Vegan MoFo: Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Dinner last night was very pretty. Witness:

I decided to roast some vegetables in the oven. What you see is a mix of:
– Brussels sprouts
– Torpedo onion
– Carrots
– Red and gold beets
– Sweet potatoes (white and orange-ish)

Roasting vegetables is so easy and really quick! All you need to know about how to roast vegetables is:
– Cut them into roughly even pieces for even cooking. Sturdier things (like beets) can be a little smaller so they’ll cook more quickly.
– Coat liberally with olive oil. According to Alton Brown, this keeps moisture in the veggies and helps them not burn.
– Season as desired (salt, pepper, whatever) and toss in the oven for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Veggies are done when easily pierced with a fork.

In addition to being pretty and rainbow-colored, oven roasted vegetables are also delicious. As the boy said last night, “How are mine already gone? I tried to eat them slowly!”

We also had artichokes with dinner. I love artichokes and should have been eating more while they’re in season! Each of them was a buck a piece at the farmers’ market. Soooooo good.

How to cook/make artichokes:
– Trip 1/2″ off top and pointy things with scissors
– Trim stem
– Toss in a pot of boiling water for 30-40 minutes. Done when bottom is easily pierced with fork.

These are good with melted margarine/butter, but also with some soy sauce and/or lemon juice. I think artichokes might be my favorite food.

Go forth and eat vegetables!

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Knitting With Carrots is Hard

Thought some of you out in blog land might be interested in other shots from my photo shoot. Knitting with carrots is no easy task! I do think, though, that I ought to make knitting with various veggies a regular installment on this blog. Yes?

Let me tell you, this is not at all my natural hand position when I knit. I do throw with the right hand, but that’s about the only similarity. I always feel so graceful when I knit… apparently I’m misguided!

Maybe I’ll try knitting with celery next time? Beets wouldn’t be easy, but sure would look pretty.

There are some pretty giant fish in that pond. They weren’t too keen on carrot greens, unfortunately. They did seem interested in my yarn, though…

And just for fun:

Shot of the cute boyfriend in the wild, gathering sequoia seeds to grow into trees, while waiting for me to re-knit my swatch with a better purple yarn.

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