Making good food doesn’t always mean the recipes have to be complicated!
Last week I shot a campaign for Diners Club at the Wollman rink in Central Park where I spent the day ice skating from 10am until 8pm. A sore butt and thighs ensued for the following couple of days but it was worth it as the shoot was so much fun!
The catered food was prominently healthy and consisted of hearty dishes, probably to keep us warm on a chilly 28 degree day.
One of the dishes served was a mix of oven roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. I thought nothing of it at first but noticed right away the contrast in color.
Vibrant Brussels sprouts tossed with bright orange oven roasted sweet potatoes make for a gorgeous plate of vegetables! I scooped up a healthy serving and ate it with grilled chicken and a mesclun salad.
The menu was straight forward but every dish was well executed and because of that, lunch was delicious, invigorating and satisfying. When it comes to vegetables, many people tend to overcook and under season them, or go the exact opposite way.
Sometimes it’s hard to achieve the right texture with vegetables and let’s face it; if they are too mushy we think baby food and if they are too crunchy, they can feel like a chore to eat.
Briefly pan frying vegetables and finishing them in the oven is a simple yet very effective way to achieve great texture. It’s an almost no fail trick!
And the more you do it, the better at it you become. It also speeds up the roasting process since you start them off with a blast of heat, which mean they go in the oven half cooked instead of completely raw.
Whenever I make vegetables this way, I end up saving 15-20 minutes in roasting time! Oven roasted sweet potatoes can also develop a lovely crispy and caramelized texture so it’s well worth trying this method, trust me!
Adding a little extra flavor such as curry powder and celery salt give these oveb roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts character! It spices them up and enhances their natural taste.
If you follow my blog you know I am not too keen on sweet potatoes but serving them this way tones down the sweetness and pairs really well with the bitterness of the Brussels Sprouts.
The sweetness of the oven roasted sweet potatoes suddenly becomes an integral part of the dish as a whole and makes them an asset rather than a liability. It’s absolutely delicious!
These oven roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts make a comforting side dish that can be served with a turkey pie, easy teriyaki pork rolls, a beautiful sirloin steak with red wine sauce or if you want to stick with veggies, a velvety parsnip soup with herbes de Provence.
Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 people 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Description
A hearty side dish for those cold winter days! Oven Roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels Sprouts pair extremely well in this healthy and easy recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into bite size pieces)
- 25–30 Brussels sprouts (ends trimmed and sliced in half)
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- In a large pan over high heat, add butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil and thyme. When the butter is bubbling, add sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Cook for 6 minutes.
- Cover a cookie tray with parchment paper and transfer vegetables to it.
- Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and evenly sprinkle curry powder, kosher salt, white pepper and celery salt on the vegetables. Toss well using your fingers.
- Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve.
Notes
This roasted sweet potato and Brussel sprouts dish will keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 140.9 mg
- Fat: 5.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.1 g
- Fiber: 4.5 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 5.1 mg
