Oven-Roasted Vegetables with Orange and Sage

A truly delicious way of serving vegetables.

Vegan. Hands-on time: 10 mins. Total time: 40 mins.

Contributed by Moira Adams (December 2006).

This dish is an excellent choice both for entertaining and as part of a family dinner. It tastes wonderful, looks great and is easy to prepare. And, of course, it scores top marks in the nutrition department (no saturated fats, cholesterol or salt). I've found that family members who are normally unenthusiastic about vegetables always manage to gobble it up.

Another thing I like about this recipe is that it lends itself to endless variety. You can use almost any combination of vegetables, which means it's also a good way of using up whatever veggies you happen to have to hand.

Try it with any or all of the following: carrots, eggplant (aubergine), leeks, mushrooms, onion, parsnip, peppers, pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, yams, zucchini (courgettes) - in fact, anything that's capable of being oven-roasted. For best results, use as many different ingredients as you can.

With the quantities given here, you'll get a main course dish for about four people (I like to dish it up it with black beans and rice). Or you can serve it as part of a buffet supper, in which case it should yield about eight small portions.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• approx. 2 lbs (900 gms) of vegetables (see above)
• juice and grated rind of a medium orange
• 4 - 6 fresh sage leaves (to taste), finely chopped
• ½ tsp sugar

Method

Oven: Pre-heat to 375F, 190C.

Coat a large roasting tin with the olive oil. Peel or clean the vegetables as appropriate, cut them into small chunks or thin slices, and place them in the tin. Roast in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until completely cooked, turning occasionally. The cooking time will depend on the mix of vegetables.

In a small bowl, mix the orange juice and rind, sage and sugar. Pour this over the vegetables. Turn the vegetables over a couple of times to ensure the juice is well mixed. Serve immediately.

Note on quantities and temperatures:
Quantities are given in American (cups), imperial (oz, fl oz) and metric (g, ml) units. Do not mix the units - use one or other system throughout the recipe.
See also How much does a cup weigh?
oz = ounces, fl oz = fluid ounces, g = grams, ml = milliliters, tsp = teaspoons, tbsp = tablespoons.
Oven temperatures are given in degrees F (Fahrenheit) and C (Celsius).
For fan-assisted ovens, reduce the temperature by 20F or 10C.