Roasting or baking vegetables on a sheet pan is one of the easiest ways to prepare vegetables. The benefits include:
- Little to no dishes to clean. Use aluminum foil or parchment paper every time!
- No fancy seasonings required. A drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper is all you need.
- No babysitting or active cooking. Put the pan in an oven and set the timer. If you’re not sure how long to roast them, sticking occasionally with a fork is all that’s needed to determine their done-ness.
- Cutting and prepping can be minimal. Based on the vegetable you’re roasting, you may not even have to cut or chop it. For bigger vegetables, you can often purchase pre-cut options to make life simple.
Here are a few of my favorite options that are so easy to toss on a foiled pan to roast while I figure out what the rest of the meal is going to be!
Roasted Cauliflower
When the bags of cut cauliflower florets in the produce section look nice and fresh, I grab a few for roasting. Rinse in a colander, toss on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper and drizzle with oil and salt and pepper. Toss them a bit with a spatula to spread the oil around and place in a preheated oven at 400-425 degrees for roughly 30 minutes. They will start to brown on top and a fork will penetrate the stalk when done. Have a small squash lying around? Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and make a space for it face-down on the same pan.
Roasted Mushrooms
A few containers of mushrooms can be roasted whole as long as they’re not too big. If your mushrooms are 2 inches in diameter or larger, roughly chop them into quarters prior to roasting. Most importantly, buy containers that don’t have a huge array of sizes of mushrooms for more even cooking. I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but toss them onto a baking sheet prepared with aluminum foil and drizzle with oil and salt and pepper. Toss them a bit with a spatula to spread the oil around and place in a preheated oven at 400-425 degrees for roughly 30 minutes. They will start to brown and soften. Cook to your desired doneness. With less roasting time they will be juicier, the longer you roast mushrooms, the more they will begin to dry. Mushrooms pictured include minced garlic.
Roasted Brussel Sprouts
In my opinion, roasting is the only way to eat brussel sprouts! They come out so sweet and savory. Rinse in a colander and pull/cut off any leaves or stem bottoms that are browning. If your sprouts are small enough, you may not even have to cut them in half. For most sprouts, cutting them in half is a good way to keep the cooking time down. Toss on a baking sheet prepared with aluminum foil and drizzle with oil and salt and pepper. Place in a preheated oven at 400-425 degrees for roughly 30 minutes. They will start to brown on top and a fork will penetrate easily when done. If the sprouts are sufficiently brown on top but aren’t finished roasting, flip them over to keep them from burning.
Baby Carrots, Sweet Potato, Asparagus
Following the same methods as above, there are some additional options that take little to no prep.
- Baby carrots are bagged up ready-to-eat. Toss them on a foiled pan with oil, salt and pepper. Roast.
- Sweet potatoes can be a pain but I often see this vegetable in pre-cut cubes which eliminates the prep. Toss them on a foiled pan with oil, salt and pepper. Roast.
- Asparagus couldn’t be easier to prep. Before removing the rubber bands, chop the bottom third off of the whole bunch. Rinse. Toss them on a foiled pan with oil, salt and pepper. Roast.
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Addie Kelzer is a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant. She believes that by making fitness and good food practical, her clients will hold the power to positively change their health and the health of those closest to them.