Hassle-Free Healthy Meal: Roasting

 Vegetables waiting to be roasted: eggplant, zucchini, portobello mushrooms

"Man who stands on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." - Confuscius 

For those of you that have been reading this blog for a while, you know that we are  utilitarian cooks. We're all about minimal speed, fuss and clean-up. So given that we don't relish making gourmet meals, why even bother?

• It's healthier - We know what all the ingredients are, and they are all fresh (only high-quality foods and limited oil & butter, bien sur)
• It's cheaper - pound for nutritional pound, preparing fresh food is always cheaper than buying prepared or processed food  
• It provides a connection - handling our own food makes us more mindful of it. We're more aware of it than when a plate of flesh and vegetables are placed in front of us for consumption.

One of our favorite ways to cook, especially during the winter, is roasting. Roasting intensifies flavors for hot comfort food, is super-easy, and warms up the kitchen. You chop, place the food in the oven, then leave it to roast for a good chunk of time while you get something else done. Lovely. I probably roast once a week and make a huge batch - it reheats well for later lunches. I also keep it in the refrigerator for emergency snacking.

What to do - Roast Food (And a Recipe for Roasted Vegetables)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop vegetables into bite size pieces. If you are roasting meat, you can roast it at the same time as the veggies. If you are following the special recipe, chop up an eggplant, 2 squash (zucchini or yellow), and 3 portobello mushrooms.
3. Put food in a roasting pan. I use any type of available baking pan, like a 9x12 brownie pan, or a square glass pan. If the food doesn't fit into one pan, divide it into two. 
4. Add whatever spices you would like. You can use rosemary, pepper, thyme, mint, basil, basically whatever you would like. For the recipe, add a few shakes of crushed red pepper, basil and oregano over the top of the vegetables. 
5. Coat with olive oil. Drizzle 1/3 cup over food, and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to coat.
6. Pop into the oven. If you are roasting vegetables alone, they should be done in 40-45 minutes. If you are cooking meat, refer to a cookbook for cooking times.  
7. If you would like to add a grain, cook up some barley, brown rice, quinoa or whole wheat pasta. If you need instructions on how to do that, leave a comment.
8. Pull roast out of oven after correct time, and add it to grains if you would like.  

You're done! You've made a tasty and healthy meal. 

Finished roasted vegetables with barley

What I ate: 14 oz. green juice, 1 banana, 1 clementine, 2 oz. almonds, 2 oz. pumpkin seeds, 2 oz. macadamia nuts, 2 oz. dried apricots, 1 c. brown rice, 1 c. steamed tofu + broccoli + mushrooms (resavored), 1 apple, 1 nectarine, 2 c. whole wheat spaghetti + Rao's eggplant sauce, 3 stalks sauteed broccoli rabe + shitake mushrooms + garlic, 1 hot chocolate, 54 oz. water

Exercise: None