14 Valentines - Enough For All Recipe 1: Oven-Roasted Vegetables
14 Valentines is a fan community that is a giant Valentines gift from various fans to fandom full of fics and art and other fun things. It's also a way of reminding fans of various issues important to women such as economic development and education, at a rate of one topic per day, which I think is worthy.*
This year, my contribution is Enough for All - Really Good Vegetarian Food for Beginners, Budgeters and Omnivores, a brand new mini-cookbook of my own creation, to be posted one recipe per day (with possible bonus recipes). People who know me in person know that I'm a good cook, a devoted omnivore, and happy to cook for my vegetarian friends - which took a bit of practice!
Food should bring us together, not separate us. No one should feel like an afterthought. Cooking can be an act of love. For me, it is, and I love my friends and family. While a lifelong ominvore myself, many of my friends and relatives are vegetarians or vegan. I love food and I love feeding people, but I don't particularly love soy products or things pretending to be meat, and that's not even mentioning the budget issues that come with such ingredients.
I wanted to make vegetarian-friendly food that I could enjoy and feel proud of - not things that felt second best. Things I would make for myself without a second thought. This short mini-cookbook is a result of that effort and I'm more than happy to share.
Roasted Vegetables
1 tsp dried thyme (or to taste)
2 tbsp olive oil (or to taste)
3 large carrots
2 of the below:
1 cup frozen or cleaned and chopped okra
1/2 cup frozen corn
3 stalks celery
1 small onion, peeled and chopped crosswise then into quarters
Tin foil
A baking sheet or cookie sheet with sides (In a pinch, a flat baking dish of some kind like a brownie pan or a roasting pan will do.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover baking sheet in tin foil for easy cleanup. (Trust me, it's messy otherwise.) Peel carrots. Chop vegetables, being sure nothing is more than an inch thick. Separate the onion rings from each other to make lots of little segments (Segments, not paper thin layers. That would take it too far.) If using frozen okra, thaw it first. If using frozen corn, do not. Place all vegetables on pan, drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle with thyme. Put pan in oven and bake for at least 30 minutes. It will probably take 40, but check at 30 just in case. Will look done when carrots start to wrinkle slightly and other vegetables brown. If anything has turned black TAKE THE PAN OUT! That's a little too done, but most of them should still be okay. Allow to cool slightly, then eat.
Makes a full meal for 1, a meal for 2 that needs a side dish and a side dish for 4.
NOTE: Do not make much more than you need. It does not freeze or refridgerate well and is best fresh. Slightly more is smart, though, because inevitably a few pieces will get burnt.
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*Even if I may not agree with the think piece essay written for that particular day. (I don't know, they haven't all been posted yet, but while I'm not necessarily endorsing the conclusions on the comm, I definitely endorse all of us taking a moment to consider these issues.) You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth (
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