More From Chef Richard (Who Steals From His Mom!)

Richard Fri Feb 26, 2010 1:24 pm

Howdy

I do not like cauliflower. And broccali is OK once a year. Otis hates sweet potatoes and yams. Just can't stand them.

This week I took a page from Mary Lee's cookbook (telephone with my Mom, that is) We tried roasting vegetables.

WOW! Broccali, cauliflower, onions, potatoes, yams, green/yellow/red peppers - neither Otis nor I could get enough. SO very good.

Here's what I did:

Cut up vegetables into small pieces. This means slicing a potato / yam / onion into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices (or for our worldly folks - 1 to 1.5 centimeters - I think) Cut up broccali and cauliflower in small flowerettes. Cut peppers into 1 inch (2 centimeter) peices.

Put potato / yam / onion in one bowl and the rest in another. Add enough good olive oil to coat each vegetable - use less rather than more. Add spices to taste - we used lots of lemon pepper, cilantro, a touch of salt, and a shake or two of dill.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place seasoned and oiled potatoes / yams / onions on a baking sheet (one with a rim - I cover with cheap aluminum foil for easy clean up) Roast for 30 minutes.

Add the rest of the seasoned vegetables to pan. Keep roasting until potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes or so) ... or screw up like I did and roast until potiatoes are tender on top and crunchy good on the bottom. (an extra 30 minutes for a total of one hour or so) REAL good that way.

Broccali takes the shortest time to roast ... but I add with the others. It comes out looking like wilted green nastiness - but it tastes wonderful.

OK, that wraps up this edition of In The Kitchen With Richard.

PS: My Mom tried my macaroni and cheese casserole with a twist. Instead of making a white sauce, she used a bottle of Alfredo Sauce. She loved it. I tried substituting Alfredo Sauce for basic white sauce in a rice casserole this week. I used the bottle of Alfredo sauce + I filled the bottle half full of water, sloshed it around to get the rest of the sauce, and added that "saucy water" to the pan. Real good and REAL easy. Leave it to Mom to simplify things!