Oven Roasted Veggies

I needed a new way to cook up some vegetables.  I get into a rut at times with cooking up certain foods.  A routine if you will, for example I typically only steam broccoli, or oven roast asparagus or well you get it.  I do what is "safe" what I know and stick to it....which is all good until it gets booooring.  So this time around I wanted to do something "different" with broccoli primarily.  I was a bit skeptical, I mean I have seen pictures of broccoli oven roasted and well it just looks burned or charred, how good can that even be?  Well you never know until you try, or as I tell my kids at least try it once, if you hate it you never have to do it (or in their case most of the time, eat it) again.  Let me just tell you I couldn't have loved this method of cooking the veggies more...I mean I was literally eating them like candy after they got out of the oven.  I even risked third degree burns in my mouth because they were THAT good.  Its something with roasting at a high temperature that just caramelizes the goodness out of them, especially the carrots.  They tasted so incredibly sweet I thought I was eating some sort of treat.  I seriously will be doing this all.the.time!  Until of course this method becomes mundane, its so good I can't imagine it ever would.  I hope you give it a try and love it as well!

What I used:

• 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks 
• 3 potatoes (peels on cut into quarters or smaller if you have large potatoes)
• 1 head of broccoli cut into bite-sized florets (don't cut too small you don't want them crispy while the carrots and potatoes take longer to cook)
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks like the carrots
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil (melted)
• salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Wash, and prep all of your vegetables while the oven is preheating.  Melt the coconut oil either on the stove-top or in the microwave.  Line a large baking sheet in parchment paper (make sure it can withstand up to 425 degrees), or I like to use a Silpat, these are amazing and if you don't own some you should consider buying...nothing will ever stick to your pan again!  Toss the veggies onto the baking sheet and drizzle the oil on top of them, you can use a spoon or whatever to kind of "mix" the veggies around to help get even distribution of the oil.  Don't stress about it too much.  Next sprinkle on the salt and pepper, however much you desire.  Pop into the oven and roast for approximately 15-25 minutes.  This time will vary depending on how hot your oven cooks, how done you like your veggies and how big the chunks are that you chopped.  Anyways just check in on them from time to time until they are to your liking.  The broccoli might have a blackish look to the florets, but not to fear they are awesome this way.  These vegetables taste great as a side to my Whole Chicken in a Crock-Pot.  Enjoy!