Roasted Fall Vegetables: Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, and Carrots
This recipe makes a supersized batch of roasted vegetables, perfect for feeding a holiday crowd (about 10 to 12 people as a side dish), or feeding your family throughout the week. However, you can certainly halve the recipe if you don’t think you’ll consume all of the veggies in a reasonable amount of time. I think they taste best on the day they’re roasted, but they will keep for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator, tightly covered; days later, I will still happily eat them. You can reheat them on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes, or, if you’re pressed for time, in the microwave for just a few minutes.
Conventional kitchen wisdom would tell you to chop all the vegetables about the same size, so that they cook at the same rate. However, if you like your butternut squash more on the “firm” side, you might want to chop the squash slightly larger than the other vegetables, because it tends to cook a little more quickly (and thus can start to lose some of its structure) than the rest of the vegetables in this dish. As you’re chopping the vegetables, divide them equally between two large bowls so you have about the same amount of each vegetable in each bowl, and subsequently on each baking sheet. (Alternatively, you can roast each vegetable on a separate pan—or in its own section of a pan—if you want to serve, for example, brussels sprouts with dinner tonight and butternut squash in another dish tomorrow night.)
If it helps to make your life a little easier, you can chop all the vegetables ahead of time and refrigerate them (even overnight) until you’re ready to roast them.
Conventional kitchen wisdom would tell you to chop all the vegetables about the same size, so that they cook at the same rate. However, if you like your butternut squash more on the “firm” side, you might want to chop the squash slightly larger than the other vegetables, because it tends to cook a little more quickly (and thus can start to lose some of its structure) than the rest of the vegetables in this dish. As you’re chopping the vegetables, divide them equally between two large bowls so you have about the same amount of each vegetable in each bowl, and subsequently on each baking sheet. (Alternatively, you can roast each vegetable on a separate pan—or in its own section of a pan—if you want to serve, for example, brussels sprouts with dinner tonight and butternut squash in another dish tomorrow night.)
If it helps to make your life a little easier, you can chop all the vegetables ahead of time and refrigerate them (even overnight) until you’re ready to roast them.
Author: Wholesome Family Kitchen
Serves: 10 to 12 as a side dish.
Ingredients
- -- 1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
- -- 1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise (quartered if very large)
- -- 1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into 1-inch florets
- -- 7 or 8 medium carrots (about 1 pound), peeled and sliced about ¼- to ½-inch thick on the diagonal
- -- 5 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- -- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Divide the squash, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and carrots evenly between 2 large bowls. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil to each bowl and toss the vegetables so they are well coated with the oil. (I start with about 2 tablespoons of oil per bowl, then I add more if the vegetables don’t look coated enough, which happens sometimes if I end up with a larger squash or a bigger head of cauliflower than usual.) Season each bowl generously with salt and pepper and toss again.
- Spread the vegetables in a single layer onto 2 large rimmed baking sheets. (Make sure the vegetables aren’t too crowded on the pans, or they will steam rather than roast and you won’t get that crisp caramelization that makes this dish so delectable.)
- Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes, then remove the pans from the oven and toss and stir the vegetables around to help them brown evenly. Return the pans to the oven, rotating them top to bottom, and continue to roast the vegetables for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are nicely browned and caramelized on the outside and tender on the inside. Scrape the vegetables into a bowl, taste and adjust seasonings, and serve hot or at room temperature.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Food & Wine magazine, November 2009.
Recipe by Wholesome Family Kitchen at https://www.wholesomefamilykitchen.com/recipe-roasted-fall-vegetables/