Roasted Vegetables with Sage

Thirty-seven tomorrow. I spent the afternoon at the rescue facility in Billings — my birthday fell on a Tuesday this year and Tuesdays are my facility days. Kate had made a birthday cake, which I hadn't mentioned to anyone at the facility. Someone told her and she'd made it and we ate it in the break room at noon. It was a sheet cake with plain white frosting and spelled my name with a hyphen between Ryan and G because she ran out of room. It was the correct birthday cake. Exactly what you want when you haven't asked for anything.

Freckles, the appaloosa I worked with in the facility's early days, was spotted at a horse show in Billings last month by one of the volunteers. Moving clean, being ridden well, the young woman from Laurel still her owner. Kate showed me the photograph. The horse standing in the ring, ears forward, looking entirely like a horse who'd never had anything wrong with her feet. That photograph is the whole argument for this work in one image.

Made the birthday dinner myself — same as last year: pan-seared scallops with a brown butter and capers sauce, the cleaner version I'd refined since the first time. This is what I want on my birthday and I make it and eat it at the kitchen table and it's the version of celebration I understand. Quiet, specific, made by my own hands for reasons that belong to me.

Thirty-seven feels like the beginning of the decade I was working toward without knowing it. I'm going to do the work. I'm going to stay in the place. Something is still coming at the edge of my perception and I have enough patience now to wait for it to arrive without forcing it.

The scallops were the centerpiece, but the meal doesn’t hold together without something rooted alongside them — something that fills the kitchen with warmth while you’re managing the butter in the pan. Roasted vegetables with sage have been part of this birthday table long enough that skipping them would feel like a missing word in a sentence I’ve already said correctly twice. There’s something about sage specifically, the way it gets just crisp at the edges in the oven, that fits the particular feeling of thirty-seven: nothing flashy, nothing forced, just the right thing in the right place.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup cherry tomatoes, whole
1 small red onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, roughly torn (plus a few whole leaves for finishing)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 425°F and position a rack in the center. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or leave it bare for better caramelization.
Prep and season the vegetables. Combine the zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and garlic on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat evenly. Season with salt, black pepper, thyme, and red pepper flakes if using. Spread into a single layer with space between pieces — crowding causes steaming instead of roasting.
Add the sage and roast. Scatter the torn sage leaves across the vegetables. Roast for 25 minutes without stirring, until the edges begin to brown and char lightly. The whole sage leaves will crisp up as they cook.
Finish and return to the oven. Remove the pan, drizzle the balsamic vinegar over everything, and toss gently with a spatula. Return to the oven for 8 to 10 minutes more, until the vegetables are tender and caramelized at the edges.
Taste and serve. Adjust salt if needed. Transfer to a serving dish and add a few fresh sage leaves torn over the top. Serve immediately alongside your main course.

Nutrition (per serving)

Roasted Vegetables with Sage — The Quiet Side of a Birthday Made Right