Winter Vegetables Win

Mark left for a quick three-day trip to New York City today. That means that I can cook one big batch of something and eat it for the next few days, which is something I don’t mind doing but don’t force on my husband. It’s kind of lazy, I guess, but better than another possible alternative, which was to live on almonds, red wine, and butter (which I may or may not have considered when it was time to get out of my jammies and head to the market).

I didn’t over-buy, since it’s just me:

Pictured are shallots, turnips, bread, celery root, carrots, lettuce, a parsnip (I hope), and a gorgeous piece of “pain noir”, bursting with seeds and nuts. She actually merits a close-up.

You might ask why bought all that bread when it’s just me here, but then you would be rude.

As soon as I unwrapped all these beauties I peeled and chopped and roasted them until they looked like this:

I roast veggies a lot, but this time I tried a new technique from America’s Test Kitchen that I read about here. It involved a few extra steps, like “par-microwaving” (is that even a thing?) the veggies, draining, and then adding to a hot sheet pan, but it resulted in a lovely, even caramelization in less time than these vegetables usually require. And my kitchen smelled amazing.

So my plan is to eat these for the next several days, perhaps with some cooked grains or lentils, and definitely with some bread. Now that my food is taken care of for the rest of the week, my only challenge will be resisting the call of my warm bed and the newly arrived French Netflix, which includes Orange Is The New Black and the British show, Call The Midwife. Yep- as much as I love tromping around Paris like a crazed woman, I also have a dark side that tempts me to stay inside and in my pajamas all day.

I have been bingeing on Orange Is The New Black, and as much as I like it, I can only take so much of all those women in prison garb. In fact, this might be the perfect time to switch back over to Mad Men for a bit. Nothing goes better with winter vegetables than a side of Hamm.