A good roasted vegetable dish works beautifully as a main course with a lentil side, or as a side to a protein main. For me, the best roasted veggies are those that are sublimely soft on the inside, but crispy and charred on the outside – which is why I prefer the gas stove over the oven. But sometimes, the oven is just easier – thrown all together and tossed in delicious flavours. The key to get the nice crispness is to ensure enough space between all the veggies – this gives them space for their water to release, and burn away around – if the veggies are too close together, then the water released goes into each other giving you soggy veggies instead of crispy. This means, your baking dish will be approx. twice the size one would normally use, that way there is about 1 cm minimum space around each piece of vegetable.
For this recipe, I paired it with a cream sauce that’s vegan – made from cashews. This is the simplest and easiest vegan sauce I have ever made with bare minimum effort. Flavoured with some garlic, dried mint and lemon juice it takes all of 45 minutes and can be done in synchronicity to the veggies baking.