Thursday, August 18, 2011

Fiesta-Style Roasted Vegetables

I have reached my year mark of this project to experiment with a new recipe each week. I slacked off toward the end of the summer, because I didn't end up doing alot of extensive cooking. My journey with food this year was amusing, therefore I am going to continue, but without any consistency. I have already picked out some recipes for the future, so stay tuned!

Fiesta-Style Roasted Vegetables


1 can (4 ounces) diced green chiles

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 package (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning mix

1 small bell pepper, cut into strips

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 small sweet potato, peeled, halved and cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 small red onion, cut into wedges

Nonstick cooking spray





Combine chiles, vinegar, oil and seasoning mix in large bowl; mix well. Add red pepper, zucchini, sweet potato and onion; toss gently to coat. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes to marinade.


Preheat oven to 45o degrees. Cover
15 x 10-inch baking pan with foil and
spray with cooking spray.



Remove vegetables from marinade with spoon; place on prepared pan.


Bake 20 to 25 minutes until tender and browned, stirring once.

Makes 4 servings (1 cup each)

Tip: Substitute yellow squash
for the zucchini, if preferred.



Recipe found in Incredibly Easy Weeknight Meals cookbook.




From my experience: I have cooked this once before. It it is a tasty way to cook fresh vegetables that are starting to reach their expiration since roasting shrivels them up anyway. I used a can of jalapenos, since my husband likes it hot, but I reserved a small portion for my daughter which I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar in hopes she would actually eat them (she did not). I also used different vegetables based on what I had in my fridge: 2 sweet potatoes, 2 yellow squash, 1 zucchini, and a half a carton of cherry tomatoes. Because I had more vegetables than the recipe called, I added an extra tablespoon of oil and an extra half of a tablespoon on vinegar. The recipe called for regular vinegar, but I used white wine vinegar, because that's what I had in my pantry. If you don't have taco seasoning, create your own. I use a palm-full of chili powder, and half-palm-full garlic salt and cumin. For this recipe, I doubled the servings of each. To make this recipe simpler, put everything in a ziploc bag. Then seal and massage to combine and distribute the ingredients. Let it sit in the marinade while the oven is preheating, which is about 15 minutes, then bake. You may have to add about 10 minutes more onto the bake time because sweet potatoes take longer to cook.

Leftover idea: I used the rest of the vegetables and mixed them with some cut up sausage links heating them in a saucepan. To moisten them up, I added a little vinegar and some Worchestershire sauce. To serve, we scooped a spoonful or two of the sausage and vegetable mix in a big tortilla. It was a yummy meal using leftovers!


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