Roasted Winter Vegetables with Miso Vinaigrette

First published November 2014

This is from Dana Cowin’s cookbook “Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen” (2014). Dana was the long-time editor of Food & Wine magazine as well as a good friend and customer. What I love about this book is that every recipe has a tip or trick from a famous chef about how to make this particular dish. For instance in this one, “how to cut the vegetables”.

INGREDIENTS:

(SERVES 8)

• 4 pounds winter vegetables, peeled and/or trimmed as necessary and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups) (see note below)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons white miso
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

PREPARATION:

Active time: 35 minutes. Total time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the vegetables in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil and salt. Divide vegetables evenly between the two baking sheets, spread them out and roast in preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until tender and very browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Switch and rotate baking sheets halfway through cooking.

Meanwhile, put sesame oil, rice vinegar, miso, soy sauce and honey in a small bowl and whisk together.

Remove vegetables from oven and transfer to a serving bowl. Immediately toss with the miso vinaigrette. Scatter sesame seeds and green onions on top and serve.

Note: I like a combination of butternut squash, white and sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and parsnips, but use whatever you have on hand

Make ahead: The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before tossing with the vegetables.

More recipe ideas from April Bloomfield:

■Roast wedges of pumpkin seasoned with a paste made of garlic, fresh marjoram, cinnamon, salt and olive oil.

■Celery root is underrated! Season chunks of it with olive oil, ground chile, garlic and salt and roast until tender.

■Fennel is wonderful seasoned with ground fennel seeds, chopped fennel fronds, garlic, salt and olive oil.

■For even simpler roast fennel, place slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, splash with a little water and olive oil and cover with foil. Roast until tender, then remove the foil and continue to roast, turning occasionally, until caramelized.

Chef tips:

■How to cut the vegetables: If you are roasting different kinds of vegetables on the same tray at the same time, cut them according to their cooking times. For example, a thinly sliced onion will roast much faster than a large wedge of sweet potato. So, if you’re doing them together, cut the sweet potato into smaller pieces and the onion into slightly larger ones.

■Prepping the vegetables: Always toss vegetables with olive oil before roasting. This is especially important for tougher vegetables like pumpkin, fennel and celery root.