For Emer- Best Roasted Vegetables

My friend Emer calls these “Emer’s roasted vegetables” and it is her (I think) favourite recipe of mine. So, thanks to her noisy demands, here is the recipe. Hope you enjoy, Emer! 🙂

You need a BIG shallow dish for this one, the veggies do melt down a bit on cooking, so what seems like far too much, will I promise all get eaten. 🙂 I use a massive pyrex roasting tray for the job.

Emer’s Roasted Vegetables- serves about 4-6

500g baby potatoes, halved or sliced into 1.5 inch thick slices if big

2 large sweet potatoes (MUST be the kind with orange flesh- the pale ones are no use) cut into chunks same size as potatoes above

1 red pepper, deseeded, halved and then quartered

1 yellow pepper, as above

1 red onion, cut into 1-2 inch chunks

200g mushrooms, halved or quarted depending on size

150-200g good quality cherry tomatoes, whole or halved depending on size

4-6 garlic cloves, left whole in skin- I normally put cuts in the sides to release extra flavour

fresh rosemary, chopped, about 1 dsp (use dried herbs if you must)

3-4 tbsp good quality olive oil

salt and pepper to taste.

1. Preheat oven to 150C.

2. Parboil potatoes and sweet potatoes for 6-7 minutes. This isn’t essential but it does improve the way the dish turns out.

3. Put all the ingredients except the garlic in the dish. Pour over the olive oil and mix well to combine. Spread ingredients out so dish is evenly covered. Season with a little salt and pepper if required. Tuck the garlic cloves in around the dish.

4. Bake in oven for about 45 minutes, giving the veggies a bit of a shove around half way through! The veggies should be reduced by this point, the peppers will have a slightly charred appearance around the edges.

5. Goes well with everything from steak to salmon! Sometimes I serve with cheese to sprinkle. I will actually eat it as a stand alone meal on a cold winter’s night.

Chicken with Roasted Vegetables- Low Fat!

Bizarrely, it was my skinny husband who came up with this recipe. It’s dead easy, made in one pan and tastes amazing.

If you’re on a diet but noone else in your house is- like me- this is a winner, because you could simply cook some potatoes or rice for the other guys, and give them some cheese to go over it, whilst keeping everything low fat and low calorie for yourself.

The smell of this cooking is enough to send anyone to distraction! It’s gorgeous, full of colour and flavour, and you get a lot of food for the calorie count!

Also, I’ve given recipe amounts so that it will serve two, but it will easily adjust up or down as you wish.

Chicken With Roasted Vegetables- serves 2

2 chicken breasts

1 large red pepper

1 large yellow pepper

250g/punnet of closed cap mushrooms

2 medium sized courgettes (zucchini)

1 red onion

3-4 garlic cloves, left whole in their skins

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fresh herbs (or 1-2 tsp dried if that’s all you have)- eg rosemary, thyme, coriander etc

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Place chicken breasts in an ovenproof casserole or pyrex dish

2. Cut the peppers and red onion into 1-2 inch chunks. If the mushrooms are large, halve or quarter them. Cut the courgettes into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Put in a bowl with the oil and herbs, plus some seasoning if you want it. Mix together well so that the oil coats the mixture. It’s amazing how far such a small amount of oil will go!

3. Arrange the vegetable mix over the chicken, preferably so that it is completely covered. Tuck the garlic cloves in around the dish.

4. Bake in oven for approx. 30-35 minutes, until the edges of the peppers are looking a little charred.

Calorie count per serving- only 255! 🙂

That’s it- dead easy! Enjoy!