Recipe for Root Vegetables Roasted with Rosemary

I have a confession to make – I don’t like candied sweet potatoes. But I do love roasted sweet potatoes, turnips, and parsnips and their earthy flavor is a wonderful compliment to the heavy hitters of Thanksgiving dinner. The secret is to infuse olive oil with fresh herbs and then roast at a high temperature to bring out the vegetables’ sweetness. Check out my roasted root vegetables with rosemary recipe. It’s great for Thanksgiving dinner but it’s also a dish you can enjoy all year long.

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How To Make Herb Roasted Root Vegetables

Serves four to six

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 turnips, peeled and cubed

6-8 parsnips, peeled and sliced

1 head of garlic, separated and peeled

1/2 cup of olive oil

3-4 springs of fresh rosemary

1 cup of fresh thyme sprigs

3 fresh sage leaves

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roasted root vegetables

Infuse the Herbed Oil

Using an infused oil means you don’t have to spend time stripping the thyme and rosemary.  Rosemary can be very tough, as well, so this method extracts the flavor without leaving tough needles in your dish.

FIRST – put the olive oil into a small, deep sauce pan and place on low heat. The oil should become warm but not reach a simmer

SECOND – gently crush the herbs between your fingers, then put into the warm oil. Stir and gently mash the herbs into the oil until they are thoroughly coated

Allow the herbs to infuse the oil for at least 4 hours. The longer the herbs infuse, the stronger the flavor. If you choose to infuse for more than 4 hours, I recommend taking the herbs off the heat and keeping the pan in a warm spot.

While the oil is infusing, give it a stir one in awhile, and occasionally press the herbs.

When the oil has taken on the desired flavor, pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove the herbs.

You can infuse the oil ahead of time. In fact, you can make up a large batch of herb infused olive oil during the summer growing season and use it all year long, including for this recipe. Here’s a few other ways to Use Up Extra Herbs, too.

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Roast the Root Vegetables and Garlic

FIRST – Place the prepared vegetables and the peeled garlic cloves in a large bowl.

SECOND – Pour the herbed oil into the bowl. Stir to thoroughly coat the vegetables and garlic. The vegetables need to be completely oiled and there should be additional oil left to pool in the roasting container. If there’s not enough oil to give everything a good coating, pour in more olive oil. The herb flavor will still be strong and delicious.

THIRD – Put the oiled vegetables and garlic into a large, greased roasting pan. I HIGHLY recommend this cast iron roasting dish. Spread them out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.

FORUTH- Roast in the upper third of the oven for 30-40 minutes.   The vegetables should be fork tender with crisp outer edges.

Serve garnished with fresh rosemary sprigs

A few notes:

  • You can add or subtract vegetables, so long as the overall volume is about the same. Carrots and beets are both excellent additions or substitutions.
  • Any type of sweet potato will work, so feel free to experiment with different varieties.
  • The vegetables need to be cut to similar size so they cool evenly. Parsnips cook the quickest and turnips the slowest, so I often make my turnip cubes smaller and my parsnips cubes larger.
  • If you don’t like garlic, you can leave it out. Or if you love garlic, go right ahead and add more

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