The last time I ate a smacking good meal of grilled vegetables was back in February, at the Heroes Premium Burgers in Frankfurt, Germany. Everyone ordered the famously huge burgers except for myself; I chose a plate of grilled vegetables (gegrilltes Gemüse) at just 3.90€ to go with my bottle of Steini Beer. Till today, the mild sweetness and oven-grilled fragrance is still lingering in my mind.
Which is why I decided to roast vegetables this weekend; not grilled ones though because I don’t really have a proper grill pan or griddle at home. Roasted vegetables are also less of a hassle to prepare and require only the most basic condiments to taste – kosher salt and olive oil. Grilled vegetables, on the other hand, could involve additional ingredients to make the vegetables sizzle with fragrance, such as butter and balsamic vinegar. If done outdoors, the weather could dictate the feasibility of cooking this dish as well.
So, healthy roasted vegetables for now and healthy grilled vegetables… hmm… maybe next summer.
Ingredients:
- Big tomato: 2, quartered
- Eggplant: 2, sliced 1 cm thick
- Zucchini: 2, sliced 1 cm thick
- Red bell pepper: 1, quartered
- Green bell pepper: 1, quartered
- Yellow bell pepper: 1, quartered
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Freshly ground black pepper: to taste
- Rosemary: 3 small bunches, picked
- Thyme: 3 small bunches, picked
- Olive oil: 8 tbsp
- Lemon juice: 2 lemons
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- Place all the vegetables in a large baking tray without overlapping (about 4 batches of cooking required for this quantity).
- Sprinkle salt, pepper & herbs evenly over them.
- Drizzle oil over them. Toss to coat evenly.
- Squeeze lemon juice over the mixture.
- Roast in oven for 15 min.
- Turn the vegetables over. Drizzle more olive oil over them if they are starting to dry up.
- Continue to roast for another 15 min till soft and golden brown at the surface.
- Serve hot with roast chicken, bratwurst or couscous. Alternatively, serve cold with pasta salad.
Tricks:
- Chop the more fibrous vegetables (e.g. bell pepper) into smaller pieces and the juicier, less fibrous ones (e.g. eggplant & tomato) into larger chunks. This would allow them to cook more evenly in the same amount of time.
- Ensure that all the vegetables are coated evenly with a generous amount of oil to effect a softer and juicier effect rather than that of a crispy one.
- Do not slice the eggplants & zucchini too thinly as they would char easily in the high temperature.
Serving:
6 – 8 persons as side dish
