No recipe needed for this glorious, yet very easy vegetable medley that can be the ideal accompaniment to charcoal-grilled meat or fish, but we mostly love to eat it by itself, with just feta cheese, along with a deeply-flavored, olive-oil-fried egg from our neighbor’s hens and slices of good, crusty whole-wheat bread.
Cut into chunks a couple of small, longish, tender eggplants, some peeled butternut squash, one or two bell peppers, add a sliced onion and a couple of garlic cloves and douse them all with olive oil; sprinkle with some cumin, ground coriander seeds, oregano or thyme, plenty of Aleppo (or Maras) pepper flakes and of course salt, and bake in the center of the oven for about 45 minutes, tossing once after 30 minutes or so.
For my 15×12 inch (37×32 cm) deep pan I used about 1 1/2 pounds squash and more or less the same weight of tender (no seeds) eggplants.
I find that squash and eggplant complement beautifully each other! But by all means, if you want to use any other seasonal vegetables, the same formula more or less works for zucchini, or with sliced fennel bulb instead of the squash etc.
A medium onion, thickly sliced, and a couple of coarsely chopped garlic cloves are essential. Add 2 or 3 bell peppers, any color you like, and drizzle with plenty of olive oil –I would say that I used about 1/2 cup. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cumin, plus about 2 tablespoons ground coriander seeds, and 2 teaspoons oregano or thyme. Add salt and pepper of course and toss very well –your hands or 2 large spatulas are needed here.
Bake in a medium-high oven (about 400F, 200 C) for about 45 minutes.
Just before serving, sprinkle with plenty of fresh or dried thyme or oregano. Adding it at the end enhances the aromas and flavors tremendously.
Don’t forget to line your pan with parchment paper so that cleaning it afterwards is dead easy!
These roasted vegetables are great hot, warm or room temperature. If you refrigerate the leftovers, heat in a low oven or in the microwave.
You can also use them as the base to make an omelette, especially my favorite Frittata-stratta.
Thanks for the great recipes, Aglaia – I shall make these roast vegies with the last of summer’s eggplants and peppers and new season’s pumpkin – and have it with delicious goats feta from our local farmer’s market.