I love roasted vegetables. When you get that lovely caramelised sweetness, the only seasoning they need is some ground salt and pepper and a little sprig of fresh rosemary. On that note… I seem to be able to grow every known herb except rosemary.
Is it not supposed to be hardy and unfussy? Every rosemary plant I have had has simply given up on me for no apparent reason. Other than basil, this is the herb I use most often and I dream of having an abundance of them outside my kitchen. Please leave me some any rosemary growing tips you may have in the comments below.
Guinea pigs and food critics
Back to the matter at hand though, the kids aren’t always as keen on the roasted vegetables as I am. SuperDad eats everything, as he likes to proclaim, which is somewhat true. He also critiques everything quite thoroughly! Therefore I have a team of very honest food critics giving me their opinions on a daily basis and I have a great source of instant feedback, which is great. They have also gotten quite used to being my little guinea pigs.
I am lucky… scratch that… we have encouraged the boys to eat a wide variety of foods and they aren’t unreasonably fussy. We also don’t force them to eat things that they really and truly dislike. Wade, for example, doesn’t like boerewors or hamburgers. It could be the texture, because he doesn’t drink juice with particles or eat yoghurt with pieces of fruit. He will eat just about anything else.
Blake generally has an aversion to green vegetables (except when it’s in kale soup). Obviously, these are the very healthy ones so I do ask him just to try and if he really doesn’t want to eat it I will allow him to move one thing aside, but eat everything else.
There is one thing that breaks my heart and that’s the fact that they absolutely, hands down refuse to eat mushrooms. Like trained sniffer dogs, they will locate the tiniest trace of a mushroom and alert the food police immediately that mom is trying to poison them! I love mushrooms. I miss them in my life…
Something different with vegetables
About the roast veggies then… I thought I would try something different to ramp up the roasted veg and it worked like a charm! Everyone knows that when you smother stuff with cheese, they’ll eat it… so… mix in some egg and bake it and then add some cheese and the result is just magic. This entire dish was polished before you could say Harry Potter. It’s a must try for your food critics! I added some fried bacon into this particular version and it was a huge hit. I may have gone a bit overboard with the spinach, but hey, it was all gobbled up!
This meal is also low in carbs, high in nutrition and has no added sugar. If you love this recipe, feel free to share on social media!
Roasted Butternut & Vegetable Bake
Ingredients
- 750 g butternut peeled, deseeded, cut into 3 cm pieces
- 6 zucchini cut into chunks
- 1 large red onion cut into thin wedges
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 80 g baby spinach
- 90 g feta cheese crumbled
- 8 eggs
- 1/2 cup cream or milk
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 220°C.
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Line a large baking tray with foil.
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Toss pumpkin, zucchini and onion in prepared baking dish with oil, season to taste and spread out. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are golden and tender. Remove from oven.
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Spray a large oven dish with olive oil cooking spray.
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Place vegetables in oven dish and spread out. Toss in spinach.
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Sprinkle evenly with feta.
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In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk and season to taste.
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Pour over the vegetable mixture.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes, until set. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Serve with a side salad and crusty bread, or with baked fish, chicken or chops for protein options. You could also try leftover baked veggies – or broccoli, peppers and mushrooms. Recipe adapted from Food To Love
