Don’t Fry. Don’t Boil. Don’t Steam. Oven Roast!

Growing up, I had a sort of love/hate relationship with vegetables. I loved them raw, but hated them cooked, mostly because my mother was a horrible cook, and she boiled canned or frozen vegetables until they were gray and mushy and gross.

I moved into my first apartment at a time when steaming vegetables was all the rage. I dutifully bought myself a steamer basket, and steamed my broccoli. It wasn’t very tasty without a lot of lemon and pepper.

A few years back, I was listening to a cooking show on TV, and they did a segment on oven roasting brussels sprouts. I was dubious, but since I sort of love brussels sprouts, I figured I’d give it a try. They were delicious! I promptly tried oven roasting some other vegetables, and now, it’s my go-to method of preparing just about everything I grow.

The Basics of Oven Roasting

Oven roasting is fairly simple, if you follow the same basic steps each time:

1. Prepare the vegetables by slicing into bite-sized chunks.
2. Toss the veggies with some oil (or broth, if you follow the oil-free tips below).
3. Season
4. Cook until crispy.

That’s it! Just follow those four steps, and just about any vegetable you roast will come out perfectly.

Keep These Tips in Mind

There are just a few things to consider before you dive in:

• Oven roasting works best with firm vegetables. Potatoes, turnips, parsnips, eggplant, brussels sprouts, green beans and broccoli work well. Summer squash and tomatoes work less well, because they have large areas of seeds and soft pulp.
• Choose your oil to match your desired result. For example, potatoes in olive oil are yummy, but they’ll never taste like french fries. You’ll need vegetable or canola oil to get that flavor experience. Likewise, okra tossed in corn meal, but cooked in olive oil doesn’t give that fried okra taste that cooking in vegetable oil does.
• Season well. Most vegetables just need some salt and pepper. Potatoes might benefit from some seasoning salt, or some rosemary . Broccoli might be tasty with some lemon pepper, or some powdered ginger and garlic. Think of the various seasonings used in delicious vegetable dishes. They can all be used in oven roasting.

Oil-Free Oven Roasting

If you’re really watching your added fats, you can ditch the oil altogether, and toss your vegetables in broth or stock instead. I buy small, one cup sized packages of vegetable broth, so I don’t have to open a large container to do a few servings of veggies.

Toss the vegetables in a quarter cup of broth, to coat them, and cook as you would if you were using oil. They’ll even get that nice, browned look to them!

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cut the ends of a package of fresh Brussels sprouts, and cut each head in half.
3. Pile the Brussels sprouts on the baking sheet, and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to distribute the oil over all the vegetables.
4. Spread the Brussels sprouts evenly over the baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees, until the edges are crispy.

Oven Roasted Broccoli With Lemon & Garlic

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cut the florets from a head of broccoli, and divide them into relatively similar bite sizes.
3. Pile the broccoli florets on the cooking sheet, and drizzle with a tablespoon of oil. Toss the broccoli to spread the oil over all the pieces.
4. Spread the pieces out evenly on the baking sheet. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, until the tips of the flowers are brown and crispy.
6. Squeeze a half a lemon over the finished broccoli, or sprinkle with two tablespoons of lemon juice, and toss before serving.

Are You Getting the Hang of This?

As you can see, oven roasting really is simple! You can follow the same four simple steps with almost any firm vegetable. Try these yummy combinations:

Asparagus can be trimmed, and laid out flat after tossing with oil or broth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Beets can be peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces, and roasted with oil or broth for 30-40 minutes. Toss with a little fresh orange juice and some thyme before serving.

Butternut Squash can be cut into bite-sized pieces, and roasted with oil or broth for 40-45 minutes. Try seasoning with rosemary, salt and pepper before cooking.

Carrots can be cut into coins or strips, and roasted with oil or broth for 30 minutes. Try adding a little agave nectar with the oil before roasting. Season with salt.

Cauliflower can easily be oven roasted, using the same method as the broccoli shown above.

Eggplant can be oven roasted into easy eggplant bacon! I posted my recipe for it here on HubPages.

Green Beans come out nice and crispy when oven roasted. Toss with oil or broth, and roast for about 20 minutes. Watch them carefully for the last few minutes, because the time between crispy and burnt to a crisp is very short!

Potatoes can be cubed or sliced, tossed with oil or broth, seasoned with salt and pepper, and oven roasted for 40 minutes. If you want your potato slices crispy, try soaking them in cold water for 15 minutes before tossing them with the oil, to remove some of the starch. Potatoes can be seasoned with every spice in your cabinet. My favorites are rosemary, or seasoned salt.

Sweet Potatoes can be cubed without peeling, and tossed with oil and a little maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper. Oven roast for about 35-40 minutes. Another way I like to prepare sweet potatoes is to toss them with oil, a little cocoa powder, and a pinch of chili powder. Spicy!

Faux Fried Okra

I live in Texas, where some people think all vegetables must be fried to be good. Okra is often dredged in corn meal and fried here—but oven roasting it is much healthier, and guaranteed to produce crispy, crunchy results.

Instructions

1. Line a baking pan with foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cut off the ends and tips of the okra, and discard (or, at my house, toss on the compost pile). Slice the okra into half inch disks, and drop into a bowl of water. Mix a cup of corn meal with a half teaspoon of black pepper and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Pull small handfuls of wet okra disks from the water, and drop them into the corn meal mixture. Toss until coated, then transfer to the baking pan, spreading out in an even single layer.
3. Spray the top of the coated okra lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees, until the outside is crispy and slightly browned.