I love a good roast

The funny kind and the food kind. This post happens to be about the food kind. Because seriously? When you live in the middle of nowhere in a country where the sun rarely shines, there's not much more to do than cook and think about food, and plan menus and eat. This means that daily walks are now not so much of a pleasure but more of a necessity. But as the saying goes, you say po-tay-toe and I say-- well, po-tay-toe.

Speaking of which, I'm on a great roasted vegetable kick. Ever since C told me her perfect roasted veggie secret (you have to heat the roasting pan with olive oil in it BEFORE adding the veggies) I've been roasting more and experimenting with different preparations. Potatoes. carrots. parsnips, brussel sprouts, butternut squash, zucchini, eggplant-- you name it, I'll roast it.

Tonight, courtesy of Martha, I tried a new twist on the roasted veg: apples. Specifically roasted apples, butternut squash and cippolini onions on a bed of watercress. And yes-- it was as yummy as it sounds. I guess technically butternut squash is a fruit because of the seeds, though...

Riiiiiight. So this post is uninspired. Onto the recipe (you won't be disappointed):

Ingredients

• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 2 golden delicious apples, sliced
• 6 cippolini onions, thinly sliced
• 4 c watercress (or a package)
• 2 tsp good olive oil
• 1 tsp sherry vinegar
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Mix squash, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper (1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp pepper if you measure); spread on rimmed baking sheet
• In separate bowl, mix apples, onions, 1/2 tsp olive oil, salt and pepper; spread on separate rimmed baking sheet
• Put both baking sheets in the oven; apples for 30 minutes; squash for 40-45 minutes tossing each about midway through their roasting times
• While the veggies are roasting, toss watercress with 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange on platter.
• Once veggies are finished, allow to cool for 5 minutes; Arrange on top of watercress; Serve warm or room temp.

Easy, huh?

Bonus-- not only does it taste good, it's super pretty (of course) and perfect for the Autumnal weather.

Preeee-teeee

I like pretty food. Yes, it must taste good-- that's a given; but I also like to serve a pretty plate and that usually means a variety of colorful vegetables to brighten up whatever meat or starch is being served (much to MRN's chagrin). Even if I've made a classic meat and potatoes dish, I'll chop up some fresh parsley and toss it on top so I'm not serving some bland, grey-ish something. It's amazing what a little parsley will do.

Despite the absolutely abysmal weather that we've had this summer (have I complained about it enough?), I think we've managed to BBQ at least three times. This past weekend we had a rare day of partial sunshine, so out the BBQ came from the shed and MRN fired it up. I'd marinated pork tenderloin overnight (throwing caution to the wind that the weather report would hold...) and had mandolined my potatoes and chopped my fennel and onions for the potato fennel gratin and made homemade guacamole. But my favorite? The pretty plate you see here, all ready for grilling. Admittedly I was the only one excited for this puppy. But as I argued, everything tastes better BBQ-ed, right? And this looked even better once it came off of the grill. My carnivorous guests humored me and tried a little of everything (my favorites? The asparagus-- of course, the eggplant and the red onion, which gets deliciously sweet when charcoal grilled), but I pretty much ate the entirety on my own. I have to say though, I'm okay with that.