Sheet Pan Oven Roasted Vegetables

Jack's garden operation grows more ambitious every year. The greenhouse, the market sales, the Farm Fund jar that now holds over three hundred dollars. He's 12 and he farms the way some kids play video games — obsessively, joyfully, with the deep understanding that this is not a hobby but a vocation wearing a hobby's clothes.

I made pumpkin soup this week — the fall version, the one that fills the kitchen with the smell that means this time of year, this stage of life, this specific Tuesday when the stove is warm and the family is fed and the feeding is the point. Kevin ate seconds. The man always eats seconds. The eating is the approval and the approval is the marriage.

The trees along the highway are turning — maples red, oaks gold, the Bradford pears doing their useless purple thing. Iowa falls are short and violent and beautiful. The kitchen shifts to slow mode: crockpots, Dutch ovens, the oven at 375 from September through April. The fall cooking is the cooking of a woman settling in for the long season.

That same week I made the pumpkin soup, I had a half-dozen odds and ends from Jack’s final garden pull sitting in a colander on the counter—peppers going soft at the shoulders, a zucchini past its prime, a few stubborn carrots he’d dug up before the frost. I did what I always do when the oven is already on and the season is turning: I roasted them. A sheet pan, some olive oil, salt, and the patience to let the heat do what it does. It’s not a glamorous recipe, but it’s the one that carries autumn in our house from September through April right alongside the crockpots and the Dutch ovens—steady, useful, and better than it has any right to be.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch half-moons
1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1-inch half-moons
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal, 1/2-inch thick
1 medium red onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F and line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.
Prep the vegetables. Chop all vegetables into roughly equal-sized pieces so they roast evenly. Pat dry with a paper towel — moisture is the enemy of caramelization.
Season. In a large bowl, combine all the vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil, add the garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, and rosemary. Toss well until everything is evenly coated.
Spread in a single layer. Divide the vegetables between the two prepared baking sheets, spreading them out so they are not touching. Crowding the pan causes steaming, not roasting.
Roast. Place both pans in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove, toss the vegetables with a spatula, and return to the oven for another 12—15 minutes, until edges are caramelized and tender when pierced with a fork.
Finish and serve. Transfer to a serving platter, taste for seasoning, and garnish with fresh parsley if desired. Serve warm as a side dish or over rice or pasta as a main.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sheet Pan Oven Roasted Vegetables — The Fall Cooking That Keeps the Kitchen Warm