Roasted Vegetables -- Oh My!

For roasted vegetables cut up whatever you have. It could be zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, eggplant, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash (or any other winter squash), carrots, okra, radishes, onions, whole cherry tomatoes, whole garlic cloves... If it's a hard vegetable like potatoes or carrots, I like to parboil them a bit before the next step. It helps them cook more quickly and they seem to taste a little better.


Next, put them in a mixing bowl and spoon some of your Missy's Special Herb Mixture  on it. Toss it or stir it around. Tossing is way more fun and makes people think you know what you're doing.

Add more herb mixture if you need to. I then add salt, pepper, cumin, ginger, liberal amounts of garlic powder and turmeric, maybe some chilli powder. Really just use whatever you want to try. If you don't have any of the “special herb stuff,” then make sure you add chopped rosemary to the other spices. Toss or mix it up again then put on a baking sheet. I like to prepare each veg separately so I can pull something out if it gets ready before the others. I do put the cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves throughout so they will almost melt into everything else.

If all you have is
salt and pepper, then use just that!

If you use okra, keep them whole or cut them in big or little pieces; all ways will work, but make sure you add it late because okra cooks more quickly than the others.
Cook in your oven at about 425 until things start to brown. You might as well cook two pans worth if you can so you'll have leftovers – maybe. Easy!

Rosemary Salt – For a Delicious Finish

 

 Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. It is wonderful on roasted vegetables and on chicken, fish, or shrimp. But here is a new favorite – rosemary salt! It is so simple to make and will add a delicious finishing touch to many of your favorite dishes. I like it best on roasted or fried potatoes and baked (or fried!) potato chips. I also love it on ANY roasted vegetables or meats.
This is one of the simplest things you will ever do!


You need:
coarse kosher salt
fresh rosemary

Gather fresh rosemary. If the stems are woody, strip the leaves off. If you gathered soft tips that you were able to pinch off with your fingers, then you can use stems and all. In a bowl layer coarse kosher salt and rosemary. You will use more salt than rosemary. Leave this uncovered just overnight. By morning the salt will have absorbed all the moisture (and flavor!) from the rosemary. Finally, put it in a covered jar, and it is ready to use!




     I like to use this as a “finishing” salt. By that I mean that after a dish is cooked I then add this last touch so that the flavor hits the tongue just right.  I often use plain chopped rosemary IN the dish as it is cooked and then add the special salt at the end for layers of flavor.

Missy's Special Herb Mixture

This is great for roasted vegetables or meat. (My daughter calls it “vegetable rub.”) You can also drizzle it on salad greens as a dressing. I drizzle it on sandwiches or on any kind of fritter. I sometimes mix a bit with Greek yogurt to make a creamy type salad dressing or to use in place of sour cream on potatoes or Mexican dishes. Truthfully, it will enhance the flavor of pretty much anything!


You don't have to have much of any one type of herb to make this concoction. And please know that this is not a “recipe,” it is maybe more of a method in which you can experiment and adapt and change to suit your tastes or what is in your garden right now.



Here's what to do:
Gather whatever herbs you have at the moment. What I use is:


rosemary (ALWAYS rosemary)
basil
lemon thyme
sage
crushed fresh garlic
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
If you like you can add some fresh hot pepper.





If you don't have all of these do not worry; just make it with what you have! If you have other herbs you like, then throw that in too. You can even do this with just one herb if you like!

Put the garlic in the blender first with a bit of olive oil and give it a whir. Then add everything else. You want to use more olive oil and just some lemon juice. (I started adding some lemon juice and salt because that keeps it from spoiling quickly.) Make it pretty wet. Whir it up real good. (How do you like that technical terminology?) Pour it in a jar and store in the fridge. That's it!

You can use this to flavor most anything.  You can drizzle it into a bowl of soup.   You can use it on any vegetable either roasted or sautéed or right on the plate.  I also enjoy it on fish.  This is also great in a vinaigrette

In any use,  I often use some in the cooking stage and then a little bit after the food is plated that way you get different flavors from the same ingredient.

*Note- I have started using more oil than what is pictured.  I love the flavored oil.

Quick! Pan-Roasted Tomatoes on Toast

Toast -- It's Not Just For Breakfast!

So often folks think they don’t have time to cook, or they think they don’t have the skills or the ingredients.  This meal is as simple as you can get, and it requires very few ingredients.  You can add more to it, but only if you want to and if you have the stuff.  Even though you may think of toast as breakfast food, this is a savory meal that will work great for a fast-food supper!

This is a meal that you can put in your mouth in 5 minutes!  

You Will Need

black skillet

fresh tomatoes

whole wheat bread

salt, pepper, garlic powder

optional - hot pepper flakes

Put a black skillet on the stove at medium high heat.  While it heats, cut the tomatoes into slices about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.  

(About the tomatoes — Use whatever you have coming out of your garden or whatever you can get your hands on.  Right now for this dish, I like to use Roma tomatoes (a paste type of tomato) because they don’t have as much water content.  But you can use cherry tomatoes and just slice them quickly in half or just regular eatin’ tomatoes.  If it’s a big slicing tomato, then you may want to cut it in half lengthwise first and then cut into slices.)

Put the toast in the toaster.

Add a little olive oil to the pan and then put in the tomatoes in one layer.  Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  If your skillet is hot enough, they tomatoes will brown on one side in just a couple of minutes.  Flip them over and season the other side.  In about a  minute or two, they will be ready to come out.  Put them straight onto the toast that is already waiting on your plate.  That’s it!  

Additions:

I like to add some sharp cheddar cheese to the top.  Slice it while the tomatoes are cooking so you can put it straight on top.  The heat will melt the cheese a little.  

You can also fry an egg and put on top if you would like.  If you choose to go this route, then turn the skillet all the way down and cook your eggs in the same pan.  

You can add a little of Missy's Special Herb Mixtrue to the tomatoes when they’re almost ready.