Chesman - The Roasted Vegetable

2017 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

Text 2002, 2017 Andrea Chesman

Revised edition published in 2017.

First published in the United States of America in 2002 by

The Harvard Common Press, an imprint of

Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

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Digital edition: 978-1-55832-884-6

Softcover edition: 978-1-55832-868-6

Originally found under the following Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chesman, Andrea.

The roasted vegetable : how to roast everything from artichokes to zucchini for big, bold flavors in pasta, pizza, risotto, side dishes, couscous, salsas, dips, sandwiches, and salads / by Andrea Chesman.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-55832-168-3 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN 1-55832-169-1 (pbk : alk. paper)

1. Cookery (Vegetables) 2. Roasting (Cookery) I. Title.

TX801.C435 2002

641.65dc21

2001039593

Cover and Book Design: Megan Jones Design

Photography: Glenn Scott Photography

Food and Prop Styling: Natasha St. Hailare Taylor

REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION

How to Roast Everything from ARTICHOKES to ZUCCHINI, for Big, Bold Flavors in PASTA, PIZZA, RISOTTO, SIDE DISHES, COUSCOUS, SALSA, DIPS, SANDWICHES, and SALADS

Andrea Chesman

THIS IS A COOKBOOK FOR VEGETABLE LOVERS and vegetable haters. It is a cookbook for people who want to eat more vegetables but have had their fill of steamed carrots and stir-fried snow peas. It is for busy people who want to make more delicious vegetable recipes, without fuss and without standing over a hot stove following a complicated recipe. This is a cookbook for people who want to enjoy eating vegetableslots of vegetables.

When I started writing this book, I didnt know how much it would change the way my family eats. I never envisioned, for example, that my kids would eat roasted green beans as a snack food or that when I roasted green beans, I would need to allow half a pound (225 g) per person. Now that is a serving of vegetables and a striking contrast to the one steamed broccoli floret that many kids will eat only grudgingly.

Roasting vegetables brings out their hidden sweet, nutty flavorsmaking them extraordinarily appealing and wondrously versatile. This cookbook begins with techniques for very basic roasted vegetables to be served as side dishes. The rest of the book provides recipes for many of the delicious possibilities for combining roasted vegetables with pasta, rice, and greens and for using them on pizzas and in sandwiches, soups, and salads. A final chapter provides recipes for roasting nuts and grains to transform them into delicious granolas and trail mix.

Happy roasting!

THERE IS NOTHING DIFFICULT about roasting vegetables. All you need is an oven to supply heat, a pan in which to spread out the vegetables, some vegetables (of course), and a little fat to encourage browning. It is that simple. Over the course of roasting a few tons of vegetables, however, I have picked up some techniques that guarantee success.

First, a definition of roasting: Roasting is a dry-heat method of cooking. The food is usually cooked at a fairly high temperature in the oven and without the addition of a liquid or sauce. It is quite similar to baking, but generally roasted vegetables are cooked with a light coating of fat, which helps to brown the vegetables and speed the cooking.

All foods lose volume when they are roasted. But since vegetables are mostly water, they lose a great deal of volume. The first time you roast, you may be dismayed by the sheer amount of vegetables being loaded into the oven. Dont worryit will all cook down. Forkful by forkful, you will eat more vegetables when they have been roasted. This is a good thing, yes?