“If you think something is ugly, look harder. Ugliness is just a failure of seeing.”

Matt Haig

These early warm days make me want to eat strawberries and snap peas. Every year it feels like such a long wait until that June day when I can smell the strawberries as I’m walking to the farmers’ market. For now, there are still root vegetables. I still have some that I grew in my own backyard and stored until now. Something about that makes me feel powerful.

Despite my spring food fantasies, I love root vegetables. I am enamored by the array of bright colors underneath all that tough skin, like they are hiding some memory of the late September sun in their very flesh. By mid-January, the whole process of choosing combinations of vegetables, scrubbing, peeling, chopping, and roasting is part of the weekly rhythm of my life. I happily eat roasted roots by the bowlful with nothing more than a sprinkle of salt but I also like to experiment with various herbs and spices. By mid-March, the sage and thyme are putting out new growth and need to be pruned. These woody herbs make excellent partners for root vegetables.

Leftover roasted roots are fantastically versatile. Perhaps the simplest transformation is to blend them with a bit of broth for soup. They can also be used in a savory crostata or frittata. Toss them with pasta or into a salad, serve them as part of a grain bowl, or eat them with toast and an egg on top. So many wonderful ends for such humble vegetables.

roasted root vegetables with goat cheese and balsamic vinegar

Recipe by KeriCourse: Lunch, DinnerDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

• 6 cups of your choice of carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, beets

• 1 large onion

• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (you can also use olive oil, but I like how the flavors of the vegetables shine more with a more neutral oil)

• 4-6 sprigs of thyme, rosemary, and/or sage

• 1-2 tsp kosher or sea salt

• 1/2 cup fresh goat cheese

• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Scrub and peel root vegetables. Chop into bite-sized pieces- approximately 3/4 in. Peel and chop onion into pieces slightly larger than the root vegetables.
• Place all of the chopped vegetables into a bowl and toss with oil, salt, and herbs. Spread into an even layer on 2 sheet pans.
• Roast for 25 minutes. Toss vegetables with a spatula then rotate the pans (top to bottom and front to back) then roast for 20 minutes more or until the vegetables are golden and easily pierced all the way through with a knife.
• Serve sprinkled with the goat cheese and balsamic vinegar.