Roasted Autumn Veggies

A simple meal today, but one of my favorites - especially this time of year. It's a wonderful way to use up veggies. I chose my ingredients only because they happened to be in my fridge - you can make this recipe with almost any autumnal vegetables.

It started with these baby carrots. These are real baby carrots, unlike what you buy in a bag at the supermarket. Those "baby carrots" are actually adult carrots that have been lathed down to stumps. What a waste! These babies were my reward after thinning the fall carrots in the garden.

One of the last of the summer squash from the garden. We still haven't had a hard frost in Madison, although the countryside around us has. How wonderful to still be picking summer squash and cherry tomatoes in October!

Here's a weird one. Salsify from West Star Farm. Salsify is an unusual and old fashioned vegetable. I've had it before, but it's not something that I'd go out of my way to buy. This was gifted to me, so I gave it a shot. It was Thomas Jefferson's favorite vegetable - kind of like a parsnip but with a meatier texture.... some people compare it to oysters, but I'm not convinced.

Two of the last of the Paprika peppers I bought at the farmer's market a few weeks back. Peppers hold really well in the fridge if they're wrapped in plastic.

Some local celery that has been floating around in my fridge for longer than it should. I used the three biggest stalks with their leaves for this dish and saved the rest for soup tomorrow.

All that plus a few slices of garlic, and a bit of chopped fresh thyme. Mixed with olive oil and roasted in the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes. Vegetables take on a wonderful sweetness and richness when cooked this way.

The finishing touch was a few dabs of this heavenly chevre from Dreamfarm. What a treat!

So simple, so quick, so delicious. Food like this feels wonderful to eat. It's grounding, earthy, satisfying... everything I want on a late October Sunday.

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