“Closing the oven door and swinging a tea towel over my shoulder is one of the most satisfying movements I make in the kitchen. I love the alchemy that takes place behind that door- how heat on its own- without you directing or supervising it very much- can turn simple ingredients into a meal.”
These words come from award-winning cookbook author, Diana Henry, in her latest book, From the Oven to the Table. This book presents simple recipes, where roasting- or dry heat- is used to bring out the best in ingredients. Instead of presenting complicated recipes of slowly building flavors through various techniques, Diana takes a “throw-it-in-the-oven” approach where dry heat transforms ingredients into golden, delicious meals.
I was attracted to her recipe Indian-spiced Vegetables with Lime-Cilantro Butter due to the colorful array of vegetables that are spiced with a blend of cumin, coriander, fennel seeds and tumeric.
I was able to find lots of colorful vegetables at the supermarket, including rainbow carrots, beets, both white and purple cauliflower, and red mini-potatoes:
After roasting the spiced veggies in the oven for about one hour, place some butter flavored with chili, lime juice and cilantro on top to add more flavor. (You can shape the butter into disc shapes, if desired).
You can take this stunning dish straight from the oven to the table, or serve in a large bowl. Add yogurt, chutney, or Nan bread on the side to make this a true feast!
Note: I’ve found that several of the larger, thicker vegetables, such as beets, work best if they are first pre-cooked in the oven for about 15 minutes (wrapped in foil at 375 F), before being roasted with the rest of the vegetables. This ensures that they are fully cooked when the dish is finally served. Pre-heat the oven to 425 F (210 C). Combine all vegetables in a large mixing bowl, and add the salt and pepper, minced garlic and oil. Toast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a dry frying pan on the stove top for about one minute, until you can smell the spices. Add to a mortar along with the turmeric and grind until the mixture becomes a powder. Add the spice mixture to the bowl of vegetables and mix all ingredients together. Transfer the ingredients to a large roasting pan or baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes at 425 F (210 C), tossing the veggies around halfway through. Prepare the flavoured butter: mash together the softened butter, red chili flakes, cilantro, lime zest and lime juice. Form into three round cylinders (alternatively you could just leave the butter in one mass without shaping it). When the veggies are ready, remove the roasting pan from the oven and place the pats of flavored butter on top of the veggies and let melt. Serve the vegetables in the roasting pan or transfer to a large serving bowl. Serve with plain yogurt, chutney and Nan bread.Indian-spiced Vegetables with Lime-Cilantro Butter
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8 Comments
angiesrecipes
April 14, 2020 at 2:53 amThis is DEFINITELY the BEST roasted veggies have ever seen! It must tasted amazingly delicious and gosh…the colour..I can’t get over it!
Mae E. Sander
April 15, 2020 at 6:53 pmIt looks delicious — many of us are pining for the day when we could go to the supermarket, or if we can still go to the market, pining for the days when supermarkets had a wide variety of produce and the aisles were crowded with confident shoppers. So much dislocation going on! But we need to eat.
be well… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
David Scott Allen
April 17, 2020 at 12:01 amWhat a beautiful vegetarian feast! The colors and flavors are simply wonderful. Thanks, Fran – with try this with some of the veg I get from my farmers market haul!
lisaiscooking
April 18, 2020 at 1:35 amLove that book! This was one of the first recipes I tried from it. Great flavor! The colors of your vegetables are beautiful.
Jeff the Chef
April 19, 2020 at 12:11 amThat is the most colorful plate of veggies I’ve ever seen. I love herbed butter, and your recipe for it sounds outstanding.
John / Kitchen Riffs
April 23, 2020 at 1:09 amNeat recipe. I roast veggies a lot, but never with Indian spices. Terrific idea — thanks.
Judee
May 22, 2020 at 1:04 amThe cilantro lime butter takes roasted vegetables to a whole new level. I especially like the medley in the mix. Thanks
Juliya
November 13, 2020 at 1:43 amThis recipe looks so delicious. I really love. Easy to make and understand recipe of spiced roast vegetables, thank you for sharing it 😘.