Thanksgiving Recipe: Roasted Vegetables

While the turkey is usually the star of the Thanksgiving table, there wouldn't be much of a feast without a variety of delicious side dishes. One of the things I love to make on Thanksgiving—or any other time of year, really—is roasted vegetables.

Roasting vegetables in the oven at hight heat has a lot of things going for it: it's easy, it works with a variety of different ingredients, and the results are uniformly delicious! I like to use this technique on cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. They get really sweet and it's much harder to overcook them than it is when boiling our steaming them. My kids often ask for seconds of these veggies—they're that good. Carrots, parsnips, and other root vegetables are fantastic roasted, too.

Roasted veggies couldn't be easier to make: cut vegetables into chunks, toss with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in a hot oven. That's it! There's nothing like a super simple and delicious side dish to help make your Thanksgiving less stressful.

Ingredients

• I head broccoli or cauliflower
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Divide broccoli or cauliflower into florets. You can also use the broccoli stems, sliced into pieces, and the leaves. It's all yummy. We made this most recently with organic broccoli and romanesco that we got at the Civic Center Farmers' Market. Feel free to combine broccoli, carrots, or whatever you happen to like or have on hand.

Place veggies in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with a few tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to mix thoroughly.

Spread vegetables on a baking sheet or in a cast iron pan and roast for 20 minutes or until tender and browned on the edges. That's all there is to it! I guarantee that this will become your new favorite way of preparing vegetables.