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If you haven’t given roasted vegetables a try you don’t know what you are missing! Not only do they taste great because roasting brings out the natural sweetness but you’ll love how quick and easy they are to prepare. All you need to do is a little advance planning.

Discover just how good vegetables can be!

That’s what I love about roasted vegetables. They’re easy to prepare if you have plenty of time for roasting or they can be prepared ahead of time and then simply reheated when you are ready to serve. This is particularly helpful midweek when time may be at a premium or you’re feeling tired and stressed after a long day of work.

You can roast just about any veggie but roasting works particularly well with root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and carrots. However, you might also enjoy broccoli, summer squash, winter squash, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, green beans, asparagus, cauliflower and others.

Here’s what you need to do. First preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then wash the vegetables and then cut them into even sized pieces. I like to cut bite size pieces because that makes them easy to eat. Depending on the size of something such as mushrooms they could be left whole.

You’ll also want to consider how fast the vegetables will cook. The heavier or denser root vegetables and winter squash may take longer to cook (depending on the size of the pieces) than say broccoli, summer squash, cauliflower, or brussel sprouts.

You could choose to cut the denser veggies such as the potatoes a bit smaller than the others. Or roast them on separate baking sheets and get the denser vegetables started first.

When all the vegetables are cut, toss them with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Then sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Over time you can experiment with adding other seasonings.

Layer the olive oil coated veggies on a roasting pan in a single layer. Avoid having the veggies be too crowded. Having a little space around each piece allows for greater browning to occur. Total roasting time will be vary between 30 minutes and 1 hour depending on what you are cooking.

When the veggies are about half done (15-30 minutes) stir them well on the baking tray to redistribute and expose all sides to the heat. When the veggies begin to brown give them a taste to see how they are coming along. Some people like crispy roasted vegetables and others prefer just barely soft.

Easy don’t you think? Roasted vegetables can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Serve them as a snack, as a side with a main dish, or let these veggies be a main dish in and of themselves when served over a whole grain such as whole wheat couscous, brown rice, or quinoa.

Preparing easy healthy recipes requires having cookware you can depend on. There’s no need to have a kitchen crammed with pots and pans and cooking utensils stuffed into drawers and cabinets. Keep it simple and have on hand a few select pieces and you will be ready to cook just about anything. One important piece you may want to consider having is either a cast iron skillet or a combination cast iron pan/griddle.

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Cast iron cookware makes a great investment because it will last a lifetime. It is heavy and very durable, the original nonstick cookware that works like a charm if it is well cared for. To keep cast iron in good working condition it needs to be seasoned occasionally. You can do this with a little oil and 2-3 hours in the oven.

To learn all that you need to know about caring for your cast iron skillet, griddle, or pan watch the video I have for you today by Rita Heikenfeld, a cooking expert. Enjoy!