Summertime Snack: Balsamic Roasted Veggies
8th of August 2016
Balsamic roasted vegetables are one of my all-time favorite dishes to make. It covers all the bases: appetizer, salad, side dish, vegetarian option… I’ve been working on a cookbook about making every meal everyone-friendly, and this is hands-down the easiest most crowd-pleasing item in there. I’m racking my brain trying to think if Buttercup has ever had an event where they didn’t order our roasted veggies and I’m drawing a blank.
You can serve these hot or cold. Cold as a salad or an appetizer, add a dipping sauce or dressing drizzle and everyone is happy. Hot as a side dish and you fill up your plate with so much color, health and eye-appeal you’re eating way more vegetables than usual before you realize you’re getting full on the healthy stuff on your plate! Balsamic plus roasting brings out the sweetness in the vegetables, so believe it or not, these (especially the carrots) are one of our kid favorite items for catering!
On with the recipe! Feeds 6.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds mixed vegetables. My favorite is baby carrots with the tops, mini pattypan squash (sub fat sliced zucchini or squash) and Portobello mushrooms.
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup Olive Oil
3/4 tbsp. Sea Salt
1/4 tbsp. Fresh Ground Pepper (small to medium grind)
A few fresh thyme sprigs
Put vegetables in a large mixing bowl, and add salt and pepper. Pull the leaves off of one of your thyme sprigs and add into mixing bowl. Toss. If you are using Portobello mushrooms, take them out and set aside after seasoning.
Mix balsamic vinegar and olive oil together and drizzle over the veggies, tossing as you go. You may have dressing left over, don’t use it all if you don’t need it, some veggies soak up a lot of dressing, some are sealed with the skin like pattypan squash and it doesn’t absorb.
If you are using mushrooms, put them in the bowl now and rub the remaining dressing all over both sides of the skins. Mushrooms soak up the dressing like crazy, but they don’t need that much to roast. If you put them in the bowl with the other veggies they get all the dressing and the harder veggies won’t get enough coating to flavor or roast.
Generously oil a baking sheet and lay your veggies out by kind and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves. The veggies are being laid out by kind so as the softer veggies roast (sliced squash and mushrooms), you can remove them and put the baking sheet back in with the harder veggies (carrots and pattypans).
Set your timer for 20 minutes if you are using sliced squash, otherwise set for 30 minutes. When your timer goes off, check your veggies; they should be almost ready. Test your softer veggies and mushrooms and if they are tooth tender, remove them from the tray, they will continue to cook a bit more after removing from the oven.
The carrots may need to be roasted for 5-10 minutes longer, depending on the time of year and size of your carrots. Thick ‘baby’ carrots will need around 40 minutes. Keep checking every 5 minutes until all the veggies are roasted and starting to caramelize on the skins.
Arrange on a pretty serving platter if serving as a cold starter or appetizer, or a casserole dish if serving hot. I like to serve the cold veggies with pesto aioli for dipping on the side.
Enjoy!
Chef Kelly is the owner and creative director of Buttercup Catering, located in Claremont, CA. She is responsible for everything within her business from creating menus for various dietary needs to cooking for crowds of people, table arrangement and marketing for her business. Chef Kelly caters everything from small family gatherings to large university events. She began her career in food service at an early age and was self-taught. She later began training under professional chefs and even taught a class at Project Open Hand and Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco.323.577.3081 | www.buttercupcateringyum.com
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