J – Roasted root vegetables take me back to the land.
Literally. Nothing else yields the depth and, well, earthiness of taste than simply roasted root vegetables. In this case, seasonal vegetables from Scrivner at Azolla Farm. I love going there. I’m not shopping … ’cause you can’t, unless you are a restaurant … I’m rediscovering how things really grow. It’s both refreshing and humbling.
Walking out to the fields with Scriv is a reminder that sustainable growing in large fields is not tidy like a home garden. From a distance it looks like a huge number of rows and small tufts of a thousand different green colors. With a pitch fork, he starts poking around, discovers multi-hued carrots and pops a few out of the ground. Then, we look for onions …
We also got some beautiful lettuces … but, I messed up storing them, as Christina wrote earlier. Mindfulness lesson: Just because it is going to be cold overnight doesn’t mean that small lettuce bunches will survive unprotected outside. Scriv laughed when I told him.
This dish can appear daunting at the beginning. What the heck am I going to do with all these rooty, dirty lumps?! At least I recognize the carrots. Fortunately, some cold water and trimming makes these guys much more attractive in short order.
The goal of peeling and cutting is to make each piece have a similar “volume” so they will roast evenly. When done, serve them all jumbled on a platter.
| Roasted Azolla Farms Seasonal Root Vegetables |
- 4 celery roots, cleaned, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
- 1 pound carrots, tops trimmed, peeled and quartered lengthwise
- 2 rutabagas, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
- ½ pound sunchokes, peeled and cubed
- Salt and pepper
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh thyme, stems removed
- 2 Tbsp butter, cubed
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place all vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle in oil. Mix well.
- Add salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Add thyme. Mix well.
- Pour onto a parchment covered baking sheet.
- Distribute butter cubes onto vegetables evenly.
- Place in oven and cook until all vegetables are tender. About 40 minutes.
- Serve.
- Enjoy!
Nice art. They were delicious!
Eating these vegetables reminds me of my human connection to the earth. I am grateful.