By LIZ WEINDRUCH
DavidsonNews.net

Put on your eating pants (you know what I’m talking about)—the nation’s biggest feasting day is upon us!

A few months ago, my office scheduled a Thanksgiving potluck for Monday of this week. I mindlessly put my name next to “vegetable” and figured that I could easily whip up something the weekend before—maybe those bacony green beans, or that corn soufflé that I’ve been wanting to try…

However, last week, when I was asked what vegetable I would be providing, I panicked.  All of my cooking supplies were packed away!  I was moving on Saturday!  How in the world was I supposed to find my oven, much less my cooking supplies, in what was sure to be a sea of boxes?

I am far too stubborn to surrender and pick up anything pre-prepared, and dumping frozen corn into Tupperware and microwaving it (someone’s suggestion), was just out of the question. I needed something simple yet delicious.  Something involving little preparation, and minimal ingredients. And this recipe meets all the criteria, using just fall veggies, olive oil, and rosemary.

Luckily, I found a good knife and my cookie sheets in time and whipped this up for lunch. I was even able to snap a photo with my iPhone! See recipe below.

Roasted root vegetables, made by Liz Weindruch.

Roasted Root Veggies

INGREDIENTS

2 large sweet potatoes
4 large carrots
4 parsnips
1 container pre-cut butternut squash (or you can buy and peel your own if you’re feeling ambitious)
1.5 red onions
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

*Note: You can sub or add add regular potatoes, celery root (this is particularly good but sometimes hard to find), turnips, or any other root vegetable that you may run across.

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 400.

Peel and chop all of the veggies so that they’re about equally sized. The smaller they are, the faster they cook!  Mix them together and spread evenly onto two foil-rimmed baking sheets (the foil makes for easy clean-up later).  Drizzle the veggies with olive oil—about 1 to 2 tablespoons per sheet.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.  Using your hands, toss all of the veggies with the oil and spices.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 35-40 mins, stopping about halfway through to toss the vegetables again to ensure that they’re browning evenly.  My oven is small, so I roasted for 20 mins with one sheet on top and one on bottom, and then rotated them.

*Note: As with most things, I get kind of impatient when I do this and normally end up cranking the oven to broil for 2 mins at the end. Works just fine!