The Funky Kitchen

The return of the -30° C weather has me roasting up the storm. Our drafty 102 year old house warms considerably when the oven is on for long periods, so I have been all too happy to roast often. Food that warms the home as well as the tummy is the theme of this winter. I did my first solo roast (feeling quite grown up about that) and roasted a chicken as well, but what I’m here to talk about is balsamic roasted vegetables. Because really, what could be better?

The roasted vegetables release all kinds of sugars that brown and are so luscious, the balsamic vinegar reduces away into syrup and absorbs into the aforementioned vegetables. Thyme lends woodsiness to the earthy vegetables, and black pepper some notes of pungency to round it all out.

It’s a side dish that takes center stage (and keeps the kitchen warm while I do dishes). If I were a vegetable, I’d like to spend some time getting cozy with balsamic vinegar in a nice warm oven.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

1/2 a butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and roughly chopped

1-2 red bell peppers, seeds removed and roughly chopped

1 small onion, also roughly chopped

12-15 baby carrots (2-3 regular sized) cut into ~2 inch long sticks

2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp thyme leaves

1/2 tsp salt

• Put all of the vegetables together in a bowl.
• Pour over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, tossing to coat.
• Sprinkle on the pepper, thyme and salt, tossing to distribute evenly.
• Pour the contents of the bowl into a glass or nonreactive metal roasting dish, and pop it into a 375° F oven until all of the vegetables are cooked through (~45 minutes, depending on how roughly you chop), the squash will take the longest to cook, so use it to check for doneness.
• Serve hot from the oven.

Next time I’m thinking I’ll include a clove of garlic or two to roast with it, or maybe some mushrooms. We’ve addressed balsamic vinegar before on The Funky Kitchen, so if you are a balsamophile like myself, be sure to check out: balsamic vinaigrette, summer tomatoes, caramelized onion marmalade, or this super cool pavlova!

Mister says that he liked the way the acid counterpointed the caramelized sweetness of the vegetables and that there should have been more red pepper because they were the best part.

…And! Happy day! Photo quality will be returning to The Funky Kitchen as soon as I get through my backlog of pictures and recipes. Somehow my camera battery charger became a casualty of the move, but the new one off of ebay got here today! Hurray for no more phone pictures!

Sodium benzoate is a preservative that prevents bacterial and fungal growth. It’s an ingredient I found in one of the salad dressings I use. I can agree with the use of something that will keep bacteria and fungi off my salad. Yes please!

But, (and there is a big but)…

When sodium benzoate is in solution with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) it forms benzene, a known carcinogen. Food products that contain both of these molecules are controlled, so that there won’t be a high enough concentration of benzene for it to be considered harmful. Also, sodium benzoate and artificial color in conjunction may lead to increased hyperactivity in children. Still, knowing that it’s there, do you want to consume it? No thank you sir, not on my salad.

The above, in addition to the fact that you can make your own easily, and save money doing it, has led me away from purchasing ready made dressings. You can make small batches or large batches, depending on the number of people you are feeding salad to. It’s fun to experiment with flavor combinations and ingredients too; pomegranate molasses vinaigrette with black pepper was really tasty and zingy but trying it again with a different vinegar, maybe apple cider instead of balsamic, would change it entirely.

Why not skip the preservatives and pinch a couple of extra pennies? All you need is a jar.

Due to the incredible interchangeability that comes with vinaigrette making, the recipe I’m putting up here is just one of a multitude of examples. What’s important to see, though, if this is new to you, is the ratio. Three parts oil, two parts vinegar, 1/2 a part of mustard (to help emulsify), and the add ins that fit your fancy. Put it in your jar and shake it up.

The vinaigrette I have here for you is a simple balsamic vinaigrette, because we love balsamic around these parts. It also has a really strong hit of garlic, emphasis on really, but garlic breath isn’t so bad when both of you have it.

Groovy Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette

(This recipe is written as a ratio, choose a suitable measure and use the same measure with the correct number of parts to make the vinaigrette. In my case, my measure was a tablespoon, and we had enough vinaigrette for a couple of individual salads)

3 parts olive oil

2 parts balsamic vinegar

1/2 part grainy mustard

1/2 a garlic clove, minced or run through a garlic press

a pinch of pepper

• Take a clean jar and put all of the ingredients into it.
• Twist the lid onto the jar and shake until emulsified (perhaps take this opportunity for a random dance party. shake shake shake!)
• Drizzle over salad.  **Do not dress your salad until you’re ready to serve it and enjoy!**

A minute from start to finish is pretty awesome.

People from Manitoba have an innate tendency to talk about the weather. It probably comes from living in a province that ranges 70°C on an average year. We get frigid weather to super sweaty and everything in between, so we talk about it. All of the time. I try to avoid doing it here, because all of you are in different climes and probably aren’t that interested, but just bear with me, I do have a point.

It is officially HOT! We topped out at 32° C today, and around these parts when it gets hot it also gets humid. It’s muggy and sweaty and my hair has reached epic proportions of enormity, but still, it’s way better this way than the 40° below it will be in January.

It’s the type of hot where, on the seven minute walk to the farmer’s market, you’ll sweat from your elbow pits and the backs of your knees. Being as fair as I am, days like this are the ones where I feel the tingle of sunburn creeping in under my layer of sunscreen.

When it’s this warm out, all additional effort required to get things done is questioned and debated over. Is it worth it to go to the farmer’s market? Of course it is, there’s treasure abounding in the market this time of year. Will it take too much energy to walk? Well, the walk isn’t that long, but it will be hot. It just seems a waste to start the car for that short a distance. I planned on baking something today, do I want to heat up the oven? No.

But you know what? Despite summer bringing sunburn, giant hair, and avoidance of activity, it also brings something glorious. Tomatoes. This is a way to highlight their tomato-y glory with very little effort and good results.

Summer Tomatoes with Feta and Balsamic

2 ripe tomatoes

a chunk of feta cheese, about 1.5 inches square, or ~2 Tbsp

1 Tbsp of reduced balsamic vinegar

black pepper, freshly cracked

• Slice your tomatoes, about a quarter of an inch to half an inch thick, perpindicular to their radial symmetry (or, latitudinally rather than longitudinally).

• Arrange the tomato slices on a plate, overlapping slightly on the edges, in a single layer.

• Crumble the feta cheese over top of the tomatoes, making sure to distribute it evenly. It’s no fun to have all of the tasty cheese only on the middle tomatoes.

• Drizzle the tomatoes and feta with the reduced balsamic vinegar, once again, paying attention to even distribution.

• If it doesn’t take too much energy to do on these hot summer days, crack some black pepper over top.
• Savor!

And there you go, in five minutes, hopefully with little to no sweat being shed, a gorgeously tasty way to use up the tomatoes of summer.

Now, should I get the oven preheated for that baking I wanted to do? Nah, maybe it’ll be a little cooler tomorrow, tomorrow will be the day for baking.