Roasted Rooties

Now that the days of fresh summer vegetables are sliding into the rearview mirror, it can be hard to get in your recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies! 

Root vegetables are generally harvested near the end of the growing season, and store well during the cool months! Root veggies are high in fiber, potassium, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and vitamin C. 

(Pictured: candy cane beets before cooking.)

Comment below:
How many of these root veggies have you tried? How many do you still have to learn to like?

-Sweet potatoes

-White potatoes

-Onions

-Garlic

-Ginger

-Turnips

-Rutabaga

-Beets

-Radishes 

-Carrots

-Parsnips

-Celeriac 

Tips for Trying: 

Pair new or unfamiliar flavors with foods you already know and like. For example, if you know you love carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions, but aren't sure if you like turnips, roast together mostly the veggies you like and add a little bit of just one new one. The flavors will balance and play off each other and you'll form a positive association with the new food in your brain!

Roasting just about anything makes it caramelized and delicious- if you think you don't like a certain vegetable, try roasting it using the instructions below and try it again. (You could probably roast rocks with olive oil and salt and they'd taste amazing.) Remember that sometimes it takes 20 tries to start liking a new food (for both kids and grown ups!)

Roasted Rooties Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Cut all root veggies into the same size (about the size of dice)
3. Coat with a thin layer of heat-safe oil (avocado, safflower, or canola) and a small sprinkle of coarse salt.       
      Optional: add flavors such as spices (cumin and coriander!), herbs (rosemary is nice!), garlic, or ginger
4. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with shiny tin foil. Make sure there's space for each piece to get a little air on all sides- this will help them caramelize and crisp up. 
5. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or longer, tossing every 20 minutes. Veggies are done when they are all very soft inside and caramelized on the outside, just starting to brown.
   If you're not sure if they're done, toss them once more and let them go a little longer. 

tip: if you're roasting softer veggies (broccoli, peppers, zucchini) at the same time, give the root veggies a bit of a head start because they'll take longer to soften.