Roasted Balsamic Vegetables

Part of the reason I haven't posted much lately is that I haven't had a lot of new recipes I've been trying, mostly because I enjoy cycling through a lot of what I've already posted (I'm also a creature of habit and tend to get into a rut). When I don't have much time to prepare dinner (which is most nights), I usually just steam up some veggies in my Pampered Chef microwave steamer. Easy and fast, even if it is boring.

However, I ran across this idea for balsamic roasted vegetables at Emily Bites and, given my recent falling in love with roasted cauliflower, decided to give it a try this last fall. This quickly became one of my regular rotations for vegetables throughout the fall/winter, and was what I brought to holiday family gatherings when I was asked to prepare some kind of veggie dish.

As Emily Bites points out, roasting vegetables brings out their flavors and, with some veggies, can carmelize them and intensify their sweetness. The balsamic vinegar and salt adds a nice contrast to these flavors. And, they look beautiful, too!

I did make a few changes from her recipe--I used baby carrots (easier and less chopping!) as well as white or sweet yellow onion (I don't like red onion). You could also toss in cherry tomatoes, slices of bell peppers, chopped turnips, or halved baby potatoes, I suppose (the potatoes would definitely add carbs, though).

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables (from Emily Bites)

Ingredients:
4 oz raw broccoli florets (from about 1 small head)
7 oz raw cauliflower florets (half of one large head)
8 oz raw yellow Summer squash, chopped (about 1 small-medium squash)
8 oz raw zucchini, chopped (about 1 small-medium zucchini)
Baby carrots, I used about 1-2 handfuls.
5.5 oz raw white or sweet yellow onion, chopped large (about half a large onion)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T Balsamic vinegar
Kosher or Sea Salt, to taste

1.    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly mist a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. (I like to line my baking sheet with aluminum foil first--easy clean up!)
2.    In a large bowl, combine all the vegetables and mix them together. Drizzle the olive oil and vinegar over the vegetables and sprinkle on your desired amount of salt. Toss to coat. Pour vegetables onto the prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes or until caramelized.

Photo from http://www.emilybites.com/2012/11/balsamic-roasted-vegetables.html