Purple and Orange Roasted Root Vegetables

10c scrubbed, chopped root vegetables

Today I used orange sweet potato, purple sweet potato, baby red potatoes, carrots and onion.  Cut these in appropriate sizes and shapes, remembering that carrot takes longer to cook than potatoes, so cut them a little smaller.  Put the chopped vegetables in a big bowl of salted, cold water, using about half a teaspoon of salt.  Mix to be sure each gets a little bath with the water the chloride + the sodium in the salt (NaCl) keeps them from browning.  Works wonderful for sliced apples also, when making pie.

Drain well in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.  Dry the bowl and pour in about ⅓c of EVOO, and season with a salt and pepper based seasoning.  Toss the vegetables in the seasoned oil, then put on a parchment paper lined jelly roll pan.  Use two pans for this many vegetables.  I made the mistake of crowding them onto only one.  They didn't crisp up the way I wanted since being so close, they sort of steam-roasted.  I can't give you an exact time either.  I'd say set the oven to 400° and when it's preheated, put them in and set the time for 12 minutes.  Take them out.  Using the overhang paper on each side, roll the vegetables to the center then rearrange them to be sure they're all coated evenly. Return to the oven until they're crisp on the outside and done in the middle.

It seemed I also used a little too much oil, which I corrected for this recipe, reflected in the amount above. If your vegetables are too oily, put them in a colander on top of a clump of paper towels. In spite of all this. . .they turned out well.

Cooking is art, but sometimes science prevails and teaches us a lesson 😊 This pairs nicely with meatloaf or grilled beef, chicken or fish. . .Lin