (discard the skins). Using an immersion mixer or blender, combine all three ingredients until evenly blended. Use your pinky to sneak a taste and salt and pepper as desired.
Serve as a dip or drizzle over roasted vegetables. Can be eaten cold or hot.
