Roasted Root Vegetables

I love to cook foods when they are in season, but for us in Ohio, fresh produce is hard to come by this time of year.  In fact, unless it is grown in a greenhouse, there is virtually nothing fresh and locally grown in our produce department at the store.  However, there may be a few lingering root vegetables or greens that lingered on late into the season (it was, after all, in the 70s the week of Thanksgiving).  If you happen to have some root vegetables on hand, this is a really beautiful, simple way to enjoy your harvest.  In fact, no matter where your root vegetables were grown, they will benefit from this simple approach to preparing them.

We used this recipe for Thanksgiving this year.  It was the first time we had made the recipe for either my or SPH’s parents, and I think that this recipe garnered the most “this is delicious!” comments, although our chocolate peanut butter pie might be a close second.

Roasted Root Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 pound red potatoes, cubed
• 1 pound parsnips, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 pound turnips, cubed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place a roasting pan in the oven to preheat too (this technique will give your vegetables a most wonderful browning when you place them in the pan).
2. In a very large bowl, combine the potatoes*, parsnips, turnips, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary, tossing very well to incorporate all the components.
3. Once the oven is preheated, pour the vegetables into the roasting pan, spreading so they are in a single layer. Work quickly to minimize the time the pan is out of the oven.
4. Bake 20 minutes.  With a metal spatula, flip the vegetables, cook for 10-20 minutes longer or until the vegetables are slightly browned.

Serves 8-10.

*When cubing and slicing the vegetables, make sure they are of fairly uniform size, to ensure even cooking.