I do the same thing every year. I buy in far too much veg for the holidays and then am left with a surplus which I am trying to use up at the beginning of the new year. It's usually a whole lot, but not a whole lot of anything, if you know what I mean.
When I looked into my vegetable drawer yesterday I saw a whole lot of normal carrots, a couple of white carrots (Yes, I did say white. Apparently that's a variety. I got them in a veg box in December) a few purple carrots (see my last explanation) an acorn squash, a small to medium sized white turnip.a bunch of fresh thyme and a few other odds and sods . . . most not in quantities large enough to cook any one thing, with the exception of the orange carrots.
I peeled and chopped them into large pieces and added a chopped red onion and then I roasted them in a hot oven along with some garlic, a good grinding of black pepper, a few sea salt flakes, some olive oil and a few springs of that fresh thyme . . .
Then . . . I roasted them in that hot oven for about 20 minutes, stirring them now and then . . . until they were all nice and cooked through and beginning to caramelize. There is nothing so tasty as caramelized oven roasted root vegetables . . . and while they were making their magic, I cooked some wheatberries in some vegetable stock until tender . . .
And then . . . I tossed them all together in a bowl . . . the cooked wheatberries and the roasted vegetables and I added a deliciously tangy lemon vinaigrette . . . made with a couple of the lemons from my fruit bowl on the counter . . .
After that I added a few broken up and toasted English Walnuts . . . again leftover from our Christmas Celebrations . . . and a handful of dried cranberries, just for some chewy sweetness and texture . . . and I mixed, them all together, yes I did, and sprinkled some flat leaf parsley over top, leftover again, from Christmas . . . and then . . . do you know what we did???
We ate it. With large lumps of buttered crusty bread and some leftover stilton crumbled over top. And do you know what else???
It was very, very . . . very good.
*Roasted Roots and Wheatberries with a Lemon Vinaigrette*
Serves 6 to 8peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
a small handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
60g of dried cherries or dried cranberries, coarely chopped (1/2 cup)Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F. gas mark 7. Toss the diced vegetables on a baking sheet with about 2 TBS of olive oil, some salt and black pepper and the sprigs of thyme. Roast in the heated oven, on the bottom rack for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring them once or twice. They should be cooked through and beginning to slightly caramelize.
Once cooked, drain the wheat berries and toss them into the dressing, whisking it first. Add the roasted root vegetables, discarding any thyme branches. Stir in the cherries or cranberries and the nuts, if using. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Toss in the parsley and serve.
You may serve this warm or at room temperature. You can make it several days in advance, in which case you should store it in the refrigerator and then bring it to room temperature prior to serving. Do not add the nuts or parsley until just before serving. A bit of feta, blue cheese or stilton crumbled over top makes a nice addition!
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