I have been thinking about beets a lot lately. I don’t know why, but they are the one ingredient that has been inspiring me most this fall, and there doesn’t seem to be an ending to this state of affairs. I cannot get enough of the purple color, it simply makes me happy each time I cook with beets, and I think their earthy sweetness reflects the essence of autumn itself.

Here’s what I used:

• 6 beets, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 big carrots, scrubbed and cut into thick sticks
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chili
• 2 teaspoons muscovado sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

First, I preheated the oven to 200 Celsius, and prepped the beets, carrots, and garlic. Then I just placed all the ingredients in a baking pan and tossed them so that each veggie piece was covered with some spices.

I first roasted the veggies for 15 minutes, tossed them around a bit, roasted for another 15 minutes, tossed, and roasted for yet another 15 minutes. After this I checked the salt, and realized the veggies were done, so I turned off the oven. The rice we were going to have with the beets wasn’t quite ready yet, so I popped the vegetables in the oven that was still hot for another 10 minutes to keep them warm.

We got our monthly supply of organic flours and vegetables on Friday evening, delivered to our door by my dear step-dad – thank you once again!

Here’s what I roasted this time:

• 8 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut in chunks
• 3 big carrots, scrubbed and cut in chunks
• 3 small onions, cut in wedges
• 4 garlic cloves, each cut in 3 pieces
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper

After preheating the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, I scrubbed the potatoes and the carrots, and cut them in chunks. I prepared the onions and the garlic, placed all the veggies in a big bowl, added the rest of the ingredients, and stirred to mix well. Now, I covered a baking sheet with baking parchment, poured the veggies on the sheet, and baked them for 40 minutes in the middle section of the oven.

Marinating the tofu would be a good idea, since now it only had a mild curry flavor, contrary to the delectable vegetables. Next time I’m thinking I could just slice it really thinly, and place the tofu slices on a separate baking sheet. The milder tofu did balance the spiciness of the vegetables pretty nicely though. I snatched the idea of oven roasting vegetables in curried coconut milk from Urban Vegan’s list of 101 simple vegan meals.

Here’s what I used:

• 500 g firm tofu
• 8 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 200 g rutabaga (Swedish turnip)
• 1 big onion

For the coating:

• 1/2 can (200 ml) coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons mild Indian curry paste (we have Rajah brand)
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon dried chili
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 or 2 tablespoons lime juice
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons dried lemon grass powder

First, I preheated the oven to 250 degrees Celsius and lined a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Then I cut the tofu cake in 4 slices lengthwise, and pressed it while I was preparing the vegetables.

I brushed the root veggies, cut them in small pieces, and sliced the onion in wedges. Now, I mixed all the coating ingredients in a big bowl, and set aside a few tablespoons of the mixture to spoon over tofu while it was baking.

Then I plunged the tofu slices in the coconut milk mixture, and placed them on the baking sheet. I poured the vegetables in the coconut milk bowl, and stirred to cover each piece.

Now, I just poured the vegetables on the baking sheet. After 20 minutes, I spooned the coconut milk mixture I had saved over the tofu pieces, and tossed the vegetables around a little bit. I also lowered the temperature to 225 degrees at this point. Then I roasted everything for about 20 minutes more, until all the coconut milk had evaporated, and the tofu was nicely browned.

What I used:

• 1,2 kg potatoes
• 3 onions

Coating:

• 1/2-3/4 dl olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted & crushed sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon red paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce

First, I set the oven at 225 degrees Celsius. Then I brushed the potatoes, and cut them in thin wedges.

Next, I peeled the onions and cut them in half, and cut each half in three wedges.

Now, I just mixed all the coating ingredients, and mixed this with the potato wedges in a large bowl. I spread the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, and placed the onion wedges on top of the potatoes.

I placed the baking sheet in the upper part of the oven for 15 minutes. Now, the onions had started to brown, so I lowered the oven temperature to 200 degrees Celsius. I tossed the potatoes and the onions around to coat them evenly with the spicy sauce, and placed the sheet in the middle section of the oven. Every 15 minutes, I tossed the potatoes around. After one hour, they were nicely browned, and none of the coating liquid was left.