Roast Vegetables with Honey Mustard Dressing

Sometimes you get a huge craving for a plate of beautiful vegetables, sometimes some red meat, a chocolate, a glass of champagne....  and the list goes on.. The weather is showing a taste of things to come. Spring is nearly in the air and we start thinking of barbeques and salad and vegetables to go with your meat. I had a vegetable craving last night and made this  roast vegetable dish, which can be increased very easily depending on the number of guests you are catering for.
The dressing is actually a salad dressing, but I warmed it up and poured it over the roasted vegetables. Delicious ! I served it with a grilled steak, you could serve it with the Boned Marinated Leg of Lamb, or Pork Cutlets, indeed any type of grilled meat or fish. My son came home with some barramundi and cooked it to go with the vegetables and sprinkled some feta on top too !
This is for 6 people approx and of course the vegetables can be varied, this is what I had in the fridge last night.

Honey and Mustard Dressing

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup seeded mustard
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup olive oil, ( I use Rylstone Olive Oil )

I use a screw top jar. Put all of the ingredients into the jar and with lid on tightly, give it a good shake to mix. Set aside. This will make far more than you need for this dish, but you will have a lovely salad dressing  to keep in the fridge for another meal !


1/2 jap or kent pumpkin
2 parsnip
2 large zucchini
2 large carrots
large handful green beans
1 large kumera
6 cloves garlic
2 onions
Olive oil
Maldon Sea salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped coriander

Preheat the oven to 175C
Prepare the vegetables. Cut the pumpkin into fairly decent size wedges and leave the skin on. Think one wedge per person. Peel the kumera and the carrot and parsnip and cut in half and then each half into 3 or 4  thick long fingers. Leave the zucchini unpeeled and do the same. They should be of a similar size to cook evenly.
Peel and slightly smash the garlic, peel and quarter the onion. Top and tail the beans if needed.
Put the pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, zucchini and kumera into a plastic bag splash a liberal amount of olive oil and Maldon sea salt into bag and toss around to coat them.
Tip into a large baking dish and place into the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes. Meanwhile toss the remaining vegetables in the same bag with more oil and Maldon Sea salt if needed.
After 30 minutes, remove and add the onion, garlic and beans to the pan. Mix the balsamic and brown sugar together and gently toss through the vegetables. Make sure the original vegetables are turned to cook the other side.
Return to the oven for another 30 minutes, or until cooked. The sugar and balsamic will give them a slightly caramelized coating.
This can be done well ahead and reheated at serving time!
Warm the dressing in the microwave and pour 3-4 tablespoons of it over the roast vegetables and garnish with the chopped coriander. There are no rules, this is approximate you can add more or less if you like, and the same with balsamic and brown sugar which you would need to do if you are cooking a lot more vegetables.

Roasted Vegetables Greek Style

These vegetables are very popular in the Want household and over the years have become a firm favourite.  My daughter always used to call them "the vegetables with the sticks in them " because of the fresh rosemary and thyme, and as the years have gone by that's exactly what we call it !

The dish is very comforting , the combination of flavours is incredibly tasty and intense. Serve it on its own  or with some feta sprinkled over the top if you want a smart vegetarian option! I usually serve it with a slow cooked lamb, a grilled steak or chicken or as a variation to the traditional  roast vegetables. It is particularly lovely in winter and autumn. They do take at least an hour depending on your oven, so allow time, and a dish large enough to take the two layers without it being too crowded, as it may take a little longer to cook.

I am a great fan of Paula Wolfert and this is where the inspiration for the dish came from.

1/2 kilo sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 kilo potatoes, medium in size and cut into wedges
1/2 kilo zucchini rinsed, trimmed and cut into chunks
2-4 large spanish onions, cut into 6 wedges each
6 garlic cloves peeled and slightly crushed
1/2 kilo large fresh ripe tomatoes  sliced 

bunch of rosemary

bunch of thyme

olive oil such as Rylstone Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons sugar

salt and pepper

Set the oven rack to the middle shelf and preheat to 180C. Lightly oil a large baking dish.
Sprinkle the sliced tomato with the sugar.
Scatter half the potato, sweet potato, zucchini , spanish onions and garlic over the bottom of the dish.
Salt and pepper and add some of the herbs. Cover with a layer of the sugared tomatoes and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil. Repeat with the remaining vegetables, finishing with the tomatoes and more olive oil.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and stir to redistribute the vegetables, then bake for another 30-40 minutes.
Serve hot or luke warm, as is, or with feta. Black olives would make a nice addition if serving on its own