Oven Roasted Vegetables with Sage and Thyme
Did you know that eating the right foods can help you feel more energetic and contribute to a good mood? According to Joy Bauer’s Food Cures, high quality carbohydrates and protein (found primarily in plant foods) contain vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that help contribute to a good mood. These include whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Among the high quality carbohydrate vegetables that Joy Bauer suggests can help boost your mood are vegetables that are in season right now — brussels sprouts, cabbage, beets, carrots, cauliflower, dark leafy green vegetables, sweet potatoes, winter squash, parsnips, and onions. Everyone can use a dish that boosts their mood, right?
Fortunately, my CSA Box has been filled with high quality carbohydrate vegetables lately (carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, winter squash, onions, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale), including one lone celeriac or celery root.
Celeriac is a gnarly looking root, full of crags and crannies, not the prettiest vegetable I’ve ever seen. I wonder how anyone even thought it was edible based on looks alone. But then, I’ve learned not to judge anything or any person by their exterior…it’s the inside that counts.
Peeled Celeriac
Celeriac, also known as celery root, is not only high in vitamin K, but is also a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, phophorus, potassium, manganese and dietary fiber. See, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. This ugly vegetable is chock full of vitamins and minerals.
I reached out to my facebook friends and asked what to do with this lone knob of celeriac? The two most popular ideas were to serve this vegetable mashed like potatoes, or roasted. Since I had such a large assortment of root vegetables (celeriac, carrots, sweet potatoes, red and yellow beets, onions), an acorn squash, and some fresh sage and thyme on hand, I decided to go down the roasting route.
My kids love Roasted Cauliflower and Potatoes, and they’ve had Roasted Broccoli and Cherry Tomatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts before, so figured if I tossed an assortment of vegetables together, they’d be bound to like some of them. I knew they liked carrots, sweet potatoes, beets and acorn squash, but they had never tried celeriac, so I was curious to see whether they would pick out this new vegetable. That’s one thing I’ve really loved about joining a CSA this year…we have been coerced into trying a wider variety of vegetables than I typically would buy at the supermarket or farmer’s market. Since I don’t get to choose what comes in my CSA Box, and I hate throwing any food out, my family has eaten more vegetables this season than in years past.
This recipe is so easy, I almost wasn’t going to post it, but it came out so pretty, I just wanted to share it with you. You can use any assortment of root vegetables and any winter squash varieties. Brussels sprouts would also be nice. I actually got some brussels sprouts in my CSA Box, but they were so tiny that I was afraid they would be overcooked by the time the other vegetables were done. The trick is to make sure all the vegetables are roughly the same size so they cook in the same amount of time. Just a few glugs of olive oil, some sprigs of fresh thyme and sage (dried would be fine) thrown on top, a few shakes of salt and pepper, and a drizzle or two of maple syrup, and you can have this gorgeous jewel-toned dish of fresh roasted vegetables on your table in no time. In fact, I think I will be adding this to my holiday menu, perfect for entertaining a large group of guests over the upcoming holidays.
Roasted Root Vegetables
You want to have about 9 cups of vegetables in total. Roasting vegetables sweetens them, so the maple syrup is strictly optional. I just drizzled some on to make them more kid-friendly. Some balsamic vinegar would also be nice with these roasted vegetables. Feel free to use whatever proportions of root vegetables and winter squash you have on hand.
Ingredients
- 2 carrots peeled, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1 celeriac peeled, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 2 beets peeled, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1 sweet potato peeled, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1/2 butternut squash peeled, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1 onion peeled, sliced
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs
- 4 fresh sage leaves
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- maple syrup to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
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Cut up all the root vegetables and squash into approximately equal size pieces. I cut them into roughly 1/2" pieces (except the beets which I sliced thinner since they seem to take longer to get tender). Put root vegetables, squash and onion in a large bowl.
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Add olive oil, sage, and thyme to the bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat all the vegetables.
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Spread vegetables on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer.
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Bake 30-40 minutes until tender.
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Drizzle with maple syrup, to taste.
Recipe Notes
Parsnips and acorn squash or other winter squash would be nice too.
I love vegetables and roasted is even better with me. I’ve never had the celery root, sounds interesting. They all look so pretty, very colorful and fall like 🙂
Celery root is interesting…it reminds me of carrot in texture but smells a bit like celery.
This is truly one of my favorite fall dishes. That photo of celery roots with its snarly end is fantastic!
Thanks Sommer – I have to say it’s not the most attractive vegetable, but it’s so good for you, who can resist at least giving it a try.
I roast almost all root vegetables this week, and like you, I love to mix them together in a colorful melange. In the summer I like to shred the raw celeriac finely and toss it with a mustard-based dressing, which helps to tenderize it.
I do like the naturally beautiful color of all these root vegetables. So interesting, I wouldn’t have thought to try it raw…sounds a bit like a carrot salad – great idea!
this just screams fall!!! looks fabulous!
