15 Minute No Oil Roasted Veggies

The method I used yesterday may surprise you. It surprised me. I cooked 3 vegetables I had on hand without oil and in the oven. You know what? They were not withered and dry. I was very surprised.

Throughout the process of prepping the ingredients and preheating the oven you don’t know how many times I was about to give in and just grab the olive oil or coconut oil and add a little which can sometimes turn into several tablespoons. Instead I stood my ground determined to experiment and try something different.

It’s not that I’m against oil but I do think I can eat way too much of it and way more than what I actually need. So, I’m consciously trying to cut back and stick with non-overt fats like nuts, nut butters, and avocados when I’m eating. You’ll see I enjoyed a whole small (really small) avocado along with my veggies as well as sauerkraut and a locally made everything bagel. Yum!

All you need is a sheet of parchment paper – to ensure nothing will stick – and a cookie sheet. I used carrots, cauliflower, and mini red and yellow peppers in this run. These 3 seem to have a good moisture balance which might’ve made them ideal for roasting as they sort of end up dry steaming. I honestly think this method could work for most if not all vegetables but I haven’t done extensive rounds as this is my first go. I think eggplant would be great but it would be better to cut in larger cubes vs mandolined rounds – these might end up more like chips. I would like to give broccoli a try but I feel like that over cauliflower for some reason would dry out, so I was wondering if tossing the veg in a colander and rinsing them under running water would give enough moisture so that the ‘temperamental’ vegetables wouldn’t ever dry out. Anyway it’s a new-ish way to try at cooking your veg and it only takes 15 minutes at 350F.

I placed my prepped veggies on the parchment lined cookie sheet and added a sprinkle of chili powder and cumin. Baked them at 350F for 15 minutes and then put in a lidded bowl to toss with tamari and lemon juice adding nutritional yeast when I was done. Swoon worthy.