Roast It!

It seems I've been hearing a lot about roasted vegetables lately.  It started with my friend Brandy's nutrition blog.  My friend, Amy, was talking on Facebook about roasting asparagus.  I looked up some recipes on allrecipes.com and tried it myself.  Now, I know why everyone is talking about it.  It's because it's damn good.  I've roasted broccoli and Brussels sprouts (yeah, yeah, grow up - they're not as gross as you thought they were as a kid).  My conclusion is you can roast just about anything and it's scrumptious.  I'm going to try roasted Play-doh next.  (Elizabeth eats it, why shouldn't we all?)

Here's the gist of it.  Take two bunches of broccoli with the florets chopped off the stalk (that's right, I used the word "floret").  Place in a large Ziploc bag with 3 tablespoons olive oil (I use light olive oil, not extra virgin - something I learned from Brandy), 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper.  Shake vigorously to coat well.  Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet (with sides) or roasting pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, shaking the pan regularly or flipping the broccoli with a spatula.  Don't worry, they WILL get very dark, but it's the crispy, crunchiness of it that's so good!

If you're doing it with Brussels sprouts, peel the tough, outer leaves off the sprout, cut the white stalk off the bottom and cut the heads into halves or quarters.  The smaller, the better because they get more cooked and, as previously stated, crispy-crunchy-delicious.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm the only one in my family that liked these (well, my mom did, too, when she came over for dinner one night...).  But, I like them so much, I make and eat them all myself even when the other three turn up their noses.  The kids probably just need to be introduced to them a few more times to be convinced that the very darkness of them, does not mean they are burnt.  And, Shawn, well, he might be a lost cause.  He's pretty sure that most vegetables were grown by the Devil himself.  But, TRULY, that's okay!  More for me!