Thanks Cheryl – these are natural fall colors aren’t they? Reminds me of the change in the color of the leaves.
These are perfect for Thanksgiving! It may be going on my menu 🙂
I agree Alison – this would be an easy side dish to make for a large crowd, and very festive looking with all the jewel toned veggies.
love fall roasted veggies, rosemary is one of my favs besides thyme!
Rosemary would be nice too – that’s another of my favorite fall herbs for roasting vegetables.
I’ve never cooked celeriac, but I love any type of roasted vegetables.
I probably wouldn’t have tried celeriac except it was in my CSA Box. It’s an interesting vegetable – I liked it in this medley of mixed roasted vegetables, it’s savory so a nice counterbalance to the sweet potatoes, winter squash and carrots.
I love the fall vegetables with sage! Great pictures!
My grandmother always used to throw celery root in her soups and it was one of my favorite additions. I think it’s a much underused vegetable.
Sylvie – I totally agree – I think its gnarly appearance makes it somewhat intimidating at first..I know if it were not in my CSA Box I probably would never have picked it up from the grocery store or farmer’s market. It is certainly an interesting vegetable, and I am thankful that I got one to try.
ooo i love roasted veggies! thyme is my fav seasoning for roasting. 🙂 love the touch of maple syrup! great recipe jeanette!
Hi Junia, just thinking about you! Hope you’re well. Thyme and maple syrup…you can’t go wrong!
Unfortunately, celeriac is the one root veggie that I really don’t like…tastes too much like celery for me! But I love all of these other root veggies and plan on eating hoards of them this winter…guess I’ll be super happy also? Then again…having a huge plate of roasted veggies placed in front of me ALWAYS makes me happy. Yum!
Celeriac definitely has that celery taste, so if you don’t like celery, you won’t like celeriac, so I would just leave it out and use your favorite root vegetables 😉
I have never had celeriac…but I’ll be giving it a try now that I know what to do with it. I love roasted root veggies! I make them all the time and even my finicky husband will eat most of them.
I’m new to celeriac myself – sounds like roasting them or pureeing them like mashed potatoes are the most popular ways to cook it. As a newbie to celeriac, I decided to roast them along with other veggies. Next time, I think I’ll try pureeing them.
Beautiful looking veggies! I love them roasted.
I agree with you, eating the right healthy foods do make one feel energetic, I know I do 🙂 love the pic, your dish look delicious.
I particularly liked reading about the addition of thyme and sage… I frequently roast vegetables this time of year – so darn delicious! – and enjoy discovering new taste sensations. How are you enjoying your new blog layout Jeanette? Looks lovely.
Thanks Kelly, thyme and sage are some of my favorite cooler weather herbs. Glad you like my new blog layout – I love it, so much easier to use and love that I finally have a recipe index.
Have to try the roasted version. I just posted a couple days ago, a traditional Turkish vegetable dish made with celeriac! I am so glad it is more easily found in the stores now.
Hi Ilke – I will have to check out your Turkish dish. Hope you try roasting celeriac – let me know what you think.
Your right Jeanette, it is too pretty not to share. Gorgeous is a better word for it I think. I only started cooking with celeriac in the last couple of years. I can’t believe I had been missing out for so long.
Oven roasted veggies are the best! This recipe looks great with the thyme and maple syrup, yum!
How gorgeous. It’s amazing how beautiful natures foods are all by themselves. I tend to forget about roasted veggies when it comes to meal planning. I guess I’m overthinking things. Roasted veggies are one of my favorite meals and so simple!
Thanks Gwen, roasting vegetables is so easy and they come out naturally sweet and caramelized (and beautiful!).
Looks like I’m a year late but here goes. I love this kind of dish. But your timing is off. It took me 40 mins to wash, peel, scape and cut the vegetables and I used prepeeled squash. Also my roaster, normal sized, did not have enough room for a single layer, they are about 3 pieces deep. That being said and not have tasted the dish yet you can bet I will use the recipe again, it has in all for fall!
Thanks for your feedback Ruth. I have a large baking sheet that fit all the vegetables single layer, so depending on the size of your pan, you might need more than one. Not sure, but I have a feeling the shallow pan might be better for roasting/browning. If it’s not in a single layer, the vegetables might steam more than roast.
Did you leave the skin of some of the squash on? Like the acorn squash? How was then when you went to eat it? Do you just remove it on your plate before eating?
I removed the peel on the winter squash before roasting.
Made this the other night and it was delicious!! I was hesitant to use maple syrup so just drizzled a little and Wow- what a nice touch. Thank you for the yummy recipe!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Michelle – maple syrup does the trick 🙂
I am excited to try this…the maple syrup sold me! I am not a fan of Celery Root or Sage, so I will sub with Fennel Root and Rosemary. Thank you for sharing!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Happy Thanksgiving Elena! Fennel and rosemary sound like a great combination too!