Lately, this pan has become my new best friend. Weekly, it seems, a melange of chopped vegetables is finding its way into it with a splash of oil, a drizzle of balsamic, and some salt and pepper. Roasted at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or so, they make the most surprisingly delicious winter side dish. At our house, this is what January looks like: a humble and proud progression of root vegetables, a crusade to eat up our stored winter squashes, a happy reliance on our freezer. All summer and into fall, I can and blanch and freeze and store and label and plan. I wrap Macoun apples in newspaper and nestle them in boxes, carefully as Christmas ornaments, to be unwrapped for a midwinter apple cobbler.
This time of year, I feel smugly like a well-prepared squirrel, cozy in my hole with a surfeit of acorns. I love that feeling. I also love shopping farm stands all summer, and not buying jet-lagged grocery store produce in winter. It's cheaper, it's healthier, it's better-tasting. Pulling a pan full of local vegetables out of the oven in January feels like a magic trick--poof! Shazam, alacazam. Here we have defied winter, shaken a haughty fist at monolithic corporate farms, and sat down to a tasty meal. It rocks. 
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10 comments:
That's awesome...it is a wonderful feeling to have your very own winter stores!! The roasted veggie's look so yummy! Peace, Stephanie
Thanks for your comment! They tasted as good as they looked, too. :)
Curious if you just chop and freeze your summer veggies and then pull them out when you want them? If so, do you thaw them, or put them straight in that roasting pan? I'm tired of the grocery store winter wearies.
Cassandra,
It depends on the vegetable. Bell peppers, tomatoes, and fruits can go right in the freezer, as is. Other vegs like broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, and sweetcorn need to be blanched before freezing. A quick dunk in boiling water is all it takes to accomplish that. Last night, I threw frozen cauliflower into the roasting pan, and it worked just fine. Happy roasting!
I love it - both the food and the attitude! We've been hitting the root veggies pretty hard this month; they are so delicious!
Woman! I am on my way to your house right now! I really won't take up too much space. ;-)
There's plenty of room for a root-veg partay in my dining room, fear not!
oh, kristina ...
how i wished this very day while exclaiming over the high price of frozen berries at whole foods ... that i knew *how* to freeze the stuff fresh/local in summer! it's something i never have gotten around to doing ... maybe this year. you should write a book, you're always so full of good advice lol .... but seriously, share some of your secrets ... .i'm not so sure it's as simple as just sticking the fresh fruit into a freezer container or bag ... everything i do this to either gets stinky or freezer burned or ... .just gross overall. do share some of what you've learned when you've got the time! for now, i'll stock up in bulk on the frozen veggies and root veggies and fresh winter squash .... so i have to go to the shops much less often.
Karen,
Thanks so much for your comment (and for an excellent idea for a future post). I'd be happy to share some of my how-to. :)
I love roasted veggies! I am drooling as I read your post!
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