Norwitz Notions

This is so easy it’s not really a recipe. But it’s one of my mainstays and I refer to it so often that I might as well put it on “paper.”

My basic recipe is as follows:

Cut up a bunch of vegetables, mostly root veggies that do not release a lot of water, toss in the pan with olive oil, salt, and fresh rosemary, then roast until done.

I bake at 350*F if I am cooking something else at the same time that needs that temp, or if I’m busy doing other things. It is faster to bake at 450*F, but you have to pay more attention. With the lower temp, stir every 15-30 mins, more often towards the end. With the higher temp, do not go longer than 15 mins without stirring.

Use a large pan where the veggies can be in a single layer, preferably with some space around them (to avoid mushiness). It takes about an hour, so this is something best done when you have another job for the oven.

The picture below is a roast with carrots, rutabaga, golden beet, and parsnips. I often use purple top turnips and don’t usually do parsnips, but I had some on hand. The carrots are great for giving it some color. You don’t want a monochrome when serving a main dish that is also mostly one color. Fennel and leeks work well.

Red beets have too much water and should be baked on their own, but the golden work well in the mixture. Cauliflower is a good addition but will add a lot of water. Roast things like cabbage or mushrooms separately. Sweet potatoes and winter squash have flavors that don’t tend to mesh well with the vegetables above, but that is of course a matter of personal taste.

For a lower carb roast, avoid things like parsnip and stick to less starchy vegetables like turnip, rutabaga, fennel, and leeks. Carrots and beets have slightly more carbs but are still fairly low.