Roasting Vegetables

In getting back on track, and the recent buzz about upping vegetable intake to lengthen your lifespan (always a good thing), I have been using my oven to roast a variety of vegetables. My personal favorite (at least currently) are roasted mushrooms (Baby Bellas) with sour cream/Greek yogurt and chives. Delicious and filling.

You can also simply roast almost any vegetable you have (again, almost is the key word). I tend to wash, chop, and mix my vegetables with extra virgin olive oil (amount depends on how many veggies I have), salt and pepper. I put them in an oven safe dish and roast for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees. I like to stir them every 15 to 20 minutes, just to make sure they don't stick. Also, you can always experiment with flavors and seasonings. Meaning, throw some cloves of garlic in or some delicious spice blends from your cupboard.

Roasted veggies are a great starting or ending point for your recipes. You can eat them right away, use them in delicious soups, blend them up as flavorful purees, or create your own dish. Think outside the box - for example, I will roast butternut squash and blend it up to include in my toddler's mac and cheese.

Baby Bella "Salad"
1 container of Baby Bella Mushrooms (clean them with a damp paper towel or mushroom brush)
2 tablespoons of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (your choice)
2 tablespoons of fresh chives
2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees (F).

Clean your mushrooms, remove the stem, and cut them in half. Add the mushrooms to a bowl and add the oil. Stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper (or whatever seasonings you desire). Stir to distribute the seasoning. Pour the mushrooms into a oven safe dish or pan. Roast for 40 minutes, stirring every so often. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut the mushrooms into quarters and add to a clean bowl. Add sour cream/Greek yogurt and chives to the mushrooms. Stir to coat. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

• Another variation on this (which I enjoy), is to leave the mushroom caps whole and once they are cool, fill them with the sour cream/Greek yogurt mixture. 
• If you have Chive Dip available in your area, this can be a great substitute. Also, you could mix the mushrooms with other sour cream/Greek yogurt based dips to achieve the same effect.