If there’s one thing guaranteed to get me back in the kitchen it’s a brand spanking newly turned Autumn. All those lovely warm, cosy soups, stews and roasts. And this seasons vegetables are just the best; pumpkins, squash, carrots, parsnips, onions, leeks, beetroot, celeriac. All the real sweeties and perfect for roasting.
People tell themselves funny stories when they’re faced with the everyday work of eating well. One of my favourites of that I hear often is this one: “it’s so easy to eat well in the summer – salads are so healthy”. Roasted vegetables are the perfect ‘salad’ for Autumn and Winter. Yes, there is ten minutes of chopping involved, but that’s pretty much it. Same as a salad.
A tub of roasted vegetables have become of a staple in our fridge again this month. These are my three favourite ways to prepare roasted autumn vegetables.
Three easy flavour additions for roasted vegetables
(take it as read that all three involve copious armfuls of veg, olive oil and a good grind of pepper)
- scatter with finely chopped red chillis and tuck very thin, deseeded slices of lemon among the veg (my current obsession, from Sarah Raven’s Food for Friends and Family book)
- chuck in a few sprigs of rosemary and a handful of garlic cloves (separated but unpeeled). Once cooked, squeeze the garlic straight from their skins into the veg
- coat with maple syrup and generous amounts of grated ginger (as inspired by Eat Me, Delicious)
The trick to successful vegetable roasting is similar to that for drama-free stir-frying. Cut your different veggetables to different sizes according to how long they will take to cook; smaller pieces for those that take longer to roast. It’s also helpful to give them a stir occasionally during cooking to avoid the tops of the vegetable pieces becoming overly charred.
It’s always worth making a big batch of roasted veggies. Once you’ve got ‘em, there are endless ways to use them.
- add a protein source such as meat, fish or tofu for an easy meal
- cook up a wholegrain to serve along side and top with a small amount of feta, chopped nuts or a poached egg
- Add vegetable stock or hot water and blitz to a soup
- Stir through wholemeal pasta, add a handful of spinach and top with a little grated cheese
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Sophie Roberts is a registered dietitian based in Oxford, UK. She loves combining her nutrition know-how with a sustainable approach to buying and preparing food and shares her tips and recipes here at Mostly Eating. 
{ 6 comments }
I agree, there is nothing like a bowl of roasted veggies. I mix them with pesto, or soup them!
oh yes, pesto is a brilliant idea. We’ve been using dollop of sweet chilli sauce too when we’ve needed some extra flavour (the kind that isn’t too sugary but keeps well in the fridge for several weeks)
I’m with you, Sophie, on enjoying this season’s vegetables & warm, tasty ways of preparing them. Lovely suggestions for flavouring them — the maple and ginger really appeal to me.
Gorgeous photos, too. I love how the colours of the autumn leaves are repeated in the roasted vegetables.
That’s an inspiring look at roast veggies, and I’ve been wondering what it is that you do with celeriac. I’ll try it roasted.
No wonder you’re not jealous of our Spring bounty down here, when you have these gorgeous roasted vegetables. I agree with you about Autumn being a wonderful vegetable month and I love the idea of the chillies and slivers of lemon tucked in amongst the vegies.
I find roasted vegies are a great thing to do at the end of the week, to use up whatever is left in the fridge. My most common way of making roasted veg is to toss with a north African spice mix, like chermoula or ras el hanout and then roast. And from there you can use them with chickpeas and tahini dressing in a salad or blitz into a gorgeous soup. Or I quite often just stir through some lemon juice and a fresh herb to have with whatever else we’re eating.
I’ve “discovered” roasted veggies just this autumn (I’m a little ashamed that it took me so long!) and have been obsessed with them ever since, specially with roasted broccoli and cauliflower. My favorite way of eating them (for now!) is in salad with a simple yogurt dressing. And with a lot of ground pepper. :)
Thank you for your suggestions, Sophie! They sound great, will have to try them. :)