Veggies

Warm Quinoa and Roasted Veg Salad

I have a million-and-one things I'd love to write about... but I only have time for veggies today.

Several weeks ago,  I was talking to a gal who mentioned she was a vegetarian. I asked her if she had a good recipe that would make Cauliflower palatable.

Actually, what I might have said was, When I get to heaven I'm gonna ask God why he invented cauliflower. There MUST be purpose in those white stalky vegetables without any taste, but I certainly don't know what it is...  Oh, and don't tell me cauliflower makes a good substitute for mashed potatoes, cuz I just don't believe it.

She was gracious when she asked if I had ever roasted cauliflower. Of course I hadn't, veggies are meant to be steamed right?  She said to preheat the oven to 450, toss some cauliflower in a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt  and pepper to taste,  spread on a cookie sheet with parchment and place on the highest rack of your oven. Roast for 10-15 minutes, serve, and watch your family eat it til it's gone.

Hmm, I said. Not quite convinced.

But I figured a girl whose diet is 85% veggies probably knows what she's talking about, so I came home and did what she said*, and that cauliflower was DELICIOUS. Even The Mister, who only consumes the vegetables I serve to be polite exclaimed, "These are good!"

The next night I did the same thing with broccoli... same story. Even the kids ate it willingly.

Now I cook ALL veggies this way: broccoli, butternut squash, sweet peas, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, peppers... the list goes on and on. I had always roasted potatoes this way, but had never thought to roast other veggies.

Our funny Butternut is next...

One of my favorite lunches is to cook quinoa in advance and keep it in the fridge. Mixing it with fresh veg, basil, lemon, salt pepper and feta cheese makes a yummy cold lunch. But today I wanted to try it hot, so I roasted broccoli, sweet peppers, yellow squash and zucchini, mixed it with warm quinoa and sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and feta... yummy.

*I added a little onion powder to the roasting mix, and when I'm feeling a little crazy i've used Lawry's season salt instead of salt and pepper.