Vegetables can be very boring to eat, but there are a number of ways to easily level up your cooking game. As the weather cools down, roasting vegetables is a great way to add extra flavour to your regular side dishes.
However, if you find that simply roasting your vegetables isn’t giving them enough flavour, there’s one ingredient you can add to elevate them further. Stephanie Ganz from Simply Recipes praised a particular type of dressing for its wonderful taste. All you need is a splash of vinaigrette.
She described the addition as a “revelation”. Stephanie wrote: “The idea to use vinaigrette for roasting vegetables came from my farmer friend Autumn, and in my experience, any time a farmer tells you the best way to cook something, you should listen.”
She added: “This brilliant suggestion inspired me to give roasted vegetables the vinaigrette treatment, and the trick has yet to fail me.”
A vinaigrette is a dressing made up of an oil and wine vinegar base, along with an emulsifier like Dijon mustard. Various seasonings can also be added to the dressing.
Simply adding a vinaigrette will take no time at all. To ensure you’re getting the most out of the flavour, you want to toss the veggies in a small amount of the dressing.
Stephanie recommended around one quarter of a cup, approximately 60 millilitres, of the vinaigrette per pound (450g) of vegetables. Before cooking the veggies, leave them for around ten minutes to soak up the dressing’s flavour.
Once ready, place the vegetables on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast at 200℃/400℉ for 15 to 20 minutes until “caramelised and tender”.
The cooking time can vary depending on the type of vegetables you’re cooking. Simply Recipe’s recommended vinaigrette combination includes chopped shallots, Dijon mustard, champagne vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
This can be easily combined and whisked together to emulsify the dressing. It works best with sweet potatoes and parsnips, very comforting veggies for the colder months.
If you’re cooking carrots, whole-grain mustard in the vinaigrette, while balsamic vinegar in the dressing “brightens up beets beautifully”. Be careful not to drown the veggies in the dressing as they won’t crisp up when roasted.
