In reality, you could simply call this roasted veggies. The marinade for the veggies works for just about any mix.
I like to see what looks fresh, then pick a variety of colors. This week it was green – zucchini, orange and yellow – bell peppers, red – grape tomatoes and purple – red onion.
Who ever thought that onion was red?
Therfore as you read, the next section
1. I am not a trained chef or nutritionist.
2. I am not a medical professional.
3. I am not a professional photographer.
Ingredients
1 medium zucchini
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium orange bell pepper
12 oz grape tomatoes
1 medium red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon sumac powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sumac
Sumac is a popular spice for middle eastern cooking, but it’s hard to find in the US. It’s used in the Za’atar spice blend, so if you can’t find sumac, you can substitute Za’atar.
Sumac is made from the berries of the rhus coiraria shrub that is found throughout the Mediterranean. Althought the dried ground berries are red in color, instead of adding heat to a dish, it adds a mild lemony flavor without the acidic punch of citrus.
Preparation
- Wash and slice the zucchini in about 1/4 inch slices.
- Wash the bell peppers, remove the seeds and slice in about 1/4 inch slices.
- Wash the grape tomatoes.
- Peel the onion and quarter, or you can make the “chuncks” smaller. They will break up later.
- Measure and wisk the olive oil, vinegar, thyme, dill, and sumac in a small bowl.
You can toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl, do the zip lock method — dump it all in a zip lock baggie and shake, shake, shake. Just be sure to really close the baggie!
Cooking
- Line a baking dish with foil and pour the contents of your baggie into the dish.
- Spread the veggies evenly across the dish.
- Bake in a 350 degree over for 40 minutes or until the veggies are soft.
Just a few notes …
There are millions of roasted veggetable recipies on the internet. They all use different mixes of veggetables, spices, oils, vinegars, herbs … etc. They all have different cook times and temperatures.
Roasting veggies instead of boiling them brings out the flavors. Different vegetables cook better at different temperatures, but all are somewhat adaptable.
Lemon is a good acidic to add to a veggie marinade. However, I was using sumac and decided on white wine and was pleased with the combination. The onions remained crispy while the tomatoes wilted. That was fine with me. But if you don’t like wilted tomatoes you could add them late in the cooking cycle and broil.
It’s kind of hard to go wrong with roasted veggetables. Just go with the veggies that look the best and you like along with the spices you like. I will add a word of caution on some recipies I’ve seen. Honestly, you don’t need 1/2 cup of olive oil for 4 cups of sliced up veggies!