Roasted Vegetables

These roasted veggies can be made to go with Roast Lamb, Chicken, Beef or Sausages etc. Or you can have it with any other dish you fancy, for example pasta dishes. Or another good thing that can be done with these, is to make a soup out of the leftover veggies. It takes on a lovely roasted flavour.

Then, you can add whatever flavouring, herbs you like to suite the main dish you intend making.
For example, a sprinkling of spices, such as chilli powder, cumin seeds, ground coriander, etc. Or, you can stick to more Mediterranean herbs, like oregano, thyme. If you are cooking to go with chicken, you can add a Bay leaf. If for lamb, maybe rosemary. Whatever takes your mood.

What you will need:
2 Parsnips
2 Carrots
8 oz Pumpkin
1 stick Celery
2 medium Potatoes
6-7 small Onions ( OR 2 large onions.
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Bay Leaf.
(See below for variations)

1. Begin by preparing all your veggies. Wash and peel the carrots, parsnips, pumpkin. Wash potatoes (you can leave skin on or peel), wash celery and peel onions.
2. If using small onions, leave whole. If using large onions, cut into quarters. Chop all the vegetables into 1 inch cubes or chunks.
3. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, and add the carrots, parsnips, celery and pumpkin. Boil for 5 to 8 minutes so that they are only partly cooked. A knife should just about go through halfway, but still feel a little hardness in the center. Drain these veggies and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, you can either cook the potatoes in the same water used for the veggies, saving on water and salt, or you can cook them in a separate pan. The difference is, the potatoes may need a bit longer, till they are very nearly done. Drain well.
5. Drizzle a roasting tin with a little olive oil. Add all the veggies, including the still uncooked onions. Drizzle more olive oil over the vegetables, and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and herbs.
6. Place roasting tin in an oven preheated to Gas Mark 5, and roast for 20-30 minutes, till golden and crisp. Remember to toss the vegetables once halfway through cooking.
 

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Variation:
Italian/Mediterranean.
You can simply substitute the root veggies for ones like, peppers, courgettes, aubergines, mushrooms and tomatoes. You will not need to boil them beforehand, simple chuck the lot into a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Here, you can add herbs like thyme, oregano which work perfectly with these veggies.
You can even try making a lasagne with these vegetables. Just add a tin of tomatoes half way through cooking and continue cooking till tomatoes have reduced a little.