Company Roasted Vegetables

I love recipes with generic titles - Beef Surprise, Noodle Casserole, Company Chicken. Typical church cookbook recipes, right? Now don't be fooled, I believe that church cookbooks hold some of the best recipes out there. I also think they hold some of the worst. But, some for weird reason, the title of the recipe I am about to share with you just fits. It's one of those recipes that's so simple, yet when company comes over for dinner they are instantly impressed. What more could you want out of a recipe? 

This recipe is the perfect way to use up all those veggies that are sitting in your produce drawer right now. I had a variety of veggies left over from when I made veggie lasagna earlier in the week.

Eggplant, zucchini, squash, onion, broccoli, cabbage, carrots. All washed, trimmed, and cut into large pieces.

The seasoning? Olive oil, herbs de provence (I make my own blend, recipe below), salt, pepper.

Roasted on a wire rack over a sheet pan for about 25 minutes.

You'll know they're done when they're just barely golden brown and tender.

Serve along side roasted chicken, a nice juicy steak, or for the non-meat eaters - grilled tempeh.

Company Rosted Vegetables Recipe:

Serves 6 as a side

- 6-8 cups mixed vegetables, cut into large pieces that are all relatively the same size.

- 3 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tsp herbs de provence

- 1-2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions:

- Heat oven to 400 degrees.

- Toss veggies with olive oil, herbs, salt, pepper.

- Spread vegetables evenly on a wire rack fitted over a large sheet pan (you may have to use two depending on how large your rack/sheet pans are).

- Roast for 25-30 minutes or until golden and tender.

Herbs de Provence Blend Recipe:

- 2 tsp dried rosemary

- 2 tsp dried sage

- 2 tsp dried thyme

- 2 tsp dried basil

(Of course, you could make a larger or smaller batch of this herb blend. I use this blend for a lot of things, so I keep a large mixture on hand)

Baked Potatoes with Cheesy Black Bean Sauce

We had some potatoes in the house that needed to be used last night, so I decided on baked potatoes for dinner. Now usually, a meal made of pure simple carbs would not be my first choice, but these baked potatoes were loaded with protein, fiber, and tons of vegetables - they're healthy baked potatoes! Now don't get me wrong, I love a baked potato smothered in butter, sour cream, cheese, and salt. But for a main dish, I thought I would spice it up a bit.

You know how baked potatoes that are cooked just right have that slightly chewy but soft texture in the middle? Mm. These ones turned out just like that, and boy were they good.

I didn't actually use "baking potatoes" (or russet potatoes as some would say...), I used a combination of red skinned and yukon golds. This was what I had on hand, and they worked just fine! They since were small, we each had two for dinner - the perfect amount.

I washed the potatoes really well (since I like to eat the entire potato, I like to make sure all the dirt and sand is removed), poked a few holes in them with a form, then rubbed them with a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkled them with a pinch of salt. Roll each one up in a small piece of aluminum foil, and bake at 350 for an hour or until tender.

Next I worked on the cheesy black bean sauce. This is just a basic white sauce with a little cheddar and a can of drained and rinsed black beans added in.

 Start by melting butter, then whisk in flour and cook for one minute. 

 Whisk the milk into the butter and flour mixture and bring to a slow simmer so the sauce can thicken. Season with salt and pepper, and add cheddar cheese and black beans.

Next, I worked on getting some veggies ready to roast. Broccoli, mushrooms, and onions. Chili powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. Toss until all spices and oil are evenly distributed and roast at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Once the potatoes are soft, the veggies are roasted, and the cheesy black bean sauce is prepared, pile it up! 

In addition to the roasted veggies and cheese sauce, we also put fresh spinach, salsa, avocado, and sour cream on our potatoes. The sky's the limit as far as toppings - grilled chicken would be great, black olives would be delicious, fresh cucumber would be refreshing. Customize and enjoy!

Cheesy Black Bean Sauce Recipe:

- 3 tbsp butter

- 2 tbsp flour

- 1 and 1/4 cups 2% milk

- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

- Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

- In a heavy frying pan or sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.

- When butter is melted, add flour and whisk until incorporated into the butter evenly. Cook for 1 minute.

- Slowly add the milk to the flour and butter mixture, whisking vigorously to ensure lumps do not form. 

- Bring mixture to a low simmer and cook until it coats the back of a spoon.

- Add cheese and beans to the flour and milk mixture.

- Season with salt and pepper.

Family Visit Recap

Jacob's parents and sister came to visit last weekend. Although they arrived on Friday, Jacob and I had plans to visit friends in Athens, GA for a concert - so we didn't get to spend as much time with family as we had hoped. But, we made the best of the one afternoon and evening we had by doing primarily what? Eating. Are you surprised? Although, our afternoon did started out with a walk downtown.

After we were frozen and wind burned, we decided to head back to the house to start working on dinner. We started things out with a mixed greens, grapefruit, and avocado salad - paired with a home made citrus and honey dressing. All of those things are my favorites. Best. Salad. Ever.

We tossed broccoli crowns and carrot strips with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roasted them just until crispy and golden. Topped them off with some freshly grated parmesan. Pictured alongside roasted baby potatoes.

The meal also included grilled flank steak with mushrooms and onions, and wild rice and onion bread. It was served on our (new!) kitchen table, which easily accommodated all 7 of us. The table story will be shared in another post, but lets just say that Jacob really pulled a great pre-birthday surprise with that one.

Great wine was drunk drank, and fun times were had. The night was finished off with some of this deliciousness. But you already know about that.

Andrew enjoyed the food and company...