Savory Sunday: Roasted Root Vegetables

Guest post by Shelby Smith 

Roasted fresh root vegetables is a classic side dish for any meal and is one of the easiest recipes you could ever make. The focus of this recipe is 'Danvers half-long' carrots. Carrots can be used in both savory and sweet dishes.  They grow in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. They are ready to eat as soon as they form baby carrots or you can wait until they reach their full mature size. Carrots are one of the healthiest options when eating vegetables -- they are packed with vitamins and can improve your eyesight and promote health skin.

Ingredients

• 4 carrots chopped into 2-inch-long pieces.
• 3 small potatoes chopped into 2-inch-long pieces.*
• ½ small red onion diced.
• 4 cloves of garlic crushed or minced.
• ¼ tsp of rosemary minced.
• ¼ tsp of thyme minced.
• 1 tbsp. of butter or oil.
• Pinch of salt and pepper.

*You can peel these or not. Also it is important to cut all the vegetables into uniform pieces for even cooking time.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Spread the chopped vegetables in an even layer in a 13-by-8-by-2 inch glass baking pan.
• Drizzle the oil/butter and cover every vegetable.
• Sprinkle the rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
• Bake for 25 minutes or when the vegetables are tender.
• Serve when ready.

The vegetables should be sweet and aromatic. This dish can be an easy main meal or a side dish for any main course. I would recommend this dish as a healthier side for kids, instead of French fries. You can also add other vegetables to this dish, like bell peppers or butternut squash. Enjoy!

"Savory Sunday" is a new weekly blog series with seasonal recipes from the garden.

About the Author:

Shelby Smith is a senior double major in multi-platform journalism and film studies at the University of Maryland College Park. She was a sports copy-editor for a campus publication called Unwind Magazine and a writer at The Campus Current newspaper at Anne Arundel Community College.