Bring out the sweet, earthy flavors of root vegetables with this delicious dish!

CULINARY INSPIRATION
Eating well has always been a big deal to me. I am not a fan of anything ready-made and E-numbers scare me. In fact, I can easily taste if something in my food is… well, not really food. When I order a salad at a restaurant, one bite and I’ll immediately know if the vinaigrette was freshly made or if it came from a bottle. I love cooking with fresh, quality ingredients and feeding my body with whole foods is not only how I take care of myself, but also one of life’s greatest joys.
Though I am pretty organized when it comes to meal planning, I am sometimes lured by the beauty of an ingredient, letting its scent and shape inspire me to create something new. And while I am not particularly a big fan of root vegetables, I was instantly smitten when I saw the rustic purple carrots, golden beets and parsnips that came in a box of local food I recently ordered.
Roasting is one of the best ways to prepare root vegetables as it really allows their sweet and earthy tastes to shine. In this colorful and healthy dish, I combined the vegetables with robust flavors such as garlic, rosemary and one of my favorite seasonings, piment d’Espelette. A little spritz of lemon, a scattering of goat’s cheese to finish it off, and my taste buds were in heaven.
Here’s the recipe (note that the vegetables should be chopped into similar pieces):

Légumes-racines rôtis au romarin & piment d’Espelette
Serves 1 as a main (2 as a side)

Ingredients:

  • 1 parsnip, peeled & chopped
  • 2 purple carrots, peeled & chopped
  • 1 golden beet, peeled & chopped
  • 1 sprig of rosemary, needles finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, pressed
  • 1 ½ tbsps good-quality olive oil, plus extra to finish the dish
  • Fleur de sel, to taste
  • 1 ½ tsp piment d’Espelette
  • Spritz of lemon juice
  • 40g crumbled goat’s cheese (chèvre buche)
  • Chopped chives

 

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the chopped vegetables, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt and piment d’Espelette in a large bowl with fitting lid. Shake the bowl vigorously so that the vegetables are evenly coated with the seasonings. Transfer to the baking tray and roast for 30 minutes. Once roasted, cool for 5 minutes on the tray. Spritz a little lemon over the vegetables and transfer to a plate. Scatter with the goat’s cheese and chives, season with a little extra fleur de sel and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.