Vegan MoFo Day 4: Roasted veggies

When I was growing up as a would-be vegetarian child in a family of omnivores, Sunday lunch was a particular torture. It was always roasted meat of one sort or another and for me there was no hiding place, as the family always ate together. I would take refuge in the roasted vegetable accompaniment and then sit for hours at the kitchen table with a plate of steadily congealing meat on the plate in front of me, while the rest of the family got on with whatever there was to do on a Sunday afternoon. As a teenager I took up iceskating because the local ice rink was only open to the public on a Sunday lunchtime, meaning that I could escape from the weekly Sunday roast nightmare. 

These days I rarely eat roast veggies, but today I had lots of root veg that needed to be used up so I decided to roast them. The purple potatoes I bought earlier win the week came with a recipe leaflet so I adapted my recipe from that:

Mixed Roasted Veggies

3 potatoes, quartered

2 beetroots, cut into eighths

2 parsnips, quartered lengthways

2 courgettes (zucchini) quartered lengthways

2 orange peppers cut into chunks

4 shallots, chopped

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

8 tomatoes

Dressing:

2 Tbsp olive oil

grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp garlic powder

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200˚C/400˚F. Cut vegetables and put them into a deep roasting tin, reserving the tomatoes until later. Sprinkle with coriander and cumin seeds. Meanwhile combine the dressing ingredients and pour over the vegetables, mixing them well so that all of the vegetables are coated with the dressing. Roast on the top shelf of the oven for about 25 minutes, add the tomatoes, mix well again and cook for a further 25-30 minutes.

I only cut my beetroot onto quarters and they were still rather firm. Never mind - there is plenty left for lunch tomorrow, so I put them back into the oven for a further 20 minutes and they will be really yummy tomorrow.

I served my roasted veg with some brown basmati rice, steamed cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts and sugarsnaps together with some cajun-spiced lentils.