Garlicky Roasted Vegetables

A bounty of colorful vegetables, tossed with olive oil, peppered with garlic and roasted until golden. Gorgeous to look at, delightful to eat, and nutritious as hell.

And the best part about this recipe is that you can use ANY vegetable you want. No need to run to the store - use what's already in your fridge and freezer. Since we give some of the vegetables a quick "blanch" in boiling water first, starting with frozen is never a problem.

I know, I know, the blanching technique might seem like an annoying extra step, but TRUST ME, the payoff is huge. A quick bath in boiling water keeps vegetables vibrant and starts the cooking process so the oven doesn't have to do all the work. When you rely on the oven to get the veggies to the "tender-crisp" stage, some have little burned bits (especially veggies like Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower). Burned bits are bitter! Plus, you have time to kill while the oven preheats anyway!

Many vegetables actually DO NOT need blanching first, and those include carrots, green beans, asparagus, snap peas, zucchini, tomatoes, peas, and corn. Even frozen versions of these veggies can go straight into the oven.

About the garlic: I chose dried minced garlic here because it's already slightly toasted, which prevents burning in the oven. If you choose fresh garlic, that's fine, just keep and eye on things while roasting and toss the veggies halfway through cooking. Dried minced garlic is sold in the spice aisle near the garlic powder (it looks more like toasted flakes of garlic; it's not ground).

Garlicky Roasted Vegetables 

4 cups vegetables of choice (I chose broccoli florets, whole Brussels sprouts and sweet mini peppers)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons dried minced garlic or 2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (or use a large cast iron pan).
Blanch the broccoli and Brussels sprouts in a large pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and transfer the broccoli the prepared pan with the peppers. Trim the ends of the Brussels sprouts and halve them lengthwise. Add the sprouts to the pan with the other vegetables.
Add the olive oil and toss to coat (using your hands is easiest/best way to coat the vegetables evenly). Sprinkle the garlic over top. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until the vegetables are tender-crisp and golden brown.
Serves 4-6