Roast vegetables

Tags

butternut, carrots, easy side, onions, parsnips, potatoes, side dish, vegetables

Nadia is recovering from her second carpal tunnel surgery, this time on her right and dominant hand, so I am in charge of making meals for a few weeks. To be entirely honest, she did make and freeze enough meals to last at last 10 days so I do not have too many meals to take care of – luckily.

One of my favourite sides is also one of the easiest to make but, boy, is it tasty. I love my meat and protein but could almost eat just a big portion of these for dinner – I did say “almost”.

Ingredients:

1 small butternut, peeled and seeds removed
2 potatoes, peeled
2 onions, peeled
3 parsnips, peeled
4 carrots, peeled
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon herbs de Provence

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F
Cut the carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions and butternut squash into cubes
(All the vegetables will shrink while baking, so don’t cut them too small)
Place all the cut vegetables in a single layer on a large baking sheet
Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, pepper and the herbs
Toss well to coat all
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula about half way through cooking
Season to taste, and serve hot
Enjoy!

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Briam – Greek roasted vegetables

Tags

courgettes, greek, marrows, passata, potatoes, tomatoes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, zucchini

 

This is a Greek summertime favorite recipe. Crispy and fluffy potatoes, sweet, flavourful aubergines and juicy courgettes garnished with fresh herbs form an amazing vegetarian dish full of Mediterranean flavours.  The vegetables are coated with olive oil, flavoured with sweet onions and garlic and then baked to perfection.  You can even serve it hot or cold.  This popular dish is traditionally eaten with feta, but it’s also delicious with pork or lamb. Simply delicious!

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 150 ml / 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large aubergine , halved length-ways, then thickly sliced
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 600g / 1.3 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm / 1/4″ -thick slices
• 6 medium tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 4 courgettes, sliced
• 300g / 10oz tomato passata (strained tomato sauce)
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley , finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200°C /400°
Heat some olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat
Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes, until softened
In a large ovenproof dish spread the potatoes out in a single layer
Season with salt and pepper
Layer on the aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes
Add the onions and garlic
Pour the passata over the top, followed by the olive oil
Sprinkle with oregano and parsley and season generously with sea salt and ground black pepper
Cover the roasting tin tightly with foil and bake for approximately 30 minutes
Remove the foil and bake another 30 minutes or until the top has browned and vegetables are tender
Allow to cool slightly before serving
Enjoy!
If the vegetables have released a lot of juices, carefully pour them off into a wide pan and boil rapidly until nicely concentrated in flavour.

Pour back over the vegetables and leave to cool slightly before serving.

 

La macédoine de legumes / macédoine of vegetables in salad

Tags

bistrot cooking, classic french recipe, hors d'œuvres, macedoine, mayonnaise, salad, starter, vegetables

 

Macédoine is a salad composed of small pieces of fruit or vegetables. Vegetable Macedonia or Macédoine de légumes nowadays is usually a cold salad or hors d’oeuvre of diced vegetables served with mayonnaise. Of course, a good homemade mayonnaise will turn this simple starter salad in something quite special, so I highly recommend taking the time to make your own, if at all possible. I added a few flagolets or lima beans that I had left over to mine but this is not part of the classic recipe so I have not included them below. I wanted to serve my macédoine for lunch so included a few slices of excellent ham freshly shaved by my local butcher.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

350g / 12oz carrots
150g / 5oz long turnips
180g / 6oz fine green beans
500g / 1 lb fresh peas
Small bunch of chives, chopped finely
450g / 1 lb ham (jambon blanc de Paris) sliced thinly
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon strong Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine or champagne vinegar
3/4 cup / 180 ml sunflower oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Start with the mayonnaise
Combine egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl
Whisk until blended and bright yellow, about 30 seconds
Whisking constantly, add 1/4 cup oil to yolk mixture, a few drops at a time, about 4 minutes
Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup oil in very slow thin stream, whisking constantly, until mayonnaise is thick, about 8 minutes (mayonnaise will be lighter in color)
Cover and chill
Can be made up to 2 days ahead
Keep chilled
Salad
Peel the carrots and turnips, trim the green beans and shell the peas
Cut the veggies into small cubes
Cook all the vegetables separately in lightly salted boiling water, 7 minutes for carrots, 5 minutes for turnips, 6 minutes for the green beans and 4 minutes for the peas
Drain, plunge in ice cold water to retain the colour and allow to cool
Combine all the vegetables in a bowl, add chives and mayonnaise
Season to taste and toss lightly
Divide the salad between the plates and add a slice or two of ham
Enjoy!

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