Carole’s Superb Roasted Veggies

Meet Carole Dickinson Ridley, my friend for the past 40 years. ACK! ACK! ACK! Carole’s going to kill me! I can’t seem to remove

the photo on the left! Carole’s a great cook who rarely uses recipes (She rarely reads this blog, either, which is also great: The photo won’t go away). Carole and I have laughed together (which goes without saying) and cried together. There was a time when we were so close that she even suggested we trade outfits. I politely declined without giving a reason, but hinted that she had big shoes to fill and I couldn’t possibly be as stylish as she is.  

Carole’s also in the  shot on the right - hair askew, no makeup on her face. 
She’s very brave to allow herself 

to be photographed that way. Personally, I wouldn’t dare. I’ve never been caught without makeup, mostly because every photographer who’s tried has run from the room, screaming. 

I stayed at Carole’s house last week, enjoying her hospitality and - ta dah! - her superb vegetables roasted in coconut oil. I said I wanted the recipe. She said she didn’t have one.  Carole says this method works with any vegetable, though she went through some trial and error before she achieved success. Preheating her oven to 350 deg. F., then she set to work. So here’s what I watched her do!

Carole’s Superb Roasted Veggies:

Use your choice of assorted vegetables such as broccoli, red onions, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, and so forth. Peel and prepare veggies as you would for boiling or steaming. Salt and pepper them to taste.

Carole leaves the skin on small potatoes, sprinkling the spuds with garlic powder and/or fresh rosemary on top of the usual S&P. Dot these veggies with generous lashings of refrigerated (see Note) coconut (or olive) oil, with the amount of oil dependent on the amount of potatoes you’re preparing. Toss everything well, thoroughly combining the oil and spuds; roast, uncovered, about 35 min. Toss them once or twice as they roast, checking their tenderness. 

Cauliflower, Carole trims into biggish chunks in a separate uncovered casserole dish, following the same method, temperature, and time. 

Broccoli and red onions, Carole roasts together, in one casserole dish, because she likes the blend of flavors. Be sure to combine veggies of the same approximate cooking times rather than adding mushrooms to carrots, for example. If one type of vegetable is finished before another, she simply covers it with foil so it won’t over-roast before the rest is done.

Once again, Carole pours coconut (or olive) oil over everything, tossing everything well before placing it in the oven, uncovered, to roast as she does above. 
Carole does mushrooms differently: She baked the ones she served me (also at 350 deg. F.), slicing them directly into a little coconut oil in a small casserole, giving them a little toss, and covering the casserole to keep them from drying out. How long, I asked? “I don’t time these, but they don’t take very long,” she says.

Note: Refrigerating the oil will solidify it, allowing it to be dabbed rather than poured. 

Postscript: Meet Bud Ridley, Carole’s loving mate. Everyone says they have so much in common ...