Roasted Vegetable Medley With Pesto Dressing

This is a very simple and really delicious vegetarian dish. The vegetables in the pan are clockwise: Porcini Mushroom/Zucchinni/Corn/Fennel Bulb/Boiler Onions/Elephant Garlic/Scallion and finally vine tomatoes stuffed with a mixture of rice pilaff , garlic and spinach.

Here is how you do it. Buy these or your favorite vegetables. Remember you don't have to buy expensive items like porcini mushrooms. You can buy root vegetables like parsnips, turnips and the like. Butternut squash is also a good choice. Whatever you buy it needs to be able to stand up to roasting.

You peel these vegetables and cut them into the size you want and then you blanche them. Blanching means that you boil some water and add a little salt. You then plunge your vegetables into this boiling water for a minute or so and then you plunge them into cold water, preferably with a little ice. This will maintain the color of the vegetable. Then you drain the vegetables.When you have done all this you put a heavy bottomed pan on the burner and preheat it. Add a little olive oil and then add your vegetables accompanied by some sprigs of thyme or rosemary. At this point you season the vegetables with salt and pepper, preferably from a peppermill. I like things very spicy so I will add a jalapeno pepper. Add some whole cloves of garlic and put the whole thing into a hot oven and roast. Remove when cooked.

For the dressing: mix a little chopped garlic, chopped onion with equal measure of red wine or balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then add some chopped basil. Mix well and correct the seasoning.

Note: The onions need to be preroasted so blanche them and roast them in a small pan before you start the other vegetables. They are roasted in the same way as the other vegetables.

When they are all cooked arrange them on a plate and spoon a little dressing over them.

Don't be a slave to recipes. If you don't have basil use anything you have, like mint or parsley or cilantro. If you don't have olive oil use regular vegetable oil.

This is my fourth straight vegetarian day. It is a very challenging cuisine but a very good one. I will get to the other recipes as soon as I get time. Meantime if you have any questions post them or send me an email. Remember cooking is an adventure.