What's For Dinner: Roasted Winter Vegetables Served Over Quinoa

One of the perks of working for a publishing company is that I can get trade books for 50 percent off the list price at any time of the year, and once a year I get a certain allotment of money to spend on books. Last year one of the books I opted to get was The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley. This cookbook features "inspired, flexible meals for vegetarians, meat lovers, and everyone in between" -- kind of the perfect cookbook for our household. Admittedly, aside from paging through the book when it arrived on my doorstep, I haven't really had the chance to delve into the book's content. A few weeks ago I again looked through the book and tagged a couple of recipes that I'd like to try. One such recipe was for roasted winter vegetable salad with red onion vinaigrette. The following meal is inspired by that recipe; I took a few liberties with the ingredients, adding some in and omitting others. Rather than serve it as a side as featured in the cookbook, I instead served it as a main entree over a bed of quinoa.

Roasted Winter Vegetables (printer-friendly version)

makes 4+ servings

2 cups cubed butternut squash

4 medium carrots, peeled, halved and halved again

6 red potatoes, quartered

2 tablespoons olive oil

coarse sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

dried rosemary

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 t fresh thyme leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons organic dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Add the cubed butternut squash, quartered red potatoes, and cut carrots into a large bowl.

3. Drizzle the olive oil over the veggies. Season with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Toss to evenly coat all the veggies.

4. Pour the seasoned veggies out onto a rimmed baking sheet.

5. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until the veggies are lightly browned and a knife inserted into the veggies comes out easily. Flip the veggies about halfway through the cooking time.

6. While the veggies are roasted, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

7. Add the chopped onions and fresh thyme. Saute until the onions are lightly browned and softened, about 2-3 minutes.

8. In a small bowl, stir together the dijon mustard, honey, and red wine vinegar. Pour over the onion-thyme mixture. Stir to combine.

9. Once the veggies are roasted, transfer them into a large bowl. Pour the onion mixture over top and stir to combine.

10. Let the veggies sit together for about 3-4 minutes to let the flavors combine.

11. Serve over a bed of quinoa or brown rice.