roasted root vegetables with rosemary

Happy Birthday, Blog! One year ago today I made my debut in the blogging world with a recipe for Red Wine Cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes and 68 posts later, I still really love putting figurative pen to electronic paper and tracking my successes and failures in the kitchen. Since I started Dulcedo for a mostly self-serving purpose (no more of those "Did I make this recipe already?" moments), I am continually surprised by all the people who write in to say they like it too. Your comments and emails always make my day - thank you!

Even blogs deserve birthday presents, right? This year my blog is getting a big one: a Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR camera. OK, maybe it's really just for me, and maybe my purchase of it coincides with the gradual puttering out of the Canon PowerShot s300 Digital Elph I've been toting around for the last six years. The point is that there is a new camera coming, which means there are better blog pictures on the horizon. The bad news is I'll have to cut back on grocery purchasing to pay for it, so there will be fewer blog posts. Just kidding. (That would be ironic though, huh?) I expect I'll experience a fairly significant learning curve as I move from the playpen of point-and-shoots to the playground of digital SLRs, so I'll be sure to share the highlights of this trip into the high-tech camera world so you can learn a little about them too.

In case you were starting to wonder if I survive on cupcakes and cookies alone, here is a recipe for the healthy file. I suppose it would have been appropriate to make a cake for this post, but to be honest, I'd choose a fabulous vegetable dish over cake any day. Well, almost any day. Anyway, these roasted root vegetables are so delicious that I'm going to include them on this year's Thanksgiving Day menu. They're unbelievably simple to prepare and they aren't messing around when it comes to flavor. I've left Bon Appétit's original vegetable mix largely untouched in the recipe below, but you can alter it to suit what you have on hand or available at your local store. Consider rutabagas, turnips, fingerling potatoes, leeks, anise, sweet potatoes -- so many options! I actually used a mixture of parsnips, celery root, carrots*, Brussels sprouts**, and red pearl onions. Next time I'll omit the celery root, since it seems that's not my cup of tea, and add more Brussels sprouts and garlic cloves instead. Also, I used a high-quality olive oil and salt (a fancy sea salt from Williams-Sonoma) in this dish because the simple ingredient list really allows the flavors to shine.

*I got the cool orange and purple carrots you see on top of the dish from Pike Place Market.

** They aren't a root vegetable, but if you want to use Brussels sprouts, prepare them by cutting off the ends, removing and discarding any yellow or loose leaves, and then rinsing the sprouts.

[This post was submitted for the October edition of The Heart of the Matter, a monthly blogging event focusing on heart health.]

Roasted Root Vegetables with Rosemary
Adapted from a recipe from Bon Appétit December 2001
Serves 8

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 pound red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound celery root (celeriac), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound rutabagas, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound parsnips, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
10 ounces red pearl onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup olive oil
10 garlic cloves, peeled
Kosher or other high-quality salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Position 1 rack in bottom third of oven and 1 rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Spray 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Bring a medium-size pot of water to boil. Place the pearl onions in the pot and boil for 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onions to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Once the onions have cooled, remove them from the water and pinch the ends to remove the skins.

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl (do not include the garlic). Add the rosemary and then pour the olive oil over the mixture and toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Divide vegetable mixture between prepared sheets. Place 1 sheet on each oven rack. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reverse positions of baking sheets. Add 5 garlic cloves to each baking sheet. Continue to roast until all vegetables are tender and brown in spots, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, 30-45 minutes longer. (Can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead. Let stand on baking sheets at room temperature. Rewarm in 450°F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.)

Transfer roasted vegetables to large bowl and serve.