roasted baby vegetables

Well, I'm sorry to say... Sadie's been a bit at it again. In the mix with all of her wonderful Sadie things, there are constant demands, and there is foot stomping, and there are more demands. I just don't know how to help that girl out these days.
Last night, after being whisked away from a coming tantrum by a few aunties (thank you Molly, thank you Lissa!) to see some free modern dance in the woods, she returned, and without so much pausing to say hello, it all began again. You see, during her absence, we ran Rosie down to the ice cream shop, just honestly for a mellow treat for Rosie sans the demanding one, and Rosie just couldn't keep in the information. So, then it was hysterics on the lack of ice cream followed by an angry critique of what was for dinner.
What is this! stomp stomp frown frown.
Roasted baby vegetables, from the garden!
"Mom. That is mean and unnatural. These vegetables should be growing until their big. You are hurting mother nature with this dinner."
You see what I'm up against here?

If you find just the right farmer at the farmers market, you might walk away with a little basket of baby vegetables. Maybe little beets, or miniature carrots, or tiny cippolini onions. But honestly, this is reason number 456 to grown these things in your very own yard. Because the truth is, Sadie is right. Like other things that are tastier when they are young (oh, Sadie at 3!), baby vegetables should keep growing so that you can harvest them correctly and have lots of food and preserve them for the winter and all that. But tiny? They are worth the guilt of ending their short lives. I could (and I have been known to) empty my garden before anything is grown--I am that susceptible to the siren call of the baby onion.
And if I were really on top of it, I would have thinned everything beautifully, and I would have writing about baby vegetables earlier in the summer, when you're supposed to have them, and when thinning benefits those that stay to mature to adulthood.
But my garden is a wreck (I plead abdominal surgery), and when finally my friend Molly whisked me out to the garden yesterday before whisking Sadie away a bit later, I finally faced the jungle of thistle and grass and radicchio that I have going out there. And because of the sheer quantity of weeds (more work today!), every time I yanked an offending plant, there was often a perfect little baby veg hanging on to those weedy roots for dear life.
Hurray! Dinner! Although not, as you would imagine, for the big girl, who abstained for humanitarian reasons. And not for the little either, as she was filled with ice cream. And I call myself a mother. Ah well. More work to do. What would I do with my time if I wasn't so so imperfect?

Roasted Baby Vegetables

Combine any number of baby carrots, onions, beets, new potatoes, and peeled garlic cloves. Anything that is bigger than quite little should be cut down to match the size of the smaller vegetables. Toss with a glug of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until especially the beets and potatoes are tender.

roasted vegetables

Well the girls have suckered me into throwing them a dinner party. A party for just them. At some point during the tantrum that was being thrown as I was flinging some local pork product onto galettes before my last salon dinner party, I agreed to this. (Anything! As long as you are sleeping in thirty seconds!)
So tonight I'm making ice cream, and macaroni and cheese, because they chose the menu. And tomorrow, many little children will walk in my door, puzzled by the invitation to a "dinner party". It makes perfect sense to the girls (bubbly drink, little bites on the white platter, place cards) but everyone else seems a little confused. I guess most people have to brave their first dinner party at some point, but these lucky souls will get it sooner rather than later.
I secretly think that it will be fun. Hope that it will be fun. My mind and mood have not improved much from yesterday, but there's nothing like a party to snap me out of it. A dinner party. For kids. What the hell am I thinking.
If I'm still awake tomorrow night I'll tell you about it. But in case I don't make it, I thought I'd talk about roast vegetables for a minute.
They don't need much more attention than that, to cook I mean. You can basically roast anything, but general favorites include:

beets
potatoes
brussels sprouts
carrots
celeriac
kohlrabi


The key is to get everything about the same size. I have a friend who roasts every vegetable on separate pans to allow for different cooking times. My oven is too small for this. Instead, just taste every vegetable often, so that you have actually eaten half of the vegetables by the time they are done. Cut the vegetables and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay them on a parchment lined tray. Roast at 400 degrees (no cooler!) until they are done. They are done when they taste good, but if you're someone who needs a little more direction, you're probably shooting for 30-45 minutes. They should be a little burn-y on the edges, but still juicy. Well roasted vegetables are a truly beautiful thing, and you might eat them all before dinner. Don't say I didn't warn you.