respect the veggies

I happen to love vegetables, but I can understand why people get sick of plain ole steamed veggies. They're boring. And why is it that they're almost always over-cooked, leaving you with mushy, bland goop. No wonder so many people don't like vegetables.

Vegetables, like a good piece of meat, need to be shown some respect. You wouldn't cook a filet mignon until it was well done. So prepare your veggies properly and they'll love you back. And forget about steaming for a second and get creative. You've got an oven, a grill and a saute pan — utilize them!

For this recipe, we'll utilize the oven. Now, be aware, over-roasting can result in a similar result as over-steaming, but perfectly roasted vegetables are sure to make your belly happy. Throw some chicken into the mix and you've got a heart-healthy and tasty dish.

For this recipe I used root vegetables because they can stand the high temperatures and long roasting time. I had carrots, leeks, red onion, garlic and new potatoes on hand, but you could also use parsnips, mushrooms, rutabagas, beets, turnips, celery root or any other root vegetable you can think of!
After about 20 minutes of cooking my apartment smelled incredible. I can't say this will turn veggie-haters into lovers, but it's worth a try. As for the veggie lovers, welcome to heaven!

Roasted Veggies, serves 1 as a meal, 2 as a side

• 2 new potatoes, quartered
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 leek, bad ends removed, cut into 1" pieces*
• 1/2 red onion, quartered
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• beef or chicken stock as needed

*Make sure you clean your leek well, they are notorious for having lots of dirt in them.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Toss all veggies with garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes and olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Pour into a baking dish and roast for 20 minutes, stir them gently and add 1/4 cup of beef or chicken stock, return to oven and cook for 30 more minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. If pan starts looking dry, you can pour a little more stock into your baking dish. It makes a great pan sauce if there is any leftover!

To cook with chicken, add raw chicken seasoned with salt and pepper to the top of the vegetables after they've been cooking for 30 minutes, continue to cook for 20 more minutes. Don't worry about raw meat on the veggies, 475 degrees will kill any salmonella.
Serve chicken on top of veggies and pour any pan sauce on top, eat immediately!