Oven-roasted root vegetables (parsnips and carrots)

roasted parsnips and carrots

Roasting winter root vegetables is easy, and super sweet and delicious since the vegetables are in season, and cheap because you can buy the root vegetables locally.  Here I have parsnips and different colored carrots, including super sweet blood carrots that have a deep-red, vein-like skin.

Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper,various winter root vegetables (parsnips and carrots here)

1. preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Peel carrots and parsnips, then cut then into equal-length strips.
3. toss the carrots and parsnips in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper.
4. spray the bottom of a baking dish with nonstick spray, spread out the root vegetables on the baking dish and bake forabout 30-40 minutes.

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oven-roasted tomatoes

oven-roasted tomatoes

Hardly the right season, but I had some tomatoes that have been sitting in my fridge for forever. They look shriveled and sad. So I decided to make oven-roated tomatoes out of them. I was sitting alot at home anyway doing endless exams so it seemed like the perfect idea.

Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, thyme, sea salt, tomatoes (preferably Roma), pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 F.
2. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil.
3. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Spread them out in the baking pan.
4. Drizzle the tomatoes liberally with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle sea salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme.
5. Bake uncovered in oven for 4-5 hours. (I’ve seen recipes calling for 8, but I like mine still kind of plump in the middle)

It’s a great way to use up tomatoes that are slightly passed their prime. Also, your entire apartment smells like rosemary, thyme during the slow-roasting process. It was making my mouth water the entire time.

What can you do with oven-roasted tomatoes? they are awesome on salads with feta/goat cheese. They are also great on baguettes with brie (oh god, heaven.) You can also make pasta sauce out of them, though I’ve never tried. And they are pretty darn delicious on their own.

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Baked acorn squash with butter, maple syrup and pecans

baked acorn squash with butter, maple syrup and pecans

I had picked up some beautiful acorn squash earlier and they have been sitting quietly in the box at the corner of my kitchen. Finals have been killing me but I decided to make them one night. I love the comfort foods of winter. I have been craving stew, braised things, baked pasta and endless soup.

Acorn squash is one of those things that are foreign to me, I think I had them for the first time last year as a sample while grocery shopping. They have a mild squash flavor (as far as the squash family goes) and a stringy texture. They go perfect with maple, honey, sage and your other fall/winter flavor profiles. Oh, brown sugar would have been lovely too, but I was afraid it would make it too sweet, with the maple syrup and all.

Baked acorn squash with butter, maple syrup and pecans

Ingredients: acorn squash, butter, maple syrup, chopped pecans, salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut the acorn squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and skin the middle, creating a hollow bowl with each half of the squash.
3. Place the squash, cut-side down, in the baking pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes until they are tender.
4. Take the squash out of the oven.  Put about 1 tbsp of butter in the “bowl” and brush/spread it all over the flesh of the squash as it melts.
5. Drizzle maple syrup over squash.  Sprinkle with chopped pecans
6. Put the squash back in the baking dish. Place it on the top rack of the oven and broil on high for about 3-5 minutes.

I can’t wait for the finals to be over so I can go cook in my kitchen and play with my new kitchen toys!

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Roasted Mustard Chicken with Apples and Leeks

my dinner: roasted mustard chicken drumstick with apples and leeks

It’s fall! Well actually it is almost winter, but with the bay area weather nowdays you’d never know.  One of the things I’ve been trying to do is to buy locally, which also involves cooking seasonally.  So yes! apples (yes, even though u get apples all year round, they are really in season now).  This recipe is a modified version of the Roasted Chicken with Apple and Leeks recipe from Real Simple magazine.  The major difference is that I added dijon mustard and marinated the chicken overnight.  I think it helps so much with the flavor and the dijon mustard adds a nice tangy flavor to the dish as well.

You will need:

7-8 pieces of chicken thighs and/or drumsticks*
4 small apples**
2 Leeks***
4 sprigs of rosemary
2 tbsps of olive oil
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
salt and pepper

1. Mix chicken pieces with the dijon mustard 1 tbsp of olive oil.  Marinade overnight.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 400 F.
3. Trim the leeks (getting rid of the dark green stuff on top), the slice the leeks crosswise and lengthwise (mine were about 2-3 inches long). Clean the leeks thoroughly: I do this by soaking them in a bucket of water and let all the sand and grit soak to the bottom. Then I rinse the leeks once over in cold running water.
4. Cut the apples into quarters.
5. Toss everything together (chicken, apple, leeks, rosemary, salt, pepper, olive oil).  Then arrange everything in the baking dish, laying the chicken pieces, skin side down, on top of the apples and leeks.
6. Bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes.

Here are the before and after shots of the dish in the baking dish:

the mustard chicken with apple and leeks beforehand

straight out of the oven! roasted mustard chicken with apples and leeks

I thought it was really good =P The tartness of the apple goes so well with the mustard chicken, and the leeks, once softened, sweet and delicious! If you don’t want to buy rosemary I think you can totally do without it. Yum! I hope to make this again sometime this fall/winter.

NOTES:

* Obviously this is a personal health choice, but I think this dish really benefits from using chicken pieces with the skin (rather than skinless variety they carry in the supermarket).  The fat from the skin helps to keep the chicken pieces moist and also prevents the apple and leeks from drying/burning.
** You should make sure to get small, crisp apples.  The original recipe recommended Empire or Braeburn.  I prefer the Empire apples.
*** Leeks kind of look like giant green onions that you find in your supermarket.  I consider leeks to be in between your good ol’ yellow onions and your regular green onions, so if you don’t feel like buying leeks or can’t find them, you can certainly use yellow onions and some green onions.  Make sure to leave the yello onions and green onions in big pieces because they soften/burn more easily.

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