A few recipes to warm you and your kitchen

And they are easy as pie, actually much easier than that

It’s been brutally cold here in New York, and I have kept warm and happy by staying inside and cooking. I love having something roasting in the oven when it’s freezing and gray outside. 

I just made a favorite winter veggie dish, surprisingly for the first time this year. I had forgotten about it until I started looking in the fridge to see what I had that might turn into something tasty. I think I may have shared with you before, but if I could forget, I thought you might too! It’s healthy, low calorie, and adaptable to whatever you have on hand or like.

I found some carrots, red onion and a green pepper. So the next time I ventured to the store, I grabbed a yellow squash and some mushrooms, and there it is: roasted veggies. I used to make it without mushrooms, but not anymore. For me, they belong there, but for this dish you can suit your own taste and use what you like or have at hand.

You hardly need a recipe, but this is what I did: I put some olive oil in a roasting pan with salt, black pepper and herbs de Provence, added the cut-up carrots and sliced onion, tossed, and put in a 325-degree oven, giving them a 10-minute head start on cooking. Then I chopped the squash, mushrooms (I used baby bellas) and sliced the green pepper. I tossed these in a bowl with olive oil and same seasoning (careful not to overdo the herbs), and then added them to the pan that was in the oven already cooking. (The carrots and onion go first because they take a bit longer to soften to my liking. More later.) Wait 35-40 minutes or so, check to see if the veggies are done, and there you are.

I was talking to a friend about this dish, and she said she had just roasted onions, Brussels sprouts and apples with a splash of balsamic vinegar. Sounds delicious, and it’s pretty to get some different colors in there. There are so many options. If you have a favorite of your own, please share in comments. I would love to hear from you.

They are all delicious right out of the oven or at room temperature. Serve as a side dish, in a sandwich, or make a frittata.

Frittatas are not as complicated as many recipes make it, and you don’t have to use 12 eggs! Nor do you need an oven. The only important thing is that the veggies are pre-cooked because this is a fast dish.

For a simple frittata for one or two that does not use an oven for browning, heat some oil in a pan on the cooktop, add a cup or so of the cooked veggies until hot, and then pour two or three beaten eggs onto the veggies. (Leftover baked potatoes are great for this. Slice and line bottom of an oiled pan that is hot and cook potatoes till crisp.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover until eggs are firm, this is just a few minutes, and you’re done. You can flip it using a plate, so both sides are brown, but I’m not that fussy, though I have done it, and it does look nice all browned like that. Here’s a recipe that shows how to flip it from bon appétit. Frittatas are good as a light supper or lunch, especially with a baguette and nice green salad.

My version of the roast veggie recipe is based on one in an old cookbook I have on my shelf, “Diet Workshop’s Recipe for Healthy Living” by Lois Lindauer from 1995. I see Amazon has it available if you are interested.

It’s worth a look if you are trying to do some healthy eating, and it’s nicely laid out. You don’t need to be on a diet for this, either. It’s just a collection of easy, mainly basic recipes with a focus on healthy foods and quick prep.

Organized with categories including soups, fish, meats, pasta, vegetables, etc., it’s a good reference and offers some 200 recipes. I go online for a lot of recipes, but I love my hard-copy, marked-up cookbooks. (This has been one of my go-to books and with me a long time, probably since 1995!) Each recipe also has per-serving info, including calories, protein, carbs, fat, cholesterol, calcium, iron and sodium, if you like precision.

Go to The Kitchn for more ideas for mixing and matching vegetables when roasting. This site has loads of detailed information. Since veggies have different cooking times, it’s easier to stick to those with similar requirements, or time the addition of vegetables accordingly, like I did. In the article, note that Emma Christensen uses a hotter oven than I do, which I think is a bit risky for overcooking. But she gives a good breakdown:

Here are the estimated cooking times for roasting vegetables at 425°F:

• Root vegetables (beets, potatoes, carrots): 30 to 45 minutes

• Winter squash (butternut squash, acorn squash): 20 to 60 minutes

• Crucifers (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts): 15 to 25 minutes

• Soft vegetables (zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers): 10 to 20 minutes

• Thin vegetables (asparagus, green beans): 10 to 20 minutes

• Onions: 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them

• Tomatoes: 15 to 20 minutes

One more recipe from the Diet Workshop’s book: roasted garlic.

I typically hate garlic, so it took a lot for me to try it, and the first time I did, many years ago, I used a gift I had received, a ceramic garlic roaster. That is completely unnecessary and doesn’t work as well as the suggestion in this book, the basic method I use now. You may have seen this on a cooking show; it’s not a secret.

This is my version: Use a whole garlic head, slice off the top, leaving the skin on, and keeping the rest as is so it stands up. Add a tiny bit of olive oil and salt, wrap the whole thing loosely but completely in aluminum foil and roast in an oven heated to 350-400 degrees, for 45 minutes or close to an hour. You can roast alongside anything you are already cooking, but you might have to adjust cooking time (if the oven is crowded, it takes longer). When it’s done, squeeze the softened inside out and use it as a spread on some warm bread. You may be surprised how good it is. Very mild.

Allrecipes has some garlic roasting options for you: go here. The first recipe they share is almost identical to my version, but there are some others here, too, that include using a cooktop or air fryer. I might try the air fryer next time. Let me know if you make it that way before I do.

Enjoy and keep warm!