Pearl Jam ~ Backspacer Album
Happy World Vegan Day folks...every year there are more of us...and we should be proud although there is still plenty of work to be done. But for today...celebrate!!
How I wish you could smell R&R HQ right now...it's divine. Roasted and caramelised veggies with hits of maple, lemon and thyme. I am so glad I found this recipe..lol. However I fear the food fumes may just kill ML..yikes! This recipe I found posted on line and its been adapted from One Pot of the Day by Kate McMillian but as I've never seen a copy of this cookbook I cannot tell you how much it has been adapted from her original recipe. I ended up adapting it a little more for my offering and I didn't use the 2/3cup of olive oil (blimey) but instead used 1/4 cup of Carotina Healther Oil which is packed full of omegas but I still shook somewhat as I poured it into the bowl. And my other adaption was using regular white onions in place of the suggested red ones, for no other reason that I had white not red. Oh and I also got posh tomatoes for my cherry tomatoes option...Mini San Marzano on the Vine no less..(only because they were reduced in price and they were being roasted..lol)...but they sure look lovely in the tray.
This recipe is not really hard work..only if you consider peeling veggies a hardship. I don't..even in my somewhat broken state. I just got my stool set next to the counter and sat slowly peeling although the cutting in wedges was a little tricky. Archie decided it wasn't safe to be in the kitchen with me at that point after a wedge of sweet potato went sailing a mm past his ear. lol. Ooops. He did decide however it was worth pinching it and tucking into it in the next room. lol. He has such a hard life our pooch.
Now the only problem I had with this recipe was the skip over from nicely roasting to whoa charcoal...lol. So for the last 15 minutes of cooking I covered the tray so the tomatoes had time to cook but stopped the other ingredients burning.
The results were interesting. Pumpkin and sweet potatoes are naturally sweet but for some reason that part skipped me (I'm blaming the massive bang to the noggin for this rookie mistake) so I was a little startled when I took my first test bite. But when the veggies are all combined in a single mouthful the sweetness reduces somewhat (Phew!) The onion, garlic and thyme pull it back somewhat to the savoury side...lol. It's a rich dish..and the recipe suggests serving it with a grain like Farro. I enjoyed it...and as there is going to be plenty of leftovers I'm thinking of making them into a soup too. But this dish is great for your orange portion of the food rainbow, eh? Next time I will also reduce the oil again because it can take it and it was still a little too oily for me...but that is just my personal preference folks.
 |
| Roasted Pumpkin, Garlic, Sweet Potato and Cherry Tomatoes |
Roasted Pumpkin, Garlic, Sweet Potato and Cherry Tomatoes
(Adapted from One Pot of the Day/McMillian)
1 small pumpkin or squash
2 sweet potatoes
2 red onions
2/3 cup olive oil (I used 1/4 cup Carotina Oil)
5 fresh thyme sprigs (I used a tsp of dried, then rubbed them over the veggies)
1 garlic bulb, top sliced off
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper (I used a liberal amount)
1 pint of cherry tomatoes (I used 12)
Preheat the oven to 200'C/400'F/GM 6
Cut the pumpkin into quarters and remove and discard the pulp and seeds. Cut each pumpkin quarter into 3 wedges. Quarter the sweet potatoes length ways. Peel the onions and cut into wedges.
Place the pumpkin, sweet potato and onions in a large bowl. Add the oil, garlic, thyme, lemon juice and maple syrup and salt and then toss to coat evenly. Then spread the vegetables out over a large parchment covered roasting tray. (This is where I rubbed the thyme over the veggies and then liberally grated black pepper) Roast until all the vegetables are golden brown and cooked through..approx 45 minutes.
Add the cherry tomatoes to the roasting tray and toss to coat with the olive oil. Return to the oven and roast until the tomatoes just begin to soften and release their juices...approx 15 minutes. (I covered mine at this stage to avoid charcoal) Sprinkle with salt and serve directly from the pan.
Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Friday has been a great one...
~Red~
